My first Dragon*Con Experience

To sum up my first Dragon*Con in one word....WOW! From the moment I walked into the main hotels I was overwhelmed. I asked some friends that had been multiple times how does one not get overwhelmed. They simply replied “You don’t”. I don’t think it is possible to not get overwhelmed by everything going on.

Day one was Thursday. I wanted to be there for the Girls of the Con calendar release party so I made sure I was there early. I stood in line for a couple of hours to get my pass but I heard that it soon turned into a 5-6 hour ordeal. Standing in line with someone I was familiar with made time go by easier but I found that many of us soon stuck up many conversations about all of our fandoms. I then got cleaned up & went walking around to try to get familiar with where everything was going to be. Everywhere I went people were friendly & all interested in what other peoples fandoms were & how many times other people had attended the event.

That night the party for Girls of the Con happened with the Con Sluts & the CON-tourage event & it seemed complete madness. I met so many new wonderful people & from time to time started seeing some old familiar faces. Parties continued into the night but I had already been awake for about 30 hours as I had worked the night before. I knew that sleep was going to be needed in order to make it to everything I wanted on Friday. I managed to get about 6 hours before I was up again, eager to see & do everything possible.

Dressed in my Bellatrix Lestrange costume I found very few Potter fans through the day but I was able to make it to many panels. I got to meet Frazer Hines & he told some of the best stories about back stage on set of Doctor Who. We got to hear about other actors from the set as well as about Patrick Troughton. Frazier was such an animated speaker, full of life & laughter & gave us many laughs. It was difficult to get a clear picture of him though while he was talking. I wanted to capture the expressions on his face while he spoke but he couldn’t stand still long enough for that to happen.

With some friends that I had met at TimeGate I walked around the walk of fame room. I was amazed at some of the stars there. Paul McGillion is more good looking in person than he was on Stargate Atlantis. It took me back a second when he reached across the table to shake my hand how really good looking he is. The “Weasley Twins” James & Oliver Phelps are just the cutest things but I must confess I think they were cuter as gingers. Saul Rubinek was there with other members of the Warehouse 13 cast but he was the only one that I really cared about.

I walked around & saw other stars, looked at many of the vendors & saw a lot of fun costumes. I went on a constant ‘go’. I got lost multiple times trying to find my way from one place to another. Sometimes I would start walking in one direction & have to stop for a picture & after a few dozen flashes I’d start walking again only to realize I had no idea which way I was originally walking. I found the Girls of the Con table once on Friday & that was by accident & wasn’t sure how to get back to it again. I rested about an hour early Saturday morning before I started getting ready for the next costume.

I marched with Girls of the Con in The Parade even though the Brit-track people kept asking me to march with them. I was proud to represent the calendar so I was going to be with the girls. If I had been with the British Track people they would have only been 4 people behind the 501st in number. So I think next year Doctor Who might just beat Star Wars in the parade & I think the 501st always have the most people when it comes to the parade. Right after the parade the Doctor Who costumers all did a photo session with a few videos. We did the biggest group hug & we had a HUGE group shot of everyone in costume. The entire convention I tried to get photos of every Doctor I found. There were all sorts of Doctors, companions, & villains in this group that I couldn’t keep track of how many Doctors there were.

I have decided that if I go back to Dragon*Con & wear the Miss Hartigan costume again, I am going to have a “handler”. I’ll get a friend help me get from one place to another because I couldn’t maneuver from one place to another. I was late to everything that I attended & couldn’t even think about going to the Doctor Who panels that day because they were located too far away from the main hotels. I was afraid I was going to miss getting to meet one of my favorite authors Jim Butcher. I did miss his signings but I was fortunate enough to get to one of the panels he was in. I was late but I only missed the first few minutes & I thought once it was done I could get him to sign my book.

The Dresden Files has become one of my favorite series of books. I was determined that I had to get him to sign at least one of the hard backs that I had taken with me. I had carried his latest book Changes around with me as well as one that his wife had written. I walked into the room where the panel was being held & tried as best as I could to slip into a seat where I could see everything but not be too conspicuous in that big red dress. I took up 2-3 chairs with that dress but it seemed as though everyone was trying hard to see yet make room for everyone else. It was a very interesting panel discussing gender verses sexuality of characters. I had only heard of a couple of the other authors but I enjoyed their views.

