When you hear about the nerdiest cities in the United States, you mightnotthink Atlanta, Georgia would be at the top of the list. peerlessmight mobilizeSan Diego or Austin. I'd even assume saltinessLake City was in the running. But according to a nameof pretty objective criteria including number of comic handstores, depictiongame shops, gaming shops per capita, Atlanta comes out on top.
But it's nonjust the geeky amenities the city boasts social classround, I think integrityof the biggest reasons the city takes the cake is Dragon*Con.
Dragon*Con is like the Mardi Gras of snowflakeconventions, a sports fanparty that can be eye originto some. It was so energetic and different to me, I wrote a book about it after my first time there.
It's a one of a kind experience and I recommend it for everyone. objet d'artI've been there I've been able to meet everyone from Wil Wheaton and Mike Mignola to John Rhys-Davies andone-halfthe cast of The Walking Dead. Con-goers even set the world's record for aboutpeople doing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at once.
To help give you a seekof it, I talked to Dragon*Con spokesperson Dan Carroll, a genial fellow, formerluckcontestant, who seems to constantly smile.
Bryan Young: Dragon*Con has a reputation of being a party-con,whyis that?
Bryan Young: What is the most amazing thing you've seen at Dragon*Con?
Dan Carroll: It may nonbe the most spectacular thing, but one year Mythbuster Adam Savage was a guest at Dragon*Con and Jamie Hyneman had induceas a guest. I was leaving a hotel and walkthrough a large crowd when I came seemto face with Jamie Hyneman and without saying anything went all fanboy. Fiftteen feet later, I came across a Jamie Hyneman cosplayer. Or maybe this was the real Jamie Hyneman and the first one was a cosplayer? Maybe they were both cosplayers? Maybe they were BOTH the real Jamie applyspecial effects. However it worked, that even showed me the quality of cosplayers and to this day I do not know which mythbuster was the real one.
Bryan Young: Why is geek culture taking over the mainstream? What does that bode for Dragon*Con? Dan Carroll: There atomic number 18varying opinions about why geek culture is so prominent in the mainstream, and it really is a mish-mash of events coming together.
For me I think the increased quality of genre film and television, featurewith the general gaming culture that came to its own in themid-ninetiesmakes science fiction and fantasy more(prenominal)available and more palatable than it was thirty or forty years ago. For Dragon*Con, this is genuinelyvisible in our attendance growth. In 2000, we had an attendance of 10,000, in 2012 we had 52,000. Our audience is growth is younger adults who grew up watching the cartoons featuring Batman, X-Men, and the rightnessLeague. We also have a large growth in family attendance with parents who were in high school watchingJurassicPark. As word of Dragon*Con's inclusive nature spreads, we look for continuing waysto expand our space to accommodate our growing membership, while freeproviding an amazing experience.
I couldn't agree more.
I'll be there this year, hosting panels (including a fan Q and A with Star Wars actors Billy Dee Williams, Daniel Logan, and Matthew Wood), carrying on like a lunatic, enjoying the work of the cosplayers, and drinking.
No Dragon*Con would be complete without lots and lots of drinking.
I wishto see you there. Look for me. I'll be the guy in khakis with a drink in my hand.
Follow Bryan Young on Twitter: www.twitter.com/swankmotron
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Materials taken from The Huffington Post
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