The AndyPliskin Initiative at 888

[DawndeeDALLAS]

That is so cool... I cant wait to get to Southtube!

[anakin1814]

It's going to be amazing!

[RiddleSpider]

So cool you got to meet him!

[anakin1814]

It was awesome!

[JeeprzCreepers56]

I think it would be really cool to meet some of the people I've been talking to for the past year or two in person.

[anakin1814]

It really was a highlight of the summer for me!

[Brianswers]

Hey, glad you had fun. I felt a bit out of place. I agree the Saturday thing was not that special. I didnt see anyone outside that though. oh well lol

[anakin1814]

That's too bad. It definitely helped for me to make plans to attend this thing with a handful of friends. I always had a safety net and was never alone.

[Brianswers]

Thats a good plan. Noone I know well enough was going. oh well. No worries. :)

[PappyStu]

What's that look he's giving you on the icon?huh ? he he he he

[anakin1814]

That icon makes me giggle! That's why I picked that one! LOL

[kamiseta2002]

LOL "YouTube gathering whore"! It's kinda surreal to see you guys in the same video.  Looks like you had fun:)

[anakin1814]

It's surreal for me to see it too -- and i'm in the video! :)

[OHdulcenea]

It was so wonderful to meet both of you!!

[anakin1814]

It was such a pleasure meeting you as well! I LOVED our walk around the science center, under the stars (well, kind of the stars!).

:)

[godsmetalhead]

This is making YouTube history for the both of you! Awesome job! We need to get a YT Gathering here in California at some point. Glad you guys were finally able to meet! I'm jealous!

[anakin1814]

There are actually a ton of gatherings early in the year in Cali. You should definitely hit one up if you have the chance!

[JustA11en]

Excellent points Gary. Many e-lebrities probably have no idea what a little part of this, they were. "I don't derive my self worth, from that." Well said, Andy.

[anakin1814]

In their defense, they were really swamped by people. Only a few of them were douches about it. I met your friend sexyPhil while I was there too. Remind me to PM you about it! LOL

[Pippilly]

Hi Gary! Hi Andy! He was so awesome to meet, great guy. I had a really interesting conversation with Andy in your room. I didn't see any celebrities because you know I don't think of everyone that way. It was just awesome we were all there to finally meet. Just a good handful missing. I'm home Gary = ( lol

[anakin1814]

It was so great to meet YOU! I so wanted to take you home in my pocket, you're such a tiny little apple! Do you think Canada would have noticed if I smuggled you home? ;)

[capergirl1976]

Great video and good that you 2 got to finally meet in "real life". I've seen different Gathering videos and it always seemed like the real good stuff is the vids ppl make in their hotel rooms or whereever. The actual Gathering place/event never really seems as authentic. Hope you had a great time. lol@YT Gathering whore. :)

[anakin1814]

The actually gathering definitely needed to happen to pull so many people together from all over the place. That's the beauty of it. The rest of it, the place where the memories happen, well that's up to us! :)

[JustA11en]

Very cool, to see two Jedi's in the same place. >:)

[anakin1814]

The force is strong with that one!

[LeonWestbrook]

Right on the money. The smaller meetups were better than that "main event". It was so self serving it made me want to puke.

[anakin1814]

It was great meeting you the other night Justin! How cool was that?!

[nerdfighter4]

Awesome! You made some good friends this weekend!

[anakin1814]

Andy's been a great friend from the very beginning!

[AlatarielLuthien]

You guys are awesome together. I really liked this video. =) And you're right - you should figure out a way to do this kind of thing more often.

[anakin1814]

I hope Andy and I can do more of this in person, but if not, then for sure using technology...It will happen! :)

[888torontomeetup]

it's true that the corey vidal show part of the gathering was offensive to some. corey approached me and asked to do an entertainment section and i said sure. i do think he takes himself too seriously and some of the "big names" he interacted with felt the same way. the "star scene" is not what makes youtube great, but it is part of youtube. personally i really like HappySlip talking about "being yourself" and the attention that Angel Cheeks got that attracted support.

[anakin1814]

It truly is a part of YT...and I think that's what was necessary to make it as large as it turned out, which was great! Our initial feelings were more about the treatment of those celebs, not the gathering itself which was amazing.

[888torontomeetup]

i understand. there has been a lot of good feedback about the gathering. but i have tried very hard to do what i could to make the meetup as positive as possible and with the variety show thing i feel i let people down. i think things could have been presented in a way that was far more respectful of the community as a whole...but i did not attend to it...i just let corey do his thing. he and the resulting thing could have benefited from my advice. i realize that now.

[OhCurt]

Once you throw that word 'celebrity' at people, it's bound to split the crowd. Sounds like I would've wandered off with you folks at that point.

Hearing you and Andy talk this way about 888 makes me think that what you had was a "South Tube '07" along side a "777" - if that makes any sense.

