VidCon will be in Anaheim through 2020.
The Missoula, Mont.-based online entertainment trade and consumer show—which draws YouTube stars, their screaming fans, Hollywood power players and mass media coverage—confirmed a multiyear deal with an email in response to a query from the Business Journal last week.
“The Anaheim Convention Center is a beautiful and efficient venue with a wonderful team that we look forward to working with next year and in years to come,” Chief Operating Officer Michael Gardner said.
Gardner cited support from the Anaheim Convention Center, the city, and destination marketing group Visit Anaheim “as our event has grown over the years.”
The first VidCon had about 1,400 attendees in a Los Angeles hotel in 2010 and has grown steadily each year since.
It drew about 20,000 last month in Anaheim, where the show has been since 2012. Tickets were $100 to $600 depending on time of purchase and the type of ticket.
‘Brilliant’
“It’s an amazing combination of today’s culture and the trade show industry,” said Visit Anaheim Chief Executive Jay Burress. “It really taps into a growing area, combining common interests with technology and the face-to-face. It’s brilliant.”
Next year’s show is set for the weekend of June 24 to 26.
General managers of hotels in the area are setting aside room blocks.
“VidCon sells the hotel out,” said Shaun Robinson, general manager of Hilton Anaheim.
Anaheim Marriott General Manager John Kalinski credited cooperation among hotels, tourism groups, and the city—and a 200,000-square-foot expansion of the convention center now in the works—for nabbing the show.
“All the big players want to know the center is going to grow and expand, and they want their brand to be in an environment that’s always renewing itself.”
Kalinski and Burress both suggested a growth arc that could take the show to 50,000 to 60,000 attendees over the five-year agreement.
