We go behind the scenes at Made On YouTube 2026
YouTube employee Nina Fan takes us behind the scenes at Made On YouTube 2026.
Sep 29, 2026 [[read-time]] minute read
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Ahead of Made On YouTube this year, we ran a contest for YouTube employees to have the chance to come to New York and be our very own creator for the day! This year, Nina Fan was the judges' top choice to be our field reporter at Made On.
Go behind the scenes with Nina as she learned about our major product launches, chatted with creators, and had her own exclusive CEO interview, live from NYC!
7 a.m.
Nina: I woke up before my alarm went off, it’s hard to sleep through the hustle and bustle of NEW YORK CITY. I put on the new outfit I bought for the event to escape my closet full of hoodies, only to realize I bought a hoodie with a fancy collar. The tech uniform is inescapable.
9 a.m.
Nina: I arrived at the front door of Pier 57 to a huge crowd of people in suits surrounding someone walking out of a dark SUV. I asked the security guard who it was, and turns out it was the prime minister of Thailand! Only in New York.
I checked in an hour early and already there were YouTube creators socializing in the lobby. I was star-struck! It was like my YouTube homepage came to life! It was really cool to see some of my favorite creators like MKBHD and Colin and Samir in person.
10 a.m.
Nina: After talking with some of my favorite creators, it was showtime. Neal Mohan, our CEO, opened up the show before handing it over to some YouTube creators like Happy Kelli and Jenny Hoyos who announced dozens of fresh, new features coming to YouTube like new features in Ask Studio, multiple Custom Feeds, and Shorts series.
Nina with YouTube CEO Neal Mohan.
12 p.m.
Nina: After the show, creators were buzzing with excitement about the new features, and it was time to hear their thoughts. I spent a couple of hours interviewing dozens of creators and asking what they were excited about (and what they want to see launched next year!) I wanted to make sure that my Made On YouTube video authentically captured creators’ reactions while honoring all the hard work YouTubers put into bringing these products to life!
2:30 p.m.
Nina: It was time to meet Neal in person. I finally got to ask him the question… “What's your favorite team at YouTube? And… why is it Premium?” (That’s my team!) Of course, he admitted to loving the Premium team. Although, then he admitted he loves all the teams at YouTube… But still, CLIP IT -- CHAT -- CLIP IT.
3:30 p.m.
Nina: I grabbed cute Made On swag from the event and headed back to my hotel room where I passed out from the caffeine crash. After a good two-hour nap, I woke up and it was time to get back to reality and start editing this Short …