For the first time ever, I attended Dragon*Con. I’ve been to other cons in the past, but I’ve never experienced one so big! (That’s what she said.) Anyways, I want to do a full con report on what I experienced as I was touched for the very first time…by Dragon*Con.

Friday

Yup yup yup!

I was a little later hitting the con than I wanted because I had to make some finishing touches to my costumes, because let’s face it. Once you hit the con, you will not have enough down time for crafting and sewing and whatnot. Nick and I picked-up our buddy Dougie Fresh, and we drove to Nerdy-gras. Amazingly, we did not have to wait at all to sign-in and get our badges. I had heard horror stories about five hour lines, and with our free time, Nick, Doug and I started to get our bearings over the huge event and people watch like mad. We also hit some panel about the apocalypse. It was alright. After I had an ever-so-delightful voice lesson, we had dinner at some Mexican joint with friends, attended a brony panel with PMVs, and hit a few Magical Parties before calling it a night.

The Angry-ass Bird eats birds in hot sauce. Look at that cannibalistic hottie! She don't give a f*ck!

Saturday

I dressed as an Angry Bird this day, and I learned a hard lesson. Wearing a costume that requires heels and fur is a bad idea. I walked a mile to the parade, and that was totally worth it! The parade was great. Then I went to the Richard Garfield panel with my husband and a couple Magical Friends. It was very interesting, and it was air conditioned with chairs. Then we had lunch at Hooters and mingled around the con. I was going to attend a voice acting panel, but the combination of heat, sore feet, hidden lines and nowhere to sit caused a meltdown. We went home, rested-up and came back to party and attend The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That was a bit of a bust though, since once again the line was in some random place, and the show started over an hour late.

Sunday

Partying Partying! Fun Fun Fun Fun!

Nick and I got a late start on Sunday, and we met our friend Trevor for lunch at Hooters (we clearly enjoyed Hooters). Then we hung-out in the game room for a long time with Magical Friends, and I had a job interview with the owners of Creative Studios Atlanta, the place where I’m doing VO. It went quite well, despite the fact I was dressed as The Cheat’s Hot Mom.

After that, we went back to the game room, before deciding to explore and find the Con Suite. Joie told us they had delicious free food. We went and were amused to be served sandwich meat in a tray. Mmmmmm ham! We went back to the game room, had gyros with the Magical Friends, and just before Nick and I decided to bail on this meh day, things got really crunk.

We joined my friend Jamie Chambers in his VIP area at karaoke in the Hilton, and it was awesome! Robin Thorsen and Amy Okuda from The Guild joined us for drinks and a group singing session of California Girls. People thought our friend Doug was Fargo from Eureka, too, which was hilarious! Nick and Doug gave The Guild’s entourage/bodyguards(?) the last of our Dragonberry Rum, and the power of sharing and friendship moved them to tears…and the liquor cabinet. This is where things get hazy, but all I know is there was dancing, networking, crunkeness and a fabulous Dougie/Prentice duet of Cee Lo Green’s F*ck You.

Conclusion

Overall, I had a pretty good time at Dragon*Con. I’m not sure I would pay that much to go again. Maybe I will buy passes soon to maximize my value. The con is so large that it is hard to navigate, and I feel the vastness of it hinders the feeling of intimacy and unity that I enjoy so much at smaller events. I think Dragon*Con should stop selling tickets at a certain point. Sold out! Bigger is not always better, and I feel bad for those hotels because I think the overload of sweaty people made their air conditioning systems explode. It was so hot!

Perhaps my next issue stems from my years of movie theatre work, but Dragon*Con needs to handle lines for events better. There were times when I couldn’t find out where a line for a panel was because it was moved to some random location, and nobody knew where I could find it. Sheesh! As fun as panels are, we all know Geek-nic is all about parties in costumes…and BOOBIES! I swear to Betsy, they should change the name to Boobie*Con because I saw waaaaay more titties than dragons. I’m not complaining though.

The most important lesson I learned is to make better costume choices next time. No heels and no fur, unless I want to have bruised feet and a heat stroke. The highlights of this con to me were partying VIP at the Hilton with celebs and booze, eating with friends at Hooters, and boobies!!!

But the very best part of Dragon*Con, above all the shenanigans, celebrities, free drinks and scandalous costumes, was spending time with my very best friend:

Joie Brown and Prentice Osborne: BFFs since 20X6!