What happens when YouTubers get together

I swear I’m planning to write something substantive soon.  In the meantime, here’s a roundup of what happened at the recent gathering of YouTubers I helped to organise in Melbourne:

It started with balls and it ends with dick!

Advertisement

Back on deck

Almost.

I’m decompressing from the weekend.  Two major events have come to pass.  First, I finally got to meet one of my favourite people on YouTube; Cory Williams AKA MR Safety of SMP Films.  Second was the gathering we organised for YouTube users and viewers to get together in Melbourne is finally over.

The first thing we did when Cory landed was make some videos even though he was jet lagged.  We had fun playing up the stereotype that Americans don’t know anything about Australia.  This one is short and sweet:

This one has a longer set-up but is rapidly becoming the most popular video ever uploaded to my YouTube channel:

Cory’s “endorsement” of me has meant a doubling of my subscriber numbers in a really short time frame which is both weird and incredibly gratifying to someone as vain as me.  Anyway, I’ll round off with my video from the gathering at the weekend.  I’m almost sure I’m going to start writing regularly again tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, don’t watch this video if you’re easily shocked.  I’m not wearing a mask!

Blazing heat and flies – it must be summer in Australia

So after months of planning, it’s now less than two weeks to go until the As One gathering for YouTube users here in Melbourne.  And right on cue Melbourne has delivered a reminder that it might be a hot day.  We’re in the middle of a three day stretch of mid to high 30s temperature-wise (that Celsius! 90-100 Fahrenheit for those not good at conversion).

I thought it was my duty to provide a reminder to those planning on attending to take our warnings about the sun seriously.  And while I was doing a location shoot it became obvious what else I had to warn people about: the fucking flies!  Federation Square is right next to the Yarra river where the bastard things are probably breeding.  I didn’t have repellent and they wouldn’t let up swarming all over me.

Although I didn’t catch it on camera I actually inhaled one of the fucking things!  I HATE it when that happens!  I made quite a scene, doubled over, hacking and coughing, trying to get a fucking fly out of my throat.  The little shit was actually still alive when I spat it out!

Mind you, today’s temperature is no indicator of what it will be like on December 1st.  Or even tomorrow for that matter.  Melbourne is notorious for sudden weather changes.  For fans of Kiwi band Crowded House, their song “Four Seasons in One Day” is about Melbourne.  The gathering day could be stormy, just as hot as today, even hotter or pleasant and mild.  Or some combination of all of those.

People think the talk of rapid changes to the weather here is exaggerated here but it isn’t.  The record for weirdest day I have experienced here was summer last year.  It was really hot, more than 38 Celsius (close enough to 100 Fahrenheit) when a storm front moved in late in the afternoon.  This would normally cool things down a bit but the temperature dropped 15 degrees Fahrenheit in an hour.  The maximum the next day was 20 degrees lower than the maximum on this day.

So yeah, Melbourne is not a city that rewards you for planning an outdoor event a long time in advance.  If there’s torrential rain on the day of the gathering the crowd will probably punch me out.

How to speak Oz – lesson one

With the Melbourne As One gathering for YouTubers fast approaching (December 1st for those who need reminding) I find myself with a lot to do.  I’m answering questions, still hopeful of securing some sponsorship, organising events for the days and working with the Burnet Institute who are running the World AIDS Day Concert which is also on at Federation Square on the same day.

But I need to do more.  Now that several people from overseas have confirmed the will be coming I have realised I need to help them.  With the local language.  Many of them assume they will be OK because they think they speak English.  Sadly, some will find they only speak American which is not the same thing at all.

Teaching these people to speak Australian (or Strine as it is know to academics) will not be an easy task.  But I am not daunted.  I will start with the basics and work up from there.  Todays lesson covers two things visitors absolutely must know:

Help me promote the Melbourne YouTube gathering

So I mentioned previously that I’d been to the YouTube party in Sydney and had a great time.  Now I’m in full swing organising the gathering for YouTube users in Melbourne (known colloquially as AusOne) which will be in Federation Square on December 1st.

One thing I don’t think I mentioned about the Sydney gathering was I stole a bunch of YouTube shirts.  And they’re all too small for me.  So I’m giving them away.  After asking for suggestions on YouTube for what people should do to win a t-shirt, the best suggestion was that they should go to people who do the best promotion for the gathering.

So, if you feel like helping me out, come up with some creative ideas to get the word out.  Here’s me showing off the t-shirts:

If you’re interested, let me warn you: the shirts are really petite sizes.  I actually tried on the XL one and I could barely get my arms through the sleeves.  And let’s not even get started on how my gut hung out.

I have a slightly significant post planned in response to a question Funky Brown Chick left me on voicemail (call 0403069148 in Australia, 61403069148 if you’re overseas).  She asked me why I blog.  A fair question.  And since she asked, I’ve received some major news that makes for a really good answer.

But I’m too damn tired to write it now.

Walking tours of Melbourne

One of the things we want to do with the upcoming As One gathering in Melbourne is make it something more than standing around and saying hello. From all accounts (from those who have attended other gatherings) this is actually a fun thing to do and if that’s all we manage to get happening in Sydney then it will be a success.

But for Melbourne we’re planning to “take it to the next level” as they say. I’m not sure exactly who “they” are in this context but I’m sure somebody says that. To that end, we’re in the midst of planning a range of activities for the day.

When considering the nature of the likely attendees (people with video cameras) and the fact many of them may not know Melbourne very well we decided showing off some of the more hidden, yet visually interesting, parts of Melbourne would be a good idea. So we will be offering some walking tours to show off some Melbourne secrets.

Fortunately, as this video shows, there are many interesting things only a short walk from our gathering point.