Recently, XLNTads went up to Washington Square Park for the big ‘NYC 777′ YouTube gathering. We gave away a few hundred XLNT t-shirts, almost got to see the Diet Coke/Mentos explosion (it got cancelled by the park service), and met a ton of awesome video creators. The turnout was amazing. Probably over 1000 people gathered at the park throughout the day, and we had over 250 attendees at the after-party at The Grand NYC we co-sponsored with Blip.tv, Digital Influence Group and Next New Networks.
I had a few thoughts on the event, now that the day has been digested in my brain. One of the most powerful lessons we learned is that community rules. Get people creating, and they don’t start throwing their work into a giant void. What they’re doing is sharing. They’re putting their creative energies out there to make friends. To show off their chops. To be seen. And to build their own micro-brand. We love that the next step in this sharing process is to actually meet one another.
Also, many of these YouTube video bloggers have built up their own micro-brands within the larger context of the YouTube brand itself. It’s amazing to see the ingenuity of a Nalts or the gregariousness of a HappySlip. These people are leveraging this platform to create a completely new media and a completely new genre of creator: the prosumer. It’s exciting to be a part of this revolution, and to watch the ‘democratization of digital media‘ unfold before our eyes.
[tags]video, youtube, meetup, prosumer, digital revolution, nyc, 777, media, independent[/tags]
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:40 am
You guys were most excellent to show up and support the community. I’m really excited about what you’re doing to not just serve marketers but build a creator-friendly business model. Very revver’esque.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:57 pm
[...] were lucky enough to meet MuggleSam in person way back at the 07/07/07 YouTube Meetup in New York, where she first learned about us. I can tell ya, she’s awesome! She has a very [...]
June 17th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
[...] back before XLNTads even launched, we ventured up to New York City to participate in the 07/07/07 YouTube Gathering. We had a blast, so we’re excited to have another meet up in our hometown this summer! [...]