YinzerCon goes 'yinzer viral' after announcement, organizer says
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A convention that has not happened yet is already causing a stir in Pittsburgh.
YinzerCon was originally supposed to happen at Remixed by Steel City Galleries, a collector's shop in Belle Vernon. The event was first announced about a month ago and went "yinzer viral," said Don Spagnolo, the organizer of YinzerCon.
"The phone started ringing off the hook. A lot of celebrities and their representatives contacted us," said Spagnolo, the owner of Steel City Galleries.
After KDKA-TV first reported on the convention, interest peaked, according to Spagnolo. A response he was not ready for.
"Neither was my landlord. We had a discussion after the KDKA segment and we decided that were going to have to move it to a convention center or scrap the event altogether. We just couldn't have thousands of people come into a space and be crammed like sardines," Spagnolo said.
With thousands of interested attendees and only room for about 300, Spagnolo scrambled to find another venue. But he was unsuccessful on such short notice.
Now, the event will still happen at the store but with far fewer tickets than originally planned.
"It's not going to be an expensive ticket. The entire ticket will be good for merchandise in the store. So it's kind of like a gift card," said Spagnolo.
YinzerCon tickets will go on sale in a few weeks once the list of celebrity guests has been finalized. That list will include popular local athletes, musicians, TV personalities and even a few blasts from Pittsburgh's past.
Organizers said they are already speaking with bigger locations for next year. This year's YinzerCon is scheduled for April 15.