Dragon Con
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| Dragon*Con | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Multi-genre |
| Venue | Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta Hilton and Towers, Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Westin Peachtree Plaza |
| Location(s) | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Country | United States |
| Inaugurated | 1987 |
| Attendance | 40,000+[1] |
| Organized by | Ed Kramer, Founder Pat Henry, Chairman |
| Filing status | For-profit |
| Website | http://www.dragoncon.org/ |
Dragon Con (also Dragon*Con) is a North America multigenre convention, held annually over Labor Day weekend (usually the first weekend in September) in Atlanta, Georgia. The 40,000-plus-member convention encompasses five hotels in downtown Atlanta near Centennial Olympic Park, and is hosted by a 1,500-member volunteer staff. Dragon Con has hosted the 1990 Origins Game Fair and the 1995 North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). It is operated by a private for-profit corporation.
History
Dragon*Con was launched in 1987, as a project of a local science fiction and gaming group, the Dragon Alliance of Gamers and Role-Players (DAGR), founded by Ed Kramer. The name "Dragon" for the club was derived from Ed's Dragon Computer (a European version of Radio Shack's venerable Color Computer), which hosted a local Bulletin Board System ("The Dragon") that initially served as a central hub for both organizations. The inaugural Dragon*Con flyers debuted at the 1986 Atlanta Worldcon, ConFederation. However, by the following year Dragon*Con had been selected to be the host of the 1990 Origins convention.[1]
The inaugural Dragon*Con featured Guest of Honor Michael Moorcock, Lynn Abbey and the late Robert Asprin, the late Robert Adams, Ultima creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons the late Gary Gygax and Toastmaster Brad Strickland. Miramar recording artist Jonn Serrie delivered his keyboard arrangements from within a real NASA flightsuit and Michael Moorcock jammed onstage with Blue Öyster Cult's Eric Bloom, performing the Moorcock-written tunes "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" and "Black Blade". The late Thomas E. Fuller's Atlanta Radio Theatre Company performed H. P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu" live at the con and on live radio.[2]
Over the years, the convention continued to grow. In 1989, Dragon*Con relocated to the Omni Hotel and Convention Center to accommodate the 3,200 fans who attended, mainly due to the appearance of popular author Anne McCaffrey. By 1995, when Dragon*Con hosted the North American Science Fiction Convention, attendance had blossomed to over 14,000 fans. Ten years later (with the convention now encompassing the Hyatt Regency, Marriott Marquis and Hilton & Towers hotels) attendance passed the 35,000 mark. In 2008, the convention added the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel and in 2010 the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, with attendance continuing to grow each year.[2]
Among the many long-running events at Dragon*Con, in 1991 the first "Robot Battles" robotic competition event was held, an event that is still held at the convention to this day, making it the second oldest robotic competition event in the world.[3] In 1999, Dragon*Con's TrekTrak introduced the first Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant, an annual event that has since garnered national media attention.[4][5][6] In 2002, the annual Dragon*Con parade was inaugurated.[7] By the seventh year in 2008 over 2,000 participants, most in costumes from all aspects of fandom marched along Peachtree Street from Woodruff Park (at Auburn Avenue) to the Hyatt, ending on Courtland Street at the Marriott and Hilton.
Programming
The 4-day event comprises approximately 3500 hours of panels, seminars, demonstrations, and workshops, with over 30 specialized programming tracks that include writing, alternate history, art, anime, gaming, Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, comic books, costuming, space science, online media, independent film, podcasting, Asian cinema and culture, robotics, filk, scientific skepticism, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, X-Files, Joss Whedon creations, apocalyptic themes, Anne McCaffrey's Pern, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, British and American SF television, the Dark Fantasy track, the Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Festival, and general programming which specific Guests of Honor attend (e.g., Clive Barker's Lost Souls and Storm Constantine's Grissecon).[8][9]
From its origin, music has been a significant feature of Dragon Con, with past performances by Abney Park, Blue Öyster Cult, The Crüxshadows, Celldweller, Ego Likeness, I:Scintilla, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Bella Morte, Chick Corea, Edgar Winter, Emerald Rose, Ghost of the Robot, Godhead, Iced Earth, Voltaire, Jefferson Starship, The Misfits, GWAR, Man or Astroman?, The Bloodhound Gang, Spock's Beard, Mindless Self Indulgence and many others.[10]
Awards
In 1998, Dragon Con established the Julie Award, in honor of Julius Schwartz, bestowed for universal achievement spanning multiple genres, selected each year by a panel of industry professionals. The inaugural recipient was science fiction and fantasy Grandmaster Ray Bradbury. Additional recipients of the award, presented by Schwartz each year prior to his death in early 2004, include Forry Ackerman, Yoshitaka Amano, Alice Cooper, Will Eisner, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Carmine Infantino, Anne McCaffrey, Jim Steranko, Peter David, and Paul Dini. It is also the host of the Dragon Con Independent Short Film Festival, the Futura Award (paying homage to the Fritz Lang masterpiece Metropolis), the Parsec Awards, and the Georgia Fandom Award, renamed in 2008 as the Hank Reinhardt Award, after its first recipient.
Economic impact
According to statistics provided by Georgia State University, Robinson College of Business, Dragon*Con brought in over $21 million[11] of direct economic impact to Atlanta in 2007, and an estimated $25 million in 2008.
References
- ^ a b Dragon*Con - A Brief History of Dragon*Con
- ^ a b History of Dragon*Con
- ^ History of Robot Battles
- ^ Peculiar Pageant Queens
- ^ 6 Unusual Beauty Pageants
- ^ The Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant
- ^ Dragon*Con Parade Information
- ^ "Programming Tracks". Dragon Con. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- ^ Boese, Christine (2002-08-19). "DragonCon: All hope abandon, ye who enter here". CNN.com. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ^ Newitz, Annalee. "Sex with storm troopers". Salon. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ^ "The Impact of the Hospitality & Tourism Industry on Atlanta" (PDF). J. Mack Robinson College of Business. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
External links
