Dragon Con

Coordinates: 33°45′41″N 84°23′15″W / 33.761397°N 84.387536°W / 33.761397; -84.387536

Dragon Con
Status	Active
Genre	Multi-genre
Venue	Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta Hilton and Towers, Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Westin Peachtree Plaza, AmericasMart
Location(s)	Atlanta, Georgia
Country	United States
Inaugurated	1987
Attendance	77,000+[1]
Organized by	Rachel Reeves, David Cody Co-Chairmen[2]
Filing status	For-profit
Website
dragoncon.org

Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North America multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. As of 2016, the convention draws attendance of over 77,000,^[1] features hundreds of guests, encompasses five hotels in the Peachtree Center neighborhood of downtown Atlanta near Centennial Olympic Park, and runs thousands of hours of programming for fans of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and other elements of fan culture. It is 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).^[3]

History

Dragon Con shirt from 1987

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.^[4]

The name "Dragon" for the club was derived from Kramer's Dragon Computer (a European version of Radio Shack's 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. Within a year, Dragon*Con had been selected to be the host of the 1990 Origins convention,^[5] to take place at the Atlanta Hilton.

A cosplayer dressed as a Spartan from the movie 300 at the 2007 Dragon Con parade.

The 1987 inaugural Dragon*Con took place at the Piedmont Plaza Hotel, drew 1400 fans,^[6] 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. 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" and "Black Blade". Thomas E. Fuller's Atlanta Radio Theatre Company performed H. P. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu, which was broadcast via radio live from onsite.^[5] The 1988 convention included guests Alan Dean Foster, Fred Saberhagen, Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Gary Gygax, and Larry Elmore.

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.^[7]

In 1993, Dragon*Con was the home of the Wizard Fan Awards.^[8]

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. In 1999, Dragon*Con's TrekTrak introduced the first Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant, an annual event that has since garnered national media attention.^{[9][10][11][12]} In 2000, Ed Kramer ceased to have an active role in managing the convention; but he still owned 34% of the company, and in 2011 leveled charges that he is not getting his fair share of the profits it generates.^[13] Kramer's relationship with the convention was ended in July 2013 in a cash-out merger, at which point the name of the convention and business was changed to "Dragon Con" (replacing the asterisk with a space).^[14]

In 2002, Dragon*Con began hosting a parade through downtown Atlanta, which ran from Centennial Olympic Park to the Marriott Marquis, and featured thousands of costumed participants.^[15] In 2005, Dragon*Con raised USD $20,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Charity efforts have contiued with USD $104,000 sent to the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency in 2016, including a USD $50,000 corporate match. 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,^[5][16] and over 77,000 in 2016.^[1]

Programming

Artist Don Rosa at the artist area of Dragon Con in 2009

As of 2008, Dragon Con is a 4-day event comprising 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, Military Scifi Media, X-Files, 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 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).^[19][20][21]

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, 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, and Mindless Self Indulgence.^[22]

A 2011 Dragon*Con Panel

Award ceremony

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 Forrest 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.

The Dragon Awards

In March 2016,^[23] 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.^[24] The finalist shortlist for the first edition of the awards was announced on August 11, 2016;^[25] the winners were announced on September 4.^[26]

The first awards included 15 categories, with the works awarded in following:^[27]

Economic impact

In 2015, Dragon Con attracted some 70,000+ attendees^[28] and had a direct economic impact of $65 million, as reported by the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.^[29] According to statistics provided by Georgia State University, Robinson College of Business, Dragon Con brought in over $21 million.^[30]

References

External links

• Official website

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