Dragon*Con
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Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a
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n
multigenre convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...
, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the
Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. , the convention draws attendance of over 80,000, features hundreds of guests, encompasses five hotels in the Peachtree Center neighborhood of downtown Atlanta near
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, and runs thousands of hours of programming for fans of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other elements of fan culture. It is owned and operated by a private for-profit corporation, with the help of a 1,500-member volunteer staff. Dragon Con has hosted the 1990 Origins Game Fair and the 1995 North American Science Fiction Convention ( NASFiC).


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). It was founded by a board of directors including John Bunnell, David Cody, Robert Dennis, Mike Helba, Pat Henry, and Ed Kramer. The name "Dragon" for the club was derived from Kramer's Dragon Computer, which hosted a local
Bulletin Board System A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as ...
("The Dragon") that initially served as a central hub for both organizations. The inaugural Dragon*Con flyers debuted at the 1986 Atlanta Worldcon, ConFederation. Within a year, Dragon*Con had been selected to be the host of the 1990
Origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...
convention, to take place at the Atlanta Hilton. The 1987 inaugural Dragon*Con took place at the Pierremont Plaza Hotel, drew 1400 fans, and featured Guest of Honor Michael Moorcock, Lynn Abbey and Robert Asprin, Robert Adams, Ultima creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons Gary Gygax and Toastmaster
Brad Strickland William Bradley Strickland (born October 27, 1947) is an American writer known primarily for fantasy and science fiction. His speculative fiction is published under the name Brad Strickland except for one novel written as Will Bradley. By a wide ...
. Miramar recording artist Jonn Serrie delivered his keyboard arrangements from within a real NASA flightsuit and Michael Moorcock performed onstage with Blue Öyster Cult's Eric Bloom, singing "
Veteran of the Psychic Wars "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" is a song by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult. It was written by Eric Bloom and British author Michael Moorcock (creator of Elric of Melniboné). The song first appeared on the 1981 album ''Fire of Unkno ...
" and " Black Blade". Thomas E. Fuller's
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performed H. P. Lovecraft's '' Call of Cthulhu'', which was broadcast via radio live from onsite. The 1988 convention included guests Alan Dean Foster, Fred Saberhagen, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Gary Gygax, and
Larry Elmore Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...
. The convention grew rapidly. In 1989, it drew 2,400 fans (many to see Guest of Honor Anne McCaffrey), and the event had moved to the Omni Hotel and Convention Center. In 1990, the convention had doubled again, added a Comics Expo, hosted the Origins convention, this time with Guest of Honor Tom Clancy, and expanded to include the Atlanta Sheraton hotel. In 1991 the first "Robot Battles" robotic competition event was added to the list of Dragon*Con events, making it the second oldest robotic competition event in the world. In 1993, Dragon*Con was the home of the Wizard Fan Awards. By 1995, when Dragon*Con hosted the North American Science Fiction Convention, attendance had grown to over 14,000 fans, and Dragon*Con was also hosting the
International Starfleet Conference The STARFLEET International Conference is the annual business conference where members of STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. meet the organization's leadership. The conference includes leadership meetings, information ses ...
. In 1999, Dragon*Con's ''TrekTrak'' introduced the first Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant, an annual event that has since garnered national media attention. In 2000, Ed Kramer ceased to have an active role in managing the convention, but still owned 34% of the company. In 2011, Kramer sued the organizers, leveling charges that he wasn't receiving his fair share of the con's profits. Kramer's relationship with the convention was fully severed in July 2013 in a cash-out merger, at which point the name of the convention and business officially changed to "Dragon Con" (replacing the asterisk with a space). At the convention's 20th anniversary in 2007, there were 22,000 attendees, and the convention continued to grow, drawing 27,000 attendees in 2007, 40,000 in 2010, 57,000 in 2013, and over 80,000 in 2017. On July 6, 2020, it was announced that Dragon Con had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a
virtual event Virtual may refer to: * Virtual (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse * Virtual channel, a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel (or range of frequencies) on which the signal travels * Virtual function, a programming ...
being organized in its place on the original dates. The event announced that it would return for 2021 with enhanced health and safety protocols; the event will be capped at around 40,000 attendees, badges will only be sold online and not on-site, masks will be mandatory within indoor spaces, and the Dragon Con parade will only be open to those who hold badges. Some of the virtual features from 2020 will also be maintained, including a "virtual marketplace", and streaming content (including free content, and a paid " DragonConTV" streaming membership). On August 17, it was also announced that all attendees must present proof of vaccination for COVID-19 or a negative test from within the past 72 hours in order to claim their badges.


Scheduled events


Programming

As of 2008, Dragon Con was a four-day event comprising approximately 3500 hours of panels, seminars, demonstrations, and workshops, with over 30 specialized programming tracks that include writing,
alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
, art, anime, gaming, science fiction and fantasy literature,
comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
, costuming, space, science, online media,
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
, podcasting,
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cinema and culture, robotics, filk, scientific skepticism, ''
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'', ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', ''Military Scifi Media'', '' X-Files'', apocalyptic themes, Anne McCaffrey's ''
Pern ''Dragonriders of Pern'' is a science fantasy series written primarily by American author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning in 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. T ...
'', Robert Jordan's '' Wheel of Time'', J. R. R. Tolkien's '' The Lord of the Rings'', British and
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science fiction television, dark fantasy, 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''). As of 2017, Dragon Con is a five-day event, beginning the Thursday before Labor Day.


