Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Dragon Con 2017: The Post-Con Debrief

It came, it saw, it kicked our ass.


Ahhh, Dragon Con. What a ride.

John and I got home around 2:30 this morning, just in time to prepare for Hurricane Irma. Of course, being veteran Floridians, that entails a lot of derisive snorts followed by grudgingly buying some bottled water, because hysterical weathermen have no power here.

(Before you chastise me, yes, yes, we'll be prepared. Promise.)

Now to the important stuff: DRAGON CON.

They predicted a record-breaking 82,000 attendees this year, and the final tally put it just over 80,000. From a literal "boots on the ground" perspective, I can tell you the crowd level felt the same as last year's 77,000, no worse, but I will say the "drunken carousing" level was turned up to eleven.

In my 7 years of reporting on Dragon Con I've seen a lot of drunk nerds, but this year was different. This year, every single night - including Thursday - I witnessed folks actively being sick right on the con floors and hallways. It was puke city, y'all. And maybe it was my own bad luck of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I definitely got the impression folks were drinking more this round. If so, then I'd chalk it up to current events and/or DCon newbies who just haven't learned to pace themselves.

That said, drunk nerds tend to be happy drunks, so other than crowds occasionally having to shuffle through vomit (gaaaaaak) and some of my photos being spoiled by cosplayers so sloshed they tipped sideways from the flash, it was mostly all good. I say "mostly" because Saturday night there were two cosplayers hospitalized after being hit by chairs thrown from the Marriott 10th floor balcony. They still haven't caught the jerks who threw the chairs, but I have to assume alcohol was involved - and can only hope they were NOT with the con. (Happily the cosplayers will make a full recovery - and one even credits her Loki headdress with saving her life!)

The chair-throwing incident is especially chilling considering John and I were there, on the Marriott floor with those cosplayers, just 30 minutes beforehand. We left early that night around 1AM, though usually we'd have stayed a couple hours longer. If you've been there you know it's hard to move in those crowds, much less dodge falling objects, so that's scary stuff.

And now that I've brought you down with all the BAD news, rest assured it's going to be all good from here on out: nothing but great geekery, silliness, and happy times with 80,000 of our closest friends.
 
"DAAAA Bearz."

(You know how many other cons have fans set up a camp table in the lobby and sit around drinking beer? NONE OF THEM. Just Dragon Con, baby.)

As always, John and I spent most of our time taking photos, but this year we also went to a few costuming panels (including one on how to incorporate puppetry into your cosplay), took our Jawa and BB-8 out for a spin, attended an Overwatch meetup, covered a fashion show, chatted with lots and LOTS of you readers - both at the official meet and throughout the weekend - and even stayed out 'til 4:30 in the morning to see the Steam Powered Giraffe concert. (AW YEEEEAH.) We also did some shopping, browsed the art, and gawked at all the celebs in the Walk of Fame.

[CUTE STORY: Sean Gunn caught me staring - because I *may* have made our group stand within spying distance of him for a little too long, because I love Sean and he's my favorite in Guardians 2 - and then when I grinned at him, all embarrassed, he gave me the biggest, sweetest smile ever in return and made my whole dang con. WHAT.]


 Twevo making new friends. 

The Jawa/BB-8 cosplay wasn't as hard to get around in at DCon as I feared, but it was unusually hot in the Marriott this year, making that the sweatiest cosplay run I've had yet, despite my interior fans. Sadly our new Walkie Talkie earbuds didn't work through the constant roar of the crowd, either, so I was operating deaf, nearly blind, and melting inside, ha. So if you caught a glimpse of me in my two hours on the floor, count yourself among the rare few!

You guys know I'm forever singing the praises of Dragon Con, because there's simply no other convention experience like it. Other cons shut down at night, where this one is just waking up around 8PM. There's a different vibe here: more relaxed, despite the crushing crowds, more willing to engage with the people around it. One reader said it best: "I always forget about the sheer joy of this place." That's what it is, joy. It's a high I only get here; the feeling of being surrounded by good will and acceptance and silliness, where everything, no matter how outrageous, is met with an enthusiastic grin and a high-five. Here you'll see the most obscure cosplays, the most blurring of the lines between costuming and performance art. Cosplayers are more likely to be in character, to re-enact movie scenes, to invite you to play along with them.


