What We Learned from Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella’s Reddit AMA

Yesterday, Insomniac Founder & CEO Pasquale Rotella hosted his third Reddit AMA. Over three hours, Pasquale addressed some of our burning questions, most of which focused on EDC Las Vegas 2020. While some questions were left unanswered, we read through the 638 comments and have highlighted some of the key points below so you don’t have to!

We’re definitely doing a lot of special things to celebrate our 10 years of EDC Las Vegas.

Aside from “new art, new DJs, new surprises, and much more,” fans weren’t able to get any hints on what the festival’s 10th anniversary entails. What we did find out was that “something unique and special is in the works” for neonGARDEN. One of the many stages at EDC, neonGARDEN is the stage to be at for deep house and techno, both of which “have lots of great new music and emerging artists.” It also sounds like neonGARDEN will have some sort of retractable or removable roof this year!

EDCLV 2019 neonGARDEN Stage
EDCLV 2019 neonGARDEN Stage
We don’t have an Open House in the plans for 2020.”

In EDCLV’s 2019 edition, CampEDC held an ‘Open House’ on Day 2. This, however, was received poorly by campers given the increased potential for crime. What made things worse was the lack of communication to campers, with many stating that they had only heard about the initiative through word-of-mouth. While Pasquale had explained through the AMA that the original intention was to show the world how they had managed to “[transform] the entire desert area into an oasis,” he also acknowledged concerns and therefore seems to have put the initiative on halt. Pasquale also added that “if it were something [they] were going to do again, [he’d] make sure it was contained to The Mesa.

The format for EDCLV’s fireworks show will change from 2019.

This year, the team had “wanted to try something different with [the] fireworks show, where it was coded to the same music at every stage. It was pretty amazing if you were in the right spot, but if you weren’t in the right location it didn’t sync up right and in some cases was completely silent. Most likely we won’t be doing that again next year.” Comments about this were mixed, with some really feeling the PLUR. Others preferred listening to live sets while watching the show. It’d be interesting to see what the production team does to address this in 2020.

While EDC is getting increasingly international, Canada and Hawaii are still a work in progress.

Pasquale shares that Canada has “been explored but [they] haven’t found the right location for EDC just yet,” while there are straight up “no plans right now” for Hawaii. At least the flights to Vegas or Orlando are still quite manageable.

No comments were made regarding the historical issues regarding WiFi / cell service.

One of the most upvoted questions was one about providing functional WiFi services at EDCLV. It is a valid question… Finding your friends in a festival has always been a struggle, let alone with inadequate cell service. Unfortunately, Pasquale wasn’t able to address this issue throughout the AMA.

EDC aside, Pasquale also gave some sound advice about work and life. “Never cut any corners because it’s not about if something will go wrong, it’s about when. Be prepared for every scenario... The only way to get through all of that is to be extremely passionate and never give up.

Check out the official trailer for EDC Las Vegas 2020 below!