CatConLA Coming June of 2015! It's Like Comic-Con, But for Cat Lovers!

Get ready -- June 6 & 7, 2015, The Reef in downtown Los Angeles will host the first ever CatConLA! It's like Comic-Con, but for cat people. Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not. It's real and it's going to be the coolest 2-day celebration of groundbreaking products and ideas in art, design, pop culture and attitude ... for cat lovers!

The conference will be part expo, part symposium and will not only showcase some of the world's top cat-centric merchandise (over 150 exhibitors are expected, with all wares for sale to the public), it will also feature some of the top names in feline pop culture. Headlining CatConLA will be Simon Tofield of "Simon's Cat," and Mike Bridavsky, along with the one-and-only Lil Bub!

I'm thrilled to be on the advisory board of CatConLA, along with Kate Benjamin, founder of Hauspanther and co-author of  Catification with Jackson Galaxy; Keith Bowers, senior editor at Catster and Dogster; and Scott Stulen, creator and producer of the Cat Internet Video Festival. And the mastermind behind the whole conference is Susan Michals, a journalist and producer who writes about the intersection of art, culture and celebrity. She's also the creator of the successful Cat Art Show Los Angeles.

Additional confirmed speakers include:

L-R: Kate Benjamin, founder of Hauspanther and co-author of Catification with Jackson Galaxy; Angie Bailey (that's me!), author of whiskerslist, the kitty classifieds, Catladyland, and Texts from Mittens; Keith Bowers, senior editor of Catster and Dogster; Joann Biondi, creator of Lorenzo the Cat; Will Braden, creator of Henri, Le Chat Noir. 

L-R: Kady & Eli from Cats of Instragram; Ben Huh, founder and CEO of Cheezburger; Francesco Marciuliano, author of I Could Pee on This, and I Knead My Mommy; Rob Reger, creator of Emily the Strange; Scott Stulen, creator and producer of the Cat Internet Video Festival.

So mark your calendars, and if you'd like to stay up-to-date with everything CatConLA, please follow us on Twitter (@catconla), like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram!

Minneapolis Internet Cat Video Festival: I Felt Like Paparazzi ... With a Significantly Less-Cool Camera

Last night I attended the 2013 Internet Cat Video Fest, which is right in my backyard here in Minnesota. I attended last year's as well and was eager to see how this one stacked up. I was one of the 20 jurors for the fest and was reporting for both Catster and BlogPaws so I got to wear this cool media badge. This allowed me to wander almost anywhere, which was pretty swell. I felt like paparazzi, except with a significantly less-cool camera. Speaking of cameras, a huge thank you to my guy for being the staff photographer!

Here are some of the highlights!

The venue was the Grandstand at the fair, which would hold more that The Walker's field from last year. The attendance was just under 10,000, which was a little less than last year. I think it's because last year was free and this year we had to pay to get into the fair ($10 with library card discount!) and to get into the event ($10).

I met some awesomely cat-centric people! It was like a huge feline costume party!

Oh, man -- you have to know these guys. They are Bryan and Neil of Koo Koo Kangaroo, one of the local bands who opened up for the festival. Catladyland readers will love them because they are our brand of silly! They sing about other stuff, but performed some top-notch cat-themed tunes for the festival, including my favorite: "I Spent $10,000 on My Cat's Birthday." Go listen to them. Now.

The gopher is not part of their group, but who doesn't want a dapper rodent in their photo?

Oh, and I got to meet Lil Bub again (I met her for the first time at last year's festival). Her human, Mike Bridavsky, told me she was feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed. Poor girl. When she came on stage, the host asked that we not clap or scream because we could scare her. Everyone complied and was respectful. My only bit of irritation from the night was that, at the end of the festival, they set off these crazy-loud fireworks! Poor Bub had barely left the stage! Cats and fireworks don't mix, especially when Bub was already stressed out. I really hope they remove that from the schedule next year.

And guess who else I met? Christopher Torres, creator of our favorite flying Pop Tart of a cat! he was so nice and I left our meeting feeling a little bit hungry for breakfast pastries.

What can I say about Charlie Schmidt, the man behind the legendary Keyboard Cat? He was a total hoot! Love this guy.

Brian Laidlaw and the Family Trade played again. This multi-member group is super-talented and full of bluegrass-goodness. How about you take a listen for yourself?

Last, but not least, Grumpy Cat took the stage with her family. She was just as lovely and indifferent as you'd expect. She and Bub went face-to-face and Bub wasn't especially interested. Tarder won the coveted Golden Kitty award, but I have to give a shout out to my friend Alana Grelyak, whose superbly strange and fantastic video, Catalogue, was featured!

Overall, a great night! Congrats to all!