And, YES, you two DID need to get on cam and do this. RIGHT ON!!

[anakin1814]

It really did piss ppl off. All of a sudden, a few of us were like "Why are we feeling so bitter about this?"

Yeah, it totally sounds like 777 + ST1.

And if we both end up at ST2, we HAVE to do one of these!

[Blizzeekitty]

You better both end up at ST2!!!

[888torontomeetup]

r u going? i am going!

Kathy

[Blizzeekitty]

Yep, I will be there, Kathy!!! Yay!

[anakin1814]

I will be there fo sho!

[galnamedmal]

really great, honest video! i was supposed to go, but couldn't last minute. i think i would have felt the exact same way as you guys, about it though. it seems like it would be more comfortable just hanging out on your own terms, after the gathering... and that IS a big insult, about the "party starting" when the "big youtubers" showed up... ouch. glad you made this video :)

[anakin1814]

You are very welcome! :)

[Blizzeekitty]

Andy almost said Seeyabye!

This was a great vlog! I could see myself going all introvert at this, too. I have heard way more bad than good coming out of the 888 gathering, but I knew the community would pull together. That's all that matters. I love the Vloggerhood I fell into here, they are the best ever.

Screw the celebs, I am waiting for the juicy hotel room pics and vids, where are those? :D

[anakin1814]

Nah...it was all good. Just the gathering itself had a few moments geared more towards the YT celebs, but it was still an amazing gathering!

[21stCenturyCat]

and I'm intrigued, when the 'big YouTubers' hit the stage what exactly did they do? Q&As? a proper entertainment routine?

[Blizzeekitty]

LOL, good question. I am sure the videos will flood YT soon.

[anakin1814]

I'm not really sure. I went over by my friends. I saw one person juggle. Another one played a song. Somebody spoke.

:)

[21stCenturyCat]

YT is a big old place and what you have to remember is that some of those people might big Tubers in their own right but you only have to go slightly out of their community and people have never heard of them i.e. I'm sure that Katie person or SlapHappy (or whatever it was you said) do great vids but I've never heard of them (and I'm sure they've not heard of me) - at the end of the day we are all equal.

It was good to see you rose above any of that nonsense and kept things real.

[anakin1814]

Ppl kept gushing about certain YouTubers, and I had no idea who they were talking about! Frankly, I was waiting for Cat & Funny to perform!

[theDave1956]

This is probably the most REAL description of a gathering that I've seen. Excellent video :-)

[anakin1814]

Thank you!

[guidotnb]

Who is Trevor Reegor.

[anakin1814]

Mike Skehan's best friend?

[LeSaMilano]

Gathering whore! Need a pimp? LOL

[anakin1814]

Werk it. Werk it. :)

[CountryComesToTown]

Gary it's good to see you hanging out with Andy. Great chat! -Jim

[anakin1814]

Thanks Jim! I really wanted to capture our first live meetup on camera in one way or another. This seemed like the perfect way to do it, considering how that's how we've met! :)

[angelboku1]

I'm glad y'all are having such a wonderful time!! Andy seems like a doll!! As far as taking ANYTHING too seriously.. you've got to laugh in life, there's time to be serious after you're gone from this World!! =)

*big hugs*

Angie

[anakin1814]

Andy is an amazing guy. :)

[olnightstar69]

Avengers Assemble!

[anakin1814]

YEAH!

[GeneticBlend]

Nice. I think Andy echos the sentiment on a lot of people when he says: "I'm not a big fan of theirs."

Andy, it was nice meeting. Kind of. You're cool... I guess. Whatever. :^P

Gary, hanging with you was one of the highlights of my weekend. Seriously.

[AndyPliskin]

Yeah, apparently I don't think before I talk, because I meant... ya know what, never mind. You're awesome, and it was great to meet you!

[anakin1814]

Meeting you and Marissa was definitely one of the highlights for me as well Joe. I was so glad to spend as much time with you both as I did. I've thought of you as a friend on this site for over a year now, so it was amazing to finally meet.

[beezyr]

i'm just glad you all had a great time and made it home safely. many hugs!

[anakin1814]

Thanks! :)

[thizizliz]

Wow, apparently there are opportunities to have in depth conversations and strengthen friendships. Cool stuff.

[anakin1814]

I definitely made a point to have some quiet moments with extremely dear friends. :)

[LilCav68]

I can't say anything but love ya guys. seriously.

[anakin1814]

MMMMWAUH!

[popparoc46]

Gary, it was interesting to listen to what both of you had to say about this gathering. I intended on being at 888, but circumstances didn't allow... it would have been nice to meet you. - roc

[anakin1814]

Such a bummer that you weren't able to make it! Perhaps we will meet some other day.

[great1138]

I figured the bigger meetings were going to be like that. The gathering would be a in person version of the mini communities. I've prepared myself for that come southtube2 if I'm not a friend of a particular youtuber not to expect to see them lol.

