We’ve been forced to do a last minute change of venue for the Tranny Awards. I hope this is not inconvenient for you but I would like to explain why we’ve had to change it for the second time. After a few months of searching for venues, we narrowed it down to four choices in early November and set to work on those venues. We found that the venues either put too many time constraints in hosting us or wanted exorbitant bar guarantees, which were unjustified for a Sunday evening event, in February. It was plain to see that these venues weren’t too interested in accommodating our show which was surprising as they usually catered to a gay crowd.

In December we arranged a contract with El Cid, a renowned Hollywood venue and started our plans for the event. Five weeks before the event, we contacted the owners to ask some questions and were told that they’d sold the venue and it was currently under renovation but that they had a larger and more upscale venue, in which they would honor the contract, Los Globos. As the show numbers had grown, this seemed to work. The warning signs were that it took multiple phone calls and three visits to get into the venue although when we did, it seemed ideal for our purposes.

Last week, we were informed that we’d have to finish the event by 11pm (despite our original contract for El Cid going much later) as they have an after hours event going on which they were unwilling to change. Although they would allow us to stay at the club, my concerns were mainly based on the safety of our guests as well as putting on an exclusive event and with less than 3 weeks to the event date we had the task of choosing a new venue.

The venue we have chosen is Joseph’s Cafe on N. Ivar in Hollywood, CA. This was the only place we could find that was centrally based, could accommodate the guests, where we would have the place exclusively, could get a red carpet entrance, and who have worked with us all week to ensure that this event would go well. I didn’t even realize until this morning that a t-girl event has been held there before – The Tranny Awards is not associated with that party night.

Despite the last minute changes, I think the final venue will work our better than the previous ones. We have a great MC, Nicole Paige Brooks, a former contestant on Rupaul’s Drag Race. Our DJ, the talented Chelsea Malone is flying in from New York. We have a red carpet to be hosted by Domino Presley and we’re hoping also to live stream from the red carpet from another interviewer also (watch this space). We have a photobooth coming in, so you can have your fun photos taken and networked out right away, VIP areas for sponsors and nominees, two bars with plenty of bartenders on, Pornstar Tweet will be tweeting the night, and even some half-time entertainment. I have all the winners names and it’s going to nail biting until the end.

My apologies for the last minute changes and the seemingly lack of professionalism, but even above creating a great event, the safety and respect of our guests are paramount.

-Steven Grooby