VidCon is still four months away, but five lucky video creators can already start planning their trip to the real-life, online video-oriented business, consumer, and fan event. The con conceived of in 2010 by Vlog Brothers Hank and John Green has selected Haley Blais, Lauren Mason, Ahsante Bean, Zack Arad, and Reed Wetmore as the winners of its 2015 Less Than Famous contest.
The Less Than Famous contest awards a seat on the titular VidCon panel aimed at celebrating up-and-coming online video creators. The contest opened to interested parties in mid-March 2015 and this year’s winners were chosen after VidCon’s Travis Morss and his judging crew watched over the 600 creator submissions the contest received in just two weeks’ time.
VidCon introduced the Less Than Famous panel back in 2013 after YouTube creator James Schwarz (known as Talenthatter) proposed the idea. Schwarz wanted to give lesser-known video creators – who don’t have huge subscriber counts, but still have highly-engaged audiences – a voice within the community. Hank Green saw Schwarz’s idea and gave him the green light to run the initiative. Schwarz spearheaded a committee of fellow YouTubers, who then voted on the first Less Than Famous panelists.
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“We really just wanted to find people who we thought would inspire, teach and represent a group of people whose voice can sometimes be overlooked at events like VidCon,” said Morrs. “In three years this panel has become extremely popular and people take a lot of ownership of what is discussed, the audience is very engaged and it is definitely one of the most anticipated panels we offer.”
Check out this year’s Less Than Famous panelists’ individual YouTube channels for a taste of what you’ll see at the panel (and don’t forget to grab your ticket to VidCon 2015 if you haven’t already):
