Dragon*Con Setting Up
Dragon*Con is essentially a trade show for the geeky nerdy crowd. Having a strong geek streak myself, I do identify with this bunch. As a trade show, being a vendor at Dragon*Con requires a setting up a booth. Typically, trade show vendor “booths” come in 10 foot increments, the smallest being a 10′ x 10′ space. My friend, Brenda, secured a 10′ x 20′ space to display and sell her jewelry.
Setting up at this year’s Dragon*Con involved getting early to the loading dock area in the AmericasMart building right in downtown Atlanta. There was no mirth driving on the I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector while getting to the necessary exit. Brenda’s truck is big and not easy for me to drive. We found the building and the loading dock where we were told to wait until called to report to a loading bay. So, we found a spot a few dozen yards away on John Portman Boulevard. The street was quickly filled with other waiting vehicles. We happened to arrive earlier than most.
Hanging around and waiting gave me the opportunity to take some photos of the general scene at the entrance to the loading docks.
I also called one of my blog readers who graciously volunteered to help with packing up the booth on Monday evening. He’s going to get an all access pass for the entire weekend for his efforts.
After waiting around for at least two hours, we got the notification to proceed to a loading dock. It took just a few minutes to unload. Brenda headed to the booth with the stuff and I took the truck to find uncovered parking because it’s 7’5″ tall and that’s too much for all the nearby parking garages.
Once inside, it was time to set up the booth. We got most of it done pretty quickly because Brenda has lots of experience with her jewelry display boards.
Lots of vendors were doing the same.
With setup mostly done, we then spent a couple of hours running errands and buying stuff necessary to tend to some minor details.
Tomorrow at 1PM the conference actually begins. 70,000 attendees are expected during the course of the whole event. Yes, I’ll be taking more photos.
The hotel where I’m staying is in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. I took some photos of the buildings immediately adjacent.
The Private Man 
I have several friends who go almost yearly, and I’d dearly love to finally visit the Con. Thanks for the behind the scenes view! Always a fan of that sort of thing. (Would also love to see the jewelry being sold, if possible, in future updates.)