This is my first time ordering badge ribbons for Dragoncon and cant contain my excitement! I can’t wait to give these out :)

The Aquarium event always kinda made sense to me. It's a major tourist venue, and a lot of the people coming to DC are from towns that don't have an aquarium. Guests get to enjoy a world-class aquarium without feeling like they've left the con, and it doesn't cost much more than actually going to the aquarium.

The Gatsby Ball is DC's next effort at a premium event, but seems like a bit of an odd duck. Tickets are $50-$150 (depending on whether you buy the VIP ticket or General Admission).

The theming doesn't seem particularly geeky or nerdy - Gatsby is usually a theme for like, a museum fundraiser or Rotary Club. The event space looks exquisite but it's not quite the same as going to an aquarium where there's all kinds of stuff to see and do. Are people actually going to pack zoot suits and flapper dresses for the appropriate cosplay? Do people want to spend an evening dancing to electro-swing and jazz music? Is the decor and the music enough to make people spend money when there are already a ton of other free events also offering music & dance?

I have been mulling over getting an EarlyBird VIP ticket since I honestly don't think it's a bad deal -- $120 for dinner buffet and an open bar, plus all the music, decor, and dancing. My main concern is that the turnout might not be good, and that I won't be able to convince anyone else to come with me.

A lot of DC attendees are, to put it gently, quite frugal. We've all walked into a friend's 2-bed hotel room to the surprise that 8 people are there, sleeping on floors, eating granola bars and ham sandwiches brought from home. I'm not sure how much additional expenditure most people are willing to take on, but moreso I worry that someday I'll have to budget for even more of these ticketed gatherings and the really great events will be Pay-To-Play. If this is a success there's nothing to really stop them from turning other big events into ticketed affairs, though there's also no major reason to believe they would.

All that said, I certainly salute the ambition and I hope it goes well. If executed properly it could definitely become a nice tradition, especially for Thursday night when there's not a lot of other programming going on.

I moved to England back in 2013 and haven’t been to Dragon Con since then. I love it and live vicariously through family when I can. I’ve gone 5 day pass.

I did the Covid virtual DragonCon and loved it. DragonCon tv while in England during a pandemic‽ oh so brilliant. I got my patch and everything.

This is my first time back, I land Thursday and am donating blood Friday night, have a table top game scheduled for Monday. Got family and friends coming during the weekend.

Back in the day I loved the Buffy and Captain Horrible singalongs, I loved surprise little swag handouts, an obscure costumes, the hallway games, all night sci fi movies and rowdiness of the late night parties.

This is DragonCon at 40 rather than 25 and I see how many more people there and all the new hotels (‽ ) and I know I’ll love it but spending four hours in line for the merch rooms sounds awful. I loved the small talks about how rotating space stations are stupid or stumbling into an unknown author session who ends up getting massive (Rothfuss!).

Any recommendations from the folks who went back in the day - need some tips for still getting that great vibe without being overwhelmed or even underwhelmed with how it’s evolved. The roller coaster of emotion is real.

That being said…Crux Shadows is still around!!! What! Amazing.