🎟️ TanaCon folded hours after opening; Tana promised refunds

On May 26, 2018, Tana Mongeau announced TanaCon, a convention scheduled for June 22-23 in Anaheim, timed to run against VidCon after its organizers had declined to give her "featured creator" status the year before. The convention opened at the Anaheim Marriott Suites on June 22 and was canceled that same day.

The headcount gap

Mongeau said around 20,000 people tried to get into TanaCon, far more than the Anaheim Marriott Suites could hold - The Independent put the hotel's rough capacity at about 3,000 and reported that police told BuzzFeed News only 4,000 to 5,000 people were actually there. Attendees told Polygon they waited four to six hours in the sun without water, and The Verge reported that some passed out in the heat.

"100 percent screwed up"

Hank Green, VidCon cofounder, on not inviting Mongeau to VidCon 2017 as a featured creator, quoted by The Verge

The apology and the refund promise

As the event collapsed, Mongeau apologized, tweeting "I'm an idiot and I'm sorry" and that safety was her "number one priority," per BBC News. Good Times, the production company that ran TanaCon as Mongeau's agency, apologized for the "safety hazard" of overcrowding and said refunds would be issued; The Verge reported that attendees could file a refund claim until January 5, 2019. Mongeau also promised travel compensation, tweeting that "refunds will be issued even if I write the cheque out of my own pocket." Shane Dawson, one of the event's star guests, later released a three-part YouTube documentary on how TanaCon failed.

VidCon came around

VidCon, for its part, reversed course. In May 2019, one year after TanaCon, it named Mongeau a featured creator, a decision The Verge reported was made by VidCon after both parties met with "the same goal" of a better experience for all. Cofounder Hank Green had said he "100 percent screwed up" by not inviting her to VidCon 2017, adding that "not making her a featured creator was a bad call."