For the second year in a row, I ventured off Capitol Hill and accompanied my daughter to Dragon Con taking place in the Hyatt Regency, Marriott Marquis, the Atlanta Hilton, Sheraton and Westin hotels in our downtown convention district. 

You have never, ever seen that many people, let alone creatures, crammed into hotel lobbies, convention space, and sidewalks as on Dragon Con weekend. Estimates were 80,000 this year, and every fourth person had a costume and some kind of faux weapon.  You literally had to weave your way through normally picturesque hotel lobbies.

Dragon Con prides itself on being the largest multi-media, popular culture convention in the world focusing on science fiction, fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film.  The convention added cash-prize eSports – also known as professional gaming – live streamed over Twitch to the convention’s game-specific programming. 

“Our eSports tournaments were well-attended by professional gamers and the Twitch audience was strong,” said convention co-chair David Cody said.  “Most importantly, it was very popular with fans on site, which guarantees that it will be back in 2018.”

Lines formed outside for popular ballroom sessions and literally wrapped around the buildings. It was the most orderly you will ever see super-heros I am sure.  This year I had a chance to participate in the Chapel service on Sunday morning bringing a little evangelical flavor to the anything-goes crowd. In fact, I would caution parents that some of the humor from the panels is at least PG-13 and often off-color.   Despite us having to walk out of a couple of sessions red-faced, my daughter loved the experience and wants to go back next year.

Speaking of red, Dragon Con’s annual Robert A. Heinlein “Pay It Forward” blood drive attracted a huge turnout too, with about 3,000 attendees donating some 6,000 units of blood and blood products this year.  The annual drive – consistently ranked as the largest convention-based blood drive – benefits LifeSouth, which serves more than 40 hospitals in the Atlanta area and 110 hospitals in the Southeast.  

There were 80,000 nerds and geeks coming in from all over the United States for five days: flights, food, transportation, parking, coffee. That same number of people packed the new Mercedes-Benz stadium on Saturday to watch Alabama and FSU.  Kudos to Atlanta Police and other law enforcement for keeping folks safe throughout the event.

If you enjoy Marvel movies, Tolkien literature, Star Trek or Star Wars, you need to put Dragon Con on your bucket list. There is nothing like it.

Tim Echols is an elected PSC commissioner in Georgia.  He and Windy have seven children and live in Jackson County.