It's sort of interesting watching the DragonCon LJ right now...
So much complaining about the crowds, the hard ass Fire marshall, Hyatt security, etc.
This was really the first year I've really understood why some fans hate Dragon*Con. Outside of my own little kingdom, it didn't feel like a con anymore. It felt like the Buckhead club scene, but with lightsabers. It seemed like there were a lot of day trippers and mundanes who showed up. So many people didn't seem to understand con etiquette, or even basic common courtesy. I'm not saying I had a bad time this year, quite the opposite in fact. But it was definitely a different Dragon than I usually experience.
It's not like we didn't know though. At every Directors meeting, Pat Henry, the con chair would sort of grimly announce that this was shaping up to be a big year. Pre-reg was through the roof. We had a large chunk of the Marriott closed for renovations. The Hyatt security staff was putting additional restrictions on us. But he'd also say that 2008 would be MUCH better. We'll have more function space available in the Marriott than ever before. We're negotiating for more use of the Hilton. A serious effort is being made to spread programming out evenly through the three hotels. This will help very much with the clumping that caused the Hyatt to be shut down several times over the weekend. We're even negotiating with a fourth hotel.
So yeah, rough year. But I doubt there will be a repeat. We have some very smart and very experienced people working on the problem. Next year will be awesome.
This was really the first year I've really understood why some fans hate Dragon*Con. Outside of my own little kingdom, it didn't feel like a con anymore. It felt like the Buckhead club scene, but with lightsabers. It seemed like there were a lot of day trippers and mundanes who showed up. So many people didn't seem to understand con etiquette, or even basic common courtesy. I'm not saying I had a bad time this year, quite the opposite in fact. But it was definitely a different Dragon than I usually experience.
It's not like we didn't know though. At every Directors meeting, Pat Henry, the con chair would sort of grimly announce that this was shaping up to be a big year. Pre-reg was through the roof. We had a large chunk of the Marriott closed for renovations. The Hyatt security staff was putting additional restrictions on us. But he'd also say that 2008 would be MUCH better. We'll have more function space available in the Marriott than ever before. We're negotiating for more use of the Hilton. A serious effort is being made to spread programming out evenly through the three hotels. This will help very much with the clumping that caused the Hyatt to be shut down several times over the weekend. We're even negotiating with a fourth hotel.
So yeah, rough year. But I doubt there will be a repeat. We have some very smart and very experienced people working on the problem. Next year will be awesome.