The world’s largest online video conference for video creators and industry professionals, VidCon, will return to Melbourne in 2018 and 2019, after a successful debut event in the city last year.
VidCon Australia 2018 will take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) across three days, from 31 August to 2 September, with more than 7,000 delegates expected to attend, generating an estimated $9m in economic impact for the state.
Melbourne Convention Bureau CEO Karen Bolinger explained that events such as this are effective in driving both the visitor economy and the knowledge economy for the entire state.
“Last year, the event was a sell-out bringing together the professional and community based members of the global online video community including representatives from YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. This presents opportunities for local content creators to engage with influential international decision makers that they otherwise may not have been able to access.”
The 2017 conference was the first time VidCon took place outside the US, with organisers stating that they were “blown away” by the enthusiasm of attendees from both Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
Jim Louderback, GM of VidCon, added: “We are overjoyed to be partnering up again with the Victorian State Government and Melbourne Convention Bureau who are all committed to extending and expanding our commitment to democratizing the creative economy by supporting online video creators, their fans and the industry around it.”
Stats from last year’s conference revealed that 2017 VidCon Australia generated 2.08 million Twitter impressions, nearly 200,000 Instagram posts, and almost four million minutes of watch time on VidCon’s YouTube channel during the month of the event.
