and
John Green at VidCon 2014 The first VidCon was held on July 9–11, 2010, at the
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles and sold out in advance, with over 1,400 people attending. In February 2018,
Viacom (owner of the
Viacom Media Networks and film studio
Paramount Pictures) announced that they were acquiring VidCon, as part of its efforts to increase its live events business and expand beyond television. Jim Louderback remained the CEO of the convention, and co-founder
Hank Green continued his involvement. Its offices continued to exist in
Missoula, Montana. Internet reception to this acquisition was mixed, with some noting the irony of Viacom acquiring VidCon a decade after
their lawsuit against Google and YouTube for copyright infringement. Hank Green reassured fans that Viacom's acquisition was a positive development that would help the convention's growth. In 2019, VidCon announced that the 11th U.S VidCon event would be held from June 17, through June 20, 2020, but in March 23, 2020 all international VidCon events were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the flagship convention in Anaheim, California resumed in 2022. International editions such as VidCon London, VidCon Australia, and VidCon Asia have not yet returned. A limited expansion has continued in Mexico City, but no other international locations have been announced. In March 2021, VidCon announced that it would host its next U.S. conference at the
Anaheim Convention Center from October 22–24, 2021, delayed from its usual summer scheduling in order to increase the chance that an in-person event could be held. VidCon also announced that
TikTok would be the top sponsor of the 2021 event, replacing
YouTube who had been the main sponsor since 2013. On August 20, however, VidCon announced the cancellation of its 2021 event "due to the recent increases in COVID-19 cases [in California] and evolving health and safety mandates." The 2023 event was held between June 21–24, with YouTube returning as the sponsor. In April 2024, Viacom's successor
Paramount Global hired Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips to locate a buyer for VidCon. In August 2024, Paramount completed the sale of VidCon to
Informa, with the convention being moved under its
Fan Expo HQ unit. Following the acquisition, Informa executives stated their ambition to eventually bring VidCon back to global markets, describing Anaheim as the "Super Bowl for creators" and indicating that international expansion may be revisited in the future. ==Events==