Dragon*Con – One Humongous Convention!

by Stacy McKitrick

2012 - 52,000 PEOPLE

52,000 people. 

That's how many people were reported to have attended Dragon*Con (www.dragoncon.org) in 2012. And man, did it ever feel like it!

If you are a fan of Sci-Fi or Fantasy, this is your convention. There were tracks for Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Joss Whedon, Alternative History, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Gaming Programming, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Literature, Science, Space, and Writers (to name a few.) Held on Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, every year, this event encompasses five hotels downtown and gets bigger and bigger each year. The convention center has been added for 2013 (mostly for vendors – yeah, you can BUY things there, too!)
 

Frankly, I don't remember it being so packed in 2011 (we were told there were 40,000 people then, which is still a lot, let me tell you.) The lines were absolutely unreal (and they're everywhere for almost everything!)

MORE OF THE 52,000

But then in 2011 (and 2010), I spent most of my time in the Writers Track (but even those tracks are gaining popularity!)

So, what's in a track, you ask? Could be a celebrity panel discussing their show (either current or cancelled – Buffy the Vampire Slayer is wildly popular every year. If you don't get in line early and wait over an hour, you don't get in.) Could be a panel of writers telling you "101 Fascinating Ways to Kill a Character" or fans discussing a favorite author, e.g. Stephen King, or maybe an "authority" on paranormal activity explaining how you can detect your own ghosts.

But while the tracks are fun and interesting, the biggest thing there is the fans. These are people who spend all year coming up with a costume (or four) and making it just so they can walk around Hotlanta (including the Dragon*Con parade), sweat, and get their picture taken. These costumes are not whipped together in a weekend. Most are planned and many are convoluted! But you can see the love and dedication that went into them.

This convention is cheap when I compare it to other conventions I've attended (under $100 for the full convention if you pre-register early enough – the Saturday pass usually runs about $50), but getting a room can be difficult. Registration for the host hotels open up during the current Dragon*Con and sell out in a matter of weeks. You want to go in 2013? I say get a room at one of the overflow hotels before it's too late!

Besides all the tracks, there are celebrities galore (John Barrowman and Adam Baldwin were big last year) and popular authors (e.g. Laurell K. Hamilton, who is there almost every year, and Sherrilyn Kenyon, who made it for the first time last year.) There is a Walk of Fame for most celebrities where you can walk up to them, talk with them, and pay for their autograph if you so desire (be forewarned, if the celebrity is wildly popular, he/she may be sequestered somewhere else and charge a fortune for his/her autograph!) You think Joe Manganiello (Alcide from "True Blood") looks good on TV? Imagine seeing him up close and personal. Oh yeah! Just keep checking the website to see who's been added. It's a crazy weekend and you certainly don't want to be without your camera.

This is definitely not a writers' convention (or a romance one, either), but you can learn a lot in the Writers Track (which has been sponsored by Belle Books in the past) and maybe even meet an editor or two. And while I do spend a lot of time there, it's not the only reason I attend. I am a fan, too! I just don't dress the part.

TIRED, MUCH?

Yeah, my first time to Dragon*Con (in 2010) was scary as hell, but then again, it was my second convention ever (having gone to the Romantic Times Convention earlier that year.) I probably never would have survived without my daughter helping me (she's attended the last ten conventions.) 

But after that first trip, I was hooked.  ~Stacy

Stacy McKitrick writes Paranormal Romance.
You can find her online at http://www.stacymckitrick.com/index.php

Overheard at... the public library

“Gah,” (By which, I am sure, the one year old baby who was looking at Calvin and Hobbes meant, “This is hilarious.”)

She was obviously a ComiCon fan in the making. Dressed as her favorite princess, she already had half of the concept covered. The world of Fan Conventions, however, is very foreign to me. But since our February Guest authors spotlight Fan Cons I thought I should do a little digging to better understand the phenomena.

Where else to go for a definition of unique topics, but Wikipedia (which, btw – I just found out has like a 97% accuracy rating. Who knew?) My first aha was that Fan Conventions have been around since the 1930s. Huh? I must have been living under a rock, especially since they were started within the science fiction genre… and I used to l-o-o-v-e science fiction.

My next bit of learning was that they have expanded way beyond science fiction to include all sorts of other topics like Anime, Comics (think Superman), and something called Furry (not even sure I want to know what that one is all about.) In its most simple form, a Fan Convention is a way for fans to share their excitement for and learn more about, their favorite pop-culture genre.  They include speakers and parties and give-aways and yes, fans dressed up like their favorite characters.

But then anyone who has a child will recognize this concept. For years my daughter would only go out of the house dressed as one of the Disney Princesses.  And, if you think about it, what else is Disneyland but one, big, fan con?

It must be the height of authorship to have one of your characters replicated by thousands, or even millions, of fans. So far I haven’t found a contemporary romance fan con, or an inspirational fan con. There is probably an erotica fan con, but again, I am not going to go there.

So it makes me wonder… what would it take for a romance author (outside of the sci-fi, paranormal or post-apocalyptic genres) to build that sort of fan frenzy?

Let me know if you have the answer… or if there is already a pop-cultural romance icon that I missed.

In the meantime, I’m off to read my favorite comic strip; Calvin and Hobbes, of course.