Naked Men Talking: Vicken
In the conversation, we talk metrics, expansion plans, and why content-creators deserve recognition.
For our podcast, Naked Men Talking, I caught up with Vicken - the press officer for the Grabby Awards, previewing the Latin Grabbys that will be held in Medellin in October.
In the conversation, we talk metrics, expansion plans, and why content-creators deserve recognition.
Listen to an audio version of the episode on Spotify or you can watch a video version below.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Last time we caught up was at the Grabby Awards Europe in Torremelinos, but your attention is now turning to South America with the Latin Grabbys. It's the first time that the Latin Grabbys have been held - why was this a direction that the Grabbys team wanted to take?
It became quite organic that this was going to be the next step for Grabby's Europe to expand our horizons. Obviously, there's a lot of bridges that exist between Grabby's Europe and the rest of the world. We've seen a very welcome, huge influx of performers from all around the world coming to Grabbys Europe to collaborate, to enjoy the show, and to take in the atmosphere. Obviously, when something is successful, you want to expand - finding another place and honouring a different community was the next step.
Why Latin America? As I said, a lot of bridges exist between Latin America and Europe when it comes to gay adult content creation. So that's one thing. Also, our hosts of the show in Torremolinos - Austin and Matt - have strong ties with Latin America. Those conversations ended up becoming thoughts and processes and the decision was made to have another show.
Was there a pull from performers who are based in South America and Central America, or was it just a sense of if we build it they will come?
We felt the need was there, definitely. We felt that the desire was there.
Some European performers are based in Latin America, and a lot of Latin American performers are based in Europe.
Grabby's Europe is a great place to have those conversations and to take in the vibe of what people want and where to take the Grabby's next.
The Latin Grabbys are being presented at an an award show that's taking place in October in Medellin in Colombia. Why was Medellin chosen as the host city for these awards?
Colombia is a huge hub. Austin and Matt are both from Colombia as well. so they felt there was this familiar atmosphere that was going to be absolutely present.
Why the city of Medellin? There's a huge hub of creators there. It was our first choice.
Talk us through the criteria for these awards - who qualifies to be in the running for a Latin Grabbys Award?
In this context, the concept of home is an interesting one. If you're born somewhere, obviously you're going to consider that place is home. But if you're also established somewhere and have been established somewhere for some time, you're going to consider that place is home for you as well.
So if you were born somewhere or if you've been living somewhere for a sizeable amount of time, then that was the ground rule of being eligible for the Latin Grabbys.
Everything gets moderated every step of the way.
Talk a little bit about the selection process - what's the process to win an award?
The self-nomination process was the same for Grabbys Latin America as it was for Grabbys Europe.
Then we had the public voting round.
Now, we are moving into the jury phase, where a jury of professionals from the gay adult content industry cast their votes from the shortlists voted for by the public.
The jury determines the winners from those shortlists.
You've got to score highly on the public vote in order to make it onto the shortlist to get in front of the jury?
That is absolutely correct.
If we can't make it to Medellin for the awards ceremony, are we going to be able to keep track of who's won the awards?
That was one of the things I felt most proud of coming out of the of Grabbys Europe was that we were able to publish the results live on our platforms.
Everyone that voted wants to be part of the action when the action happens.
We will also deliver that for the Latin Grabbys.
How will we know if the Latin Grabbys has been a success? Are there already plans for 2027?
Let's take it one step at a time. One award ceremony a year is a huge undertaking. Going for two is even bigger.
We'll be looking at the metrics of how many people attend, and how many people interact. We've had 705 nominations across the 17 award categories, so that's a massive number.
Is there an appetite or potential to expand the Grabbys beyond Europe and Latin America?
If you look at the grand scheme of things, the sky is the limit. What limits you is how you can make it happen, creating the safe environment that you need to make it happen. It also has to do with how much you can take on as an organisation.
But how wonderful would it be to have one ceremony per major regional hub? That would be amazing.
What's better for our community than an award ceremony where you can wear your bling and have fun and be honoured for the work that you spend so much time putting together. This is a hustle. It takes energy and stamina. Sex work is real work. All of these people are deserving of some kind of recognition for the incredible amount of work that they put in.
What are the Latin Grabbys?
With the Grabby Awards in both North America and Europe a firm fixture in the calendar of adult entertainment, 2026 sees the first edition of the Grabbys Latin Awards.
The three-day event will be held in Medellín, Colombia - with the ceremony on 2nd October.
The venue is the Hotel Social, and the event hosts are Austin Ponce and Matt Vasquez.
“We wanted to build on the massive success of Grabbys Europe..." explains Matt Vasquez - the co-host of the event. "We receive a lot of participation from Latin American talent and attendees so expanding with Grabbys Latin Awards felt like the perfect natural next step. We chose Medellín because of its incredibly vibrant, energetic queer community and Colombia’s powerhouse status in the global content-creator sphere. This inaugural edition allows us to finally shine a dedicated spotlight on the massive pool of talent across the region. Attendees can expect the exact same high-caliber professionalism and top-tier entertainment as the European version, but reimagined with a distinct, electrifying Latin American aesthetic.”
Performers are able to self-nominate, and seventeen awards will be presented at the Latin edition of the Grabbys.
The categories are:
- Latin Best Bottom
- Latin Best Top
- Latin Best Versatile
- Latin Collaboration of the Year
- Latin Creator / Actor of the Year
- Latin Daddy Creator / Actor of the Year
- Latin Director of the Year
- Latin Fetish Creator / Actor of the Year
- Latin Group Scene of the Year
- Latin Jock Creator / Actor of the Year
- Latin Live Sex Performer of the Year
- Latin Newcomer Creator / Actor of the Year
- Latin Scene of the Year
- Latin Social Media Personality of the Year
- Latin Studio of the Year
- Latin Twink Creator / Actor of the Year
- Latin Twunk Creator / Actor of the Year
Gareth Johnson