Dragon*Con Notes

Headed down to ATL for DragonCon this weekend. Spent less money than the last time, but probably more than I should have. I didn't make it to any of Warren Ellis's signings, but I did get to go to one of his panels, which was interesting. The con was what you would expect from a guest and dealer standpoint, pretty much the same that it is every year.

I do have me some gripes though.

I remember back in the halcion days of my youth when DragonCon was located both in the Hyatt and the Mariott and in the convention center place as well. This needs to come back.

I realize it's probably cheaper and easier to hold the thing predominately in one building, but I get tired of being pressed in with sweaty fanboys for any length of time.

See, the reason I stopped going to DragonCon was this consolidation of spaces that went through in the last year that I went. The Dealer and Exhibitor rooms are waaaay too cramped. The room that they used for the dealer room and Walk of Fame has ceilings that are too low, thus trapping in the heat of the hundreds of bodies, as well as the fanboy stink.

Tommy said he overheard a dealer saying that the tables were much cheaper this year, probably due to the fact that once it gets past a certain point in the morning when everybody wakes up and shakes off the hangover and wanders down to the dealer room/walk of fame, that place fills up so bad that it makes it near impossible to stop and look at any table.

The first year they did that and the last one that I went before this, by the second day the dealers were cutting prices in half or more because of the lack of sales brought on by the cramped spaces.

See, when they had it in the convention center place down the block they put all that mess in one big room, which had a nice high ceiling and big wide-ass aisles. Plenty of room to move around and browse, and areas to get out of the way and sit down if need be.

That many people in that small a space tends to give me a headache pretty quick. Even in the more expansive areas I get a con-headache after about twenty minutes of exposure.

Contrast DragonCon with the AtlantaComicon, which has higher ceilings and wider spaces, making for a much more pleasant experience over-all.

I realize that might drive the prices up a little bit, but I think the con a better experience for all.

Tommy and I did get to the registration area just in time to miss the major rush though, which is good. You'd think that after a few years of having to deal with these problems the DragonCon organizers would come up with some solutions.

Maybe I'm the olny one that finds these things problematic.

And what's up with the Dealer room having people to stop you and check your badges, but the Exhibitor room not having any?