“I was drinking, and then suddenly I woke up. At a Star Trek party. In a different hotel.”
– Dragon Con 2012 Attendee
Dragon*Con has a bit of a reputation as a party convention. A quick Google search for dragon con party leads you to a bevy of Facebook groups, LiveJournal pages, and other sites dedicated to the planning, discussing and rehashing of the mild-to-wild events that spin off from the main affair each year.
Having been to Otakon and other East Coast anime cons multiple times, I figured I had a handle on this convention thing.
Yeah. No.
Dragon Con is a whole ‘nother beast. In addition to officially hosting so many awesome events, panels, concerts, and destinations that it’s enough to drive a completionest to despair, there’s also the very unofficial parties that spring up around Dragon Con. When I arrived at the hotels on Saturday morning, empty bottles of various types were strewn about outside – testament to whatever after hours gathering had taken place Friday evening. Sunday morning seemed to be the designated “party recuperation time;” never before have I seen so many people passed out in so many corners.
For other attendees who are similarly unprepared, here’s a handy addendum that can help you tell what day it is, even during the most chaotic of moments in your Dragon Con experience:
