This was my first year attending Dragon*Con, which is held every Labor Day weekend in Atlanta GA. According to their website, www.dragoncon.org , Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe! Being that I have only attended conventions here on Earth I can neither verify, nor deny this claim. But I can say that it sure felt like it.

Overall Organization - 4 out of 5

Dragon*Con sets itself apart from other conventions by encompassing more facets of nerddom and geek bait than any other convention of its kind. It feels like a con, grown up. The organization and care that goes into this convention is like nothing I have ever experienced. The fans run the convention is a theme I kept hearing from people. The last day, the closing ceremonies was more like an open forum with the chairman. He asked the crowd what their opinion was of certain things, one of them being the fabulous Dragon*con app (more about that later) discussed possible changes in the future and asked for feedback and general suggestions. What is even better is that he listened, and offered his email when the time ran out so that any other ideas the fans had at making the con better could get directly to him.

As with any other con, there are massive lines to deal with. However I noticed at Dragon*con many of the lines were held in places not intuitive to the actual venue people were waiting to get into, and therefore there was confusion with finding the right line, and the right end of the line. I specifically chose to omit certain panels from my schedule because I knew that there would be and hour or more wait and I didn't want to deal with that. The great thing about this convention is that there were easily three other things happening during these times that I wanted to attend!

The Daily Dragon is a newsletter published daily and made available around the con which lists schedule changes and updates about anything that you missed from the night before, along with journalistic style articles or interviews with guests. Also listed are updates for new panels, and a place for fan organized gatherings or parties, and information about the fun from the day before.

This is the best way I have seen a convention deal with schedule changes yet, especially for people without a smart phone. Usually you have to show up at the panel and then read a sign, or find a central board that lists all the changes. Those of you with a smart phone know that many conventions are employing the use of apps to help with scheduling. This takes us to our next category.

Schedule App - 5 out of 5

Within the Dragon*con app, the events/panels/guests for the convention are arranged in “fan tracks” so that you can search by category instead of just looking scanning through all of them until you find one that interests you. The app allows you to easily customize a schedule while browsing events, and even allows you to pick more than one event per time slot because we all know how unpredictable things can be at conventions. The functionality of the app allows you to see a detailed description of any panel, and from there you can cross-reference any other panels during the convention that the guest speakers will be involved in. Needless to say before my feet touched down in Atlanta my mind was already blown. No more flipping through pages? No more magic marking an event and scribbling notations? No more going to a panel only to find out it has been cancelled because the app updates regularly and alerts you to such changes? The aforementioned Daily Dragon newsletter is also accessible through the app so you don’t have to find a paper copy.

I have never, at any convention I have attended yet seen an app so well designed with the con goer in mind. It allowed me to have more fun because I didn't’ have to fuss with a schedule. If organization and the app weren't listed separately as categories the above score would have been much higher. Not only can you customize your schedule, but you can also make notes, or schedule things that aren't panels. I scheduled in lunch and dinner time, and time to just hang out and take pictures, reminders to start moving from one hotel to the other,etc. There is a friend function so that you can share schedules with friends, and the twitter feed so you can see anything popping up with the #dragoncon even if you are not a twitter user and you can read it before you leave your hotel room and make any needed schedule adjustments. The App was the star of this years con.

Convention Layout - 3.5 out of 5

I must say I was skeptical about attending a convention held in hotels rather than a convention center, but the three main Hotels, Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency, and the Hilton are all interconnected via sky-bridge and once you learn that layout of the hotels it is actually much more navigable than I had anticipated. Though this is probably due to the in app map. (Are you starting to detect a theme here?)

While the layout was navigable, the limited walkways and paths between hotels mean that it was going to take a while to travel from one to the other. Also the other two hotels hosting events were one to two blocks away depending on where you are coming from. That was a bit annoying, but couple that with the hot wet air of Atlanta, and that meant I was rarely going to leave the main three hotels. The convention has grown so big that it may eventually outgrow its venue. The problem with this is that it's precisely that venue which lends to the overall feeling of the convention. The hotel setting feels more comfortable and homelike than a cold minimalist convention center. There are bars, restaurants, seating areas, and coffee/snack bars everywhere so when people want to take a break from the panels, they can do it without leaving the venue. That means you get to mingle and make friends with other like-minded people. You aren't the weirdo at the restaurant everyone is staring at, well ok maybe you are, but there are lots of other weirdoes with you and the staring is out of admiration for your cool costume and not judgmental. The lobbies of conventions have become a venue of their own, where many of the most extravagant cosplay can be found, and a great spot for photos. The lobby or main floor of the hotels were much smaller but are still a gathering place, especially the centrally located Marriott. I believe that this close proximity to other cosplayers in a comfortable environment leads to a really friendly tone among attendees. Also since it is in Atlanta, where people are known to be friendly (southern hospitality) and the fact that many of the congoers are adults, also leads to the next very special category.

