Many Grady students and teachers attended Dragon Con, the annual fan-oriented science fiction, anime and music convention held Labor Day weekend at several downtown Atlanta hotels. Thousands of fans gathered to play video games, dress up in fantasy costumes, meet their favorite actors and parade through the city as fictional characters.
Grady science teacher and boys soccer coach, Nikolai Curtis, has been going regularly since 2008, and began volunteering in 2010. He said Dragon Con is different than other conventions, such as San Diego’s Comic Con, which hosts over 100,000 people each year.
“The story goes: at San Diego you get news and updates, at Dragon Con you learn secrets,” he said. “This is because Dragon Con is run by fans instead of a big corporation that is required to have strict rules and regulations. For me, it’s more about interacting with the people — people watching,” Curtis said. “It’s also about hanging out and being around people just like me.”
Curtis attended the Dragon Con parade, which began in 2002 and is open to everyone, including people who do not pay the Dragon Con entry fee.
Dragon Con started as a project for a local science fiction and gaming group called the Dragon Alliance of Gamers and Role-Players (DAGR).
Dragon Con has grown each year since its opening. Seventy thousand people — 50 times more attendees than the convention’s first year in 1987 — attended Dragon Con this year. The increase in fans brought an increase in profit. According to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, Dragon Con Dragon Con had a direct economic impact of $65 million and a profit of around $21 million.
Some of the fan-favorite shows have a Dragon Con “panel” where a group gathers around to talk to and ask questions of the actors.
Grady senior Sajjad Ali said he was fascinated by the panels, particularly that of John Barrowman, an actor in Arrow, Doctor Who and Torchwood.
“Another aspect of Dragon Con being so awesome is the community,” Ali said. “Seeing everyone dressed up with their kids was very special.”
Physics teacher Luke Esposito and one of his two daughters shared the experience by dressing up as Star Wars characters. Esposito says the festival was family friendly, however, there were some costumes he found inappropriate for his daughter.
Hank Persons, a senior, agreed with Esposito, saying a fair number of revealing costumes took away from the family friendly aspect of the convention. Persons also said the majority of the costumes made the environment more fun, however.
“Dressing up adds to the experience because you become more involved and feel more a part of the geeky atmosphere,” Persons said. “The best feeling is when someone asks to take your picture because they like your costume.”
Dragon Con’s appeal lies in its ability to bring people together to have a good time.
“Dragon Con is a good excuse for people to share their nerdy feelings about life,” senior Gabriel Kupersmith said. “It’s a place to express your love for these hobbies and be able to meet people who have a love for the same thing.”
Curtis believes that everyone should go to Dragon Con a least once, regardless of age.
Junior Danny Lazega said Dragon Con is a way to meet people who share his love of science fiction and fantasy.
“There’s so many different cultures that become friends with each other at Dragon Con,” he said. “You can find people who admire rainbow unicorns lounging with a monster made of spaghetti. It lets me experience new parts of the world that I don’t get to see in everyday life.”
