Skip to content

Vidcon: Thoughts from Places

2011-08-05 · John, Hank · watch on YouTube · Projects · reflection essay

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

In a love letter to VidCon 2011, John recalls its highlights (Meghan Tonjes, 3,000 people singing a quark song, Driftless Pony Club, Watsky's crowd dive) and argues that Hank has built a career making places where people can fall and get caught: he builds communities for a living.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting 'record'; standing on stage before VidCon 2011 opened; thanks to Hank; quick list of VidCon moments

  • ★ The description invites viewers to pre-order John's new book, The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:00:00 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ John recalls standing on stage with Hank before the doors opened for VidCon 2011, unable to imagine the chairs full of people, and then they were. — 00:00:03 · VidCon
  • ★★ John thanks Hank for organizing another amazing VidCon. — 00:00:03 · VidCon
  • ★ John lists VidCon moments: resting on beanbags, Charlie McDonnell playing Rock Band, meeting 'the actual Yosemite Bear', Philip DeFranco playing a game (name unclear) with him, and the Gregory Brothers. — 00:00:03 · Charlie McDonnell

00:00:32 — Meghan Tonjes on the main stage; Hank and Alan brought her to DFTBA Records before she was famous; her first album

  • ★★ John says Meghan Tonjes performed on the VidCon main stage and he almost cried listening to her play on the couch. — 00:00:32
  • ★★ John says Hank and Alan brought Meghan Tonjes to DFTBA Records before she was on Ellen and famous, and her first album is now coming out. — 00:00:32 · Alan Lastufka, DFTBA Records

00:01:13 — Hank's concert: 3,000 people singing a song about quarks, a reason for hope

  • ★★★ John says that whenever anyone whines about teenagers' intellectually disengaged tastes he will play them 3,000 people singing a song about quarks, which makes him hopeful about the world. — 00:01:13 · Strange Charm

00:01:51 — Driftless Pony Club's set; George Watsky's crowd dive; 'the YouTube community always catches you'

  • ★★ John says Driftless Pony Club, another band Hank and Alan signed to DFTBA Records, played; after ten years as a band, thousands sang their lyrics back to them for the first time. — 00:01:51 · Alan Lastufka, DFTBA Records
  • ★★ John says he made George Watsky sign a waiver before Watsky, at the end of a poem, dove headfirst into the crowd, which caught him. — 00:01:51
  • ★★ John says the crowd catching Watsky shows the thing about the YouTube community: they always catch you. — 00:01:51 · YouTube

00:02:20 — Hank builds places where people can fall and get caught: he builds communities for a living; I love you; belated Esther Day; sign-off

  • ★ John says Watsky later called Hank his guardian angel in an interview, because Hank helped him a lot when he was first growing on YouTube. — 00:02:20
  • ★★★ John says that through nerdfighting, DFTBA Records, helping YouTubers and planning conferences, Hank has built a career making places where people can fall and get caught: he builds communities for a living. — 00:02:20 · nerdfighter, DFTBA Records, VidCon
  • ★★ John tells Hank 'I love that. I love you,' and wishes him a happy belated Esther Day. — 00:02:20

Threads in this video

BR2_eb4cdae3cf