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DragonCon invaded Atlanta from August 29 to September
1st, 2003. It is the largest annual science fiction, gaming, art, fantasy, and cult media convention
in the world. I love sci-fi, comics, and the gothic genre, and dabble in
gaming, which made this convention very exciting! I
attended the convention with Kathy who
(sadly) hasn't even seen
Star Wars but recognized that the people-watching opportunities were
very enticing. There is just so much to see and do at this
festival of sorts, and this review will enlighten you to the 2003
convention.
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"...covers a vast array of unique interests from Sci-Fi TV and movies to customizable card game tournaments to Doctor Who panel discussions to art exhibits to Playboy bunnies..." |
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How
It Works
DragonCon is a huge gathering and covers a vast array of
unique interests from Sci-Fi TV and movies to customizable card game
tournaments to Doctor Who panel discussions to art exhibits to Playboy
bunnies. To make it easier for the fans to get around, the convention is
divided in 'traks' based on specific interests. For example, the Star
Trek Trak involves an hourly schedule of events just for Star Trek fans
that runs over the entire course of the show. This year it ended with
sexy Chase Masterson of Deep Space 9 fame (the last Star Trek Trak event
which I was unfortunately unable to attend... DOH!).
The Guests
There are hundreds of celebrities that appear at this convention. With 20,000
fans in attendance, there is someone for everyone! For Star Trek fans,
George Takei (Sulu from the original series) was the guest of honor this
year.
Overall, there were just too
many celebrities to mention in detail (see list below) but if you are a sci-fi fan and wanted to
chat with your favorite stars, they were there! Among the numerous
guests, Buffy characters Spike (James Marsters) and Kennedy (Iyari
Limon) were particularly popular, as were Ray Park and Peter Mayhew (Chebacca!)
from Star Wars fame. I was elated to see that numerous actors from
Babylon 5 arrived at the show in this century! Babylon Fivers included
Ivanova (Claudia Christian - who left early due to illness), Ambassador
Delenn (Mira Furlan), Centauri Vir Cotto (Stephen Furst), renegade
telepath Byron (Robin Atkin Downes), and a bunch of others. Actually,
almost the entire B5 cast was there! Awesome! One of my
favorite comic book writers, Peter David, was greeting fans, as were
other comic book artists and writers.
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celebrities typically sold 8x10 pictures of themselves
for about $10 and would gladly autograph them. They
would also pose for pctures with you. Other
stars such as comic book artists brought their original
works and were offering those for sale, many of which
were about $75-100.
I chatted with
Robin Atkin Downes for a while and he was loving the
convention. Aside from making some extra cash, a lot of
these actors become more popular as more fans get to see
who they are and learn more about the roles they played
on various shows and in the movies.
You could meet
some of the guests by waiting in line to get their
autograph and then having a brief exchange with them.
With so many fans, the stars couldn't devote too much
time to any one visitor, which is understandable.
There were
also some 'famous' people who came as exhibitors
(meaning they paid to be there as opposed to being
invited) and signed autographs for fans.
Panel
Discussions
One panel discussion that I attended was the Trek Trak
meeting about the first two seasons of 'Enterprise' (see
picture below). Now, I must admit that when one of the
panel members exclaimed 'kaplah!' (A Klingon term
meaning success) and everyone cracked up. Ok, so that
was the single most episode of geekdom that I have ever
engaged in, but it was fun!! |
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| Iyari
Limon who played Kennedy on Buffy the Vampire
Slayer kindly stood up for a picture at the end
of a long day of meeting fans and signing
autographs. |
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| The five
members of the panel each gave their own 2 cents about the show
and then fans asked questions. At the end of that particular
panel, someone stood up and accused the panel members of
providing generic information that would not damage their
relationship to the show and keep them employed. I loved the
small-time anarchy that followed! The truth is, as interesting
as the discussion was, this fan was right on in that they didn't
fairly address the negative aspects of the show but repeatedly
asked everyone to wait for the next season to watch for major
changes. |
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| A
Dragon*Con Trek Trak panel discussing the first
two seasons of the show 'Enterprise.' It featured J. G. Herztler,
Chris Jones, Arne Starr, Brian Sussman, and Vaughn Armstrong |
Halloween
Arrives Early!
