Vidcon 2017

By starrymag | July 1, 2017

By: Alexandra Geisser

 

When I found out I was going to Vidcon, it was certainly an experience. Tickets were bought in my name as a gift during December. Even though the convention was half a year away, I practically bounced in excitement whenever thinking of the convention. YouTube’s finest were present, including several of my favorite creators––what was there not to be excited about?

 

Vidcon is an Internet-centric convention starring YouTube’s best and brightest. Creators ranging from Markiplier to KickthePJ were present and hosting panels. There were three main badges one could use to enter Vidcon––Community (the most basic), Creator and Industry. These badges gave access to a plethora of panels, such as the Markiplier Q&A to Activism with the Ad Council to figuring out YouTube’s algorithm with MatPat. These panels were either very helpful or… utterly useless, to be a bit frank. More on that later.

 

Vidcon ran from June 21 – 24, 2017 in Anaheim, California, if one didn’t include the 25th of June that was used for an excursion to Disneyland. People flocked from all parts of the globe, from the U.K. to Brazil. It was truly a melting pot of content creators, fans and those looking to further themselves. I was a mix of all three, as were most people, truth be told.

 

Anaheim, California, could best be described as old. Half of the convention center was being renovated (with warnings of dust from the project), having been up since before the 1960’s. The homes, while nice, looked just as old as the convention center. Even the hotel I stayed at, the Anabella, had a rustic feel to it (that and my mother suspected the rooms to be single-person apartments that were renovated).

 

The panels of Vidcon were a bit all over the place. Some started off useful, but then dipped into idle chatter between creators and fans (Repurposing Content to Other Platforms). Other panels were lackluster, despite their promised potential, and simply had nothing to do with what was promised (Rhett and Link on their Creative Process). A few panels were useful, but even then did not provide all that could have been (Animation Collection).

 

The convention was split into three floors, one floor for each badge type. The base floor was the Expo Hall for those with Community Passes. The second floor was for Creators. The third floor homed those with Industry passes. Each floor and badge offered different panels to each badge bought. The Expo Hall was mostly product placement of Vidcon’s sponsors and hosted a plethora of Q&A’s and smaller panels. The second floor was mainly from rooms 206-210, with one section blocked off, possibly for Industry to go up without conflict. The third floor is a mystery to me, as I had no access to it with my Creator Pass.

 

The Community Pass gave one access to the entirety of the first floor and the panels offered there. The panels offered were there for entertainment alone, unlike the Creator and Industry passes. Sponsors of Vidcon marked their territory in the Expo Hall with loud, vivid stands from Genius Kitchen’s donut decorating section to American Ninja Warrior’s giant ramp one could test themselves on. Booths for products were located in this vicinity as well, though only the trends were offered (i.e. fidget spinners). The color used to represent Community badges was red.

 

The Creator Pass opened up two floors, those being the Expo Hall first floor and the second floor. Panels offered by the Creator Pass were more educational than those offered by the Community Track, offering different ways one could either start a channel or help their channel grow. This hall gave access to more interesting panels and creators, such as Thomas Sanders, The Gabbie Show and Jaiden Animations. These Creator’s offered panels that, while still goofy and fun, were more informative. The Creator Pass does not have access to meet and greets, by the way, and the tickets don’t say that upfront. The color used to represent Creator badges was purple.

 

Lastly, the Industry badge gave access to the third floor and the school-like panels offered. While I didn’t get to experience the panels first hand, the titles alone gave way to what the Industry badge contained––channel building tips. Industry badges imply one has a successful channel and wishes to further it by understanding the platform of YouTube better. At least that’s what I gleaned from the Industry Track panel titles.

 

I flew up on the Wednesday before Vidcon to give my mother and myself the ability to pre-register and also allow our bodies to get used to the different timezones. Our five and a half (nearly six) hour flight was rough, as we flew an extra thirty-forty minutes out of the way to avoid Tropical Storm Cindy. I had also gotten sick a few days prior so the long plane ride did nothing to help my health. However, I was determined to make the best of a rough situation, even if my solution happened to be complaining about the bumpy ride.

 

Arriving at LAX in Los Angeles, it felt more like 3 PM than 12 PM––that’s because it was, to our bodies. We managed to catch a cheap uber to take us to Anaheim, which laid forty minutes south east to L.A. However, due to mid-day traffic, it took closer to an hour. I was out for the entire ride, having been awake since 5 AM for the flight up. I woke up about ten minutes from the Anabella Hotel with somewhat new vigor thanks to lunch and a nap. My mother, not so much.

 

The hotel room was a bit of a shock at first. It had been nothing we had been expecting, especially with what it had cost us for the stay. The room seemed to tilt slightly and a fly flew around irritatingly. The bathroom was probably the nicest part of the whole layout, truth be told, with tiled floors and a rather attractive mirror-counter layout.

 

The crowd gathering at the convention center the day before Vidcon was staggering. It seemed like we weren’t the only ones with the idea to register early, what with the fifteen minute line we waited in to pick up our passes. People from all fandoms and backgrounds and platforms had gathered and were conversing freely. Internet friends met Internet friends. Subscribers met those they were subscribed to. One dude walked around in a cheap spiderman outfit and screamed every five minutes. It was truly a melting pot fit to identify the Internet.

 

For all three days of Vidcon, I had events at 9:30 AM that I couldn’t miss. From monetizing and sponsorship panels to mourning Vine, I ran from room to room in hopes to learn something to further my dream of being a YouTuber. Some panels were a big help. Most, not so much.

 

One of the few panels I genuinely enjoyed was Activism with the Ad Council. The Ad Council is actually a YouTube channel created to combat bullying and raise awareness of movements. Those present at the panel all did their best to help make the world a better place, from Markiplier’s charity livestreams to the Ad Council’s commercials to raise awareness of bullying. While most were there for Markiplier (who has over 17.5 million subscribers), those who attended got a lot more out of the panel than expected. Tears are a good example of what came out during that panel. A lot of tears. A lot of hugging. A lot of emotions. It was a brilliant panel and was exactly what I needed to boost my motivation and expand my ideas for my channel. So long Thomas Sanders-esque mind trip, hello activism and promoting tolerance.

 

Easily the worst panel I went to was, unfortunately, the Creative Process with Rhett and Link. I was very disappointed with this panel, as were others I talked to in the aftermath. Rhett and Link didn’t discuss their creative process at all, nor did they really even mention the word itself. One audience member blatantly asked for their creative process and was left with nothing. I was so disappointed with this panel, as I had been very excited to learn about the creative process of two of YouTube’s most famous and ingenious creators. Instead, all I was left with was confusion and a very big need to eat (which I had not done during the time for nearly four hours). I was frustrated with the panel and expressed that irritation to a girl who sat next to me, who adamantly agreed. Ironically enough, this girl had been the one to ask Rhett and Link for their creative process, to no success.

 

Was Vidcon a bust overall? No, I don’t believe so. I believe the audience it caters to is expecting more from the platform than can be provided, or even understood. Some panels were like an hour-long commercial for a product. Others seemed similar to meet-and-greets. I still learned, gaining some of the knowledge and motivation I had been searching for. Was it all I had wanted? No, it wasn’t. Would I repeat the experience? Absolutely.