Music and film

From its origin, music has also been a significant feature of Dragon Con, with performances by groups and artists such as Abney Park, Blue Öyster Cult, The Crüxshadows, Celldweller,
Ego Likeness Ego Likeness is an American darkwave/industrial rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. They were formed in 1999 by artist Steven Archer and writer Donna Lynch. History Early work Ego Likeness began as an experimental and dark trip hop project. A ...
, I:Scintilla, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Bella Morte,
Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...
, Edgar Winter,
Emerald Rose Emerald Rose is a Celtic folk rock band from the US state of Georgia. The band consists of four members: Brian Sullivan (Logan), Larry Morris, Arthur Hinds and Clyde Gilbert. Emerald Rose plays a mix of Celtic, folk, and Pagan tunes. Biography Br ...
,
Ghost of the Robot Ghost of the Robot (GOTR) are a California-based rock band. Among the original band members are James Marsters (vocals/guitar), Charlie De Mars (guitar/vocals) and Kevin McPherson (bass). Rounding out the group are Sullivan Marsters (guitar/voca ...
,
Godhead Godhead (from Middle English ''godhede'', "godhood", and unrelated to the modern word "head"), may refer to: * Deity * Divinity * Conceptions of God * In Abrahamic religions ** Godhead in Judaism, the unknowable aspect of God, which lies beyo ...
, Iced Earth, Voltaire,
Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albu ...
, The Misfits, GWAR,
Man or Astroman? Man or Astro-man? is an American surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade. Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like ...
,
The Bloodhound Gang The Bloodhound Gang was an American rap rock band from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1988 by rappers Jimmy Pop and Daddy Long Legs (now in Wolfpac) as a hip hop music, hip-hop group, before branching out into other genres as thei ...
, Spock's Beard, and
Mindless Self Indulgence Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and breakb ...
. The Dragon Con Independent Short Film Festival presents the "finest independent short films of the fantastic". Awards are distributed for a number of categories.


Gaming

Dragon Con hosts a variety of gaming sessions and tournaments. Opportunities include board games,
miniature games Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
,
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s, console games, live action and other role-playing games, and tables hosted by gaming companies, as well as panel sessions.


Awards

In 1998, Dragon Con established the Julie Award, in honor of Julius "Julie" Schwartz, bestowed by a panel of industry professionals in honor of "universal achievement spanning multiple genres". Schwartz presented the award each year prior to his death in early 2004. The inaugural recipient was Ray Bradbury; additional recipients of the award include
Forrest Ackerman Forrest James Ackerman (November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American magazine editor; science fiction writer and literary agent; a founder of science fiction fandom; a leading expert on science fiction, horror, and fantasy films; a p ...
, Yoshitaka Amano, Alice Cooper, Will Eisner,
Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
,
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
,
Carmine Infantino Carmine Michael Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creat ...
, Anne McCaffrey,
Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with the 1960s superspy feature " ...
, Peter David, and Paul Dini. In March 2016, Dragon Con announced the introduction of " Dragon Awards", a fan-voted award "to recognize outstanding achievement in science fiction and fantasy literature, comics, gaming and filmed entertainment". The award process consists of a nomination step, where each voter can nominate one work of choice in every category, and a voting step where the nominated works are voted for to receive the award. The nominations and votes are collected electronically. Participation is freely available to everyone, without any pay or requirement of membership. The finalist
shortlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...
for the first edition of the awards was announced on August 11, 2016; the winners were announced on September 4. Additional awards include 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.


Other

In 2002, Dragon*Con began hosting a parade through downtown Atlanta, which ran from
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to the
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, and featured thousands of costumed participants. The parade is an annual event, which is also televised by
WUPA-TV WUPA (channel 69) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with The CW. The station is owned by the CBS News and Stations group and maintains studios on Northeast Expressway (I-85) in unincorporated DeKalb County ...
and streamed online.


Economic impact

In 2015, Dragon Con attracted some 70,000+ attendees and had a direct economic impact of $65 million, as reported by the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau in the ''
Atlanta Business Chronicle The ''Atlanta Business Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper covering business news in Atlanta, Georgia, published by American City Business Journals. The paper has both a weekly print edition and an online edition. History The ''Atlanta Business ...
''. According to statistics provided by Georgia State University, Robinson College of Business, Dragon Con brought in over $21 million. Dragon Con routinely raises funds for designated charities. In 2005, Dragon*Con raised US$20,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Charity efforts continued with US$104,000 sent to the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency in 2016, including a US$50,000 corporate match. In 2013, fans voted in advance to determine the charities. From 2005 through 2012, the con raised and donated almost $224,000.


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Speculative fiction, Anime and manga, Comics, Georgia (U.S. state) 1987 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Comics conventions in the United States Conventions in Georgia (U.S. state) Culture of Atlanta Gaming conventions Multigenre conventions Recurring events established in 1987 Science fiction conventions in the United States Tourist attractions in Atlanta