Dragon*Con 2011 Report - Sunday

Me and Another Kaylee before
the Browncoats: Redemption panel

In the past few years, we hadn't gone down to Dragon*Con  on Sunday. But Todd had autograph tickets and I wanted to go to the Browncoats: Redemption wrap party, so we went down on Sunday this year.

I went down to autograph session with Todd and we got Mark Sheppard's autograph. What pissed both of us off is that this guy just came by and started talking to Mark Sheppard during what was suppose to be our interaction time with him. It was really quite rude.

Todd got in line for Jim Beaver and I headed over to the Westin so I could go to the Browncoats: Redemption panel. The panel was really great and we got an extra half hour because there was no Whedonverse panel afterwards. It was so interesting to hear the stories how the idea came about and how they pulled it off. I asked a question and I got an autographed movie poster, which was really shiny.

From there, I went to the food court to meet up with Todd. I got to see my cousin and his wife, which was nice since it had been a while since I had seen either of them. Their son was staying at my aunt and uncle's house too, so Emily had someone her age to play with all weekend.

I got some lunch and then we took a last look at the dealer's room. I got Emily an Edward Gorey little lunchbox and Todd got more Japanese candy. Todd didn't have anymore autographs he wanted and there wasn't anything else in the dealer's room he wanted, so he did something he never does. He went to a panel with me.

It was the Buffy / Angel panel. I had thought about going to the Carrie Fisher panel, but decided to go to the Buffy / Angel one instead. The line was pretty long, even though we got there an hour and a half early. We sat down and waited, while talking and playing games on our phones.

I thought the panel was great, but Todd was kind of meh about it. He just isn't a panel person, which is fine. From there, it was back to the food court for some dinner, and then we went to the Westin to see if there was a line for the Browncoats: Redemption wrap party.

After the line that spanned three levels in the Westin to see the movie last year, I thought the line might be long and I really wanted to get into that party. So we ended up being the first people in line.

The wait was long, but we had some nice line friends along with the staffer who was manning the line. The party started a little late, but even then the line didn't get super long. As they let people in, we were given cast photos and a raffle ticket. If the ticket had a stamp on the back, you got a choice between a t-shirt or a blu-ray copy of the movie.

Todd got a stamp and he got a t-shirt since we already had the blu-ray. Someone else found a stamped ticket later in the evening and we got a blu-ray to give to my best friend, Dolli. I decided to get a beer from the bar, even though I really don't like the taste of beer.

We ended up at a table with a Browncoat who had come all the way to Dragon*Con from Germany (though I think she was originally from Australia). It was an interesting conversation that lasted until the party really started.

I got to see my friend Kathleen and her girlfriend, Sandy at the party. It was fun to see them since I hadn't all weekend. And then the music really picked up and I went out to dance. Dancing in a hoop skirt is weird. Dancing midst a see of other Kaylee's also weird, but it was awesome too. There was a Franknfurter cosplayer that caused some Rocky Horror songs to play. I think the highlight of the evening was doing the Time Warp with a whole bunch of Browncoats.

We didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked, but we had to take the MARTA train back and we were leaving early the next morning to go home. It was an awesome party though, and I had a great time. It was really highlight of Dragon*Con for me.

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Dragon*Con 2011 Report - Saturday

Posing before the parade

The Saturday of Dragon*Con dawn early since I had set the alarm so we could get moving. This was the 2nd year I was going to march in the parade. I had been suppose to march 3 years ago, but I didn't get downtown in time. So ever since I've been paranoid about getting down to the parade site early.

My wonderful husband walked me down to where the parade staging area. I was so early this year that I was one of the first Whedonverse folks. Other people trickled in, and it wasn't long before we were getting ready to start marching. I was between one of the Mals and the Giant Jayne Hat right behind the banner. We had a bag piper who played during the parade, though when he needed a break, the Mal next to me lead us in a chant of the theme song from Firefly.

Despite the fact that Mark Sheppard was the only Firefly guest at Dragon*Con this year, the majority of the Whedonverse parade marches were Firefly characters. There was a few vampires and someone dressed as the Master doing 'Grrr Argh' that was shown at the end of every Buffy episode. But the rest of the folks were in costumes from Firefly. Shows how much we love our fandom.

After the parade was over, I called Todd to find out where he was since he had my bag. I found him outside one of the dealer's room where he had a wrap from the food court for me. We found a place to sit down and ate. He had already visited the dealer's room and he had bought me a Blu-Ray copy of Browncoats: Redemption which was on my 'must buys' list for Dragon*Con since it is now no longer available.

Once we were finished eating, we went back into the dealer's room and I did most of my shopping. I honestly bought more stuff for Emily and my best friend, Dolli than I did myself. One of my must buys was dice for Dolli. We had played in a game with her husband as the GM and we are probably going to start up another game soon. She had been using her husband's dice and I thought it was time for her to have some of her own.

