Dragon
Con 2015 is now in the history books, and I have to say that I had a
great time. Now that the con is over and that I've finally gotten
over my con crud (three weeks of the worst flu I had in years!), I
can sit back and think about the highs and the lows of the
convention. This year saw a lot of big name guests from some of the
biggest geek shows on the air, such as Arrow
and The Flash,
but Dragon Con also astounds with its sheer diversity of tracks,
panels, guests, and activities. Let's take a look at the good and bad
of Dragon Con 2015.
The
other good thing I noticed this year at Dragon Con was that the
layout seems better. I love that the Walk of Fame is in the Marriott
as it puts it smack dab in the middle of the convention. This allows
me to quickly run in and see if a particular star is in there between
panels or before I run back to my room to grab some grub. I've heard
some people expressing a desire to move it to a distant location,
which would be a huge mistake. Something as important as the
autograph area needs to be kept in a central location. Plus, it makes
sense as it's easier to move the guests to and from the panels and
back to their autograph tables. The only time I really encountered
extremely heavy crowds was on Friday, which is to be expected as
that's the first day of the convention. Another good layout decision
was moving the blood drive location. In the past, it had been located
at the major traffic chokepoint in the Marriott, which made it a
nightmare moving through that area. The traffic has cleared
noticeably since the blood drive was moved.
Now
let's move on to some of the bad things about Dragon Con 2015. I've
said that I like the location and layout of the Walk of Fame, but
there can be a major problem with this convention feature. The
volunteers really need to up their game and make sure that people
getting autographs are not wasting a ton of time while doing so.
Personally, I figure a minute or two is ample to express your
feelings, shake their hand, and get an autograph. If there's no line,
then it's okay to talk longer. However, I once again encountered
oblivious people who are incredibly rude while I was waiting to get
an autograph, specifically from Stephanie Leonidas of the Defiance TV
show. I saw that there were only about twenty people in line for her,
so I hopped onto the end. The guy getting her autograph talked to her
for about ten minutes before leaving. I was literally fuming but did
not realize that this guy was the soul of brevity in regards to those
who followed him. After he left, other people would literally talk
for fifteen minutes or longer while getting an autograph. A group of
three younger (mid 20s) people were actually pumping her to get a guy
that they were with a job in the industry. They even turned around
and explained this to everybody in line behind them, and who were
fuming along with me, that this is what they were trying to do and
thanked us for our patience. Again, I never cease to be surprised by
how rude some people can be. I don't blame Stephanie Leonidas as she
was extremely nice and probably felt uncomfortable telling someone to
shut up and leave because people have been waiting for over an hour
behind them. I do blame her handler (the person who takes the money)
and the Dragon Con volunteer who was watching the line. I talked to
the volunteer and expressed my frustration over the situation, and
she replied that it was hard for them to keep track of how long
someone had been up talking to the guest. This is utter crap as she
had an unimpeded view of the table and had a watch. Basically, it
boiled down that the volunteer didn't want to cause a confrontation.
Dragon Con really needs to post some Walk of Fame guidelines about
time lengths and then enforce them. Standing in line for so long
really killed my feet (especially after I had just stood in line for
over an hour to get Jim Butcher's autograph), and the fact that this
happened on Friday really did impact my walking around the convention
for the rest of the weekend.
Another
bad thing about Dragon Con 2015 was the lack of clear directions on
where lines began or ended for particular rooms. I missed getting
into a The Flash panel because the line I got into was not the
official line but everybody assumed it was. Another problem occurred
at the Hyatt where we were told that the line for a room did not
start in the main open area but that we had to go up to the main
lobby and then go outside the building. I really recommend Dragon Con
spend a few dollars to print out some very large signs advertising
facts like this so that several hundred people don't all have to
individually go up and ask the guy at the door where the hell the
line starts at. Another sign outside the building would be helpful to
so people could know where exactly to go. As anyone who's been to
Dragon Con knows, once you step out on the street, it can get pretty
chaotic. C'mon, Dragon Con, spend a few hundred bucks and have some
signs made to cut down on the confusion.
