Stephanie Choi [#KCON18LA Special Guest]
Stephanie Choi is a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology program at UC Santa Barbara. She is writing her PhD dissertation on intimate labor, gendered fandom and media industry in the transnational circulation of K-Pop. For her research, Stephanie has interviewed more than fifty people in the K-Pop world, including idols, entertainment company CEOs, A&R directors, music video directors, show producers, and most importantly, fans.
SVTCaratsUSA [#KCON18LA Special Guest]
Established in August 2017, SVTCaratsUSA is the unofficial USA fan club for SEVENTEEN. This non-profit group focuses on bringing together Carats from throughout USA by hosting giveaways, projects, events, and tutorials to support SEVENTEEN. Currently this club has accomplished the Diamond Edge Tour USA ocean project, a billboard ad in Times Square for SEVENTEEN’s 3rd Anniversary, and 3 meetup events.
NUEST_2012 [#KCON18LA Special Guest]
Nuest_2012 is a global fan base for Nu’est. Established in March 2012, Nuest_2012 has been very consistent in giving information, tutorials and updates about Nu’est for the past years. Now, performing as a unit group, Nu’est is back at KCON L.A after 6 years and they would love to bring all loves together at the Fan Club Meeting.
My KCON Adventure – KCON Veteran/Returner
So, it’s your fourth time attending KCON on the west coast right!? Just kidding! Whether it’s your second, third, OR fourth time attending, each and every one of you are the true veterans of KCON! *YAY* You’re used to the drill that is KCON: 1. Register for your convention ticket online, 2. Select your “add-ons” like KLUB KCON and Artist Engagement Benefits, 3. Check-In early and don’t forget to eat and stay hydrated! As a returning KCON-er, you all are used to how many events KCON has to offer, but as every year in the past, we strive to be bigger and better and have some new programs for you all to experience! We’ll release more “adventures” in the coming days to suit those KCON-ers who may have different interests like Dance, Beauty, etc… But, this is a handcrafted, convention adventure for those who think they may know everything there is to know about KCON – but will be thrilled about how many new experiences they will be able to have this year. We couldn’t be happier to welcome you back, thank you for being a loyal fan of KCON! LET’S GO! GENERAL INFORMATION KCON Convention Registration The events and programs we will be recommending below are available at our KCON convention, which means you’re going to need a Convention wristband. If you haven’t gotten one yet, please register for the KCON Convention here. (1) 3-day pass is $30. There are no single passes available this year, but we’ll show you why the convention will be worth it! The programs we will be recommending in this itinerary can only be accessed at our KCON Convention, which means you will need to register a Convention wristband. If you have one already, you’re ahead of the game! You can skip to the Check-In information. If you don’t have a wristband yet, don’t worry! You can still purchase and register a 3-day wristband for $30 (before fees) on here today or on-site during KCON LA. We have to warn you, on-site registration and check-in will take some time, so we highly recommend you and your family register your wristband online. View the full Convention Schedule. KCON Check-in Now that you have your wristband, you’re ready for check-in! Make sure you have your registration confirmation, ID, and all other requirement documents. You can check-in at Petree Hall, anytime from: 1 PM – 5:00 PM on Thursday, August 9th (EARLY CHECK-IN) 8 AM – 5:00 PM on Friday, August 10th 8 AM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, August 11th, or 9 AM – 5:00 PM on Sunday, August 12th. However, we highly encourage you to do early check-in on August 9th so you can have more time to explore the Convention. If you or any of your family or friends have purchased artist engagement vouchers, you will definitely want to check-in on August 9th or the morning of August 10th before the Convention starts so you don’t accidentally miss any of your artist engagements! KCON Convention Hours The Convention itself will be open from: 11 AM – 6 PM on Friday, August 10th (or beginning 10 AM for Diamond/Platinum ticket holders) 10 AM – 6 PM on Saturday, August 11th 10 AM – 5 PM on Sunday, August 12th HYDRATION & MERCHANDISE Even though our KCON LA convention is located indoors, walking around the big Convention hall will get tiring and you’ll probably want something to drink. This year, to help keep our fans hydrated, we added a water bottle to our merchandise lineup.With this KCON water bottle, you can use our water refill station to stay hydrated even after a ton of dancing! You can purchase your water bottle and other KCON merchandise until August 2nd on Mwave or onsite at KCON 2018 LA. STAY UPDATED! Onsite, there will be schedule changes, surprise artist booth appearances, and important reminders. Please make sure to download the KCONUSA app (iOs | Android), and follow us on social media (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook) for realtime updates. It’s well-worth the minor annoyance of push notifications so that you don’t miss your favorite artist appearing by surprise at the convention. MAPS The LA Convention Center is huge and with so many different programs happening every hour, you might want to check out our map of the convention center to better navigate your way around later. Hopefully, as you flip through all of the recommended programs below, you’ll be able to orient yourself even before the event starts! 3 main zones you might want to remember are: Petree Hall: Here you’ll be able to register a convention ticket, check-in, and retrieve items you might lost. K-Activity Zone: This is the area where you can experience all of our convention panels and workshops, including our dance workshops. If there’s a panel you’re really excited about, get a seat early. K-Culture Zone: In this zone, you can find our market, sponsors, picnic area, and our stage. A lot of sponsors and vendors have great things to see, purchase, and/or giveaway, so it’s good spot to peruse before it gets busy! Plus, our official KCON Merchandise Booth is here. Get your merch before it’s sold out! MY KCON ADVENTURE: KCON Veteran/Returner! (WOO! It’s so nice to see you again~) Welcome to another KCON! We are so happy to welcome you back and can’t wait to share how many new things you can experience! Because we love things that are fun, we’ll be including GIF’s from all of the KCON 2018 LA lineup and if you click them, you’ll be taken to that artist’s MV. August 10 – KCON DAY 1! 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Check-in You all don’t need a reminder! Once you’ve checked in at Petree Hall with your confirmation email and have received your wristband – grab your friends and get ready go explore KCON! 10:00 – 11:00 : Exploration Time Convention programs don’t start until 11 AM, so use this hour to get acquainted with the KCON Convention. Below would be our ideal
My KCON Adventure – Aspiring K-Pop Artist or Professional
GENERAL INFORMATION KCON Convention Registration The events and programs we will be recommending below are available at our KCON convention, which means you’re going to need a Convention wristband. If you haven’t gotten one yet, please register for the KCON Convention here. (1) 3-day pass is $30. There are no single passes available this year, but we’ll show you why the convention will be worth it! The programs we will be recommending in this itinerary can only be accessed at our KCON Convention, which means you will need to register a Convention wristband. If you have one already, you’re ahead of the game! You can skip to the Check-In information. If you don’t have a wristband yet, don’t worry! You can still purchase and register a 3-day wristband for $30 (before fees) on here today or on-site during KCON LA. We have to warn you, on-site registration and check-in will take some time, so we highly recommend you and your family register your wristband online. View the full Convention Schedule. KCON Check-in Now that you have your wristband, you’re ready for check-in! Make sure you have your registration confirmation, ID, and all other requirement documents. You can check-in at Petree Hall, anytime from: 1 PM – 5:00 PM on Thursday, August 9th (EARLY CHECK-IN) 8 AM – 5:00 PM on Friday, August 10th 8 AM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, August 11th, or 9 AM – 5:00 PM on Sunday, August 12th. However, we highly encourage you to do early check-in on August 9th so you can have more time to explore the Convention. If you or any of your family or friends have purchased artist engagement vouchers, you will definitely want to check-in on August 9th or the morning of August 10th before the Convention starts so you don’t accidentally miss any of your artist engagements! KCON Convention Hours The Convention itself will be open from: 11 AM – 6 PM on Friday, August 10th (or beginning 10 AM for Diamond/Platinum ticket holders) 10 AM – 6 PM on Saturday, August 11th 10 AM – 5 PM on Sunday, August 12th HYDRATION & MERCHANDISE Even though our KCON LA convention is located indoors, walking around the big Convention hall will get tiring and you’ll probably want something to drink. This year, to help keep our fans hydrated, we added a water bottle to our merchandise lineup.With this KCON water bottle, you can use our water refill station to stay hydrated even after a ton of dancing! You can purchase your water bottle and other KCON merchandise until August 2nd on Mwave or onsite at KCON 2018 LA. STAY UPDATED! Onsite, there will be schedule changes, surprise artist booth appearances, and important reminders. Please make sure to download the KCONUSA app (iOs | Android), and follow us on social media (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook) for realtime updates. It’s well-worth the minor annoyance of push notifications so that you don’t miss your favorite artist appearing by surprise at the convention. MAPS The LA Convention Center is huge and with so many different programs happening every hour, you might want to check out our map of the convention center to better navigate your way around later. Hopefully, as you flip through all of the recommended programs below, you’ll be able to orient yourself even before the event starts! 3 main zones you might want to remember are: Petree Hall: Here you’ll be able to register a convention ticket, check-in, and retrieve items you might lost. K-Activity Zone: This is the area where you can experience all of our convention panels and workshops, including our dance workshops. If there’s a panel you’re really excited about, get a seat early. K-Culture Zone: In this zone, you can find our market, sponsors, picnic area, and our stage. A lot of sponsors and vendors have great things to see, purchase, and/or giveaway, so it’s good spot to peruse before it gets busy! Plus, our official KCON Merchandise Booth is here. Get your merch before it’s sold out! MY KCON ADVENTURE: Aspiring K-Pop Artist or Professional If this schedule name sounded perfect for you, then you must be familiar with KCON already! Nowadays, it seems like everywhere you look there’s something related to Hallyu. We know that with Hallyu is only getting bigger, many of you have different reasons for coming to KCON–whether that be K-Pop, K-Beauty, K-Dance, or K-Food. If we were a fan interested in the music industry, below would be our ideal schedule. We can’t promise everything (there’s a lot of stuff going on all at once!), but we’ll try our best to show you the KCON world in two-and-a-half days. Let’s KCON! FRIDAY, AUGUST 10th 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Check-in You all don’t need a reminder! Once you’ve checked in at Petree Hall with your confirmation email and have received your wristband – grab your friends and get ready go explore KCON! 10:00 – 12:30 PM: Exploration Time Convention programs won’t start until 11 AM, so you can use this hour to get yourself acquainted with the KCON Convention. Make sure your children don’t run because we don’t wish for them to get injured. K-Activity Zone: This is the area where you can experience all of our convention panels and workshops, including our dance workshops. If there’s a panel you’re really excited about, get a seat early. K-Culture Zone: In this zone, you can find our market, sponsors, picnic area, and our stage. A lot of sponsors and vendors have great things to see, purchase, and/or giveaway, so it’s good spot to peruse before it gets busy! Plus, our official KCON Merchandise Booth is here. Get your merch before it’s sold out! Petree Hall: This is the registration area, but it’s also the location of the info booth where you can find our Lost and Found. Concourse Hall: All artist engagements, KLUB KCON, and Red Carpet events will take place here. 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM: [PANEL 502A] The Art of K-Pop Music Design If you want to learn what goes into the art of
My KCON Adventure – As a Parent, Is There Anything I Can Do?
Hi, parents! I know there’s a handful of parents that are coming to supervise their children who are K-Pop, K-beauty, or Korean culture fans. Other parents are probably coming to KCON for some family fun! And of course, there’s a handful of parents who are K-Pop fans themselves, ready to share their love for the music and culture with their children! To you all, welcome to KCON 2018 LA! We have designed a sample itinerary to help you and your family navigate the 3 days of programs. — But before we get onto the schedule, we have to get through the general (but important!) policies and information to help you better enjoy the convention: KCON Convention Registration All the programs included in the sample itinerary can only be accessed at our KCON Convention, which means you will need to purchase a Convention wristband. If you have one already, you’re ahead of the game and can move on happily to the next section. If you do not have a Convention wristband yet, there is no need to worry. You can still purchase and register a 3-day wristband for $30 each on this website or on-site. We highly recommend you and your family register your wristband online as on-site registration will take some away and you might miss some of the exciting programs we have prepared! KCON Check-In In order to receive any applicable goody bags or artist engagement vouchers, you will need to check-in before you are able to access the Convention Hall. You do not need the whole family present to check-in everyone. Just make sure you have your registration confirmation, ID, and all other required information so you do not have to exit and re-enter the line. You can check in at Petree Hall, anytime from: 1 PM – 5:00 PM on Thursday, August 9th (EARLY CHECK-IN) 8 AM – 5:00 PM on Friday, August 10th 8 AM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, August 11th, or 9 AM – 5:00 PM on Sunday, August 12th. We highly encourage you to do early check-in on August 9th or as early as possible, especially if you have purchased artist engagement packs! Hydration & Merchandise With how hot summer has been this year and how big the LA Convention Center is, make sure you and your family have plenty of water! To help our fans and families stay hydrated, we have added a water bottle to our merchandise list. You can use the water bottle at any of the water refill stations found within the convention center. We also have other cool merchandise you may want to get to remember the KCON weekend. All merchandise can be purchased at the merchandise booth in K-Pop World. Get Your Updates! Onsite, we will be notifying our fans of any changes in the programming scheduling, announcing any artist booth appearances, and sending out important reminders. Please make sure to download the KCONUSA app (iOs | Android), and follow us on social media (Instagram | Twitter | Facebook) for realtime updates. It will be well-worth the minor annoyance of push notifications so that you know why people are rushing towards a certain direction or to which booth or program your child may have secretly rushed off on his or her own. Maps As mentioned earlier, the convention hall is huge and you will probably want to familiarize yourself with the KCON Convention layout before the Convention opens especially if your children are interested in different programs. Make sure you recognize the general names of the different zones, so you can relocate and reunite with your family throughout the day! — With all that information done, we can move on to the actual itinerary specifically designed for PARENTS! The itinerary assumes you have already checked-in prior to the Convention start time. Of course, the programs listed below are what we think parents (and their children) will enjoy and you are free to take or add programs from this sample itinerary. THURSDAY, AUGUST 9th Now, the official convention and KCON won’t start on Friday. But I just wanted to share with you and an exciting event for you and your family. 6:00 – 8:30 PM: Free Screening of The Fortress. Join us at the UCLA Hammer Museum for a free screening of the event. Free tickets are required to enter the venue and you can get yours at the Hammer Museum box office beginning 5 P.M. Each person can only get 1 ticket, so make sure your whole family is present to receive enough tickets. Event is first-come, first-serve. — FRIDAY, AUGUST 10th 11:00 – 11:30 AM: Exploration Time Convention programs won’t start until 11:30 AM, so you can use this half hour to get yourself acquainted with the KCON Convention. Here are the main areas you will need to know: Petree Hall: This is the registration and check-in area. You’ll need to stop by at least once to check-in and receive your physical convention wristband. West Hall: This is the area where you can experience all of our convention panels and workshops or even join our Global Audition. If there’s a panel you or your family are really excited about, you will want to get a seat early. Concourse: In this zone, you can find our market, sponsors, Beauty Block, KCON stage, Dance Workshops, and K-Pop World. A lot of sponsors have great things to check out, purchase, or win, so it’s a good area to explore before it gets too busy. Plus, our official KCON Merchandise Booth is here. Get your merch (i.e. water bottle) before they sell out! Concourse Hall: This is a separate closed area within the overall Concourse. Concourse Hall is where all the artist engagements and Red Carpet will take place. South Hall: Here is where KLUB KCON will take place. As parents, any big, crowded area probably spells disaster especially if you have younger children. So make sure designate a meeting point just in case you get separate from your children. 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: How To Live and Study in Korea with Go! Go! Hanguk! If you are a
Justin Park [#KCON18LA Special Guest]
Music has always been a significant part of Justin’s life. His dad is a musician, which had a huge influence on him growing up. In high school, his passion for music intensified as he began to gain recognition as a singer. In 2014, Justin officially signed to 5A LABEL and since then has trained with the world’s best. He also has written numerous songs for international artists, including B.A.P’s “THAT’S MY JAM.” Justin debuted with his single, “Dates in LA”. An important milestone for him, “Dates in LA” was the first song that he’s ever written and released. Drawing inspiration from his life, his songs share real stories from the heart. Everything from the hit or misses in relationships with family and friends, to the happiness and pain he has gone through. These experiences are what makes his songs special. Just last month, he released his newest single, “XL Uber” featuring Amber Liu. Fueled by his energy and passion, Justin strives to spread hope and optimism through his music. Look out for his highly anticipated debut album in Summer of 2018.
[FAN CLUB MEETING] Wanna One (Wannable)
TIME: Saturday, August 11th from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM LOCATION: FAN CLUB MEETING [503] MODERATOR: KangDanielUSA (Daria Caspi, Tiffany Tran, Sally Yiu) DESCRIPTION: Established May 1st of 2017, Kang Daniel USA is a USA fanbase for Kang Daniel of Wanna One and MMO Entertainment. Despite being a Daniel fanbase, we support all 11 members from the bottom of our hearts. We can’t wait to meet other Wannables who share the same passion we have for Wanna One!
[FAN CLUB MEETING] Seventeen (Carat)
TIME: Sunday, August 12th from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM LOCATION: FAN CLUB MEETING [503] MODERATOR: SVTCaratsUSA (Lilia Thai, Kathryn A Virrey, Stephanie Agustin) DESCRIPTION: Learn about SEVENTEEN, how to support them as a Carat, and make new friends with fellow fans. A photo corner with mascot props will be set-up to take photos at. Carats can answer questions about their experience at an overseas concert. Fans can bring items they want to trade with others as well. We will have free goodies and giveaway multiple prizes throughout the fan meeting.
[FAN CLUB MEETING] TWICE (Once)
TIME: Friday, August 10th from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM LOCATION: FAN CLUB MEETING [503] MODERATORS: Fresh Baon DESCRIPTION: Whether you’re a forever ONCE or new to the group come by and meet other TWICE fans. The Twice Fan Club Moderators will encourage people to participate in all activities and share the passion they all have for TWICE.