Welcome back to Reptile’s Random Reviews. This time Dragon Con!
What can I say; this was the first time I attended this HUGE convention. I had so many preconceived notions of how this was going to happen. Then it happened and it was Glorious!
It all started at check-in, at least once I solved the mystery of where press picked up their badges. It was a bit of a D&D adventure, but led to some photo ops and a quick story for the GLORY of PopcultHQ and Dragon Con, so a profitable adventure. The admins running the media badge pick up were very helpful and kind, and pointed this newbie in the right directions.
I chatted with and took a few pictures of the crew running the blood drive. They were also very friendly and were doing glorious work for a worthy cause. Dragon Con runs this blood drive yearly and if you can loan a bit of the crimson to help others. Fill yourself with glorious purpose and do so.
With that out of the way; Dragon Con is nothing like any other convention I have ever been to. It is spread out through 5 major hotels, Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Westin and Sheraton.
The hotels are where most of the meet ups and photo shoots occur, along with the addition of Hardy Ivy Park. I hung out there a lot, taking photos and participating in cosplay as part of various photo shoots. I encountered some great photographers.
A quick shout out to @Orangegofish and @Chicagoconpics for some awesome tips on how to improve my shots. (Check out their work you will not be disappointed.) Another thing that separates Dragon Con from other cons, besides the parade they hold, is that the vendor hall, artists alley and the gaming area are in the Americasmart, which is a building a couple of blocks away from the hotels. But the celebrities are in the “Walk of Fame” in the Marriott’s Marques Ballroom and the panels seemed to be spread between the hotels and were listed in the Dragon Con guide.
I was prepared for crowds and shoulder-to-shoulder traffic going through the hotels and con floors, which did happen, but as I was told this was “Dragon Con Lite”. Dragon Con held attendance to 50% due to COVID and sold no one-day passes for Saturday. So I would recommend no BIG cosplays unless you are going to camp out a place and stay there. I did see many glorious cosplays and my hat’s off to those participating in them. I would also recommend that you wear cosplays that allow you to move through crowds easily and that are cool wear as Dragon Con is in “Hotlanta”. Even though the weather was cooler than normal for the con it was still very humid, making hydration still very important. Another shout out here to the Dragon Con Parade crew who handed out cold water before, during and after the parade to the parade participants. Also impressive was the con’s attention to COVID safety. I heard many, many times from security “Badges out Masks up!” as you entered the hotels.
You might have noticed by now my use of the word Glorious. The reason for that is Loki is the new Deadpool. Lokis everywhere at Dragon Con. So with Glorious Purpose I give Dragon Con a rating of 4.5 out of 5 Stars. I feel there are some things could be improved on, which is the only reason that I didn’t go the full 5 stars.
Until next time this has been another Reptile’s Random Review.
