VAN NUYS, Calif. – By any measure, it has been a very interesting year for Allison Vivas, young president of the adult entertainment studio Pink Visual.
On top of successfully piloting her company through difficult economic times, Vivas earlier this year found herself briefly thrust into the media spotlight by, of all people, Newt Gingrich. The American Solutions for Winning the Future, an organization led by the noted conservative politician “inadvertently” named Vivas “Entrepreneur of the Year” for 2009, only to quickly rescind the award, once they realized Pink Visual’s business model. .
With 2009 drawing to a close, Vivas finds herself once again rubbing elbows with unlikely company: she is among a select group of people tapped by Newsweek to provide analysis for the magazine’s “20/10: The Decade in Rewind,” a project undertaken in conjunction with online social networking titan Facebook.com.
“I was stunned and humbled to be asked to participate in Newsweek’s look at the past decade; I half expected this offer to be revoked, as well,” Vivas said. “To be invited to participate alongside such accomplished professionals, including prominent politicians Bill Clinton and Michael Bloomberg, journalists Katie Couric and Dan Rather and media personalities like Donald Trump and Bill Maher, is truly an honor.”
Link to Peter Cook’s Porn Problem: www.2010.newsweek.com/top-10/sex-scandal-details/peter-cook-porn-problem.html
Vivas’ comments for the Newsweek appear in the list of the decade’s 10 biggest sex scandals, will post Friday, November 20. The sex scandal list, along with several previous lists covering a variety of topics, is available online at www.2010.newsweek.com/.
“My favorite one so far has been the ‘Worst Predictions’ list,” Vivas said. “It’s always interesting to look back at people’s predictions and see how close they got – or in this case, how far off they were. I can only hope my observations will be as enjoyable to readers as the ones that have already been published.”
Vivas said that while she’s fairly certain it was the “Gingrich episode” that put her on Newsweek’s radar, she hopes it was the way that she handled the incident that inspired the respected magazine to solicit her comments for the 20/10 retrospective.
“I like to think it was my wit and eloquence in responding to the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ mishap that led Newsweek to ask me to chime in on the decade’s sex scandals,” Vivas said. “Or maybe they were just tired of going to Larry Flynt as the default voice of the porn industry, and decided that a more feminine perspective was in order. Either way, it will be a real thrill to see my name included alongside such prestigious company.”
For more information about “20/10: The Decade in Rewind,” and to read the top ten lists and essays posted thus far, visit www.2010.newsweek.com/