What's RTX? Why Does the Rooster Have Teeth?

This summer, I took three vacation days to travel to Austin, Texas. I flew in alone on July 6th, 2017 and flew home the following Monday on July 10th. To get there and back, I drove from my apartment in Wisconsin, spent the night at my parents' house in a Chicago suburb, taxied to Midway airport, flew to Texas, took a Lyft to the hotel, then reversed all that to get back to Wisconsin.

Did I mention I traveled alone? My poor mother--her only daughter, aged 23, went all the way across the latitudinal distance of America to attend the Rooster Teeth Expo alone.

But here's the thing: I didn't feel like I was traveling alone. Not really. When I was in Austin, I never felt lonely, never felt disconnected from the people I was with and around. And, in the airport waiting for my return flight, I hung out with half a dozen other young people who had also traveled more-or-less alone to the same thing. New friends, I call them.

Friends make waiting at the airport fun!

I was careful, of course. I kept an eye on my wallet. I sent texts and picture updates to my parents throughout the weekend, sent continuous snapchats to my friends, and occasionally posted on Facebook. I wasn't stupid (well, beyond deciding to travel alone in the first place). And if you're considering going to RTX for the first time, I definitely recommend finding at least one other travel partner. This was my second visit, and so I knew what to expect.

To explain all these feelings, and why I felt comfortable traveling to the Rooster Teeth Expo (RTX) alone, I need to provide context. Context I couldn't figure out how to give my awesome and very anxious mother at the time. (Sorry Mom)

First, Rooster Teeth (RT, for short. Not to be confused with "retweet" or news journal "Russia Today."). Rooster Teeth is an online video production company. No, it doesn't make porn. It's hard to describe what RT does, because they do so much. They've got people making live action web shows like Day 5 and Ten Little Roosters, they've got people making animated series like Red vs Blue and RWBY, they've got people making video game Let's Plays for YouTube, they've got people making an improv game show, they've got podcasts, game and entertainment news... Odds are, there's something there anyone could be interested in (which is coincidentally also my stance on anime).

So fans come from all over the world to attend this RTX. Many of them have far worse, more difficult, and/or more expensive journeys than I had to make. Most come with a friend or two, but many, like me this year, attend alone and meet up with someone who agreed to share a hotel room. Some even travel to Austin with family, and attend the expo itself alone while their family hangs out in the city. In fact, a couple friends I made there over the course of my two visits were in that last situation, to my understanding. Of course, some fans live in Austin, too, and I honestly envy them.

What is it about this convention that draws people? What about it makes people comfortable to travel there without hometown friends? I have a wealth of experience attending anime conventions, and let me tell you, RTX is way different than your average con. I've attended ACen many a times, and that's the biggest anime con in the midwest. I attended Ohayocon in Columbus, OH every year of my college experience. I've attended a couple other conventions as well, including Anime Midwest and Youmacon. I am fortunate to have never attended an anime convention alone. Sure, you're all there because you love anime. But which anime do you love? Do you listen to jpop or kpop? Do you play these video games? Which anime are you a fan of? There's thousands of shows. You might all be fans, but you're all fans of different things.

At RTX, you're all there because you love Rooster Teeth and its community (and maybe, just maybe, you can get that sweet, sweet selfie with certain RT employees). That's right, you're not just a fan--you're a part of a community. And it really does feel like a community. It's friendly, it's helpful and welcoming. Every convention might secretly be Line Con with hours and hours of queued lingering fun, but oftentimes the lines at RTX are prime new-friends-zones. I felt just fine going to RTX alone because I knew, even if I didn't hang out with my hotel roommate the entire time, I would find a conversational partner anywhere I looked. I knew that would happen. I don't expect that to happen at your average anime convention.

 

 Speaking of selfies...

This is a community made up of inside jokes, a love for the crazy and hilarious RT employees, and a sheer joy of sharing this love with other community members. A community of people who want to do good and help out and welcome in (There's even a section of the community devoted to volunteering with other RT community members!). I call it a fandom sometimes, but honestly I have never felt quite the same connection to any other fandom. Not even for Homestuck or Harry Potter, who both have enormous fandoms that I've experienced first hand. No where else have I found conversations so easy to start among fellow fans of a piece of media. The RT community gets together. It's not hard to find your little corner of the world there.

Sure, not everyone in this community is a good person. I briefly joked with a random guy while walking back to my hotel, and maybe an hour later my roommate informed me that he was totally racist and hated Mexicans, as per a conversation she had in a shared elevator. I've definitely seen and interacted with some highly bitter and toxic community members online. Not everyone in your neighborhood is going to share your worldview, and not everyone in your neighborhood is going to be someone you want to associate with. It's what happens when hundreds of people gather in one spot, regardless of the reason they're there.

And there are a lot. (photo credit)

It doesn't hurt that Austin as a whole is a youthful, liberal place with a slogan of "Keep Austin Weird." The hundred or so Guardians helping run the event, too, add to the safety of RTX. You could toss a stone and there would be someone to help you if you need it. Of course, the furthest I strayed from the convention center and surrounding hotels was to the nearby bridge on Sunday to watch the bats fly out in swarms at dusk. My point mentioning this is that the RT people and its helpers try very hard to make it so that attendees feel safe and welcome. There will always be danger in traveling alone, of course, and many risk factors that any traveler needs to take into account. But I was prepared, and so was the community.

To the bats!

I traveled to RTX alone. I walked into the airport on that Thursday morning and immediately ran into two young men wearing RT t-shirts. I met up with my hotel roommate at the Austin airport for the first time, after spending the previous few months emailing and texting back and forth. That evening, we got chicken dinner at a nearby eatery with two people we met while picking up our badges. On Friday we hung out in line with a few Canadians, as well as a young man who ended up joining us for the rest of that day and also on Sunday. On Sunday, while waiting in line for an autograph from two RT employees I adore, I met people who knew my fan art and introduced me to a discord server full of chatty, friendly RT fans. At the Austin airport on Monday, I sat in a circle with half a dozen people from that same discord server for hours as we all waited for our flights (delayed or otherwise).

I traveled to RTX alone. But I did not attend alone.

(I'm the third from the left on the third row in the purple shirt! Photo credit to Edgar)

10/10 would attend again.