Dragon*Con XXIV Report: Day 1
Sep. 4th, 2010 02:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thatcrazycajunCame down after getting off work yesterday to the annual 50,000+-person fannish invasion of downtown Atlanta, which had been in full swing since about 10 AM (or the night before, considering the pre-con Thursday-night concerts previously mentioned). Hooked up with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
filkertom and caught each other up on immediate life stuff, then I grabbed a quick dinner to go from the food court and headed over to the Hyatt, where the con's opening ceremonies were held at the surprisingly late hour of 6:00 PM (evidently to make sure folks like me who couldn't take off Friday from work or were still en route that day could participate, for which many thanks and kudos to the concom). It turned out to be fairly brief, chiefly consisting of a humorous salute to the con's literary Guest of Honor, Sherrilyn Kenyon and not much else. (You'd think a con this big and established, with several main GoHs, would go to a tad more trouble than a small local con with its opening...)
Then went to the "Filk Music Extravaganza" concert elsewhere in the Hyatt, where legendary filk goddess Leslie Fish, Tom and the reunited-for-the-weekend Brobdingnagian Bards all kicked entire counties of ass performing for a crowd that got progressively bigger and rowdier as the evening wore on. D*C filk czar Robbie Hilliard (who is the first person to hold onto the job more than a single year, far as I know) went out of his way to make me feel welcome and to see that everybody got the help they needed (especially Tom, about which you can read more in his LJ page), and I ran into several other folks who actually knew me...includingmnemex and drcpunk, who stunned me utterly by coming down past Hurricane Earl to do their first D*C ever. Finally fatigued into leaving the open filk about 1 AM, got Josh and Lisa back to their hotel and went home to collapse.
Being lately unable to sleep through mornings the way I used to (I seem to awaken around 6:30 or so without any alarm going off) actually worked for me this time, as this morning I was able to get back downtown and do what I've missed doing the whole six or seven years I've been coming to this thing: be on Peachtree Street to view the con's annual Saturday morning parade. It's not a patch on your average New Orleans procession during Carnival season for size or glitz, but it makes up for that in pure fannish glory and eccentricity. Serving as Grand Marshal was the former star of NBC's old Buck Rogers TV series, Gil Gerard (his last name is my middle one, BTW), and groups ranging from the 501st Legion of Imperial Stormtroopers ("Vader's Fist" is their nickname) to a local kung-fu dojo marched and performed. (There are lots and lots of Star Wars fans here...) Also rolling were a magnificent replica Batmobile from the old TV series and at least two good-sized, truck-drawn floats (one of which belched actual smoke). Alas, only one float's riders threw stuff to the onlookers (someone from N'awlins oughta show the rest how it's done!), some doubloons highly suitable for the float's pirate theme. Pictures were taken and will be uploaded shortly. This went on for about 45 minutes until the cops in the rear arrived, then the crowds began to clear off and I went to have a late breakfast, finally log on for e-mail (first time since last night) and check in with the Songbird in Central Asia.
Today and tonight: visits to the Dealer Hall and/or Art Show, more concerts tonight and at least two big dances. Will update again tomorrow.
filkertom and caught each other up on immediate life stuff, then I grabbed a quick dinner to go from the food court and headed over to the Hyatt, where the con's opening ceremonies were held at the surprisingly late hour of 6:00 PM (evidently to make sure folks like me who couldn't take off Friday from work or were still en route that day could participate, for which many thanks and kudos to the concom). It turned out to be fairly brief, chiefly consisting of a humorous salute to the con's literary Guest of Honor, Sherrilyn Kenyon and not much else. (You'd think a con this big and established, with several main GoHs, would go to a tad more trouble than a small local con with its opening...)Then went to the "Filk Music Extravaganza" concert elsewhere in the Hyatt, where legendary filk goddess Leslie Fish, Tom and the reunited-for-the-weekend Brobdingnagian Bards all kicked entire counties of ass performing for a crowd that got progressively bigger and rowdier as the evening wore on. D*C filk czar Robbie Hilliard (who is the first person to hold onto the job more than a single year, far as I know) went out of his way to make me feel welcome and to see that everybody got the help they needed (especially Tom, about which you can read more in his LJ page), and I ran into several other folks who actually knew me...including
mnemex and drcpunk, who stunned me utterly by coming down past Hurricane Earl to do their first D*C ever. Finally fatigued into leaving the open filk about 1 AM, got Josh and Lisa back to their hotel and went home to collapse.Being lately unable to sleep through mornings the way I used to (I seem to awaken around 6:30 or so without any alarm going off) actually worked for me this time, as this morning I was able to get back downtown and do what I've missed doing the whole six or seven years I've been coming to this thing: be on Peachtree Street to view the con's annual Saturday morning parade. It's not a patch on your average New Orleans procession during Carnival season for size or glitz, but it makes up for that in pure fannish glory and eccentricity. Serving as Grand Marshal was the former star of NBC's old Buck Rogers TV series, Gil Gerard (his last name is my middle one, BTW), and groups ranging from the 501st Legion of Imperial Stormtroopers ("Vader's Fist" is their nickname) to a local kung-fu dojo marched and performed. (There are lots and lots of Star Wars fans here...) Also rolling were a magnificent replica Batmobile from the old TV series and at least two good-sized, truck-drawn floats (one of which belched actual smoke). Alas, only one float's riders threw stuff to the onlookers (someone from N'awlins oughta show the rest how it's done!), some doubloons highly suitable for the float's pirate theme. Pictures were taken and will be uploaded shortly. This went on for about 45 minutes until the cops in the rear arrived, then the crowds began to clear off and I went to have a late breakfast, finally log on for e-mail (first time since last night) and check in with the Songbird in Central Asia.
Today and tonight: visits to the Dealer Hall and/or Art Show, more concerts tonight and at least two big dances. Will update again tomorrow.
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Date: 2010-09-04 10:33 pm (UTC)Dave McConnell, who was the filk track head before Teri Wachoviak was, who was filk track head before Tom Smith was, who was filk track head before Robbie Hilliard is, was filk track head for at least 10 years. You didn't know this - I did. Just a point of information.
If the attendance it Dragon*Con is down to 50000, then the attendance has dropped by approximately 28%. Last year, while officially 32-35000, it was actually closer to 70000. Again, just a point of information.
Here's to hoping you're having a wonderful time at Dragon*Con, and don't forget about next Saturday.