The 9 Types Of People You Will Meet At A YouTube Convention

I have been to my fair share of YouTube conventions from the very first VidCon in 2010 at the Hilton to Playlist Live 2014 in Orlando, Florida. Here are the main archetypes I've come across along with some tips on how to handle them.

1. The Fangirl (typical age: 11-17)

Via Tumblr

You are Simba and they are the wildebeests stampeding through the convention halls. They're the most enthusiastic (ahem, LOUD) viewers and are the ones willing to wait 6+ hours for a signing. That's longer than the SATs.

Who Do They Love? the British YouTubers, Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan, O2L to name a few.

How to Spot Them: Youtuber's merch, sneakers for running at a moment's notice and the tear tracks on their face from when Zalfie hugged on the Mainstage.

Tip: Shout "OMG TROYLER IS DOING A SURPRISE MEET UP RIGHT NOW IN AN ALLEYWAY TWO MILES SOUTH" if you ever want to clear a room.

2. The Fanboy (typical age: 11-17)

The more subdued counterpart to the fangirls but just as obsessive. There's typically one fanboy for every 20 fangirls but that doesn't stop them from lining up in the wee hours of the morning and tweeting ALL the hashtags.

Who Do They Love? Pewdiepie, Smosh and the Vlogbrothers.

How to Spot Them: YouTuber's merch, jeans, a weird amount of bracelets on one arm and the complementary convention bag overstuffed with free stuff.

Tip: They're the ones that always know what time and where a YouTuber's meet-up is and are probably expecting you to ask them anyway.

3. The Networker (comes in all ages)

They want to be the next big YouTuber and if need be, they will shove 50 business cards down your throat.

Who Do They Love? Anybody with 100K+ Subscribers and willing to collab.

How to Spot Them: a large DSLR camera meant for vlogging even though it's incredibly impractical and they'll be walking along lines of people waiting for a meet-up to pinhole them into learning about their channel/web series.

Tip: take their business card right away otherwise they won't shut up and they should move on pretty quickly after.

4. The Friend of a Friend of a YouTuber (typical age: their 20s)

They have all the dirty deets about your favorite YouTuber and promised that they would totally get you into that VIP hotel room party happening Saturday night. Except that YouTuber probably has no idea who they are and they're just trying to get more Twitter followers.

Who Do They Love? They say they don't really get the whole "YouTube thing" and are just here to support their popular friend.

How to Spot Them: Always 20 paces away from a YouTuber racing to get to their next Q&A session or their hotel room. They'll probably have their phone out and taking selfies with fangirls who somehow believe they're somebody.

Tip: Take everything these people say with a huge grain of salt. In fact, throw the salt in their eyes for trying to take advantage of another person's success and publicity by making empty promises or allegations to their fans.

5. The Blogger (typical age: 14-20)

A sub-group of the fangirls/fanboy category. They have a Tumblr blog dedicated to their OTP and have somehow acquired the ninja skills to make a beautiful .gif set in 30 seconds after a video gets posted. They're all about aesthetic.

Who Do They Love? the Beauty Gurus, Dan & Phil and JacksGap.

How to Spot Them: They're probably tripping over their penny board in a cropped shirt, short shorts and a flower crown. Accessories include a DSLR they don't know how to use and absentee parents.

Tip: They tend to travel in packs and it gets hard telling them apart. Put unique stickers on their backs to figure out who is who.

6. The Nerdfighter (comes in all ages)

Nerdfighters love learning and spreading that knowledge from politics, pop culture and basically anything you can nerd over. They have probably been watching vlogs since its original inception back around 2006.

Who Do They Love? the Vlogbrothers (duh), Starkid, charlieissocoollike, Philip DeFranco and Laci Green to name A FEW.

How to Spot Them: any t-shirts or hoodies of their favorite show (ie. Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock), the latest John Green novel and original fan art they're waiting to give their favorite YouTuber(s).

Tip: Do not try to debate that "geek" and "nerd" are the same thing. It's not. Apparently.

7. The Hartosexual (comes in all ages)

Although the name comes from Hannah Hart's fandom, they typically fall under as a hardcore fan of all three of the Holy Trinity. They have excellent taste in comedy, ship one or all three of these pairings: Grester, Hartbig, Swarto and LOVE any reason to grab some o' dat drinky drink.

Who Do They Love? The Holy Trinity: Grace Helbig (It's Grace), Mamrie Hart (YDAD, Mametown) and Hannah Hart (My Drunk Kitchen).

How to Spot Them: usually in their Camp Takota gear and throwing back wine like a shot.

Tip: They're very nice and supportive, so they love it when you're nice and supportive back. (I may be biased on this one because I've met a lot of Holy Trinity fans as of late and y'all are lovely...mostly).

8. The Confused but Supportive Parent (typical age: none of your damn business)

They love their kid(s) and would do anything to put a crazy smile on their face. So what if that means dropping hundreds on a hotel and convention for a thing you can't even begin to understand?

Who Do They Love? Whoever their kid loves. Aww.

How to Spot Them: Asking a lot of questions in the Expo Hall starting with the sentence, "I don't really know anything about this YouTube stuff but my kid really loves..." Some will be seen yelling at security that their baby waited in line for 6+ hours, paid VIP ticket prices and still didn't get into the meet and greet. They want their money back!!

Tip: Maybe give them some water or a place to sit. They're having a long weekend.

9. ...and finally, the YouTubers you're there to see in the first place.

Via phedorahowell.tumblr.com

They are seen in flashes as security escorts them from place to place but have perfected the moving while smiling selfie pose for when overzealous fans shove a iPhone in their face.

Who Do They Love? Their viewers (a DOY) and probably a lot of the other YouTubers around. They got into the biz for a reason, right? Most reference other content creators for inspiring them to start their own channels.

How to Spot Them: You'll hear the scream before you see the scene. As soon as one group of girls starts running, you know that a YouTuber is around and about.

Tip: Be respectful and don't have such high expectations that you feel jaded about your experience. YouTubers are constantly pulled and pushed around for all hours of their time at these conventions, and are probably trying their damn best to meet everyone. Patience is KEY, young grasshoppers!!