blog.gabrielsimmer.com/content/posts/ltx-2017.md

---
title: LTX 2017
date: 2017-07-30
---

#### The first Linus Tech Tips tech conival

![Don't tell Min](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*yivY7HBqRftSIW7enKYSuA.jpeg)

Anticipation was high as we approached the Langley
Convention Center by bus, as my girlfriend and I eagerly awaited meeting
one of our role models Linus Sebastian, and the crew of personalities
that helped script, film, edit and perfect the seven videos a week Linus
Media Group create, not including their secondary channels.

![LTX map, which ended up not being quite accurate](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/600/1*m6cIdWVGNL20toPCzXRRKQ.jpeg)

We were off to a good start -- all of our transit was on time, we
spotted one of their newer hires on the bus there, and everyone was very
friendly (I made the mistake of thinking that the event started at 10AM,
it actually began at 11). I had a slight nagging in the back of my head
however. The day before, the Linus Tech Tips account had tweeted out the
map of the floor, and revealed the fact it was going to take place in an
ice hockey rink (sans ice, unfortunately). That itself is not a bad
thing -- hockey rinks are decently sized for such an event. However
upon having our tickets scanned and claiming our ticket tier swag, we
entered into the absolutely packed arena. And when I say packed, I mean
*very* packed -- Becky and I had a hard time getting from one end to
another.

The two primary causes that I could see include the fact that there were
a ridiculous number of people there for the area, and the positioning of
booths. The main attractions were positioned right by the door, which
included the virtual reality booth, Razer, and 16K gaming. The floor
also included a case toss (unfortunately not very well shielded), some
carnival-esque inflatable games, some hardware maker booths, some other
miscellaneous booths, and the main stage (we'll get to the stage in a
minute). In fairness, the booths were all pretty spot on for the kind of
audience Linus attracts, and the choices were very well done. The case
toss had a major issue, however -- it was cordoned off with just ropes,
with metal railings at the end to prevent too much destruction. Many
cases ended up outside the area when thrown, whether slipping underneath
the ropes or going over the top. Paranoia was high on my part on the
topic of getting hit.

![From the stage looking toward the entrance](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*7cnfR-74sBi0u_rwd2sswA.jpeg)

The highlight of the event was meeting Linus himself, face to face.
Throughout the event whenever his feet touched the floor a circle of
fans would appear around him, and if he moved you'd better watch out the
for line of people behind him. However he handled it very well, and so
did the cluster of fans -- nobody was pushy or overly aggressive, and
he took his time with each person. We asked if he could sign both my
girlfriend\'s laptop with the dbrand dragon skin (which he liked so much
on the laptop he wanted to have it) and a hat, which he happily did. We
also nabbed a selfie, which was awesome of him.

![Linus, Becky and I](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*O6Yfba9oeZwIb5T6KjSdxQ.jpeg)

Unfortunately because of the seemingly lack of volunteers, most of the
LMG (Linus Media Group) employees were running the marquee booths. This
meant that they had less time to roam the show floor and meet fans, and
while I appreciate the enthusiasm they had for their specific booth, it
would have been nice to be able to say hi to more of them. I managed to
meet Colton, Linus, Luke and Yvonne, and those meetings were somewhat
spontaneous. The other members of the team were usually busy, either
filming or helping run booths (or in the case of the sales team, making
sure reveals went as they should have).

In a lighter note, the stage shows were great. There were some audio
issues, and they did acknowledge them. The energy level was great, and
the performances were great, with the unboxing of the Razer toasters,
AMD Vega graphics card and a whole computer powered by AMD Threadripper
and Vega. It was a bit unfortunate there was no barrier at the edge of
the stage, which resulted in a lot of crowding as people tried to get
closer for the best view (this was probably advantageous when Linus
dropped a 4K Razer Blade laptop though). The raffle was a bit lackluster
on our end as we didn't win anything, but the winners who did came away
with an absolutely amazing set of prizes, ranging from headphones to a
Titan Xp.

By the end of the day, we were both exhausted. We had a bit of a bad
taste in our mouths as our expectations had been higher, or at the very
least different. I wouldn't say disappointed -- that isn't the right
word. It was a mix of eagerness for the next year and longing to work at
LMG and help plan (or just work). We're both glad we went to the first
one, so we could get a taste of what the next year could be like and
also so we could say we were there.

![(Bad) Panorama of the floor](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2560/1*QnlNePBTV9XT8q9Rh_6b2w.jpeg)