Tattoo convention

The first world tattoo convention was held by Lyle Tuttle and Dave Yurkew on January 24–25, 1976 in Houston, Texas.

"The event that changed tattooing forever.” On January 19–21, 1996, Dave Yurkew and Lyle Tuttle co-hosted the 20th anniversary of the First World Tattoo Convention in Houston, Texas, following up with the 25th anniversary on January 18–21, 2001 in Houston, hosted by Dave Yurkew and John "Big John" G. Stuckey.

Speakers at this convention were: Don Ed Hardy, Terry Wrigley, Peter Tat 2 Poulos, Diane Poulos, Bob Shaw, Big Walt Kilkucki, Painless Jeff Baker, Dave Yurkew, and from Germany Horst Streckenbach and Manfred Kohrs.

Collectors may attend conventions specifically to obtain a tattoo from a particular visiting artist.

Contests, usually restricted to registered participants, usually feature a variety of categories: black-and-gray, tribal, oriental, backpiece, women, men, and so on.