Inside the theater at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, a full house of children sang and held plush toys that corresponded to the cartoon show playing in front of them.
No, this was not a Disney or Nickelodeon event. It was an in-theater viewing party for the new season of the animated show that lives entirely on YouTube.
The show, called “Battle for Dreamland” (or BFDI), was created by two brothers, Cary and Michael Huang. July’s viewing party, which included content from the Animation Epic YouTube channel and the “Inanimate Insanity” series, was one of many personal events the brothers held. this year.
The July event included previews of upcoming episodes, Q&A with creators and voice actors, and interactive features such as allowing the audience to vote on the video’s outcome and sing along to viral videos they’ve memorized.
“I just love the idea of changing the microphone and having the audience make more noise,” Cary Huang said. “It’s very important to the whole community.”
Like the Huang brothers, many other creators are meeting their audiences in person for shows and public events. Not only are events a revenue driver for creators, but the opportunity to gather a sophisticated audience can be an important part of building a strong community.
Creator podcasts have been around for a while, and YouTube has become the top platform for listening and watching video podcasts. The video podcasting format works well for stage performances, where creators can sit on the couch and chat in front of fans. Several high-profile podcasts are hosting events this year, including “Cancelled” with Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield, “Therapuss” with Jake Shane, and the “H3 Podcast” with Ethan and Hila Klein. Mongeau and Schofield are currently on tour doing 15 shows, including the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Also in LA, the H3 Podcast performed at the Greek Theater in June, and streamed the event on YouTube for fans who couldn’t attend.
“Innovators are the new priests,” creator economist and VC Hugo Amsellem once told BI. “Of course, it’s not about religion, it’s about gathering people.”
Snapback Agency hosted an event at the Mall of America with its athletic designers. Snapback Center
Podcasts and keynote events help creators build a community
In August, Snapback’s talent agency hosted a basketball-themed event at the Mall of America with several of its athletic design clients.
Snapback Agency hosted the event in partnership with Mall of America, with designers Jenna Bandy, Strictly Bball, Bree Green, and Carson Roney, among others.
“I think it’s a powerful connection for people to express themselves,” said Alex Sheinman, CEO and co-founder of Snapback Agency.
Artists also travel the country to cities with large followings.
New York comedians Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton host the Celebrity Memoir Book Club (CMBC) podcast, where they discuss celebrity memoirs. Parker and Hamilton have taken their podcast on the road, visiting cities around the US to meet their fans.
“We prefer the intimacy and camaraderie of all being in the same place,” Hamilton said.
Creating a place where their fans can meet is also the reason for CMBC events.
“A big thing about our podcast is female friendship,” said Hamilton, who became a friend of Claire’s in her mid-20s. “There is a noticeable trend now, or a desire from people, to make deeper friendships than in their 20s, early 30s, 40s and beyond.”
In fact, many startups and events in American cities are trying to address this hunger for senior companionship amid the so-called loneliness epidemic.
“Creating these places where people can come together in real life, where the common interest is our podcast, is a great place to help people meet other people,” Hamilton said.
Before each show, Hamilton and Parker also like to hold meetings where they can chat one-on-one with their audience.
“We like to let people get together before the show so if they buy a ticket alone, they can come and make friends when they get to the show,” Hamilton said.
Creators are following in the footsteps of traditional media by engaging their audience in person.
Private concerts have become an important revenue stream in the music industry, and now entertainment companies like Netflix are also trying to create personalized experiences. Theme parks have always been an important part of Disney and Universal’s strategy.
Claire Parker and Ashley Hamilton recently visited with their Celebrity Memoir Book Club podcast. Celebrity Memoir Book Club, Vox.
Producers are linking up with technology companies and media to make fans offline
Events led by the Creator are not new at all. In the pre-pandemic era, some YouTube stars would go on tours, planning shows that resembled variety shows. In 2015, YouTube creators Dan Howell and Phil Lester went on a tour to coincide with the release of their book. Howell and Lester performed various stage and game challenges, such as giving advice to audience members and reading fan fiction.
But designers are still thinking about how to interact with their fans and create a close relationship with their audience. And it takes more than just getting fans in the room for a personalized experience to be successful.
For help putting on these events, designers have turned to companies from event startup app Posh, to media powerhouse Vox Media, to buzzy subscription service Substack.
App Events Posh, which recently raised $22 million in funding, is used by developers to organize and monetize IRL events. Creators can organize events through Posh, sell tickets, and get their events promoted within the event recommendations app. For example, Ariana Nathanicreator behind the “First Drinks” dating podcast, hosts events in NYC using Posh.
Vox Media has also doubled down on investment in podcasting and is helping its podcast creators grow into live events.
Jackie Cinguina, chief marketing officer, and Lillian Xu, executive director, spoke to BI about the company’s offerings for podcasters.
Vox Media, which works with the Celebrity Memoir Book Club, has a production team that works with podcast talent and producers when planning a live event, Cinguina said.
Vox Media relies on niche marketing, such as placing podcast talent at large in-person events, such as South by Southwest. This year, Vox Media organized a podcasting platform for the conference.
During the outbreak, Vox held several events, but it did not prove to be a complete replication of the power created by the individual event.
“From the audience’s point of view, we thought it was very important,” Xu it said about returning live events. “From a podcaster’s perspective, we’ve seen that they’re often able to try new formats or try things out in front of a live audience and get that real-time reaction. And that gives them a lot of power. . You see them reacting to the audience and feeding them when they are in front of a live audience.”
Substack, too, is finding its footing in the IRL market.
In 2024, the newspaper platform – which has worked to strengthen its podcast game this year – has helped several producers host events, such as live readings by writers such as Delia Cai, a question show hosted by Hunter Harris , and a fashion week experience with Emilia. Petrarch.
“Substack is very much built on these direct relationships between the publisher and subscribers,” said head of publisher relations Sophia Efthimiatou. “It creates very close and strong bonds.”
Although ticket sales are a clear sign of success for events like those set by Substack (some of them are sold out events), Efthimiatou sees these events as a larger project of connecting people.
When Efthimiatou was wrapping up a Substack event earlier this year, a woman in the audience shared that she was leaving with 10 new names of people she met at the event, Efthimiatou told BI. The woman was accompanied by many new friends.
“How weird is that?” Efthimiatou said.