From my Comedy YouTube channel
Draw My Life
A white board drawing of my personal journey»VidCon 2012 – my 5th YouTube conference / convention!
written by Josh Rimer on July 2nd, 2012
My favourite times of the year are when I get to head to the states to mix and mingle with others who share my passion for online video, and specifically YouTube. I just got back from Playlist LIVE in Florida a few months ago, but the biggest gathering of that type is VidCon, which takes place in California and just wrapped up.
When I went to the first one (2010) I knew that it would grow a lot once the videos starting coming out of how easy it was to talk to huge YouTube stars, and it did the next year, but this time was beyond my expectations – a whopping 8000 people attended, spread out over 3 hotels and a huge conference centre.
It wasn’t as intimate of an experience as Playlist Live, which didn’t even have a tenth of the amount of people, but it was still a fantastic opportunity full of education and networking.
My most viewed video so far this year (~100K views) is my Playlist Live video where I asked/did/told things to famous YouTubers as suggested by my own audience, so I decided to do it again for Vidcon! The results are below:
This year I was listed in the special guest list on the VidCon website and in their booklet that every attendee got, so that was quite cool/flattering – and I also got a guest pass with backstage access, which is where I was for some of the hugging clips in the video. Had it not been for that I would have had an even harder time getting a minute alone with the YouTube celebs since they often had line ups of people wanting to talk to them, get their autographs, and get a photo or video.
And although I am secretly still a bit of a “fan girl”, I wasn’t about to do that. 
Have you met any big YouTube content creators? Let me know below.
Facebook Comments:
What does Phil DeFranco smell like? And don’t deny that you took a wiff
lol – I legitimately did not smell him… I sure it was like a guy who’s been running around all day signing autographs and getting his picture taken. lol
Yeah. And don’t forget to kiss some hot guys out there. I’m lookin’ forward to seeing that. It would be awesome
YUP!<3 You is lucky you get to hug him.
you got to hug Joseph Birdsong AND he got to hug YOU!? I’m jealous of both of you now!
Haha, ya – I almost thought I’d break him, he was so thin!
I would like to hug the girl in the orange paints behind Tay….and by hug I mean sexual intercourse
I wish I could be there. Do you know Hank and John Green? They are amazing!! Hank started VidCon, and Johns an AWESOME writer!
Ya, check out the latest video on my JoshRimerVlog channel – it’s me with Hank!
you got to hug ali trippy. i hate u:l lol
Yayyy Hannah Hart! I absolutely love her channel, it’s hilarious! Pretty jealous that you got a hug from Phil, I want a hug from Phil
.
“Oh, you’re so small” haha that was cute
Ya, and she even remembered me from the last time I saw her, which really surprised me. lol
Ya, and that was some hug too! Hannah actually talked about me when she was doing the lgbt panel at VidCon… long story, but she thought I was pretending to be gay. lol
He is teeny tiny! lol
I saw Kalel dancing at 2:15
Haha, I’d be happy with a hug off any of the sourcefed crew too tbh but Phil is the ultimate goal! After your ‘This Diva is Pissed’ video I don’t know how anyone could ever think that! That’s some true diva right there, never change
Of course, my pleasure. I can’t wait for the day when you and I are hanging at VidCon and some new YouTubers come up to us for their challenge videos
1:43 IS WHEN IAN CAN
Are you gay?
aw i love sxephil <3
Freaky thescarysnowman yeah
wow phil defranko gave you a hug, how much did he charge you for it? i heard he was rude to everyone there as they are beneathe him. looks like you have a awesome time.
Lol, no – he was quite nice. Sometimes people get upset because the big YouTubers don’t have time for absolutely everyone, but from what I’ve seen Phil is a good guy.
omg I sware to god 2:22 the lady in the gray shirt is my chorus teacher 0_0
Lol i only watched this because Ian was in it !!!
lol!!! awesome!!! u met Ian!!! where was anthony??
I saw him from a distance a couple times, but wasn’t able to actually talk to him unfortunately.
CTFxC
!!
CTFxC
!!
Hi Will
Hi Will
OMH IANS LAUGH!!!!!!!!!!! *dead*
Ian’s laught was soooo cuuuuttteeee I would be disappointed if I thought that Ian was going to kiss me and he didnt
oh vidcon… i miss IRL youtuber time
Me too! You at least live/work where there are lots IRL.
U suck u didnt hug Shane Dawson and he was right by u
At what point do you see Shane right by me?
1:43 mari (from ianh,) and william and athena from kids react our there
U gay fuck
who was the last youtuber you huged ?
Their names are all up in the top left of the screen as they appear
i saw bree and lisa but that doesnt mean shane was with them just then.
He had hangtime with Ian oh lord
That awful moment when he does the one from your old youtube account that got hacked,
but Sarah Toy is me now… damn, they should hack people with more than 9 videoss…
I thought the red hair girl was Ariana Granda
XD omg the Ian thing XD
I’m so jealous of u right now
I wanna kiss Ian XP
Question: I’m watching this with english subtitles and I must ask: Why is Halo 4 “Hell-04″
is he gay? just curious
did you hug Anthony
No shut up
Scary the snowman!!
..gg………..slakdjaaaa….gkfkyyyyyy
Did anyone notice Mari from smosh games behind Ian?
hhhmmm… are you gay? just asking
I’m too young for both of them:,(
Lol i thought that too xD
i just saw the title and clicked lol
Lol mt.
awwwww I feel some butterflies in my stomach when Ian almost kissed you XD just kidding
Phil give some extreme hugs:O
gay
And~?
So?
your awesome
Fag
YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GAAAAAAAAAY
Anthony was probably being bombarded by screaming fangirls… or he just wasn’t there at the moment.
TREVORRRRRRR<3333
Mari was there
JOE!!!!!
he is gay as crap
this is cool
Thanks
just subbed!
cant wait for more this was awesome
Sweet, thanks for subscribing!
Smosh auto corrects to Amish…. Just sayin
lucky you
lol, good to know! XD
0.43 choclate rain
ALLI!! 1:50
Lol
Cool