Fan Rants

So I am finally recovered enough from my venture to Dragon*Con to write-up a review. And by recovered I mean physically and mentally, as this 5 day fun fest always drains me.

For those not in the know, Dragon*Con is a giant multi-media convention held every Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, GA. It is basically many smaller conventions under one roof, even if that roof is now throughout 5 downtown hotels.

It has been refered to as Nerdi Gras and I think that fits as well as any other short name, especially this year. As with Mardi Gras, you have a parade, a bunch of people dressing up in various costumes (many in groups or krewes if you prefer) and lots of drinking.

This year was my 8th year at the show, ever since I moved out to the east coast I have been making the trek from the DC area. Over the years I have met a ton of great people and it’s almost like a family reunion each year to see them again.

The convention guest lineup was good this year, not great like last year but quite good. I was very happy to see a good spotlight on some of the new shows like True Blood, Eureka and Warehouse 13. The guests from these shows were very kind to the fans and some even got out and partied a bit with us in the evening.

Maybe I am a bit jaded from doing con’s over the years, but the other tracks, like the Star Trek lineup just seemed like the usual guests from previous years. The few standouts, like Summer Glau (River from Firefly) had huge lines for signatures. Many of the other guests, including most of the Battlestar Galactica track had almost no lines at all.

The panels were well-organized this year and security kept the crowds flowing well throughout the hotels. I liked the 30 minute breaks between panels, while it wasn’t a lot of time it did allow the rooms to empty in time for the next panel to start.

And of course on the final day of the show I purchased my pass for the 2011 convention. It is, after all, MY Dragon*Con!

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Now…for the rest of the story…

This years convention felt off. At first I thought it was me, going through some issues in my life, but I quickly identified that it was more than just my lack of spirit.

Lets start with the most obvious thing, the pre-registration line. Me and Kevin stood in that hot box of a room for 2.5 hours to get our badges. Several of our friends have decided that they will no longer pre-reg but instead pay the extra money at the door, whose line took an average of 10 minutes.

Now I do have good news on this front for 2011. As it turns out, the director of on site pre-reg has heard our pleas and responded. They had attempted a new system this year that did not work (obviously). Next year they are going to a bar code system and individual printer/scanner kiosks. So no more alphabet lines to worry about!!
(source)

Next up we had a couple of guests issues, including getting a little testy and walking out of their panels. Claudia Christian left the Babylon 5 panel after Jason Carter kept bringing up her Playboy layout. And Denise Crosby walked out of the Star Trek Next Gen panel after Jonathan Frakes started teasing her too much. Denise also didn’t show for her photo-op on Sunday. And Marc Singer was a no-show (or over 30min late) for his Friday panel.

We had injuries during the weekend. Late Friday night someone fell off the Pulse Bar lounge area of the Marriott (hurt but not serious). On Saturday after the parade, someone on the 14th flood dropped a metal pitcher onto the Pulse lounge area smashing a glass table and the shrapnel injured someone.

I think due to this the Marriott went on a security shut down mode throughout the weekend. We were stopped several times late at night going between the hotels being asked for our badges or room keys. Also, the Marriott basically swept everyone out of the bar level after it closed at 2am. Kinda gave the impression that once they stopped making money, they didn’t want us around anymore.

Then the weird stuff, people were spray painting/tagging stairwells and elevators (Marriott). A window over the front entrance area of the Hilton was busted out. On Saturday morning a homeless man stole someones Boba Fett helmet (costume) and robbed the Wachovia bank next to the Starbucks. He was later caught. Oh, and one of the elevators in the Hilton caught fire early Monday morning.

But all of those issues were small and many I did not address first hand. This is where I had my real problem for the weekend.

This year (little bit last year also) just like Mardi Gras, we had douche bags showing up who really aren’t part of the big show philosophy trying to ruin it for everyone.

Who are these DB’s? Well a lot of them were football fans who were in town for the pre-season kickoff game. But the rest were locals who came out to watch the freaks that had taken over their town.

I witnessed a couple of things, mostly people being jerks, touching/grabbing at some of the costumed people or making rude comments (think Revenge of the Nerds). But I heard from several of the costumed females around the show that they were groped, pawed at or even shoved into a corner by non-badge wearing males. Most instances were brought to the hotel security attention, but really these guys just disappear into the crowds to find someone else.

So my plea to the con is this. The hotels need to step up security, no one should be allowed into the hotels (essentially at night) without a con badge or a room key. As for the fans that attend the show, just remember to yell HEY RUBE. It’s an old carnival alert that there is someone from the ‘outside’ trying to cause trouble. There are more than enough fans around that will take care of the issue quickly.

I hope this doesn’t dissuade anyone from coming to 2011. I really do love my little/big con in September. It is certainly going through some growing pains right now but that should pass. It’s an experience that is hard to describe, so if you are so inclined, come join us!

Dragon*Con is actually multiple conventions housed under the same roof(s). And each seperate section (track) has its own committee, guests and schedule of activities.

