← BACK TO HOME PEDAKIN WIKI // CONVENTIONS
// Field Report //

CON REPORT CARD

My honest understanding of the conventions I've either gone to or been invited to and my reasoning behind it. Green is a reason I'd attend. Red is a reason I'd probably obstain. All of these are from the view point of me as a 21 year vet in streaming / content creation. You can attend whatever you want for fun, duh, but for growth? These are my opines.

PRO — Yes CON — No
TwitchCon
San Diego / Las Vegas · Platform-exclusive · Streamer-focused
Go if invited

A 100% streamer focused convention run by Twitch (and by association Amazon), it's affiliates, and those who use the platform. All in all I'd ONLY recommend this convention to those solely trying to make a monetary name for themselves. While Twitch and Amazon are power/money hungry sleazeball businesses as a whole? There are so many MONEY BASED opportunities at this convention. WARNING: There has been plenty of discourse and controversy over the years as streaming on Twitch has shifted from video games to weird mf's trying to get IRL "content", not to mention the physical harassment to women and the ball pit incident (where a young lady was injured jumping in an unsactioned ball pit). I think if you aren't a streamer specifically, (NO, not a YouTuber, NOT a TikToker) but a streamer on Twitch SPECIFICALLY? This convention is a waste of time. I only go because I'm Oakland CA's 1st Twitch Partner.

HYPE METER
68/100
✓ Pros
  • Direct access to Twitch staff and partner reps — actual account-level questions get answered
  • Best networking-to-noise ratio of any con on this list; all brands are aware you're a streamer and know what you do
  • "Exclusive" perks to the "elites" (most followed + partners)
  • Great locations, usually San Diego or somewhere on the West Coast
✗ Cons
  • Very costly if you aren't from California
  • Fake people, fake environment, everyone is only looking out for themselves
  • ONLY FOR STREAMERS! You literally must have a Twitch account to even get in. It's mostly to see your favorite streamer, and if you're just now starting out? Can 100% feel like and BE a waste of time. I'd recommend getting your "clout" up first if you truly want to go to this as a business trip.
Pedakin's take: If you get an invite, take it seriously — it's the one con where showing up as a working streamer instead of a fan actually changes your trajectory. Bring business cards. Bring a laptop. Sleep less, network more.
DreamCon
Orlando · Newer / fan-community-first
Mixed bag

A younger con still figuring out its identity — leans heavily on community creators rather than legacy IP, which is exciting in THEORY. Highly anime based and highly Black attended. Created by RDCWorld a few years back it's presented as a mixed concept between: Anime, Gaming, Content creators, streamers, and anyhthing that surrounds those subjects. While I've never attended myself? Most if not all of my information comes DIRECTLY FROM RDCWorld and those who run Dreamcon.

HYPE METER
87/100
✓ Pros
  • Community-first energy — fans actually know your content, not just your face
  • Lower barrier to getting a panel or meet-and-greet slot as a mid-size creator
  • Cheaper badges than the legacy cons
✗ Cons
  • Logistics have been genuinely rough — line management, scheduling slippage
  • Programming can feel thrown together year to year
  • Brand is still building trust, so turnout is a gamble
Pedakin's take: I did my "DreamCon rant" for a reason — I want to like it more than I do. There's real potential here if the organizing catches up to the community's energy. Go for the fans, budget for chaos.
PAX West
Seattle · Gaming / indie-heavy
Highly recommend

The gold standard for actual gaming content — this is where indie devs bring unreleased builds and the showfloor rewards curiosity over clout.

HYPE METER
88/100
✓ Pros
  • Best indie-dev discovery on the West Coast, hands down
  • Enforced Wheaton's Law and generally excellent crowd behavior
  • Tons of content fodder — hands-on demos make great short-form clips
  • Well-organized queueing, even at peak crowd
✗ Cons
  • Badges sell out fast — plan months ahead
  • Seattle in late summer means hotel prices spike hard
  • Lines for AAA booths can eat half a day
Pedakin's take: This is the con I recommend to creators who want content, not just clout. Show up with a filming plan for the indie booths specifically — that's where the underrated footage lives.
PAX East
Boston · PAX West's east-coast sibling
Solid, slightly smaller

Same DNA as PAX West in a tighter venue — a bit more elbow-to-elbow, a bit more manageable if you're new to conventions in general.

HYPE METER
76/100
✓ Pros
  • More walkable, more compact — easier to actually see the whole floor
  • Great tabletop and indie presence
  • Boston is a genuinely fun city to extend a trip around
✗ Cons
  • Venue gets cramped fast during peak hours — claustrophobic for filming
  • Smaller showfloor means fewer exclusive reveals than West
Pedakin's take: Good starter con if West feels too big. I still bring a monopod instead of a full tripod here — you'll thank yourself in the crowd crunch.
Comic-Con
San Diego · The legacy giant
Bucket-list, not a repeat

The one everyone's heard of, for better and worse — genuinely spectacular scale, genuinely brutal logistics. This is a marathon, not a content shoot.

HYPE METER
60/100
✓ Pros
  • Unmatched scale — exclusives, panels, and cosplay you won't see anywhere else
  • Massive built-in audience for any content you post from the floor
  • The cultural cachet of "I was there" still means something
✗ Cons
  • Badge lottery and hotel booking are their own part-time jobs
  • Showfloor is so dense that filming anything usable takes real effort
  • Prices — food, merch, everything — are inflated hard
Pedakin's take: Do it once for the experience, plan your content shots in advance because you will not have the bandwidth to improvise on the floor. After that, I'd rather spend the same week at two smaller cons.
VidCon
Anaheim · Creator-industry conference
Situational

More industry conference than fan convention these days — valuable if you're chasing brand deals and MCN meetings, less so if you're there to make fan-facing content.

HYPE METER
38/100
✓ Pros
  • Genuinely strong for landing brand/sponsorship conversations in person
  • Industry panels on monetization are ahead of most other cons
✗ Cons
  • Fan track has shrunk year over year — less community energy than it used to have
  • Expensive for the content payoff unless you're actively closing deals
  • Skews heavily toward YouTube-first creators over streaming
Pedakin's take: Only worth the flight if you've got meetings booked before you land. Otherwise your time and travel budget is better spent at a gaming-first con.