I was getting pretty tired after shopping so I headed to the Sheraton early to get in line for the Guild panel. I saw my friend Jaime and managed to get in line with her. It was fun hanging out with her and making some fun line friends. The panel was really good too!

From there, I made the trek all the way to the Westin so I could get in line for the Walking Dead panel. The line was pretty long already even though it was over an hour until the start. I did get into the panel though I was pretty far back. Thank goodness for the big screen TV in the panel room. It was an interesting panel, but I was pretty beat by the time it was done.

I met up with Todd and we opted to run through a drive-through on our way back to my aunt and uncle's house. We ate, spend a little time with Emily and then I passed out with her since it had been a long day.

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Dragon*Con 2011 Report - Friday

Me and Felicia Day

Dragon*Con Friday is always “Go to the Bank” day, so we usually get a late start. We got to the bank soon after it opened and we got down to the Con before 11 am.

I went with Todd to the Hilton to see if anyone was selling tickets for autographs. There wasn’t anyone so I left Todd, and made my way to the Westin to get in line for the 1 pm Stars of Buffy and Angel panel. The panel was great, with Nicholas Brendon stealing the show.

In these panels, people are given the opportunity to ask questions to the folks on the panel. One of these people was really not nice to Nicholas Brendon, which caused the Whedonverse folks to make an announcement before the Sunday Buffy panel that the celebrities were people with feelings too.

After the panel, I went to meet Todd in the Walk of Fame. He had been saving a place in line for me in the Wil Wheaton line. Part of the line got moved out of the Walk of Fame room and then my part of the line got moved. Since we were actually first, we asked a staffer to re-arrange the line to reflect that. There was a girl that ended up behind me that was really cranky about that. She kept going on and on how we were going to have to wait all day just to get an autograph. I think I waited a half hour or so outside, then the line was really short once we got back inside.

I made a line friend and she took my picture with Wil. He was super nice, especially when I mentioned I was a writer for GeekMom. My line friend took my picture with him, and I waited around to take her picture with him.

Todd was in line for Eliza Dushku, so I joined him. She was also super nice and her line went rather quickly as well for as long as it was. After that, I got in line for the Guild ladies. I had budgeted money for autographs and I was really surprised that Wil Wheaton was only $20. And you got the picture for free if you bought an autograph. Felicia Day was also $20, but the other two ladies from the Guild (Amy Okuda who plays Tink and Robin Thorsen who plays Clara) were only $10 each. And because I paid for all their autographs I got a picture with Felicia Day for free.

They were all super nice and Felicia Day complemented me on my costume. They were all impressed when I told them I had hand sewed it. It was awesome to meet them and now I just need one more autograph on my DVD since I got Vork and Zaboo’s autographs last year.

From there, I said bye to Todd and headed over to the Marriott to get in line for Charlaine Harris’ autograph. It was suppose to be her only autograph session for the weekend (though I had heard that she did another later in the weekend) so I wanted to get in line early. The line was really long when I got there, but it wasn’t long before the line was actually moved into the room where the writer autographs were.

Unlike the TV / movie star, the writers don’t charge for their autographs. You just need to have a book with you. It wasn’t too bad of a wait, though I had no signal on my phone. And she showed up a little early. The line moved pretty fast and she was really nice. I admitted that I hadn’t watched ‘True Blood’ much but did enjoy the books a lot. She said that was all that mattered to her that I liked the books.

I called Todd once I had a signal again and met him in the food court. After we had some dinner, we went to Dragon*Con Wrestling. Todd goes to DCW every year, and it’s pretty enjoyable. I left early though, to get in line for the Masked Ball.

I made some nice line friends as I waited, but that was the highlight of the Masked Ball. I had been really looking forward to it, and it was really disappointed. They didn’t let us in until a ½ hour after it was supposed to start, and then we were held in a lobby type room for another 15 minutes or so. Once we did get in, the room was set up strangely. There were a few tables people could sit at, but most of the rooms had chairs like there were in panels.

Then the band started to play and the music wasn’t good for dancing. If I was going to go to a Masked Ball, I wanted to dance. The music was sort of okay for couples dancing, but I didn’t have my husband with me.

I kept waiting for the tempo to pick up and it just didn’t. That combined with Todd texting “Are you done yet” caused me to leave the Ball early. It was really disappointing since I had really been looking forward to it.

From there, we went home. Once we got Emily settled back down and I got out of my costume, I passed out. I needed the sleep since we were going to be heading to the Con very early the next day.

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A 9/11 Post

I just thought I'd do a quick post about the anniversary of 9/11 before I go pass out (I've been sick the last few days and it's taking it's toll on me).
I was in my last year of college when 9/11 happened. I had been playing a video game in my room when my roommate came in to tell me what happened. School was canceled and I spent the majority of the rest of the day glued to the TV. Though I did talk to my mom on the phone and she told me to go get gas in my car.

