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.

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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!

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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 creating K-pop music look no further! Andreas Oberg is a songwriter/producer that has experience writing & producing songs for many of the biggest K-Pop idols such as EXO, TWICE, Super Junior, SHINee, Red Velvet, Girls Generation, (f)x, NCT, TAEYEON, TVXQ, VIXX, MONSTA X & many more! Multi-platinum  songwriter and producer Matthew Tishler, is also no stranger to the K-Pop industry with his projects having a combined sales of over 15 million units and working with industry giants such as EXO, Taeyeon, and BTS!

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM: [PANEL 502B] Music Director Gil Smith Talks YG Entetainment’s Live Bands and more!

Whether you’re a K-Pop fan or just a fan of music in general, you know that live performances are truly cherished experiences, and more often than not there’s band right there behind your favorite idols making it all happen. If you’re more interested in performing live music with K-Pop artists, Gil Smith is the founder of Saga entertainment and is a sought-out American music director, producer and arranger who has played an intricate role in creating some of the highest grossing K-Pop tours. Get the behind the scenes scoop with Gil and the rest of panel of talented musicians who have toured with YG artists!

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: [PANEL 511A] Women In Hallyu Media

The ladies of this panel are paving the way as female journalists, concert promoters, photographers, and will discuss what it is like working with all things Hallyu! Whether you’re male or female, these panelists are truly professionals in this industry and can share some insight into becoming a Hallyu professional! Don’t miss this chance to learn how to turn your passion into a career!

 

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11th

10:00 – 11:00: Exploration Time

After Day 1, you’re already familiar with the space and you must be just a little sad because it feels like the day is over TT.  It’s okay, take a deep breath there’s still about 12 hours left to enjoy the rest of KCON! If you haven’t already, make sure you head to our beautiful “K” statue and take a selfie!

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12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: [PANEL 511BC] Behind The Scenes of Korean Entertainment

If you’ve always had a passion for Korean entertainment, come join this stimulating discussion with some amazing industry professionals: Choi Ji-Hoon, General Manager of Amoeba Culture, and Lee Joo-Seob, CEO Chungha. Now’s your chance to hear how they got into their professions, enjoy stories about their experiences, and more.

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM: [PANEL 502A] The Art of K-Pop Music Design

Want to know all about the artistry and creativity that goes into the craft of K-Pop music design? Learn all about our industry professionals and their amazing stories of getting into the K-Pop industry.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 12th

Ready for day 3? We bet you are! There’s still plenty of ways to be inspired and learn a thing or two for your future in K-Pop! Even if you don’t want a career in K-Pop there are loads of interesting topics from a variety of fields to hear from!

11:00 PM – 12:00 PM: [PANEL 511A] The State of Social Media and K-Pop

With so many individuals supporting their favorite idols, you know we live in an age where social media has the potential to influence anything and everything around us, including K-Pop. Industry experts lay down the foundation of how social media is impacting K-Pop

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: [PANEL 502A] Meet & Greet: eSNa

It’s time to “meet” and “greet” eSNa! The singer, songwriter and producer, who originally hails from LA,  has worked with some of the biggest names in Korea like Madclown, Hyolyn, Jo Kwon, Sane E, Mamamoo, Bastarz, Jun. K, among others. Plus! She’s released several albums of her own. How might you already know this triple-threat talent? eSNa is the songwriter behind Soyu and Junggigo’s massive hit “Some”! We definitely recommend coming by to say “hello”!

12:30 – 1:30 PM: [PANEL 515B] Behind the Scenes with H1GHR Music (Panelists – Cha Cha Malone, Thurxday, WOOGIE. MC – Danny Lim)

At KCON we’ve had a ton of industry related panels such as meeting the producers of your favorite bops, how to get into the K-Pop journalism world, and now we bring to you some amazing musicians, producers, song writers, and more! We know you love their music! Come meet some of the talented producers from H1ghr Music as they share some behind the scenes stories on their creative process, what it’s like to produce, and more! Come hear that iconic “WOOGIE ON AND ON” and “I NEED A CHA CHA BEAT BOY” ™

LOOKING FOR MORE? 

This itinerary is just a taste of what KCON has to offer, but we hope it offers a guide to those who are either considering a career in music or are just curious about the industry! Check out some of the programs we highlighted and explore the rest for yourself!  Make sure to check out the full Convention Schedule.

Check out our other all day programs at the convention below!

Dance Workshop

You all already know the dances to your favorite jams, but have you gotten the chance to learn them from some of your favorite dance cover artists? What about official choreographers? We think not! 1 Million, Ellen & Brian, MVP ELITE, the list goes on!

Convention Stage

We’ve got some star studded upgrades to our convention stage this year with our STAR Live Talk! Aside from the amazing performers you’ll be able to cheer on, you’ll get to spend some time hearing from some of our lineup artists during this special “talk show.” This means that your convention wristband will get you closer to K-Pop’s biggest artists than ever before.

Stay tuned for our next KCON Adventure article and see the schedule here!

See you very soon! “Let’s KCON!”

This itinerary is just a taste of what KCON has to offer, but we hope it offers a guide to those who are either considering a career in music or are just curious about the industry! Check out some of the programs we highlighted and explore the rest for yourself!  Make sure to check out the full Convention Schedule.