VidCon 2016 is right around the corner, and YouTubers all over are excited about it. Why is this?

VidCon 2016 – what is it?

VidCon is a convention held for fans of YouTubers and content creators alike. Besides serving as a place where YouTube creators can reach out to their fanbase or YouTubers can learn more about content creation, VidCon also hosts a lot of fun events, including cosplay contests and other lighthearted material. As this is one of the largest public events out there for YouTube fans and creators, VidCon is fairly relevant to our blog, and we want to help you learn more about it with this article.

What’s it like?

VidCon 2016 takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. As one of the largest conventions for YouTubers and digital content creators, all there’s thousands of people in attendance and hundreds of businesses running various booths at the convention. These booths can provide anything from interactive games and experiences, to voice acting auditions, and more. VidCon is packed tightly with YouTubers, musicians and other online content creators. As a three-day convention in the heart of California, VidCon is full of things to do, games to play, food to eat, people to meet, and more. Experiences vary year-to-year, of course, but you can expect to see prominent YouTubers, large crowds and a wide variety of different booths and experiences to take part in. A few sections below here and we’ll discuss what’s going on for VidCon 2016. For now, let’s take a moment to talk about how much it costs.

How much does it cost?

Before we jump into pricing, we should note that there’s more than just one level of access. There’s three, actually, divided by the badges you receive: Community, Creator and Industry. We’ll discuss the access offered by each level, as well as the price for them. You can purchase these passes here.

Community Passes

Cost: $150

The basic Community pass offers entry to the event, and most of what goes on at VidCon. This includes the QnA sessions, concerts, interviews, movies, games, prom…most of the things you’re going to VidCon for are there. However, this does leave out access to Creator and Industry-exclusive events, so only settle for this cheap option if you’re just there for the fun and spectacle of it all.

Creator Passes

Cost: $200

The Creator pass is a different story. In addition to all of the fun and games that people with Community passes can enjoy, Creator opens up access to special panels, demonstrations and workshops. If you’re attending VidCon 2016 to have a good time and learn more about what it takes to be a better YouTuber, this tier is for you.

Industry Passes

Cost: $750

Industry passes aren’t for creators or fans. Rather, they’re for people who work with production companies, MCNs, advertisers, and other big businesses. This is why the price is so much larger than the others. Industry passes get access to every event available at VicCon 2016, and also have exclusive access to the third floor of the Anaheim Convention Center.

Bonus: VidCon DisneyLand Event Passes

Cost: $75+ (fluctuates)

In parallel to the main event going on at the Convention, VidCon is also hosting VidCon Day at the Disneyland Resort. This is a special event where VidCon attendees take over Disneyland, but that aside it’s mostly just added fun on top of everything else. The thing that sets this apart from going to Disneyland normally is a discounted price exclusively for VidCon attendees- so make sure that you can prove that you have access to VidCon before heading out to Disneyland!

Anything special this year?

Of course. Let’s tackle them!

The Stages

These seven stages are a centerpiece and available to all attendees.

AwesomenessTV Festival. This is where concerts and musical performances go down all day during the convention.

Kia Arena. Concerts + Vidcon Prom, in addition to VidCon Variety shows.

YouNow Community Stage. This one is for creator-posted panels and QnA sessions.

INSTANT Interview Stage. Featured Creators are interviewed here.

Snickers Gaming Stage. A gaming-centric stage where panels are hosted by Snickers.

Snickers Competitive Gaming Stage. Another gaming stage, but this time where Featured Creators and attendees play games together and duke it out.

Expo Halls

The Expo Hall of previous years has been expanded into three new halls- B, C and D- for VidCon 2016.

Main Hall. The Main Hall contains various Chill Lounges (including a Netflix Chill Lounge) and VidCon booth.

Hall B. Hall B contains the Nickelodeon Arcade, full of video games and Hidden Temple Activities.

Hall C. Hall C hosts the Miss 2059 Intergalactic VidCarnival, which will include everything from a dodge ball arena to inflatable wrecking balls.

Hall D. Parent’s lounge and other unspecified areas. It’s a mystery!

Spoken Word Open Mic

A special event hosted by Savannah Brown. This will happen within the Marriot Platinum Ballroom on June 23rd, from 7 to 8:30 PM. This session will allow people to share poems about anything they hold near and dear, light or heavy-hearted. This means you can hear anything from sobering love stories to hilarious poetry. It’s creator-driven, and anything could happen!

Featured Creators

Okay, you caught us: this isn’t exclusive to VidCon 2016 at all. They do this every year. However, this year they’re hosting the largest amount of Featured Creators, ever, taken from all ranges of YouTube talent. You’re likely to find one of your favorite YouTube content creators! It’s a huge list- way too huge to summarize here- but you can click here to read through it and see if there are any familiar faces. Featured Creators will host panels and discussions, but other creators will be at VidCon 2016 too, just like you.

Why should I go?

With all this considered, you’re probably asking yourself (or us, either works) why you should go to VidCon. There are a few answers to that, but I’ll try and sum them up into a cohesive whole. Basically, VidCon 2016 is a combination between child-like fun going to theme parks and business-minded networking and learning. If you’re a serious creator on YouTube, heading to VidCon should be a goal of yours, though it doesn’t necessarily have to happen this year. The key thing to note here, though, is that this convention is going to be full of successful content creators, as well as up-and-coming ones like you. Here at Grin, we constantly talk about YouTube collabs  (that’s what our app is for!), so we consider heading to VidCon 2016 to be one of the best things you could do for yourself, as both a fan and content creator. VidCon 2016 will be hosting all kinds of interesting events for three consecutive days. In this huge series of events, you’re bound to find something that interests you, not to mention what you can learn from the speakers and panels. Don’t miss out on what could be an amazing chance to meet a fellow creator or find out exactly what you’ve been missing to make your channel grow. Take a look at the agenda, if you like. Of course, we here at Grin will also be present at Vidcon 2016! We’re already based in California, so making it to the Convention Center isn’t an issue. We have a house in Anaheim we will be filming some content at and hanging out. We’re looking forward to connecting with all kinds of content creators, big and small. Contact us if you’re interested in coming by our place, email us at info@grinapps.com for more information, or just say hey to us when you’re at Vidcon! For more articles on YouTube and content creators, head to our blog. Some articles, like these, cover recent events, but others can offer general guidance to help you grow on YouTube!