It was one of the most bizarre things in my life as I drove down the main road in Mount Pleasant, MI and it was just empty – except for the gas stations that all had lines out to the road.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years – though a lot has happened to me in that time. I spent the day avoiding any news coverage about the anniversary. Instead, I spent the day with my family. I napped with my toddler and then we all watched the Detroit Lions win their first game of the season. I don’t think I’ll ever forget about 9/11 but I’d rather focus on the future and my family than looking to the past.

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Dragon*Con 2011 Report - Thursday

We always head down to Atlanta the day before Dragon*Con officially starts. This year, we tried to leave fairly early since we had to go to my aunt and uncle's house (where we stay during the Con, since they watch Emily for us).
After we got Emily settled, Todd and I took MARTA (the transport system in Atlanta) down to the Con. When we got to the Sheraton, the pre-reg line was around the building. We were not happy about this, since we had both hoped that the new registration system would make the wait much shorter. We got in line, and in the middle of our wait outside, the computers inside crashed.

Once they got the computers back up, the line did move fast. We waited about 2 hours, with most of that wait outside. I had worn my GeekMom shirt since I wasn't cosplaying on Thursday and that was a bit of a mistake since it's black, so I was really sweaty by the time we got our badges.
I had wanted to give blood on Thursday but there was a 1/2 hour wait in the Sheraton. We were headed to the food court when we noticed that the normal place were you can give blood in the Marriott was set up and there was no wait. So I gave blood and Todd waited for me.
We went to eat dinner and then last thing we did was to find the table were my friend Janine was at since I had pre-ordered a copy of her book The Human. I'm really glad I got to see her since I didn't get a chance to see her the rest of the weekend.

Todd and I took MARTA home and we happened to sit next to a lady who was related to Chandler Riggs and she told us stories about his filming The Walking Dead. It made the ride home much more interesting. Once we got back, I went to bed fairly earlier since I knew I had a long day on Friday.

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Kids and Dragon*Con

Emily was at
Dragon*Con 2008

I've already talked about kids and conventions in a GeekMom article, but I thought I would touch on the subject of kids and Dragon*Con.

I’m on several Dragon*Con groups on Facebook and there was a thread that involved kids. It started as someone asking strollers to be banned from the dealer’s room and moved from there until someone stated that the Con should ban anyone 16 years old and younger.

Now we generally don’t bring Emily because Todd and I know that we wouldn’t have a good time if we had to worry about her. But she did love my costume this year and Todd volunteered me to make her own, so I had thought that next year, when she is almost 4, we could do a partial day with her on Saturday.

I stated this in the thread and I was told that I was a bad parent who was raising my child to be a tramp and a whore because some of the costumes show a lot of skin. Thankfully other people in the thread thought this person was off the deep end (her arguments got more out there) and backed me up.

There are a ton of people who bring their kids to Dragon*Con. Todd and I were waiting to line up for the Browncoats: Redemption wrap party when a mom and a 7 month old baby came out of a panel. Apparently the baby had been talking and the mom was concerned that people were going to be upset. The baby was so cute and she liked my dress, so we talked to the mom for a little bit before she went back into the panel.

While we were child-free at Dragon*Con this year, I do think that parents need to make their own decisions. And I do think kids should be welcome at the con, at least during the day. But that’s just my opinion. I’m sure there are other people who wish that Dragon*Con was a kid free event.

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Dragon*Con 2011 - Some Random Thoughts

I'm going to do con reports for each day I was at Dragon*Con, but I thought I'd share some random thoughts about this year's con before I do that.

Pre-Reg - We got caught in the shut down period where the computers for the new badge system crashed on Thursday. Husband complained bitterly while we were in line. But once they got things going again, the line moved fast. I think we were in line a little over 2 hours, so it was a vast improvement.

The husband complains about the line every year, though he did admit it went better this year. I am thinking about trying to raise the money to go Eternal, then he won't have anything to complain about!

Crowds - It was really crowded this year. But most people were really nice if you bumped into them - and with a hoop skirt on it was hard not to bump into people. Saturday was the worst day for crowds. I went to the Sheraton for a Guild panel, and the line for Saturday only badges was around the building.

Panels - I love that Dragon*Con has the whole room clearing policy with panels. It makes it possible to see a big panel you want. I do think that the 'you have to wait an hour ahead of time to line up' thing is a nice thought but not possible. Most of the panels I went to the line was forming well over an hour because they were big panels that lots of people wanted to go into. I'm not sure how to fix this problem though.

Masked Ball - I'm going to do a whole post on this, so all I will say now is that it was a huge disappointment.

Browncoats: Redemption Wrap Party - was awesome! Totally made up for the Masked Ball fail.

Layer Cake Dress - It was a big hit! Even Felicia Day commented that she liked it, which totally made my day. There are some issues with it so I will be making a 2.0 version at some point. I first need to make an Emily sized version since my husband told her I would.

All in all, Dragon*Con 2011 was a great con. I'll post more in depth once I get some sleep!


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