DragonCon Reflections 2007

DragonCon, the country's largest Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Media convention, was held in Atlanta
over Labor Day weekend. It was the Con's 21st birthday, and boy, did we have a party!

OK, so there were some problems with people getting their badges; there are always long lines if you don't volunteer and get your badge that way, and even people who pre-order may have to stand in line when there are over 30,000 people coming in. And yes, it was a lot of complicated walking from the Hyatt through the Marriott to the Hilton and back to get to various events. I've worked the Con for 11 years now and I got lost twice. Couldn't remember which hotel I was in. And yes, the fire marshall closed the escalators quite a few times, and we got stranded on the concourse level for ten or fifteen minutes, too. But, despite all that...

DragonCon 2007 rocked!!

Let's see.. you could attend a Yule Ball in September! Hang out with Ghost Hunters, or twins who played the Weasley boys, or your favorite Sci Fi writers like David Weber or David Drake. Readers could be amazed by a kinder, gentler John Ringo in the politics panel. Visitors to the Science track could hear singing Tesla coils and eat ice cream created with liquid nitrogen! Spartans could hang out and be photographed with Storm Troopers. Fairy wings could be and were endangered all over the lobby and the Concourse area.

A couple of my favorite quotes this year about the Con:

David Weber made a comment about appearing at a "slightly smaller' Con, and then corrected himself:

"Well, you can't have a slightly smaller Con, can you? You have DRAGONCON, and then you have everything else."

An audience member asked the TAPS team whether they did an investigation while at DragonCon. After they all gave an emphatic "No!" Grant explained,

"You'd see some weird stuff, man."

I was mostly working in the Sci Fi lit track the whole weekend, but here are some things I learned:

Nichelle Nichols is not as tall as I always thought, but she is still beautiful.

Peter S. Beagle is, I think, the most charming writer I've ever met to this day.

I can spend my entire DragonCon budget on Friday and have no money to buy anything on Saturday through Monday.

It's amazing how many Sci Fi authors are or used to be attorneys.

Scientists appear not to hold their liquor as well as writers. I can't prove it, but that was my observation.

I love the Lost Boys, Emerald Rose, the Brogdanagian Bards, and The Cruxshadows and Voltaire, but anybody who was doing anything after 11:30 I'll just have to catch next time. I guess that means I am, after all, not immortal.

DragonCon still gives you more to do over 4 days than any other event I've ever attended, for the best price.

Words of wisdom if you want to go next year:

Consider working staff. Give the Con 20 hours, meet a lot of people you want to meet, and after your first year you pay nothing. (The first year you pay $20, because people will get the badge and disappear.) if you're young, adventurous, and hardy, work Security. If your stamina is somewhat less, work a track, any track that interests you. It's still sometimes hectic, but it's so much fun!

If you don't want to work staff, pre-register as soon as you possibly can for next year, and make your reservations early, too.

At the Con, embrace the ConSuite. Sure, sometimes there's less food in there than other times, but Joe Campbell and his crew always come up with something. I think they are miracle workers. They awe me.

Don't confine yourself to just the tracks you know you'll be interested in. Be flexible. Boldly go to a variety of panels and events, as well as the Masquerade, Dawn, and the concerts. You may discover whole new enthusiams. DragonCon is definitely the place for new enthusiasms.

When I got home on September 3rd at almost 9 P.M., I discovered that I have pulled a muscle in my thigh. All day Tuesday at work, I had almost no ability to recall information for more than three minutes. I'm writing this on Wednesdays, two days post Con, and I'm still exhausted.

And yet..I just can't wait til next year to do it all again.

DragonCon..there's just nothing like it in any universe.