To DragonCon 2009 and Back Again

As I'm sure most of you are aware, M.B. just moved recently to Dallas. This is a wonderful opportunity for her. She's more centrally located in the US now, there are plenty of new schools to visit, new Cons to locate... Doors are just flying open left and right!! The only downfall is that she decided to make this huge move two weeks before DragonCon!

So, when she shows up at my house the evening before we head to Atlanta, she was not exactly well rested. In her own words, "As soon as I finished unpacking the house I had to pack for DragonCon." It didn't really help that we had some time confusions and had to pick someone up in Oxford, Alabama by 11 am. That meant we had to leave my house by 3 am. *sighs*

Lets just say that the car ride to Atlanta and check in with DragonCon was interesting...not to mention packed with people

Our hotel, The Hilton

The view from our room


The line for Pre-Reg

We knew this year was going to be packed with people, even with the recession. The stars line-up was outrageous! A huge Star Trek year with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew. Not to mention the Battlestar Galactica fans had Mary McDonnell in the house. So, it was no wonder that the lines for registration were brimming with every form of gamer, fan boy/girl, Trekie, Costume Guru, and Nerd. Welcome to GEEKDOM!!!

Now for those of you that have never been to a Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention, DragonCon is one of the largest and most unique conventions in the US. It's in 4 hotels (I've heard they are adding a 5th next year, the Westin) that span 5 city blocks in the heart of downtown Atlanta. There are so many people that they have built elevated walkways between the three major hotels specifically for the con-goers. This year was the start of the last of these walkways to open. Say a fond farewell to "DragonCon Frogger" between the Hyatt, Mall, Marriott, and the Hilton. The only places you will be able to play "DragonCon Frogger" is between the Marriott and the Sheraton. I've heard there are several guards on Segways nearby for your safety...not that a Segway is any match for the taxi that just flattened you on your way across.

*sighs*... ok... so I'm rambling. All you really need to know is it's a big durn convention, with lots of freakin people running around in all sorts of costumes. Oh, and please be aware that some of the clothes that you THINK are a costume are actually that persons REAL clothes.

ConGuide #132: People who wear clothes that can be mistaken for a costume should be approached with caution. They will either be bad for your health or bad for your reputation.

Now what makes DragonCon unique is the wide span of genre that it holds. Authors, Movie Stars, TV Stars, Artists, Bands, Gamers, Comics, Specialists, Photographers, Exhibits, Vendors, "dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!" So I managed to find a great quote on why DragonCon is the bestest:

Now, here are some major differences between DragonCon and “everybody else”…

GenCon is gaming, only gaming, nothing but gaming. They are the Mac-Daddy gaming convention, and they do gaming very well. They do not, however, have concerts, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Costuming, or any of the other “3 hotels worth of stuff” that DragonCon does.

Penny Arcade Expo, is run for gaming companies, by gaming companies, and caters to an established audience. If you are a computer or console gamer, this is a great convention. If, however, you want to have drinks with celebrities, or are not a hardcore gamer. PAX isn’t for you.

Comic-Con focuses on Sci-Fi and (duh) Comics. You’ll have a pretty good chance of seeing celebrities there (since it’s located near Los Angeles and New York) and there is a correspondingly large media presence there.

There is only one convention that does “all of the above”. There’s only one convention that isn’t so hip-deep in advertising and sponsorship dollars that you can save yourself the trouble and just download press-releases all day. There’s only one convention that boasts 24-hour, round-the-clock, non-stop “stuff to do”. There’s only one convention that is run by fans, for fans.

That’s us.

Now that we've gone over all the specifics of DragonCon, we can move on to my purpose for this blog!

It is my duty as Executive Assistant to not only keep M.B. on track, on time, and on cue, but it is also my task to keep her sanity in check. For this particular task, my greatest weapon is humor. This doesn't mean that I sit around and crack jokes all day. It means that I let Sarcasm reign free. I let the stupid reveal its hilarious face. And I manage to point out every absurdity that seems to gravitate in our direction. For those very reasons, she has asked me to create this blog in tandem with hers.