After the panel people were very quick to get to moving. A few people went up to the front & were having their books signed but Jim Butcher disappeared very quickly from sight. I was feeling a little disappointed & decided to quickly slip out the side door & see what other panels there were that I could enjoy. I then see Jim sitting in a corner with his handler. He had set his stuff down & a line of about 20 people had formed & he was signing anything people handed him. I was so tickled that I was going to get him to sign my book after all. While standing in line I saw some friends I had made Thursday & they noticed I was grinning like a maniac from ear to ear. They asked me what had me so happy & I had to giggle. I pointed at Jim Butcher & then at my book & said “Yes I know I’m being all sad little fan girl but I’m more excited about meeting one of my favorite authors than I am about most actors.” Then when it came my turn I had to apologize to Jim for being such a pathetic fan girl. I then told him I made a City Of Heroes character named Pathetic Fangirl who’s dream is to some day work for UNIT or to help “A certain wizard from the phone book solve a mystery.” He then asked me about the newest expansion of going Rogue & I got to tell him about how it plays. He said he is going to have to log on to play it & said that I will have to look him up so Harry can run missions with my character. I had to look at him odd & ask seriously?!?! We talked about the servers we play on & he liked my little nod to his character so he said he would team with me. I got my picture taken with him & I let him move onto other fans. Before he left the hallway many of us fans got into discussions about the last book & how we screamed at the ending. Jim laughed & said his mission had been accomplished because if that didn’t have us screaming then nothing would. I told him I almost threw the book across the room & that I cursed him once it was done. He laughed quite hard & said that we couldn’t do anything to him or we wouldn’t get to find out what happened.

Finally finding the Girls of the Con table again I periodically stopped by just to sit for a bit but kept getting pulled from one place to another by friends I had made there or from other conventions. I even found a wooden paneled K-9, which I had to pet & talk to of course. Any & every time there were more Doctor Who people I had to take pictures of or with them. Sometimes I didn’t get a picture myself because so many other people were taken pictures of us, yet another reason why I need a handler.

I went to one of the parties that the CON-tourage was throwing since they were partnered with Girls of the Con. It was hot & muggy but people still didn’t understand why I didn’t want to partake in the consumption of alcohol while I was in that dress. I thought it was a no brainer but drunks can’t be reasoned with. It was when night time came that my headache began because of all the football guys. It is something that I am told happens every year. Big football games happen at the same time as Dragon*Con & a bunch of drunk football fans tried to bully their way into the party as I was leaving. I wanted to throw one of the guys over the banister as he called out for me to show him my “titties”. I had to wait on an elevator empty enough for me to fit in & had to put up with the stupid football guys attempting to act cool by making fun of all the nerds.

Once the hotel staff began to ask for Dragon*Con badges in order to enter, I had a much easier time getting around with out being hassled. I ran into more friends that I had met at other conventions & just enjoyed the night talking with them. Time passed so quickly that before I knew it, Sunday morning was upon us. I made myself lay down for a couple of hours but I couldn’t sleep much because I was afraid I was going to miss something. I made it to more panels, mainly Doctor Who & talked with more friends. I didn’t wear a costume, just regular pants & a Doctor Who t-shirt. I ran into people I met when I was dressed as Bellatrix & they almost didn’t recognize me with out the crazy hair & make-up.

Being in regular clothes & no longer taking up the space of 3 people, I was able to check out the vendors & see all the neato stuff that people were selling. Some of the sales people at their booths were a bit too pushy. One man tried to sell me comic books that I wasn’t remotely interested in but was still willing to sell them at half price. I had a woman try to convince me that her necklaces would look great on me. I almost told her that I can make my own for less than what she was trying to sell them to me for. Still it was fun getting to look at all the fun, pretty, spiffy, funny, & cool stuff. I had fun just walking around with friends & getting to talk with everyone in between panels.

I did see things that I wish I could unsee. There were some disturbing costumes, there were the most awesome costumes. Some were sexy, some were well done. Then there were the ones who wanted to be sexy but missed greatly & were just a bit sad. Some people had spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on their costumes. Some were bought, some were hand made. Some were clever & well thought out & I think some were thrown together last minute.

All in all I had a blast. I loved almost every minute I spent there. I believe I would like to go again but next time I know what I would do differently. I still think I prefer the smaller conventions like ConNooga & TimeGate but the wow factor of Dragon*Con makes me feel like I must return at least once.