[anakin1814]

These gatherings are a great way to meet new people who are equally as cool though. I met a large handful of new friends over the weekend...its really awesome!

[bnessel1973]

9:07. Somehow, I made it.

Great to know Andy almost, kinda, sorta, possibly liked me. : )

As for you, you big bundle of milky goodness, you're now a lifelong friend ... and lover ... for short periods of time.

I'm depressed as shit today, and this video didn't help. Thanks a lot, ginger. : )

[AndyPliskin]

Haha, I worded that so wrong! I'm gonna blame that on sleep deprivation. It was great to meet you there Brian and hopefully I'll be able to talk to you more at a future gathering, or in comments and stuff.

[bnessel1973]

It was great meeting you. I wish we had more time to talk and get to know each other. I fear, from what you witnessed, you may already know too much about me. Any friend of Gary's is a friend of mine. And you must be a saint to listen to that windbag. : )

[LilCav68]

Who are you??

[anakin1814]

(Somebody rated this comment -1! LOL)

[LilCav68]

was it you?? (seriously, someone has been rating my comments that way)...

[anakin1814]

In all seriousness (I'm too bummed out right now to joke), it wasn't me.

[LilCav68]

It started before 888.... but the person is following me around to even comments like on random people's videos. meh

[Blizzeekitty]

Sorry, I'll stop following you. ;)

[kayleewyatt]

did u pick up a stalker 888? maybe u should disable that thing that lets ppl see how you rate.

[LilCav68]

where is that??...this started before 888.

[kayleewyatt]

Its on the edit your channel, where the change design

Maria, sorry I had no idea, it had been going on for awhile. Loved seeing you on all the vids!~ Take care

[anakin1814]

It's Wednesday night. A week ago we were driving around the streets of Toronto like crazy Americans. I'm still bummed out. Glad to call you friend. :)

[Chivalryaintdead]

Cool vid, liked to hear your take on it.

[anakin1814]

Thanks Jason! I'm sure you can relate to meeting Karen in Minneapolis! :)

[Chivalryaintdead]

Yea that was an amazing time, Seeing a person as they really are outside of this site is awesome. I am watching you pillow talk vid right now LOL.

[anakin1814]

I have nothing but good things to say about Karen after meeting her in real life! :)

[dl737]

"It's weird how not weird it was" That pretty much describes it.  Agree with you how these big gatherings get to be star focused - but the real 'gatherings' for the community is what happens at the hotel. That's why as much as I love these big gatherings, the preference is for the smaller, more intimate ones.

[anakin1814]

I enjoyed both types of gathering, if only because there were more people at the hotel and more mini-gatherings that happened for me along the way! :)

[frawlj89]

The two best youtubers on one cam, in one place.

[AndyPliskin]

Wow that's very high praise, thank you.

[anakin1814]

Thank you. In my mind, Andy is one of the best!

[zebidee55]

So good to see you having fun! The only time I got close to getting starstruck was very early on with Speedyconkiwi, but I got over that pretty fast. Everyone is just normal, and they're all incredibly friendly, so it's easy to relax with them. Most YTers are actually pretty shy, so if you just bowl up and take the lead in a conversation, everything gets easy quickly.

[anakin1814]

We shared many of the same things that weekend my friend! :)

[SunnyDazStormyNitz]

It's great that you funally got to meet. Agreed totally about the announcement regarding the YT stars coming up soon. That was totally wrong. Sorry we didn't get to spend any time with you Gary. Next summer.

;-)

[anakin1814]

Hey--it was GREAT meeting, regardless of the length. That's the beauty of these meetups...they are simply introductions! :)

[devotions4U]

I'm glad U both got together ;o) Yeah Samar rocks... now put him on cam with U

[anakin1814]

Ha ha! Andy and I barely had time to make this video! We had about 10 minutes of time to ourselves, and this was it!

[brojoghost]

TheWaterScorpion was saying similar things about the general feel of the gathering, and how it compared to others... I wonder what other Gathering Veterans would have to say about it... "Gathering Veteran" is the phrase I would use instead of "Gathering Whore" lol it sounds much more distinguished

[anakin1814]

Gathering Veterans! LOL I know exactly what you meant though! LOL

[Blizzeekitty]

And then she left YT.

[brojoghost]

OMG oh no! I didn't believe you but I just checked and it shows the pink bar that says "This account is closed." but she had such a following!

[ABQdoubleG]

This was a nice warm moment between YT friends vlogging. Quite the contrast to the party videos, a little bit of everything. Carry on... have fun :) Gigi

[anakin1814]

I knew I wanted to make a lot of videos at 888, but I realized early on that it was more about having a few people in my vids with the webcam vs. going around shooting footage. I couldn't be more pleased with the moments I captured this way. :)