To put it in a few words : Mardi Gras for Geeks
Back in 2009 when I travel the six cons to photograph cosplayers, someone would always ask the same question : Did you go to DragonCon ? Well, 2 years later I found myself smack in geek central ( or is it party central ?) in downtown Atlanta.
Five hotels, 40,000+ folks and basically a 24 hour party that thumps on for 4 days straight. Yes, I'm surprised I even made it on the plane alright !
First things, first, let's talk about cosplay and costuming. There's an enormous amount of people here dressed up but not everything is cosplay. You'll see Victorian fashion, steampunk, and just weird things made of cardboard and pipes. Yes there's anime cosplay but I saw far less than I imagined. Only once did I see a Yoko when I usually see five or more. And as for the ever popular Panty & Stocking ? Only saw one. Didn't even see Hetalia but I bet there were a few there.
Other things I noticed : the con didn't seem to really start kicking until 5 or so at night. At a normal con (i.e anime or comic book), the busiest times would be the early afternoon but here looks like folks slept in and didn't get out till night falls. I admit, I only went into the dealer room briefly but I get a feeling that unlike say, San Diego Comic Con were folks go to check out the latest in the vendor hall, the attendees here are more here to hang out and party.
For photographers, there's a wide choice of locations available at the multiple hotels. Check out this forum post along with sample photos to give you the wealth of backgrounds available. I plan on returning and based on what I gather from the cosplay meetup list, I'll more than likely split my time between Marriott 10th floor and Hilton Back Stairs. The best spot would be on the lower level of the Marriott but believe me, those floors are completely packed. There's no way I could pull of what I wanted to do.
So my advice for first-timers.
+ Get your hotel early - best to get any of the host hotels if possible.
+ Drink lots of water - Atlanta is hot and drinking alcohol will tired you out faster
+ Check the schedule ahead of time and plan your day. Luckily for the most part, the lines aren't as long as San Diego Comic Con.
+ Get there a day early and figure out the whole layout. It took me a day or so to figure out where everything is. The first night I got lost and wander the streets at 2 am looking for my hotel.
+ Always have a camera - there's costumes everywhere and you wanna capture that moment.
I hung out with local SoCal Nerd Reactor whom I've met previously when I first started the book project back in 2009 plus I definitely had a chance to hang out with a lot of cosplayers as well as cosplay photographers from around the country. I definitely will be back next year and I'm putting DragonCon down as my vacation con.
