Drunk Brandon

Last night I went to Neil Gaiman's reading and signing at Decatur GA held at Agnes Scott College organized by Little Shop of Stories. There were about 1,000 of us there and he signed for everyone all night, till after 1AM. It was so great to see him here again, the last I saw him was at DragonCon in 2000. One of the most interesting things occurred during the Q&A, when he answered the question of why he hasn't been back to DragonCon since. He told us that he used to enjoy going to DragonCon in the early 90's, but the last time he attended in 2000 it was not organized well for his appearance. He was told to go up to his room and wait for someone to come get him in a few hours for some activity. When he asked why he couldn't go his own way for a few hours instead of going to his room and doing nothing, he was told "No", he had to stay in his room. Hours had passed, and he asked if they were ready, and (I believe) was told that the activity had passed and someone forgot to get him. He also mentioned that he was presented with a lifetime achievement award, except for the fact that the award was not ready in time for the con and showed up in the mail a few months later. He wasn't mad about the award, pretty sure just about waiting in his room. He said whenever he is asked if he wants to come back, he still remembers having to sit in his room. So, take note here, he hasn't been back for 9 years now because of that. Do you want to have Neil Gamain come back to DragonCon? Maybe DragonCon organizers need to tell him he can make his own schedule and work around what he wants. I know there is a lot going on, but if you give him the freedom to do what he wants, when he wants to, maybe he might come back. Just something to think about.

Don Maitz has been a regular fixture in Dragon*con's artist alley for as long as I've been attending. I recently had a chance to interview him, and I thought the D*C community might be interested in it. He talked about his early convention experiences as a fan, and then as a vendor. He also discusses why he loves painting pirates, and why learning a bit about copyright law is important for aspiring artists. Link: An Interview with Hugo Award Winning Fantasy Artist Don Maitz.

If you haven't had a chance to see him at Dragon*cons past, definitely stop by the artist alley and say "hello." Don is one of my favorite regular D*C guests. (And if you buy one of his calendar's, he'll usually do a little sketch just for you in the back!)

So, on a positive this year, I managed to get my own room at the Marriott for D*Con. Problem is, I'm missing a day on there that I'm going to be staying, so I'm hoping possibly, someone would be able to trade. What I'm looking for is a room at the Marriott (I don't have a preference on the beds, I'll work with anything) for Thursday (Sept. 2nd) to Tuesday (Sept 7th) if at all possible. I have a Fri-Tues at the Marriott with a king bed that I can trade in return for it.

You can reach me at last.princess.of.heart[at]gmail.com. Thank you!

Cheap Hotel Klingon here. I put up a long post on my journal about cheap rooms for DC. There haven't been many deals this year and the ones that pop up go very quickly. You can get the Westin for 2 for $117/night and 153/night for 4 which is a very good deal IMO. There's some other deals there like the Hilton for 197/night but only for 2 (was still available at 3:45 pm Friday but price dropped to 180!). If you're in serious need of a con host hotel, this may be as cheap as you can get it at this point. If you're interested, go check my journal for details.
http://xiandesi.livejournal.com/

Hello everyone, guess what, surprise surprise I want to stay at the Marriott but it was sold out 1.5 hours after they started taking reservations. I did manage to get a Hyatt room, one queen bed. We stayed in one last year, they're quite cozy, even had two friends share. The reservation is for Thursday to Tuesday (tuesday Checkout). I'm sure you could drop a night if you needed to. We're looking for Thursday or Friday check-in and Monday or Tuesday check-out at the marriott, any size room will do. Happily trading tit for tat. Also... if you happen to be canceling a marriott room and just wanted to throw it our way...

Brittrack December Meet and Greet this Sunday!

All right. I know you all have been waiting with baited breath (Eww, smells like worms!) So, without further ado, the December Meet and Greet is announced! <much fanfare> Come and raise a pint with your fellow Brittrackers and revel in the camaraderie that is, er, Brittrakky. Sorry, fell through there. Well, you get the point.

We hope to see you all there!

When: Sunday 12 Dec @ 2:00 PM
Where: The Grange Public House
426 West Ponce De Leon Avenue, Decatur, GA
(404) 270-9950‎

Google Maps Directions to the Grange
http://thegrangepublichouse.com/

I was thinking about making a Klingon costume. ;D
BUT i was wondering where i could find/see some outfits from DC.
and some tips would be appreciated

I found this thread over at Reddit.com today, called "Just another reason as to why I don't go to Cons anymore." It linked to a post by a past Dragon*con vendor, "Blind Ferret", who says they have been "booted" from Dragon*con 2010 over an "incident" Dragon*con was at fault in.

You can read all about it here: Booted from Dragon*con

Reddit posting: Just another reason as to why I don't go to Cons anymore.

People have been looking for an official Dragon*con response to all of this, but I haven't seen one posted as of yet.

Edit: Not sure why I'm being confused with someone else, but just to be clear

1) I didn't post this anywhere else
2) I'm not affiliated with the comic. Never even heard of it till I read about it on reddit
3) Not trolling. Didn't say I supported either D*C or the comic people. Just said people were looking for a response from D*C and I hadn't seen one. That's it. I posted this because it was causing a big stir and worth at least mentioning.

Sheesh.

Edit #2: Now being reported on by The Consumerist

We have a roomshare with slots still available for Dragon*Con '10. Its on the Regency level of the Hyatt and come with the free breakfast thing. 300 per person. We can provide verification that yes, these rooms do exist.

Hello all.

Everyone knows why we're here so I'll get right to it!

Requesting~
Any Host Hotel (Marriott preferred, Hyatt and Hilton are 2nd choice, but will not turn down Sheraton!)
Thursday - Monday (2 Sept - 6 Sept, 2010)
Double or Quad (either one is fine)

Last year was my first time at Dragon*Con (drove 14 hours to get there) and everything was absolutely perfect except that our hotel was 10 miles away! I really want to experience the con the way nature intended- From a Host Hotel!!

If you can help out, PLEASE email me~~
thegirl_isagirl@yahoo.com

THANK YOU!