Dragon*Con 2008
By Mike Faber
 It’s that time again; time to let your inner geek out to play. Dragon*Con 2008 is happening Labor Day weekend (August 29th – September 1st), at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, the Atlanta Hilton and the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, all in Downtown Atlanta. The 22nd Annual Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US.
This four-day event features panels, seminars, demonstrations and over thirty fan tracks comprising over 3,500 hours of programming including American Sci-fi Classics, American Sci-fi Media, Anime/Manga , Animation, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, Apocalyse Rising, Art Show Forums & Workshops, British Sci-fi Media, Comics, Costuming, Dark Fantasy, Electronic Frontiers Forum , Filk, Gaming Panels, Independent Film Track, Main Programming, MMORPGs, Podcasting, Readings, Robotics, Science, Sci-fi and Fantasy Literature, Silk Road: Asian Cinema & Culture, Skeptic Track, Space, Star Gate: Offworld Fandom , Star Trek: TrekTrak, Star Wars: MOTF, Tolkien’s Middle Earth, Whedonverse, Wheel of Time, Writer’s Track, X Track, & Young Adult Literature.
Every year several hundred Dragon*Con members gather in the early Saturday morning hours decked out as their favorite alter egos and ready to take center stage on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta for the largest event at Dragon*Con - the annual costume parade! Thousands more line the parade route to participate in the fun and to cheer on their favorites. Plan to be there Saturday, August 30 as a participant or onlooker. The parade starts promptly at 10:00 AM and the route follows Peachtree Street from Woodruff Park (at Auburn Avenue) to the Hyatt, then continues down Baker Street and concludes at the Marriott.
Celebrity guests are also a big part of Dragon*Con. This year's convention is no exception with hundreds of speakers scheduled to appear at this years show. Some of the big names on hand include:
Ann McCaffrey - Ms. McCaffrey's first story was published by Sam Moskowitz in Science Fiction Magazine and her first novel was published by Ballantine Books in l967.
She has now written dozens of books, of which there are more than twelve million copies in print. Anne's talents as a storyteller are best displayed however, in the handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly in her Pern series (17 novels and counting) and in The Ship Who Sang series.
Adam West - Adam breathed life into Batman in the wildly popular ABC TV series. The "Batman" (1966) TV series, which lasted three seasons made him not just nationally but internationally famous. The movie version earned Adam the "Most Promising New Star" award in 1967.
Robert Englund - American leading actor of a number of horror films, but probably best known as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) and all of its sequels.
Michael Dorn - Dorn was seen as Officer Turner during the final two seasons (1980-1982) of the weekly cop series CHiPs and guest-starred on many more primetime series. He went on to perform a flurry of supporting-cast activity in such theatrical features as The Jagged Edge (1985). Then in 1987, Michael Dorn donned mounds of facial makeup for what was to be his signature role: the U.S.S. Enterprise's Klingon officer Lt. Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994).
Kevin Sarbo - Kevin Sorbo quickly rose to international stardom in the title role of the hit series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Beginning as five two-hour telefilms in 1993, the popularity of the made-for-television movies resulted in the January 1995 launch of the weekly, one-hour series which became a breakout hit.
Peter David - Peter David is a prolific, author whose career and continued popularity spans nearly two decades. He has worked in every conceivable media: television, film, books (fiction, nonfiction, and audio), short stories, and comic books, and acquired followings in all of them.
And much, much more…
For more information and to purchase tickets head to: www.dragoncon.org.
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