The 2020 LAL Expo, held this year in the Colombian city of Cali, got off to a powerful and compelling official start on Monday, February 17th.

Attendees, however, had been making their way to the city as early as Saturday, February 15 – and can you blame them? Located in the state of Valle del Cauca, Cali the third most populated city in Colombia and the world capital of Salsa music!

This year’s conference hotel is the Hotel Spirito by Spiwak, an interesting and colorful space blending modern travel amenities and design with a very regional feel. Like lots of Colombian architecture, it’s very open air.

The show itself is being held this year at the Valle del Pacifico Event Center, located approximately five miles from the Spirito by Spiwak. Bonga Cams sponsored shuttle buses to ferry attendees to and from the respective locations. Many attendees also opted to take taxis, as Uber was recently fully deactivated in Colombia and other rideshare apps didn’t seem to be working too well for people.

Day 1 events included a models’ lounge complete with hair and makeup services, massages and a DJ, lunch and two full rows of booths and company lounges in multiple configurations. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the booth area was packed for the entire duration of the day. (Tomorrow’s coverage will include a more detailed breakdown of who was represented on the show floor.)

One the most significant draws of the show was, hands down, the seminars. Each of the three seminar rooms was large, the smallest of which seated over 100 people – and often these rooms were packed to capacity. Models, content producers and other business people were clearly there to learn, and the enthusiasm was palpable.

The seminars themselves were conducted a bit differently, mixing 30-minute mini-sessions at the beginning of the day with hour-long expert panels and single-speaker deep-dive topics as the day went on. For instance, Flirt4Free’s Carlos Diaz moderated a lively and informative panel made up of five top models — Aleja Torres, Kisha Tida, Lindsey Banks, Mathew Summer and Sebastian. They collected raffle tickets, and each model had the opportunity to speak to their expertise.

In another session, image consultant Alejandra Cossio delivered an hour-long presentation for models that addressed knowing one’s body type and selecting correspondingly flattering clothes. Now, a cynical person might focus on the conventional tenor of her advice or the fact that the seminar focused on women only; however, the rapt and packed audience indicated that models were looking at Cossio’s advice as important business strategy, which it certainly was.

In a later session, attorney Corey D. Silverstein spoke at length about a collection of topics that might feel current-yet-expected to members of the US industry – AB5, SESTA/FOSTA, social media and discrimination, piracy and various banking issues. Silverstein, however, dug in specifically to the ways in which these issues have and will – or, may not – directly impact the adult space in Colombia.

Day 1 at the 2020 LAL Expo pointed to many clever ways in which the Colombian industry is carving out its own business processes and practices within adult media, finding new markets and opportunities to develop. It also highlighted ways in which, on a global level, the Colombian industry must contend with wider global and cultural issues related to online content regulations in various forms. One then must consider the double — even triple — duty those working in the Colombian space must contend with.

The day wrapped up with a happy hour sponsored by ImLive, a VIP Colombian barbecue sponsored by Streamate and a late night white party.

Read YNOT Magazine’s coverage of the Colombian cam space here.

Registration (image by the author)

Author’s note: The Colombian National Liberation Army’s (ELN) planned nationwide armed strike took place from February 14 through 17. This did not have any apparent impact on the LAL Expo’s events or planning, though some of the group’s activities were occasionally visible from the Hotel Spirito by Spiwak.