Dragon*Con 2011: Part One

Another birthday has come and gone, and with it another Dragon*Con. I first attended Dragon*Con in 2005. I have been every year since. It has something for everyone, no matter what your love is. Board games? Got 'em. Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Check. Doctor Who? You bet. Star Trek? Affirmative captain. Star Wars? Of course. Anyway, you get the idea.

There are a number of reasons that one would/should want to attend Dragon*Con. First, the costumes. There are many amazing cosplayers that attend the convention, not all of them are great, but boy are there some truly awesome costumes that show up every year. Some of my favorites are the Ghostbusters costumes with the working (lights and sounds) proton packs and the Darth Vaders with working electronics. Oh, and the working droids are awesome too.

Second, the atmosphere. Dragon*Con has a very distinct, geeky atmosphere (probably because everyone in attendance is a nerd!) that really sucks you in and makes it nearly impossible to not have a good time. Nearly everyone at the convention is having fun, and that is infectious. There are those that have the ability to suck the fun out of things who show up to some of the panels, but they are few and far between. I have met very few people at the convention that I did not want to talk with.

Finally, the sheer amount of things to do. As I mentioned earlier in the post, there is literally something for everyone at Dragon*Con, even those that don't want to go to panels! Let us start with them. Hit the parade! Every year there is a big parade that marches down Peachtree Street. Tons of con-goers are strutting their stuff (or should I say costumes) and represent every conceivable fandom that one could think of. This is a great way to experience Dragon*Con without having to let your inner geek to far out of the bag. Beyond that, one could simply hang out in the five hotels and take pictures of the great costumes that they see! There are three large vending halls with many different companies selling their art, clothing, games, movies, comics, armor and weapons, and whatever else you might be interested in buying.

We have discussed the costumes and the vendor halls. What else is there to do? Panels and stars, my friends. The panels and the stars that show up to take part in them are the big draws for the convention for a lot of folks. I know they are for me! Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Pern, Wheel of Time, Firefly, Buffy, Eureka, V, and tons of other shows, movies, book series, comic books, and games are represented at the convention.

This year I attended a couple of Star Trek panels (one Next Generation panel with Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, and Gates McFaddon and one with William Shatner), Dragon*Con Wrestling (or DCW), and a couple of concerts and dances. I also played a few games. I met Wil Wheaton and got his autograph, and I got William Shatner's autograph. I met a lot of really cool, nice people while waiting in line for panels and to meet celebrities, and I met some new people while playing games.

There is so much to do at Dragon*Con that it is inevitable that you will have to miss out on something that you want to do. I had to skip an educators panel about engaging young readers using books based on video games (seemed interesting to me) and Felicia Day's panel on The Guild. There was also some Star Wars stuff I had to skip as it clashed with some of the Star Trek to do's. I have friends that went to Doctor Who panels and loved them, and I had friends who attended the stuff I couldn't make it to and had a good time. Again, Dragon*Con is for everyone!

All in all, this year was close to being my favorite year, though I am still unsure if it edged out the first year I attended. But really I guess it doesn't matter. I have had a good time every year, and I will continue to go and have a great time in the years to come. The growing attendance every year (in 2009 attendance was over 35,000 and is said to have a much larger attendance this year) is a testament to the fact that this is a convention for everyone.

Next time I will tell you all about what I did and the people I met. Stay tuned!