 Fans commonly organize local meet-ups and conventions in their local areas. One of the first published conventions was BronyCon, which was first held in New York City at which the show's supervising director Thiessen was as a guest. The first convention attracted 100 people, but the third, held in January 2012, was attended by 800, and the fourth, where developer Lauren Faust and voice actors John de Lancie, Tara Strong, Andrea Libman, Peter New, Lee Tockar, Amy Keating Rogers, Cathy Weseluck and Meghan McCarthy were special guests which expanded to a two-day event in June 2012 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey, with more than 4,000 attending. Tara Strong had even attended the convention Canterlot Gardens in a full Twilight Sparkle cosplay to surprise fans. Subsequent BronyCon events since 2013 moved to a larger space provided by the Baltimore Convention Center, with more than 8,000 attending. Other brony conventions include Everfree Northwest in Seattle, Washington, Midwestria in Chicago, Illinois, Canterlot Gardens in Cleveland, Ohio, Equestria LA in Los Angeles, BABSCon in Burlingame, California, Ponycon NY in the metropolitan New York City region, BronyCAN in British Columbia, Canada, GalaCon in Germany, BUCK in Manchester, United Kingdom, PonyCon AU in Sydney, Australia, Crystal Mountain Pony Con in Salt Lake City, Utah and Pacific PonyCon in San Diego, California. Nearly a dozen brony conventions were planned in 2012. In addition, established My Little Pony conventions prior to the Friendship Is Magic show, such as the "My Little Pony Fair" or "UK PonyCon", have seen increases in their numbers due to the attendance of bronies. A long-running annual art show, the "My Little Pony Project", where artists re-imagine My Little Pony figurines and toys into works of art, has also seen additional attendance and contributions from the brony community.
