We’re just three days away from celebrating the 20th anniversary of RvBTO! Not 20 years straight of running the event, but 20 years since the first one. Here’s a rough timeline:
February, 2005: We screened RvB seasons 1-2 and Jeskid’s film Shades of Gray at the Hive, at Seneca College @ York University. This was not an official RvBTO, but it was the precursor event that showed there could be interest.
2005-2012: RvBTO is born and thrives. The first one was July 9, 2005, at the Ryerson University Centre for Computing and Engineering. It started as screenings, grew to include videos from the community, and eventually we got rid of all that and became a bunch of internet friends hanging out.
2013: RTO. The full name was either Rooster Teeth Toronto, Rooster Teeth Ontario, or Roosteronto, depending who you asked. There were good intentions here, but unfortunately the longevity wasn’t there for this iteration of the event.
2014-2016: Toronto Unconventional. It wasn’t quite RvBTO, but it was definitely the spiritual successor. Unfortunately, it was at about the time of the 2016 event that the RT community website relaunched into chaos, and the community scattered across the internet. It became unrealistic to reach everyone who would want to attend, plus we were directly competing with RTX for attendees, so the event folded. Until…
2024: Rooster Teeth shuts down, and one idiot (DiMono) decides he’s going to resurrect RvBTO to give the community a proper sendoff, on just a few months’ notice. Fortunately, he found a group of like-minded idiots to help him, and the event was able to hit all the old beats: Irish Carbombs, event shirts, charity, music from Nico, and just the right amount of unfiltered chaos. We also gave a certain EleBellyBear a sendoff, as she was the heart and soul of the Toronto RT community and of the event, and we miss her dearly.
2025: At the end of the 2024 event, one of the planning committee members decided on the spur of the moment to announce a 2025 event, and that brings us to now. 14 events over 20 years + 1 month, with a screening a few months before the beginning of that to kick it all off.
For those of you planning to attend, remember to bring changes of clothing, deodorant, and stay hydrated. If you’re coming out to the park on Sunday, bring sunscreen. There is no admission fee, so just show up, be you, and hang out with your goofy internet family. We’ll see you soon!
