There’s no possible way for one person to cover everything that happens at Dragon*Con, but as some folks have expressed interest in the event, I thought I’d share my personal experience of the insanity that is Atlanta’s biggest weekend.
As always, Dragon*Con started for me before I arrived. A group of fellow fans in the airport began the fun with a great Whedon debate and a discussion of the finer points of building a lightsaber. These impromptu tribal meetings are always wonderful for me, and this one was no exception.
When I got to Atlanta, the fun really started. First, I attended a sketch comedy put on by a local theatre group and titled Wrath Of Con. Yes, Wrath Of Con . This play, which featured a few musical numbers, was hysterical – mostly because it was true. Every fandom cliché was represented well. I have rarely laughed so much. If they perform this again in the future, I strongly urge you to attend. The theatre is only a short cab or bus ride away from the con area, and it is so worth it.
I turned in early afterward, for the next day, Dragon*Con began in earnest.
Friday I collected a few photo ops and then attended a panel with Richard Dean Anderson (who quoted Life Of Brian !) and a lovely town meeting with the cast of Eureka , who never fail to entertain and even hinted at a Eureka movie! Then I met up with some friends at the Zombie Prom, and before I knew it, it was Saturday.
Saturday was a busy day. I marched in the Dragon*Con parade in the Periodic Table group, collected a few autographs, and then attended three panels. First up was the Z*Con movie panel – more on that later. I also attended Connor Trinneer’s panel and then the other Anderson’s panel. Yes, Gillian Anderson was at Dragon*Con this year, which made this X-Phile squee.
Connor was an absolute joy, and though Gillian understandably struggled to recall many X-Files moments, she did agree with 99.99% of us Philes when she said that “Home” horrified her, too. Finally, I met up with friends at the Stargate Charity Event. We played trivia until the wee hours of the morning, when suddenly Sunday was upon us.
I found time for some writing workshops on Sunday. I attended a panel on crowd sourcing and self-publishing as well as a panel on short story plot and publication. In between those, I sneaked in a Stargate panel and several hours of cosplay. Now, while I am often in costume at Dragon*Con, I rarely just hang out in the Marriott, where most of the big cosplayers are, and pose for photos. But this year I did, and though my arms seriously protested because my main prop was very heavy, I had fun. That said, I’m not sure that style of cosplay is for me. There’s too much to do at Dragon*Con to stay in one place that long! Then again, when the entire Guild likes your costume, I guess that’s something, right?
Afterward, I attended the world premiere of Rock Jocks , a movie featuring Felicia Day that has its own blog here . The day ended with my annual trek to the Yule Ball, the Harry Potter party that is so much more. I danced with folks I see there every year and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was especially happy to find out that my house, Ravenclaw, won the house cup, meaning we donated the most money to the ALS Association so they can continue to battle Lou Gerhig’s Disease. The con totals this year are rumored at $45,000. Not bad!
Come Monday, I was sore from lugging around my cosplay stuff and dancing the night away, but less so than usual for Dragon*Con, so I got up early for the annual Stargate Hangover Panel. It was lovely. Several smaller-name actors from the series (plus Cliff Simon) were there, and they were very entertaining. Then the boys from Warehouse 13 continued my Monday morning laughs and a Sanctuary panel with Emilie Ullerup and Agam Darshi was fun. Those two seemed to really enjoy themselves.
Finally, it was time for my last panel of the con. One I’ve tried (and failed) to attend every year previously. But since I didn’t go home until Tuesday this year, I finally managed to see Peter David in the Star Trek track’s closing panel. He entertained us with live singing about Doctor Who and fun stories from cons past plus information on his upcoming projects.
And there you have it. My Dragon*Con in a nutshell. I traveled home the next morning after a quiet dinner with friends and rejoined the Muggle world – at least until next September.
