ICBS Everywhere

Posted September 12, 2009

I attended my first Dragon*Con last weekend. In fact, this was probably my first visit to a pop-culture convention unless auto shows count.
Why Dragon*Con, you ask?

I was talked into this trip by fellow CTEG members. The Con offers “fan tracks”, which are a series of panel discussions and presentations within a specific theme. For the second year, the skeptic community has been involved through their own track (Skeptrack) thanks to the efforts of podcasters Derek Colanduno (who directs the track) and Swoopy (Robynn McCarthy, who directs the podcasting track) of Skepticality. CTEG members who participated last year saw an opportunity to discuss the state of critical thinking education and how teachers might incorporate more of this important subject into their curricula. We proposed several panels and presentations. Some made the final cut and some did not. In the end, we were well represented at the convention.
CTEG members (not including Derek Colanduno himself, who was effectively involved in all of the Skeptrack presentations) who presented at the convention included me, Skeptical Teacher Matt Lowry, and PodBlack Cat Kylie Sturgess. It was fun, interesting, different, and a host of other adjectives.
I will discuss the talks in another post or two. In the meantime, let me step out of the scientist/educator role for a moment and talk about the Con…
What is Dragon*Con?
The largest pop-culture (science fiction & fantasy focus) convention in the country is held in Atlanta, Georgia at four hotels, each large enough to host a large convention or two on its own. Three of the hotels, the Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton, are joined by bridges, ensuring that visitors rarely need to subject themselves to the humidity and heat of the Georgia summer.

The Marriott Photo by Daniel Loxton

The Science and Skeptracks were held mainly in breakout-style conference rooms in the Hilton, which also hosted the “Walk of Fame”, a very large ballroom in which celebrities sat at tables to greet fans and sign autographs.
The Marriott has an amazing atrium with a large, open floor for people to wander, posing in costumes or taking pictures of those posing in costumes. Below this are ballrooms sectioned into booths for retailers.
I was not able to get to the Hyatt and the only thing I did at the Sheraton was pick up my badge, which is another story altogether.
Logistics
I booked a red-eye, wanting to minimize the impact to my teaching schedule, which I did not yet have at the time of booking. Although the timing was excellent, the lack of sleep was not and I will not book like that again. Leaving at about the time my kids went to bed was great, as was arriving early enough to check in, unpack, and freshen up before heading down to the convention. However, by the time I slept again I had been awake about 46 hours straight. I am rarely able to sleep a plane and found myself entertained by my seatmate, Charles Fleischer, who was headed to the Con himself. Again, living in Los Angeles, one gets quite used to sharing public spaces with actors, writers, and the like, but who gets to spend hours talking to someone that interesting purely by chance? In this case, we talked about his growing interest in science, my involvement in the skepticism movement, the funky new system Delta has which turns the reading lights on and off, and our anticipation of what this new experience would be like (it was his first D*C, too). So, my Con travel began with a Con experience.
Upon arrival, I decided to give the MARTA a shot. I had heard that there was a train which stopped right outside of the airport’s baggage claim and one could ride it to Peachtree Center, which is adjacent to the hotels. This turned out to be a fine experience — much better, actually, than riding in a crowded van. On my return trip, I had little time since my last panel ended around 11 am and my flight left at 2:30pm (by the way, Delta apparently canceled my original flights and re-booked me on flights with slightly earlier departure times, but failed to notify me. Fortunately, I checked it out before leaving), I took a cab to the airport. A flat $40 might be a good idea if you are sharing with several people, but for the individual on a budget I would definitely recommend MARTA.
I cannot complain about the registration process. Well, okay, I can, but I maintain that it was the best it could be. I preregistered online months ago, which meant I only needed to pick up a badge. This occurred at the Sheraton, the only hotel which was not connected to the others. I should count myself lucky as when I arrived at Peachtree Center the line curled around a building. I do not know how long it was, but outside and down the block is pretty long!

The line to pick up badges for those who preregistered. I did not take this picture and I do not know who did. If it is yours and you want me to remove it, please email me.

When I approached the line it started at one end of a large ballroom and zigzagged through to the other end. The line moved steadily along for an hour and a half until it broke into about 15 lines, each serving a section of the alphabet. The organizers were extremely well-organized. It was simply a matter of volume. If anyone has any suggestions for how to improve the process, I am sure they would love to hear from you. In the meantime, schedule some extra time for this task.
Another major complaint about the logistics of the convention (for which I have an equal number of solutions – zero) is the elevator situation. I do not know what it was like at the other hotels, but at the Hilton it was nearly impossible to get into an elevator on the second floor and go up. If a car is full, it will skip the floors which are not requested from inside it. We quickly learned to get into one going down, then ride it back up. It often took 10 minutes to get from the top floors of the hotel to the bottom or vice-versa.
There is also the problem of attention. Most people were so busy taking it all in that they did not realize they were doing things like stopping at the top of an escalator. I was nearly a casualty of such behavior when someone stopped in front of me at the top of an escalator at the Marriott. The long line of people behind me could easily have been taken out domino-style and I can even imagine someone going over the edge, which could have been fatal. The Marriott, where there were several such escalators, actually had security guards stationed at the escalator ends who spent their time herding people away from them as they exited.
Overall, though, getting around was not difficult. It was crowded at times, but most of the close-quarters were in lines and on elevators.
I really expected a convention that big to be much more chaotic and less organized. I am sure the army of volunteers is what keeps the wheels turning. By the way, they even offer childcare services!
Next up, the Events

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