Convention Attitude - 5 out of 5

Now that we have all the technical stuff out of the way, it’s time to talk about the spirit of this convention. If you are someone who attends several conventions, or even more than one, you know that even if it is the same category of con, each one has its own unique feel. Dragon*con held a feeling of camaraderie like no other, the closest to this would be FanimeCon in San Jose CA, which also touts itself as being by the fans and for the fans, so there you go. Since it covers the infinite genre of pop culture there was no limit as to the type of people or the costumes present. In relation to other conventions the demographic was a much larger percentage of adults, most likely due to the venues having several bars available. Also I have to give credit to the residents of Atlanta, and the employees of each one of the hotels. (I mentioned the main 3 already but also one block away was the Sheraton and the Westin hotels, which also hosted events.) The people of Atlanta seemed genuinely welcoming and excited to have this con be part of their city. Some of the staff was in costume, requested pictures, and asked questions about the events. On Saturday morning there is also an annual Parade, featuring cosplayers and special guests, along with a wonderful display of Atlanta’s Netherworld Haunted House. The streets were packed as Atlanta residents began to save seats hours before the parade, some of them in cosplay and with countless children dressed as Storm troopers or their favorite super hero.

The attendees of Dragon*con are there to have a good time and party. And boy do they party. All night, I left Saturday and Sunday nights at 4am and the main floors were still packed with people laughing, playing, dancing, mingling, what have you. You felt like you could just go up and talk with anybody, and be yourself. Even the Masquerade MC Grant Imahara of MythBusters fame was in the crowd in cosplay, just enjoying the convention. The overall spirit of Dragon*con was that of a celebration of ingenuity and imagination, it did not feel industry driven.

Convention Schedule - 4.5 out of 5

The schedule was so packed with events that every hour there were at least three panels I would love to attend, and this is a first as well. More than celebrities, authors, and other industry guests were there. There was a science track with astronomers, and physicists, ghost hunters, biologists and more. There were countless costuming panels, and help for those wanting to build props, puppets, and more. Oh and did I mention wrestling? Yeah full on WWF style wrestling. Why the heck does a pop/sci-fi/animation convention have wrestling you ask? Well because someone suggested it at some point and thought attendees would enjoy it, so they gave it a shot and ta-da it is one of the most popular events. Did I mention that Dragon*con makes it a point to take suggestions from the fans?

My only complaint is that there was so much I missed but only because I was doing something else. Where I think Dragon*con can improve would be to add some stand up comedy, this seems to be popular at many of the conventions I attend. Also, and this goes for every con out there, don't limit your musical guests to themed music. I understand the importance of highlighting themed music, by this I mean, acoustic groups that play medieval tunes and LOTRs, or steam punk rock bands, or gothic style growlers. I think opening up the venue to some local musicians or anyone else who wants to entertain the crowd. It seems like all the cons have dances and raves with non-themed music so why not live performances too?

Costumes and Contests - 4 out of 5

There were several costume contests as well, genre specific and broad range, along with a full on masquerade. I can’t begin to explain the range of costumes and ingenuity present at this years Dragon*con, all I can say is that you need to experience it. It felt like a convention with “50,000 of your closest friends” as chairman Pat Henry eloquently stated during closing ceremonies.

I have to say that this was the first year that I have attended Dragon*con. I was blown away by the creativity and quality of the costumes present. I have heard some other attendees say that this year was not as great for costumes as other years, but since I have nothing to compare it to I was not let down. However these statements did factor into the rating. Other cons have intricate and beautiful costumes but are generally more genre limited, Dragon*con covers the entire spectrum and even makes up new ones. However, the Masquerade venue was not ideal. The stage was small, and low, and there was a very distracting backdrop, if you watch the video you will see what I mean. This took away from the overall showmanship of the masquerade. For that reason I have to give it a lower score. The bonuses would be the multiple costume contests and that at the main Masquerade, they got into the contest right away. I did not have to sit and see some opening performance, or listen to someone stall as they tried to get things together. They had a kid’s category first, and let me tell you the kids delivered as well as the adults. The judging was quick, we didn't have to wait too long to see the outcome. This is the first Masquerade that I have attended where I stayed through the entire program. The MC was Grant Imahara from MythBusters and he was great. If you go to Dragon*con, don't miss the masquerade. Oh also I showed up five to ten minutes before it started and was able to find a seat. It was packed, but we didn't have a problem getting in, and didn't have to buy a separate ticket or wait in line for an hour.

And there were dances every night along with karaoke and countless parties. This convention is 24 hours and wow does that crowd like to party. As quite accurately put into words by the chairman, “it’s a convention with you and 50,000 of your closest friends. Again it is hard to put into words, but I'll close by sharing a video from the convention, hopefully it will help:

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KEZnqWGt5s