One of my favorite moments:

They were doing the dialogue, too: 

"Dad?" 
"What?" 
"Dad!" 
"WHAT?!"
"Get to the fireplace!"

SO FUNNY. 
(Later they left the chairs and continued through the crowds, still tied up back-to-back!)

At Dragon Con you'll also see the most pop culture memes, jokes, puns, and mashups:


Ermergersh, those "Deal With It" glasses. I can't even.

And her sign was two-sided!
 
 Bahaha! That's her daughter Merrill with her, and I love these two to pieces. Their playfulness is infectious, talk about life goals. Plus - shameless brag here - they're Epbot fans, y'all. Check out the back of the "throne":

Epbot pins! I was so chuffed I had to give them more for their collection. :)

Also, to the reader who was asking about older cosplayers at the meetup: look at this post so far. I'm telling you, Dragon Con has some of the most diverse age ranges anywhere. If anything I think it skews a bit older, since rooms here are expensive and many of the most experienced cosplayers are at least in their 30s.

Dragon Con loves itself a good inside joke, and nowhere is that more obvious than The Cult of Carpet. In a nutshell, the Marriott used to have a colorful patterned carpet throughout, and folks started dressing in costumes to match it. The carpet was removed two years ago, but like a Fox show cancelled too soon, its demise has only spurred on the old carpet's fandom. The colorful blue, gold, and red pattern was everywhere this year: on t-shirts, ties, capes, buttons, and even mashed up with more elaborate costumes:


Nothing says you're old school Dragon Con like flying your carpet colors. And speaking of flying...

 Meet the Marriott Flying Carpets, officially the best Quidditch team EVER.

Now's a good time to mention that John and I *did* bring our new flash rig to Dragon Con, and more than half of my cosplay photos were taken with the new technique:


Since I'll have a mixture of both photo methods, old and new, I'm hoping to give you guys the best of both worlds. You'll still get atmosphere and crowd shots, but also lots of lovely portrait-styles like these. (Hard to tell in the photo, but the Carpet Saint is holding a square of the actual carpet, which had a light-up halo around it. Ha!)



Lots of great merch at Dragon Con, but I'd steer clear of this deal.

Oh! And this year John helped me do something I've always wanted to film for you guys: a time-lapse walk-through of the Marriott. I'm so short that if I did this you'd just see the shoulder blades of the people in front of me most of the way, but John was able to hold up his phone and really capture what this environment feels like. If you're impatient, skip ahead to 1:27; that's the floor where most of my cosplay photos are taken. It really shows you what I'm working with, crowd-wise and lighting-wise. Also this was Friday night, so these crowds are slightly less than the two following nights:


This is also why I will always emphasize the crowd levels at Dragon Con; it's not for the faint of heart, and definitely not for anyone with crowd anxiety. I've learned how to slip through the crowds to get away if I have to, so my own agoraphobia is rarely an issue, but even non-anxiety-sufferers can panic when you literally can't move for long seconds at a time.
 

Now I have a hurricane to prep for and ALL the photo editing to do, peeps, but stay tuned for plenty of fun Dragon Con installments, starting with the best of Thursday night's Bunny Hutch! The theme is Playboy Bunny Fandom mashups, and ranges from sexy to absolutely hilarious, so buckle up, my friends. It's gonna be a hoot.


35 comments:

  1. I hate to say it, but I wasn't floored by DragonCon. I was SO EXCITED to go, but between the chair incident, the poo in the skybridge and the drunk guy that I had to pry off my friend...it was a bit muted. Also, it seemed as if the volunteers were stretched so thin, that their patience was worn out. I asked one a very polite question and got screamed at. I have to say this was the best, hands down, cosplay of any con I've been to. The panels I did make it to were excellent (Matt Smith, Wynonna Earp,Alex Kingston and Alton Brown...and even one on Darkwing Duck!),and Meeting Rob Paulsen and having him do Pinky was just a...well...THRILL. He "NARF!'d" and I whipped around and he started giggling! But for the most part, I never really settled in. It was almost a "club"vibe, like if you didn't know about something, it was your own fault. I wanted to be in love. I really did. Now I'm questioning going back... and I think I missed y'all by a few minutes, based on photos...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hear you, and that especially sucks about the drunk guy & rude volunteer. Fwiw, we have some long-time Dragon Con friends also considering not going next year; they don't cosplay much anymore and the whole thing has just lost its shine. So I get it. The after dark times can be a mixed bag, but I'm glad the panels & celebs gave you some good memories, at least!