My last
beef with Dragon Con has to deal with politics. One of the things I
enjoy about Dragon Con is that I can leave all the real world hassles
(like bills, work, and politics) behind and just enjoy geek culture
and talk about shows, movies, comics, and anime. I don't mind if
there's a panel on politics or some social issue as long as it is
revealed in the program guide. I hate being ambushed by political
talk during an event or panel when all I want to do is focus on cool
geek stuff. A case in point was the Gonzoroo III: A Musical
Quizodyssey on Saturday night that was supposed to be a variety show
of singers and skits. I sat down in there before trying to get into
the Dirty Dirty Con Con Game Game Show Show (which I didn't because
the line was insanely long by the time I got there). I had been to
several of these in the past and had always enjoyed myself. I liked
the first few acts that I saw, but then a guy came out (I don't know
who he was) and said, "We're all social justice warriors here,
right? Who else would be at Dragon Con?" Needless to day, I'm
not a social justice warrior. I'm a very conservative, religious
person who is also into comics, sci-fi, fantasy, monster movies, and
gaming. My father, who was even more right-wing than me, was the one
who introduced me to Tolkien and even Harry Potter. What followed was
several acts all bashing conservatives and Christians while I was
stuck in the middle of a crowded row with no way of getting out. To
say that this really killed my Dragon Con high for the night is an
understatement. It always bugs me when people assume that you're of a
political, ideological, or religious orientation just because you're
a geek. New flash, geeks come in all shapes and sizes. Now if the
program guide had said that politics was going to be part of the
show, I would have not been as upset because I had been warned in
advance. I've been to panels where politics or social issues were
talked about, and I've enjoyed them (even if I disagreed with some of
them) because I knew what I was going into. Personally, I think the
best thing is to do what I was raised to do, which is not talk about
politics or religion in polite company because somebody was
inevitably going to get pissed off. I liked the response given by
Adam Baldwin, one of the few working conservative actors in
Hollywood, a few years back at one of his panels. When asked to
discuss politics during the Q&A, he declined by saying that
conventions and fan panels are not the proper venue to talk about
politics and that he would rather talk about the shows or movies
people were interested in. I really don't want to hear any politics
(liberal, conservative, or anything else) at Dragon Con because, just
for one damn weekend, I just want to cast off the shackles of the
real world and have some fun.
Now,
don't let my gripes give you the impression I had a bad time. I
actually had a tremendous time at Dragon Con 2015, even though I was
unable to go to everything I wanted to. But then again, who does? I
wanted to go to the gathering of the Needless Things website, but my
feet were in absolute agony and hoofing it down to the Sheraton was a
definite no-go. I went to a lot of great panels: Julian Glover,
Bitten, classic Battlestar Galactica, 2001 cast, Warehouse 13,
Venture Bros. Defiance (curse you, SyFy, for cancelling the show
right after the con!), Stargate universe panel, Match Game of the
25th Century (the interaction between Gil Gerard, John Barrowman, and
Sylvester McCoy was hilarious and amazing), and Hank West & The
Smokin' Hots and met a bunch of cool people. I really got a kick out
of talking to Greg Bryk from Bitten as he recognized my Cobra logo
hat, so we talked about GI Joe for about five minutes or so (there
was nobody else in line). I can't wait for next year, but I will
definitely be getting a flu shot before I go. Overall, I managed to
snag eight autographs, which is well worth having to eat ramen
noodles for a month or two. My hope is that Dragon Con continues to
implement policies that make the convention better and cut down on
the practices that put a damper on the festivities. I also wish that
the convention would give a larger room to the American Sci-Fi
Classics track! What were your highs and lows of Dragon Con 2015?
Jeff
Francis has been a lifelong geek, be it for toys, comics, Star Trek,
D&D, classic horror, or Doctor Who. He once owned a game shop for
over a decade and has been an online gaming journalist for over seven
years by the moniker of Jeffprime. You can visit his personal website
at Starbasegeek.com to read more of his mad ramblings.
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