Believe it or not, I normally don’t plan to go to Dragon*Con each year.  When I do go, I’m usually only there for a day or two at the most.  This year, though, I did the “full” Dragon*Con weekend experience by showing up on on the first day of the event and leaving on the last.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ANY LURKING BOT-TARDS: A few years back, Wasabi Anime talked to Dragon*Con about having DARE! The Transformers Panel Ultimate make an appearance and we were turned down.  Strangely enough, I still think Dragon*Con is a great convention… which must mean only one thing: That’s right, BotCon was a weak convention on it’s own.

Moving on… I’ve broken my Dragon*Con report into three parts: the good, the bad and the ugly.  Here’s a breakdown of the good stuff that happened last weekend.

  1. While in Atlanta, Georgia I took the time to eat at Gladys and Ron’s Chicken & Waffles.  (Post regarding this coming next week.)
  2. I ran into LeVar Burton in the elevator our first night at the Hilton and we talked Twitter while a somewhat intoxicated Joey Snackpants proclaimed in a less than subtle fashion “OH MY GOD IT’S LEVAR BURTON!”
  3. That same night, I bought Edward James Olmos dinner at Trader Vic’s and Mr. Olmos then convinced Joey Snackpants to watch the new Battlestar Galactica.  Read that story here.
  4. My Favorite DC Tweet: @TomCroom thinks nothing says #fail more than a Power Girl cosplay with less than a B cup. #DragonCon
  5. We went to a great Stargate panel… and (it seemed) that I pissed of John de Lancie with my question.  Read this and then watch this. That aside, Christopher Judge is a RIOT and needs his own panel next year.
  6. I spent an evening walking around with a bunch of Stargate cosplayers (including Shannon, Katie McAwesome and Joey Snackpants) and wound up at the Stargate Charity Party.  While going from hotel to hotel that night, I had someone recognize me from events I host at Florida SuperCon.
  7. We ate chicken nachos not once, but TWICE! at the Metro Café Diner.
  8. I had my photo taken with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell.  QUANTUM LEAP AWESOMENESS.
  9. I tracked down Paul Dini via his Twitter posts so Shannon could have him sign her Harley Quinn books. Social Networking WIN.
  10. We went to a second Stargate panel.  Going to more than one panel at Dragon*Con is extremely rare with my group… crazy!
  11. I met Drew Curtis from FARK.  I bought a book from him, he signed it, and we made fun of Florida together.  Good times.
  12. I got to see a couple of friends around the convention including “Uncle” George Lowe and Erin Gray… both great people.
  13. After being friends with my wife and a number of the Wasabi Anime staff AND being on my Facebook, I met Brian from Making Mischief for the first time (in person) in five years.
  14. After about two years of talking online, I met Kelly from Convention Fans in person for the first time.
  15. I also met fellow Twitter users @SarahNFisk and @EricaDodd at the convention in person.  It’s fun using the Interwebz to meet get to know new people.  Even more interesting: Sarah had a a friend she was meeting in one of the hotels that night… and her friend’s roommates in the hotel were my friends Angie and Tentacle Chris.  (insert It’s a Small World theme here.)
  16. My other favorite Dragon*Con tweet: @thatDJSpider: ‘steampunk: when goths discovered brown’ #dragoncon
  17. A record THREE panels! We went to the Battlestar Galactica one, too.
  18. We went to the Stargate Charity Auction and Joey Snackpants scored an actual prop from Stargate SG-1.
  19. I met and got autographs from Michael Shanks and Ben Browder.  Michael and I discussed our successful marriages while Ben and I discussed the fact that John de Lancie is a “serious” man who doesn’t answer questions about fast food restaurants.
  20. Before leaving town… we had dinner at a Zaxby’s.  (I love that place.)

As you can see, it was a busy weekend at Dragon*Con 2010.  Tomorrow’s post… The Masquerade.