Vidcon brings out YouTube fans

• Some 12%2C000 people attended Vidcon over the weekend
• Young teens meet their favorite YouTubers

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Like, where else can a 16-year-old girl celebrate her 16th birthday by meeting Kingsley, Devin Supertramp and Zoella?

That place would be Vidcon, where 12,000 folks — mostly teen girls, invade to scream and squeal, and get a few seconds meeting their favorite YouTube stars.

The convention, which closed Sunday, is also a celebration of the online entertainment form that YouTube has spawned: bawdy comedy, live action video games and music video parodies that generate millions and millions of views.

The biggest YouTube stars were there — Freddie Wong, iJustine, Shane Dawson and Rhett and Link — along with up and coming folks like Andrea Russett, Sam Pepper and Our Second Life.

"This is energy," says Devin Graham, of Salt Lake City, who goes by the name Devin Supertramp in his online videos. "I come here, and the people who watch my videos are actually real people. I can see all the energy and feed off of it."

Hailey Heaton of Philadelphia asked to celebrate her 16th birthday by skipping a party and going to Vidcon instead. Her parents obliged. "I got to meet (YouTubers) Hank and John (who call themselves the Vlog Brothers.) It was really cool."

Caitlyn Urias, Lexi Argento and Zara Bush of Los Angeles got dropped off by their parents and made their first stop at the YouTube booth, where it plugged its new "Geek Week" of programming by giving away red "Geek Week" capes, which the girls wore all over the convention floor.

They all met Kingsley, who does comedy bits from his bedroom wearing funny hats.

"I'm shaking," said Urias after her brief, 30-second meet and greet with Kingsley, where he autographed her cape.

"It was surreal," added Bush. "You watch him on his videos, and then you see him, and it's like, `Wow, he's a real person."

Beyond YouTube stars and fans, companies come to Vidcon to meet and greet at well. TV's Discovery Channel, which owns the online Revision3 network, brought a huge shark to plug "Shark Week," which now runs online and on TV — as well as shows from Revision and Discovery.

"This is the only conference where you can come and be with your audience," says Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback. "There's no other place where you can immerse yourself in your 12,000 fans, soon to be fans, hope to be fans and people you want to turn into fans. Being able to hang out with them is amazing."

What's often forgotten about YouTube is that it is a major social network, notes YouTube performer Michael Markman (Mikeleh's Take) — and Vidcon provides an opportunity to socialize.

"A lot of video media is one way, but YouTube gives you the opportunity to have your audience leave comments and make a video response to your video," he says. "A lot of people who get involved start trading shots and start collaborating. They appear in each other's channels. It's like 1940s radio where Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Fred Allen all appeared on each other's shows."

Follow Jefferson Graham on Twitter: @jeffersongraham.