🎉 Greetings All!!! 🎉
This past weekend, I was very fortunate enough to attend and experience 2024's LVLUP Expo (April 26th- 28th) in Las Vegas! WOO! In my lifetime, I had only ever been to very small cons with a attendance of around 1k or so. But this con was clearly the biggest I've ever been to yet! There were probably around 100,000 People attending, and it was all very exciting!! (And a little overwhelming, but in a fun way!!!!! 😂). And, of course, one of the main reasons for me to attend this con was to see the OneyPlays crew in person at their first ever-panel!!!!!!! I just knew I couldn't miss it and had to go
🥳🥳🥳
ANYWAYS! Onto DAY 1!
Friday, I arrived at the expo about two hours early! I knew it was going to be pretty competitive coming in, and I was right, lol. But one of the very first things scheduled in the programming of this con was, of course, the OneyPlays Panel.
This Panel was AMAZING! It was actually a very fun and chill time! It was also so crazy to see other people who are into OneyPlays/Smiling Friends in the same room. (No, the smell was not bad LMAO). At the beginning of the panel, they mentioned how nervous they were, but they did a great job lol. They did not do an open Q&A with the audience but had a Google sheet with questions sent in by fans to be asked during the Panel. Sure, a lot of them were pretty jokey questions, but when they did get some pretty serious questions, (i.e., "What was the difference with producing content for the internet compared to the TV Industry?"), they gave out really good answers! Overall, a great and hilarious time!
After the Panel was over, they were open to do autographs, and I was able to get a poster signed by them all! 😭. I also got to talk to Zach and Lyle (first, thanked them for their time), and then asked if they were planning on attending any more cons in the future as Oneyplays (and SPECIFICALLY for the Midwest!) To which they said they are most definitely planning for!
Zach asked me where I was coming from, and I replied that I was coming from Missouri (where he was from Kansas), and we joked about being second cousins! 😂😂😭😭 WILD!!! And of course, I told Lyle that I loved his cartoons that he produces on his YouTube! Then I got to talk to Tomar and Chris! I only had one question to ask them, which was if the Magfest Animation Panel back in 2016 was still traumatizing for Chris, to which he said that it was actually still his favorite. And Tomar was there too in the audience, and both of course said it was cringy in person but both look back on it as their favorite lmao. And once again, I told them that they were great and the con was amazing and that they should do more panels at other cons in the near future! 😁
I totally wanted to ask them more question but didn't want to take up anymore of their time 🥲
Once the Panel ended, I finally got to explore the entire Con! There definitely was a lot to do and see! I think the first thing that popped out for me was that the U.S Army was there with a booth... AND NOW I GUESS THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ESPORTS????????? Never knew that was a thing!!!!!
But yeah! Another big attender for this con was the Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss people, so their fanbase definitely made up pretty much half of the audience there! And there were Gaming tournaments, Art, Designer Anime Clothes, and really good food trucks too! But I didn't get to experience it all that day and left when I got exhausted.
DAY 2!
SATURDAY was BUSY! I had to wait outside for TWO HOURS before getting in! But once I was in, I took that day to actually explore and played some games at their arcade! They had so many arcade machines imported from Japan, and it was so cool to play them. I might've been playing a lot of them for like two hours and then realized that I should probably go elsewhere at the con lol.
So then I went over to the Esports area and watched some of the tournaments going on (Smash Bros, Guilty Gear, even Osu!). I got to sit down and play some games, drank some seltzers, and had an awesome time! OH, and there was also a Wrestling area too?????? It was just a bunch of nerds "wrestling" each other with a bunch of LARP weapons 😂😂😭
There were also an area with mini robots, mini drones, VRs, and a retro Esports area if those first things were too advance for you 😂.
I did the majority of my shopping for merch that day and then soon called it a day!
DAY 3!
Now the last day for the con, was also the day I was departing 🥹
BUT! VERY LUCKILY!!!!! I had just enough time for the OneyPlays, Slightly Artistic Panel before I needed to run to the airport 😱 But it all worked out perfectly for me!
This panel was way more mature then the first panel! Idk if they were suppose to draw some of the things that they did, but you know they were gonna regardless!!!!!! 😂😂😂😂 A very hysterical time!!! I even made a friend as I was waiting in line for them to start!
(this photo was them all drawing each other, pretty glorious.)
But yes once that panel was over, so too was the expo for me. 😭 Overall, it was an amazing time (and not to sound too corny), it was also life-changing 😁
As for Vegas itself, it was a blast! Unfortunately, I didn't get the full Vegas experience since the expo was the main focus of the trip. Still, I managed to squeeze in some time at the casino and ended up losing all my money!
I also got carded 5 TIMES in one night!!!! They did NOT want me there!
Anyways, I'm not sure if I'll be going to LVLUP Expo next year, but if I'm able to, I will definitely take up the chance! 😊
Till next time Vegas!