      (P.S. - Rob once "Hellooooooo, Jen!"'d me, and I was beside myself with glee. Ha!)

      Delete
  2. Those are some great pictures! I LOVE the Cult of the Carpet. That's definitely a Dragon*Con original. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That walk through was not Friday or Saturday night! Lol

    I really missed seeing you guys!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was so nice meeting both of you in the relative calm of the Hilton. Your guides gave me a heads-up, but the crowds were wayyyyyyyy overwhelming for me. �� I don't think I'll be returning. I can't say I regret the experience (Matt Smith! Nathan Fillion! Scott Adsit may be one of the nicest people I've met!) But I was so stressed the entire time. I'll stick to smaller cons! Thank you for your guides. I've got some friends planning to attend next year. I'll definitely be sending them this way for prep!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry to hear it was so stressful, Renee! Dragon Con really is like running the gauntlet - maybe that's why people drink so much there? Ha! I can tell you it *does* get better and easier after you learn your way around, but you definitely have to get in a zen-like mental place to handle those crowds.

      Delete
  5. I already know I'd be way too overwhelmed going to something like DragonCon, but knowing now that you're also dealing with drunk people puking everywhere? I'm saddling up my Nopetopus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you don't mind, but I'm totally stealing "saddling my Nopetepus" for the future. (Not DC, because I love it, but for other things, definitely!)

      Delete
  6. I had a rather awkward experience meeting Sean Gunn - he was in the WoF and I saw a couple of long lines around his area. I asked, but neither line was for him - in fact, he had no line AT ALL. So I walked right up, shook his hand, and said I loved Kirk (his character in Gilmore Girls). Then I said I know some people hate Kirk, to which he said, "What? Who hates Kirk? I've never heard that!" and I laughed, shrugged, and slinked away all embarrassed. Now whenever I watch GG and Kirk's on screen I cringe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awwww is there any chance he was joking? Because I had a definite love/hate thing for Kirk at times, no way you were the first to tell him that!

      And hey, I once gushed to a favorite author over a book HE DIDN'T WRITE, so believe me, we've all had our cringe moments, lol.

      Delete
    2. When I was at comic con a few years ago, Sandeep Parikh (The Guild) shared a story with us about his first Comic Con where he saw George RR Martin at a table with no line. He said he walked up gushing about how great George's work was and how he was a big fan and was SHOCKED there was no line of people wanting to talk to him. And then George pointed to a long line of people waiting (away from the table) and said something along the lines of "the line is over there" and Sandeep said he was SO embarrassed.

      So I think it happens to everyone.

      And I like to remind myself of that story when I just end up being a dorky fangirl.

      Delete
  7. I didn't know where to post this, but thought you'd like it. The invention of cosplay: https://www.facebook.com/rackednational/videos/1778725272157657/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Refinery 29 is looking to get in touch with Merrill and her mother too! They are Con celebrities!! The wide range of intergenerational cosplay is one of my favorite things about DragonCon too! It's so much more prevalent there than any other con I've been to. http://www.refinery29.com/2017/09/170892/olenna-tyrell-cosplay-85-year-old-woman-dragon-con

    ReplyDelete
  9. So how long does it take you to get from point a to point b in your time lapse video, in real life?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I always love to see your Con photos! Can't wait for the rest :).

    But stay safe during Hurricane Irma. It's currently category 5, so it's nothing to snort about (all though I definitely understand the humor ;) ). We can't have anything happening to my favorite internet geeks and cats <3.

    ReplyDelete
  11. And I thought those NYC Star Trek cons I went to (1975 & 1976) had a lot of people with 7,500 & 10,000! Of course that was one smaller hotel...

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have looked at exactly one slideshow of costumes from DragonCon 2017 and your Jawa was in it!

    Glad you and John had fun and I hope you stay safe in the impending storm(s).

    ReplyDelete
  13. We (hubbie, two kids, and sister-in-law) go to Dragoncon every year and love it! My husband has to stay at the Hyatt because he's the director of Consuite, but we choose to stay at the Ritz to avoid the drunken craziness and the noise. We're able to get plenty of sleep and still enjoy the best bits of the Con. By the way, the folks who threw the chairs were not con attendees. They were foozeball fans.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I missed dcon this year and it made my heart ache seeing all the pictures/posts on facebook...both in a sad and happy way. I'm getting married in two days and dconn just wasn't in the budget this year. I'll definitely be making up for it next year. :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are actually planning on honeymooning next week in Orlando...hopefully.

