Last week I went to VidCon in Anaheim, CA- it's the annual summit for creators who make and share videos online.

I met a ton of super interesting people, and came away with lots of great tips for building and sustaining a great community online.

I shared my thoughts in this week's dispatch of my newsletter, 💌 Tiny Improvements.

Catch it here:

https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/lessons-from-the-creator-track-at-vidcon

#community #creator #newsletter #vidcon #video #tiktok #youtube

Digital content here
A force no one can ignore
Entertainment changes

#vidcon #digitalcontent #entertainment #haiku #poetry

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/vidcon-creators-mainstream-hollywood-rcna88440

We're not KITTEN around, we brought 🐱🐱 to @VidCon to raise awareness about our Found Kittens tool! Visit https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/i-found-kittens-what-do-i-do to learn more about how to help these cuties. If you're at @VidCon in Anaheim, make sure to stop by our booth! #VidCon #VidConAN23

Original tweet : https://twitter.com/ASPCA/status/1671956703162630148

@UnicornRiot the same "worst #Seccies in the #USA" that also "#secure" #VidCon?

https://youtu.be/EVeiStUO1UQ?t=367

not sure why I bother tagging something like #vidcon, not a single other person anywhere on my corner of the #fediverse has ever used it 🙃

as far as I remember, I actually stayed asleep through most of the night, and didn't have TERRIBLE nightmares, just a few weird dreams... so I should feel rested, but like always I still feel tired 😞 hopefully coffee does its job by the time my livestream rolls around in three hours... I really want to get a bunch more of my old videos handmaided up and put back on #YouTube for any new people I meet at #vidcon to see (even though they'll probably get #banned anyway since all it takes is #haters false reporting my content for the #algorithms to obliterate it 🙃)

tried to watch some more content from the #vidcon "featured creators" and just about threw up in my mouth. hey, I'm two decades older than online video's current Gen z target demographic, and I accept that. it's a pity the channels I am such a fan of, that work so hard on producing such quality content, don't get the same corporate support that cheerfully shouting attractive teenagers with click bait titles and dizzying jump cuts get, but that's capitalism, baby.

https://www.vidcon.com/anaheim/faq/4-11/ oh. looks like #vidcon got rid of the "actually have a few minutes to talk to a creator like a real person" round table option for their meet and greets, and they only have the "wait in line for hours for a thirty second selfie then gtfo" option instead.

f that s 🙃 there's no one I care enough about to wait in line for hours just for an autographed selfie, certainly not any tiktok dancers or minecraft let's players.

So, I guess I'm probably going to VidCon, just got my hotel tickets, but made sure to have the ability to cancel...

Worst case scenario? I get bored of #VidCon and go to Disneyland instead. 🤷

ughhh I set up Google flight alerts at a friend's recommendation for getting down to Anaheim for #vidcon in June, and it's so exhausting watching the prices change (and this is for the absolutely lowest tier, that doesn't let you refund our change it) 😩 the tickets were $333 when I set up the alert and I haven't seen them go below $380 since then... I just should have bought them the first time I looked them up 😑

dammit, I'm getting all excited daydreaming about #vidcon again.

here's hoping #vidcon is a little less stupid this year and requires masks, or at least ACTUALLY CHECKS for a negative test (I remember picking up my badge, literally no one had to check anything to prove vaccination or negative test, it was just "name? OK here's your badge."

many of us were foolish enough to believe the "everyone get back to work" government when they claimed covid was over--clearly the continued daily deaths prove otherwise.

I still think vaxxes should be required. not for yourself--you wanna Darwin yourself out of the gene pool, great! - - but for the millions who legitimately CAN'T get vaxxed, or who vaxxes have little affect on (like the immunocompromised).

but when has the "home of the daily mass shootings" ever given a shit about the whole over the "muh freedumbs" "individualists"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvEnuOR5i6Y&t=3s I've been rewatching my vlogs from when I was at #vidcon last year (pretty much the best and only convention for #contentCreators #livestreamers #youtubers #tiktokers etc) and reflecting how interesting it is that I made the convention a good experience by deciding to make it a good one, even though overall it was very disorganized, oriented at a totally different crop of young blood #influencers I have/had no interest in, and ended up giving half its attendees covid. I'm looking forward to this year's, I already bought my ticket, just went for a creator pass this time because the industry only panels were basically all meant for corporations to figure out how to buy influencers, which I have no interest in from either side of it.

I might actually be able to share a hotel room with a sort-of-friend who I met through Vidcon Online in the years the convention was canceled, which would be awesome...it was nice not having to worry about the kids at all for a week (other than hoping matthew was paying enough attention to keep them from getting hurt), but got a little lonely for sure.

And hey, even if it turns out exactly like last vidcon does, that's okay, I had a good time...otherwise, I have six months (well, five, now) left to try to grow my audience (yes, surely THIS is the year, the 15 years I created content prior to this one were just practice runs 😏 ) and if nothing else, maybe some of the other creators I talked to briefly will remember me, and that's a little bit of an in!

God, that fucking price hike. #vidcon tickets JUST went on sale today, meaning they're at their cheapest, yet Industry passes are already neary $700 dollars.

I got an industry pass this yuear (2022) to see what it was like, and there was like, one industry networking event I kinda liked (even though it was outside in 90+ degree weather). Other than that...I can't say it was worth it. I tried going to a few industry panels, and they were pretty much all just oriented toward big businesses on how to use already-popular "#influencers" (cannot type that without wanting to vomit 🤢​) to sell their products.

It was kinda nice having access to the top floor, but I don't think it was $505 nice.

I think I'll just go with Creator, and maybe focus on finally getting famous enough over the next six months to get upgraded to a "special guest" pass 😂​ (yeah right...I've long ago accepted that being a #toplessequality activist means I'm not "advertiser friendly" enough to ever get famous.

#vidcon Anaheim tickets just went on sale today >_> <_< >_>

Any #contentcreators wanna meet up with me there? 😅 There are definitely benefits to going solo (like fitting into crowded panels easier) but it would also nice to be able to decompress with a friend.

Still so pissed about #vidcon being canceled. Not so much the cancelation itself, though it's extremely disappointing. My rage is mostly driven towards the FUCKING #ANTIVAX SCUM that will keep this pandemic spreading in perpetuity. #VACCINEMANDATESNOW or covid will never end.

A taste of #Vidcon weekend madness