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Fan meetups are a great way for YouTubers and other public figures
to connect with you guys in a more direct manner
because we want to show you how much we appreciate your support.
I remember the very first meetup I had
was about three months after starting my channel
back in 2012,
and maybe 10 or so people showed up at the food court where we held it,
and while it doesn't seem like a lot, I was just happy that anyone showed up.
They were shy, I was shy.
It took a bit of icebreaking, but soon enough,
we were having conversations
and it felt great connecting with people
who valued my work, even though they were just crappy drawings with choppy movements at the time.
Over the years, I've come across
countless fans that have expressed their enjoyment of my work,
and it is honestly a big push to continue working when I feel discouraged about myself.
It's one thing to quantify how many subscribers one has,
and it's another to actually see the people behind those numbers.
And while a YouTuber's goal is essentially to grow in viewership and [consequently] in subscribers,
DAMN, do meetups get harder the bigger you get.
Fan meetups can be a bit difficult to organise on our own,
because you need to find a good location that's very accessible to the fans,
but also a location that doesn't pose a hazard for everyone else.
Impromptu meetups at conventions can get us in trouble because without careful planning,
some fans can get a bit rowdy and aggressive
and maybe trample other people to get to the front.
And it's very hard to stay calm and meet each person
while simultaneously yelling at everyone else to stay in a line, and stop pushing.
One trouble I often come across
is when some fans lose awareness
of the amount of people waiting behind them.
And I have no choice but to cut them off in the middle of their autobiography
because as much as I want each interaction to be meaningful for the fan,
I also know what it's like to wait in line.
Especially if it's outside in the hot blazing sun.
And it gets even worse when you combine meetups with other public figures.
A couple of years ago, my friends Albert and Lily came to visit Toronto
and wanted to hold a meet-up while they were here.
Wendy and I were trying to figure out a good place to hold it,
and really only thought Dundas Square would be a convenient place
for people to get to, because it was in the heart of Toronto, and beside a subway station.
So they announced it; I retweeted it;
Uhmm, good to go
On the day of, we headed downtown early to grab a bite to eat
and then made our way to the square with about fifteen minutes or so until the meetup started.
It seemed semi-crowded, but then again, it was Dundas Square.
A lot of events get held there all the time,
so high pedestrian traffic wasn't out of the ordinary.
And then people started recognizing us.
That's when we realized,
yeah, all these people here, are here to meet us.
we fu**ed up
It was a little bit of an underestimation on our part.
Luckily, we had other friends to help us keep things organized and be our bodyguards,
but we definitely knew we were gonna get in trouble
And without prediction we try to get through as many people as we could,
lightning round style,
GO GO GO GO!!
And mind you, each interaction might have been brief and rushed,
but would you rather have weak Wi-Fi or no Wi-Fi? Hmm?
actually, i guess it depends on what you're doing
I really hate playing smash online sometimes
so yeah, I'd rather have no Wi-Fi than some weak b*tch Wi-Fi.
Okay, a better example: would you rather have some drinking water or none at all?
-Uh, I don't like the taste of waaaater.
- Yeah, well, that's why you're crusty and dehydrated. Drink some water, oh my goodness
And soon enough a cop approaches us and tells us we're being an obstruction.
No, we did not have a permit to hold this meetup,
but we were definitely keeping things organized,
granted we were just a lot of people
We just thought, you know, it'd be a casual meetup of people
with similar interests that happened to be in the same location!
Hey, what a coincidence that we are all here at this specific time.
What seems to be the problem, officer?
(slowly rising in pitch) hhmMhmmmMMMmMMMmmMmm?????
But we couldn't argue with him. He said we needed to leave.
Someone speculated that we only got reported
because some street performer complained that we were blocking his business.
But it didn't really matter.
I asked the officer if he'd recommend anywhere else we could go
because there were still maybe a hundred or so people that we didn't get to,
and he replied with
- I don't care, you just need to leave.
- O-o-okay, damn
Thanks, officer.
I guess we'll just convert this obstruction at the square
into an obstruction on the sidewalks, because we had no idea what to do with all these people.
We'd probably just get reported again and kicked out wherever we go,
and while thinking over this during the fan parade,
we agreed that it was just best to break it off.
But we had no way of telling everyone past the couple of people in the front,
and even if we successfully did that, we knew not everyone would listen.
Hello.
Yes, everyone. Uh, yeah.
I'm sorry, it's done.
Go home please.
(overlapping voices) what da f***, a-hole?!? are you kidding me?
this was my only chance to give Albert my nudes up front
As public figures, we have this pressure of obligation to unconditionally love our fans,
but,
some of you gotta know you're assholes, right?
Crush was one of the friends that tried to control the crowd for us,
and some guy heckled him and asked if he was autistic
Which, one, if it was a joke, it wasn't funny.
Two, if it wasn't, the answer is 'No, he's not,'
and three, even if he was, how does that knowledge help in this situation?
hhHuMm??
And then he had the testes to ask Crush for help with meeting me
because he found out we were friends.
some people in this world are
(sarcastically) are just fantastic...
Fortunately, I knew my way around the area
because I went to Ryerson University, which is right beside Dundas Square.
You in mah hood now
BOI
So, I thought of a path and told them all to
run and follow me on the count of three,
while our other friends held off the crowd.
You brave soldiers, I owe you dinner. [cue national anthem]
So, around the corner we went
into a building,
down the hall (Dom looks excited)
and up the stairs
into another hallway where we successfully escaped and reconvened with our other friends.
And then we waited for about half an hour before heading out again.
Disappointing fans always takes a toll on us,
but we have to watch out for our safety first.
That situation was not under control,
and it made me realize how future meetups
either need to be very carefully planned and organized, or,
barely promoted to only attract a handful of people, which sucks as a compromise.
So, I'm really sorry to those who miss out on the few meetups that I do have
but hopefully there will be plenty more opportunities.
- Hey, I heard Domic's GG Gaming Cafe holds Smash tournaments every Tuesday evening
and that you're there every week. Is that true?
Yep.
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Mhhm. Mh hu. Mh hu hu hu
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