      Delete
  15. I'm so sorry to hear about your constant run-ins with drunks. I didn't experience that at all this year. I was excited to see Twevo, even if it was from a different floor, and to meet you and John (I was the one in the Marriott with the "I met Abby" button). You mentioned older cosplayers: my friend Kimber runs the DragonCon Over 40 group. They're on Facebook, organize a meet-up at DC, and give out ribbons that say "Get off my lawn!" :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looking forward to joining that group as I'll be of age next year! (It seemed like a lot further off until I realized how old I actually am...)

      Delete
    2. Jenny, I can join next year, too. Look forward to meeting you at DragonCon 2018!

      Delete
  16. Yikes times 9,000! That's a lotta people there! Thanks so much for doing the time-lapse; it seems to capture the chaos of Cons perfectly but also a few glimpses of the camaraderie. :D Thanks for being there and reporting back for us who (currently) can only dream/wish/hope/imagine!
    Pinkie Welborne, 16
    Indiana

    ReplyDelete
  17. It was a bummer that I didn't get to meet you this year. :(

    ReplyDelete
  18. Had a blast at Dragon Con this year (as always) despite accidentally sleeping through Thursday night festivities and being trapped in the room with Con Crud on Sunday night. Wore a cosplay that took a ton of courage and was so glad I did - so many good reactions! Already have our passes and room reservation for next year!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I've learned to manage my anxiety in the crowds, but it helps that I can feel anonymous if I want to. What I want to tackle next is the nerves I get when meeting someone. I have yet to visit the Walk of Fame or try to meet-up with people I know I have lots in common with (Fans of Epbot, Jen & John themselves) because that requires personal interaction. I thought marching in parade with the periodic table would help, but I mostly kept to myself in staging, not really talking a whole lot to others. I'm going to make a goal of meeting one new person and carrying on a conversation for longer than the length of an elevator ride next year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get those nerves, too - it's why I didn't actually *meet* Sean Gunn - and honestly your best bet is to have a wing man or wing woman. Get someone you're comfortable with to go with you, and meeting new people & even celebs is a lot easier. If your buddy is a little more talkative/extroverted than you, even better; it takes the pressure off!

      Delete
  20. The carpet cult reminds me of Portland - the carpet at Portland Airport was so well known that you could buy stuff all over town with the same pattern (mugs, shirts, etc). Sadly, they replaced it a few years ago :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In case anyone thinks I'm exaggerating, here is the Wiki page for the carpet (apparently there were also shoes released with the pattern...) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland_International_Airport_carpet

      Delete
  21. Glad you and John had a good time. Now Irma is a CATEGORY 5 hurricane so for the love of everything strap down the cats and get safe!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I can't wait to see more! I must go next year!

    ReplyDelete
  23. The fun and the frustration of DragonCon is accepting that you can't do everything and making it the con you want. It's a "choose your own adventure" con.

    For example: Into tabletop games? You can play almost 24/7, bring adult beverages and never leave that floor of the hosting location. Most attendees never make it over to that area even if they are aware it exists.

    Each hotel has it's own vibe too. Not into people drinking too much, do not go to the Marriott after 9, and don't get a room there. You may not see some of the craziest cosplays but you won't come across their vomit either.

    I like the hotel bar at the Westin myself. It's a quieter crowd and I've had the best conversations there. I'll flit through the Marriott each night but it's not my bag. Skipped the parade but ate at the food court afterwards to see the costumes. I try to plan to see panels but end up walking around whichever hotel I happen to be in and picking something there. I don't cosplay but wear geeky tees and love when someone comments on it.

    I had a good time this year but not as good as last year. Or is that my memory altering facts??

    ReplyDelete
  24. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  25. As a security volunteer, i would take to apologize for the rude volunteer and you are right, we are understaffed at time espicaly in the hilton this year but i am sure things will improve. It was my 7th year on staff and i plan to keep going back

    ReplyDelete

Please be respectful when commenting; dissenting opinions are great, but personal attacks or hateful remarks will be removed. Also, including a link? Then here's your html cheat sheet: <a href="LINK ADDRESS">YOUR TEXT</a>