Each year we get seperate schedules from the various tracks and eventually just before the show a complete schedule is listed. But for those anal smart phone users out there its frustrating as heck!

So this year I have put each track into its own Google Calendar entry that you can access. You can subscribe to them, download them, and more.

Just so you understand, this is what is posted as of 8/19/10, so many tracks are not yet up. I will update them as they become available, but you need to check the master schedule when it comes out to see if room or guests appearances have changed.

ENJOY!

Main Programming Track   (iCal)

Alternate History Track   (iCal)
American SF Media Track   (iCal)
Animation Track   (iCal)
Anime Video Track   (iCal) 
Anime/Manga Track   (iCal)
Anne McCaffrey’s Worlds Track   (iCal)
Apocalypse Rising Track   (iCal)
Armory Programming Track   (iCal)
Art Show Track   (iCal)
Autograph sessions   (iCal)
CosPlay Photo Ops   (iCal) 
Costuming Track   (iCal)
Dark Fantasy Track   (iCal)
Electronic Frontiers Track   (iCal)
Filk Track   (iCal)
Independent Film Festival   (iCal)
Main Video Track   (iCal)
MMO Track   (iCal)
Parties   (iCal)
Podcast Track   (iCal)
Robotics Track   (iCal)
Science Track   (iCal) 
Skeptics Track   (iCal)
Space Track   (iCal) 
Star Wars Track   (iCal)
Stargate Track   (iCal) *OFFICIAL*
Tolkien Track   (iCal)
Whedon Universe Track   (iCal)
Wheel of Time Track   (iCal)
Young Adult Lit Track   (iCal)

The Stargate Track calendar listed above is the official one from the track director. So that one will be updated via the track on the fly throughout the Dragon*Con weekend.

Thanks to @MissLlil for the Cosplay Photo Ops Calendar!!

*UPDATE*
So I have updated the listed calendars with the data from the official pocket program. I decided not to add any additional calendars on Sunday because Dragon*Con stated they were producing iCal listings for all tracks (see here).  But it is now Wednesday and no movement on their part…kinda torked that I didn’t just finish them on Sunday (hate duplicating effort though).

Hope everyone has a great time that are going to D*C this weekend, I will be live blogging the show as I attend panels for those that can’t make it.

One of my favorite things about Dragon*Con is their way of keeping the audience entertained between panels. See, each year they produce small skits off site and then regail us with them as videos. Last year they made one on a perfume called Pon Farr (watch via this link).

Well I guess someone at Genki Wear caught their video, cause they have made it as part of their new Star Trek scents line. Here are the features of Vulcan Pon Farr:

• Drive him wild! Vulcan Pon Farr… perfume from the Star Trek universe. Because having is not always as pleasing as wanting!
  Straight from the planet Vulcan, this 50 ml container of Star Trek Pon Farr Perfume is all you need to drive your man (or men) wild.
  (Obviously the Vulcan women need it for those times between the 7 year itch)
• Because having is not always as pleasing as wanting! Pon Farr Perfume for women is a refreshing fragrance that’s both invigorating and dramatic, with light, clean notes of citrus, blackcurrant, lotus blossom, and water lily. With base notes from sandalwood, peach, and mulberry, Pon Farr is perfect for those bright sunny days and warm summer nights spent together at the beach, around the fire, or simply watching your favorite affaire d’honneur. Sharp and aggressive, simple yet exotic, use it with care!
  (Nights spent on the beach? Vulcan is a desert planet!)
• Pon Farr: In the Star Trek universe, Vulcan males and females go into heat every seven years, going into a blood fever, becoming violent, and finally dying if they don’t mate with someone with whom they’re empathically bonded.
  (Finally, the only statement based on Trek)

Not from us, we don’t have the budget, but if you win we will buy you a beer at the con!

Pyr books, an imprint of Prometheus Press, is celebrating their 5th anniversary by holding an essay contest on “Five reasons why science fiction and fantasy is important to you”. Details below in their official press release:

(more…)

Earlier this week, the Dragon*Con director of programming for the Wheel of Time track made the following announcement:

Do not procrastinate this year

Post by Kathana Trevalaer on Sun Jan 17, 2010 5:45 pm

Pre reg is running really high compared to last year. So DragonCon is considering a membership cap. This would mean that there would be NO onsite registration. So if you know for sure you’re planning to come, be sure to get your badge now.

President,

Age of Legends, LLC

Convention Chair, JordanCon

Director of Wheel of Time Programming, Dragon*Con

So what does this mean for the public? Maybe nothing, after all this is just one hypothesis from one of the many directors of Dragon*Con. But this does make a LOT of sense. The crowds have been getting larger and larger every year, and if you notice the pay at the door lines are pretty short.

Frankly I think this is a great idea. San Diego Comic Con has had to do this and it will not suffer for it. In fact, it only makes people plan a little bit better and get their memberships earlier. So my vote is to make it happen!