A large number of fans who attended the show came dressed up.
This was one of the best parts of the convention! Check out the pictures
on this page just to get a small sample of the amazing
costumes that people were wearing. Strangely
enough, Kathy noted that that there were a lot of people dressed as
peasants. Yes, peasants! They looked like they came out of an episode of
Xena or Hercules or from the Lord of the Rings movies! In any case,
there were plenty of Lara Croft and Matrix look-alikes, Star Wars Storm
Troopers, and Marvel and DC super heroes (Spider-man, Batman, Superman,
Supergirl, Poison Ivy, Green Lantern, Robin and the list goes on!) to
keep everyone interested in their fellow fans!
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A
Typical Day
There is a lot
to do at a giant convention like this. It can be simultaneoulsy
exciting and overwhelming. A day at the show can consist of
walking around, meeting people (fans, celebrities, artists),
attending panel discussions, and checking out and buying tons of
paraphernalia ( comic books, video games, 'working' lightsabres, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer's weapon of choice: the wood slaying stake, S and M
domination gear, posters, clothes, costumes, and so on). On
the other hand, if the large masses of people becomes too
overwhelming, you can escape to the all-day movie marathons,
watch costume competitions, or escape to your hotel room for a
brief break since thousands of guests checked into the hotels in
which the convention took place.
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After
Dark Entertainment
This convention
attracted a lot of people in the goth crowd. Kathy dubbed it 'Goth
fest!' Popular gothic band the CruxShadows played a show on Saturday
night and the band had set up a booth for fans to meet them. There was
also a showing of the classic movie the Rocky Horror Picture Show,
complete with actors performing in the room as you watched the
movie. Goodwill
DragonCon raises funds and awareness for the Georgia chapter of the
Lupus Foundation of America and sponsors the Robet A. Heinlein 2003
Blood Drive. A DragonCon charity auction is held each year to support
these causes. Cons
to the Con
If you didn't buy your
ticket online, you easily waited in line for 30-60 minutes to get your
ticket and name tag. The organizers could have made this go faster by
having more ticketmaster and registration booths. In contrast to the
convention program which was decently organized, a lot of the areas at
the show were very poorly marked. There needs to be larger and more
local and centralized signs to help people get around. I would have also
liked to see people in 'staff' shirts who could easily help you when you
were lost. In any case, once you figured out where things were, you
pretty much got around with relative ease. One
final point about the guests in attendance. While there were tons of
them, many were second rate. There were a number of guests who would
explain who they were as "I was the guy who had that one in line in
that movie like 25 years ago..." We need more big name stars!!
Although to be fair, there were a lot of awesome guests!
Expanded
DragonCon Pictures Section!
Check out the DragonCon
pictures of Lara Croft, Goth Model Diana Knight, Spiderman, Supergirl, and
more! This is an expanded pics section. Enjoy!
Was
it worth it?
People want to know if a gathering of this kind is worth the
price. I must say that it is very worth it. Prices ranged from $30/day
to $75/multi-day pass. It should be noted that you can walk
around and see a lot without even paying simply because many of the
exhibits and booths are in free areas. Also, people are everywhere and
constantly walking around so you get a general feel for the show.
However, if you want to really get in on the action, just pay the fair
price and check it out! There
are other annual conventions for the different areas of this one. For
example, Star Trek has its own conventions and the gaming people run
their own major tournaments and so on. The difference is that at
DragonCon, all of these are brought together which makes for a great
experience.
The
Future!
The next DragonCon is
scheduled for Atlanta, Georgia, Friday September 3rd to Monday September
6th, 2004. I strongly recommend a visit if you're a fan of sci-fi,
comics, art, customizable card games, fantasy and horror, computer
gaming, animation, science, music, science fiction tv and movies. Book
now... you won't regret it! For more of Dragon*Con, visit the
website.
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