Today I’d like to write a bit about my experiences in collabs, more specifically, joining them, not the process of making the part (there’s already a few other articles on my blog about that).

This post will fairly short. I’ll relate some of my own experiences to explain (and demystify) how, over the years, I ended up joining some of the collabs that the past me could only dream of.

Pandering to other creators

I started making YTPMVs in 2017, I got more thoroughly introduced to the medium by a small friend group in the French community. I already had some prior experience visuals-wise, but I knew that I still had to prove myself before I could go and join some collabs.

Most of the videos I made were based on my own interests, but I’d occasionally shamelessly try to pander to creators I respected.

One of my first videos was an extremely overt attempt at getting Hamburgaga’s attention.

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And it worked, 17 days later (oct 25, 2017), I would submit my first ever collab part.

We collaborated a few more times after that and then lost touch.

I also made a respect video of MissLMI’s Tokireta, this time without ulterior motives. It got me a place in a small scale collab for which I did two visual parts. The collab ended up dying, but those submissions would still plant a seed that would bloom a bit later (remember that).

I don’t know how acceptable those methods would be today, I’m sure many creators would love to see someone make a video with a source they like, but it might turn people off if you pander to them in a way that’s too obvious/fanboy-ish.

Stuff made with friends

Many of the collabs I’ve been in were hosted by friends, or friends of friends, some examples include:

These are the kinds of scenarios where you’d be in the collab from the very start because you knew about it before it even began (in voice chat discussions, or in casual messages).

Filling in

I also got a few requests to fill in for someone that suddenly dropped or went unresponsive.

This first happened to me in Hitokakera no NND (this upload is geo-restricted, you might want to install the OtoDB extension to watch it).

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The second part I made under such conditions was this one:

There’s a bit of a funny story about this part too, the guy who originally had this part went unresponsive, so Brando DM’d me on twitter, asking if I could make a quick replacement. Once I finished my part, the previous guy submitted in the last minute. That’s the reason why the gourmet race fusion collab has two parts on the same section.

Incidentally, Brando found my channel via my first ever collab part.

That’s the third and last example, here I just slapped whatever sources I had recently used to get it done quickly:

Getting noticed

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The only real instance I have of this happening would be for REO’s third non non biyori collab. The only reason I got invited for this one was because I made Hotaru had fun, it then got featured on FavOtoMædⅣ, and that put me on the list of “guys you might contact for a Non Non Biyori part”.

This is why it’s important to make solo videos on sources you like. With proper tagging, you will show up in search results when someone with similar interests is seeking out participants for a collab.

Part of the recruiting process for MajorMilk’s Super Hidamatsuri (more infos here) was to go on NND and see if people who made a Hidamari Sketch video in 2014 were still active.

Collab series

In some cases, merely being in one collab gives you a free pass for the next one. Some collab series will post the invitation to the sequel collab in the current server.

What about the “big collabs”?

If you’ve never been in one of those, you might be surprised to learn that getting in the “big collabs” is basically the same thing.

  • I forgot how I got in the first Old Spice collabs, but that was probably because I shared a server with the host;
  • I got into the Octagon Collab because LMI needed someone to fill in one half of their part (I told you to remember that);
  • I got into IWF 2021 because one of the hosts was a friend of mine, knew my interest for Higurashi, and really needed to have that spot filled;
  • I was the first one to join the Super Hidamatsuri server (it’s a big collab, in my heart it is, OK?) because Majormilk is my friend and we’ve been talking about such a collab for a long time;
  • I got into M2 because Majormilk had his own connections, and then brought me in.

You get in a “big collab” the exact same way you get in regular collabs, it might just require the right connections.

The actual most important thing to get in collabs

So what’s the best way to get into a bunch of collabs? Is it to make super good solo videos, get noticed, and then make “the best part” in every collab you join?

I personally don’t think that’s the case.

While skill has its importance to get noticed in the first place, human skills play a much bigger role once you join your first collab. The host might be happy if you make a killer part, but overall, they’ll be just as appreciative (if not more so) if you don’t cause them too much stress. Hosting a collab takes a huge amount of time and energy, when looking for participants, a good host doesn’t just think “how good is this guy?”, they’ll also ask themselves:

  • Will they be able to deliver in time?
  • Will they get into fights with participants over the tiniest thing?
  • Are they likely to burnout/have a mental breakdown mid-collab?
  • Will I have to walk on eggshells around them when giving feedback?

This is a small community, and very often, collabs have the same pool of participants: people who have proven to be reliable. Same goes for hosts, someone who has successfully brought a collab to completion is less likely to implode during the next one than a complete first timer. What this means is that, if you have a hard time coexisting with others, people will tend to avoid inviting or recommending you.

Being reliable and agreeable as a participant means that the collab is less likely to dissolve because of a poor environment. But it also allows you to better build and preserve your network, and even start building your own list of “people you might contact when you host your own collab”.

TLDR and Conclusion

My personal experiences:

  • I got in my first collabs with solo videos, and by pandering to other creators in a way that I wouldn’t do today;
  • As my network expanded, I got into more small-scale, “friend group collabs”;
  • Being reliable in those smaller collabs allowed me to fill-in when other collabs had a sudden blank part;
  • I got invited to some collabs purely because I used the right tag and was passionate about the source material.

General advice:

  • Big collabs are not that different when it comes to the recruitment phase, you get in big collabs the same way you get in smaller ones;
  • Skills and connections will get you invited to your first collab. Not being a liability will get you invited to the next ones.

Those are all the thoughts my sleep-deprived mind was able to come up with regarding this subject, the writing might be a bit disorganized, but I still felt like putting that out there. Thanks for reading.