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What I Learned at VidCon

2013-08-09 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Internet & YouTube · reflection essay

From a fire escape at LeakyCon London, Hank lists what he learned at VidCon 2013: PBS succeeds by making content that gets loved, not views; acting on one's own values beats reacting; being out of one's depth is good with support.

What is said

00:00:00 — Hank at LeakyCon in London on a fire escape, three cons in three weeks; jet lag and bad sound

  • ★★ Hank, at LeakyCon in London after VidCon, films on a fire escape; he calls it 'three cons in three weeks'. — 00:00:03 · VidCon, LeakyCon
  • ★ Hank says London has treated him nicely apart from some jet lag, and that the vlog's sound is badly messed up. — 00:00:03

00:00:26 — Lessons from VidCon: sore feet, residual stress, Michael Buckley knows when you need a hug

  • ★★ Because most people who want to go to VidCon cannot, Hank talks about what he learned there rather than how great it was. — 00:00:26 · VidCon
  • ★★ Hank learned that his feet can hurt for a long time before they stop working, that two weeks of stress leaves residual stress, and that extreme stress makes him sleepy. (playful) — 00:00:26
  • ★ Hank says Michael Buckley knows when you need a hug, and Jack and Finn are as intelligent, personable, fun and kind as you would expect. (playful) — 00:00:26

00:00:55 — Jack and Finn; creators are normal in real life (except WheezyWaiter); PBS focuses on content that gets loved, not views

  • ★★ Hank learned that internet creators who seem really weird are pretty normal in real life, except WheezyWaiter, who is 'legit weird'. (playful) — 00:00:55 · Craig Benzine
  • ★★★ Hank: PBS is probably the most innovative and successful legacy media company in online video because it has always focused on content that gets loved, not views. (hedged) — 00:00:55 > «not on content that gets views, but content that gets loved.»
  • ★★★ Hank: in a world of infinite content and free distribution, the relationship between the content and the viewer is the only thing that matters. — 00:00:55

00:01:38 — Other legacy media have not learned this; lessons from Josh Sundquist, Ze Frank and Freddie Wong; being active not reactive

  • ★★ Hank says almost every other legacy media company has not yet learned this lesson, which he finds both frustrating and kind of beautiful. — 00:01:38
  • ★★ Hank learned from Josh Sundquist that concentrating on the 2% you can't do while ignoring the 98% you can do is idiotic. — 00:01:38
  • ★★★ Hank came to see being active rather than reactive as important to him: acting on his values and what he thinks should exist, not on external factors. — 00:01:38

00:02:07 — Acting on values: saying no to selling or growing VidCon; launch-day panic over one ticket; thanks to the first ticket buyer

  • ★★★ Hank says that over four years people urged them to sell VidCon to a big media company, take investment, obey sponsors or grow to 20,000 people; saying no has always been best. — 00:02:07 · VidCon
  • ★★ Hank says refusing those offers was maybe not best for his wallet but was for the conference and, he thinks, for his happiness. (hedged) — 00:02:37 · VidCon
  • ★★ Starting VidCon was an active move nobody asked for; on launch day Hank panicked when only one ticket had sold after three hours. — 00:02:37 · VidCon
  • ★ Hank thanks the first person ever to buy a VidCon ticket, who attended this year, and suggests giving her a lifetime pass. — 00:02:37 · VidCon

00:03:06 — Being out of your depth is good with support; thanks to his wife, parents and the VidCon team; message to John

  • ★★★ Hank thinks being out of your depth, though hard and uncomfortable, is probably a good place to be, as long as you have a lot of support. (hedged) — 00:03:06
  • ★★ Hank thanks his wife, his parents and the VidCon team for supporting him, though he often doesn't know what he's doing. — 00:03:06 · Katherine Green, VidCon
  • ★★ Hank tells John he's sorry John couldn't be at LeakyCon London but glad he's back with his family; LeakyCon attendees then greet John. — 00:03:06 · John Green, LeakyCon

Humor (significant)

  • Among the things Hank learned at VidCon — 00:00:26 > «my feet can hurt really bad for a really long time before they stop working.»
  • Hank says Michael Buckley knows when you need a hug — 00:00:26 > «the way that my dog knows when you have a french fries.»
  • Hank learned that internet creators who seem weird are normal in real life — 00:00:55 > «Aside from WheezyWaiter, who is legit weird,»
  • After lessons from Josh Sundquist and Ze Frank, a lesson from Freddie Wong — 00:01:38 > «you can revive a dead YouTuber if you get enough people to sing to their corpse.»

Threads in this video

  • retro · VidCon 2013 edition — Hank lists what he learned at VidCon 2013, from sore feet and residual stress to PBS's success and the value of saying no to offers to sell or grow the conference. (00:00:26)
  • restate · What makes a good video? — Hank: PBS succeeds in online video because it has always focused on content that gets loved rather than content that gets views; in a world of infinite content, the content-viewer relationship is all that matters. (00:00:55)
  • retro · VidCon 2010 edition — Hank recalls launching VidCon as an active move nobody asked for, panicking on launch day when one ticket had sold after three hours, and thanks the first ticket buyer. (00:02:37)

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