Sex Tech News: Bumble CEO on Post-Pandemic Dating, XBIZ Exec Award Nominees & ’90s Phone Sex

Jenna Owsianik
4 Min Read

Also, the celebrity-backed sex toy trend is here to stay with the release of “Demi Wand.”

Operator phone sex podcast logo

“The series is hosted by Tina Horn, host of sex, kink, and gender podcast Why Are People Into That? and creator of sci-fi sex rebel comic book series SFSX.

“In the early 1990s, American TelNet brought together an army of phone sex operators that focused on fostering a human connection – an empathetic ear to the lonely and repressed – and in the process, grossed over $2B. Despite the staggering revenue and groundbreaking innovations in aural connection, the podcast series uncovers the truth behind how the operators themselves were left to struggle alone with the shame and stigma of providing these live sexual services, and how that led to the company’s downfall”. (via Peter White/Deadline)

  • XBIZ Announces Nominees for 2022 Online Exec and Retail Exec Awards

Nominees for both the online and retail industry editions of the 2022 XBIZ Exec Awards were announced last week.

The online industry awards are set to be presented as part of the annual XBIZ Honors ceremony on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at the Kimpton Everly Hotel in Hollywood. Go to the list of nominees for the 2022 Online Exec Awards.

Conversely, the retail industry awards are set to be presented as part of the annual XBIZ Honors ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at the W Hollywood Hotel. Go to the list of nominees for the 2022 Retail Exec Awards.

“The annual XBIZ Exec Awards honor the best of the best from the adult business community for their outstanding creativity and leadership, celebrating exceptional career achievement across a wide variety of prominent industry roles. Nominees are selected based on a range of success factors including business acumen, community standing, and overall leadership,” stated XBIZ in a news release.

Voting for the 2022 XBIZ Exec Awards continues through Tuesday, Nov. 23. (via XBIZ.net)

“Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd joins Emily Chang to discuss the online dating app’s third-quarter results, international growth and what the future of dating holds post-pandemic and in the metaverse.”(via Bloomberg Technology)

“Released in collaboration with Bellesa, Lovato’s ‘Demi Wand’ vibrator is meant to de-stigmatize sexual wellness (and induce a little pleasure)…

“Although Lovato’s public endorsement of a sexual wellness product is certainly progressive, the past couple of years have seen several celebrities backing sex toys and sexual wellness brands, including Lily Allen, who launched her “Liberty” vibrator on Womanizer.com last fall.

“Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop, meantime, released its first vibrator on Valentine’s Day. Around the same time, rapper Cardi B featured Vush’s “Majesty 2” vibrator in the video for her single “Up.” And in November of last year, both Cara Delevingne and Dakota Johnson took on executive roles at sexual wellness companies (Lora DiCarlo and Maude, respectively).” (via Oscar Hartzog/Rolling Stone)

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Jenna Owsianik is a Canadian journalist and sex tech expert. From 2014 to 2022 she was Editor-in-Chief of FutureofSex.net, the world’s leading publication on how technology is changing human sexuality, today and tomorrow. Her expertise covers state-of-the-art sex technologies and the major fields driving innovations in intimacy: robotics, virtual reality, remote sex (teledildonics), immersive adult entertainment, human augmentation, virtual sex, and sexual health. A trained journalist with a Masters of Journalism from The University of British Columbia, Jenna’s reporting has appeared on Futurism.com, Al Jazeera English, CTV British Columbia online, CBS Sunday Morning, CBS 60 Minutes, Global News, and CKNW Radio in Canada and the United States. As a sex tech industry consultant, she is especially passionate about helping companies deliver accessible services and products to people with disabilities and other underserved communities. Jenna also runs the sites SexforEveryBody.com, a sex-positive, body-positive online magazine that promotes inclusive sex education; and DisabledSexGuide.com, an adult resource on sex, disability, and erotica. In 2013, Jenna won two Canadian Online Publishing Awards for her work on The Pain Project, a multimedia site on global access to palliative care. She won second place at the 2011 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism’s Public Health category for her participation in the documentary Freedom From Pain. Jenna has an Honors BA in Women’s Studies and Feminist Research as well as a French minor from The University of Western Ontario. She spent a year studying at L’Université Lumière Lyon 2 in Lyon, France.