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Contents

Introduction

Officially, Dragon Con is a four-day multimedia, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and more convention that takes place in downtown Atlanta, Georgia over Labor Day weekend every year. Unofficially, it is a year-round family. People spend their year talking about the next Dragon Con and how long until they get there. It creates a deep bond between attendees. Dragon Con is actually a mind-blowing experience that will have you going for 15–20 hours a day and may overwhelm you physically, emotionally, and socially with the geek experience, whether you are a seasoned convention-goer or if this is your first time attending. This guide is your guide!

The very first Dragon Con took place in 1987 and it has only grown bigger, more lavish (and more fun!) since its inception. These days Dragon Con sponsors events throughout the year for people that have volunteered at the show and want to stay involved, including charity functions and special events.

Any undertaking of this size, that has existed for this long, has a rich and varied memory that takes on a life of its own, and any time you get 50,000+ fans, friends, geeks, gamers, cosplayers, science nerds, movie buffs, literature lovers, and music aficionados (not to mention TV and movie stars, world famous authors, weapons experts, scientists, and others) together, there will be both entertainment and challenges. If I named all of them, the introduction to this book would probably fall around a thousand pages, so I’ll just touch on a few of the most prevalent in both categories.

Awesome Things around Dragon Con

• Very friendly and helpful people. Have a question? Ask any passerby, and if they don’t know, they will usually direct you to someone helpful.
• Knowledgeable and easy to find volunteers (look for pink lanyards).
• Fantastic costumes from all walks of fandom.
• Live music! Movie screenings! More entertainment than one weekend can hold!
• Parties!
• Cool panels, demonstrations, talks with your favorite authors, seminars, workshops, celebrity signings, and interviews. Check out the program guide for this area of awesomeness.
• All flavors of fandom—if you are in any way a Science Fiction reader, Trekkie (or Trekker!), science nerd, cosplayer, gamer, or other flavor of fandom you will find people with similar interests at the Convention. Dragon Con has something for everyone.
• People watching!
• Serendipitous encounters with famous people.
• And of course—a lot more!

Challenges at Dragon Con

• Very long lines for some major events (see the section on Line Etiquette).
• Overcrowded elevators.
• Getting hotel rooms (see the section on Hotel Room Etiquette).
• Basically, overcrowded everything.
• Finding and acquiring food and beverage (with this book, increase your survival roll by +5).
• Little to no cell phone service for many carriers (Dungeoneering –2).
• The desire to spend your entire budget on Friday (see Vendor Hall Etiquette).
• Finding the different events—it’s a big place!
• Not getting to do or see everything you want, or even half of it.
• Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer mass of people in the geek community.

So now, let’s talk about survival (and fun!). This book is designed to help you make the most of your Dragon Con experience. It is intended to offer a good jumping-off point for the inexperienced convention attendee, and has a few tips and thoughts for the experienced among us. The whole point of these four days in fandom is to have a good time—here’s some advice from the experts on how to accomplish that.

Working at conventions is, in and of itself, a unique experience that, for me, has frequently involved ten to fifteen hour days spent talking with convention-goers, setting up booths, keeping track of panel and performance schedules, and selling merchandise. It has also involved learning which items are most useful to have on hand and which behaviors are best suited to the Convention (and which are not). This environment helped me change from socially awkward and introverted, to sociable and able to carry on a conversation with total strangers. I hope my experiences, and those of the people I interviewed for this book, can point you in the right direction to a more fulfilling Convention weekend. We cover everything from hotels, to parties, to events, to interacting with other attendees, and a lot more. There are a few terms used throughout the book that you may be unfamiliar with, if that’s the case, check the glossary!

People from across the spectrum of the Convention were consulted on which topics to include. If after reading this book you have additional topics to suggest, questions, or comments please feel free to contact me via my website at jessicabrawner.com.

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