Thanks so much to all of the fans who came out to see us at Dragon*Con this year. We are still in the process of braindumping and writing “after action reports” so that we retain all of the information and lessons that we have learned at this year’s convention. Some highlights.
We WTFPWNED! the old Thriller Dance record set at William & Mary (Bill and Buffy) University. They had just over 200 people dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Dragon*Con had over 900.
Comic-Con took the record for largest charity blood drive from us…briefly. We retook the record with over 1900 units of blood donated. DC*MMO’s own “Horde vs. Alliance” blood drive saw 250 donors step up and bleed for a good cause. My most sincere thanks to everyone who gave. (even if it did make you a cheap drunk for the rest of the weekend… Don’t think we didn’t notice.)
50 panels and events on the MMO track this year, and hardly a “bomb scare” in the bunch. Thank you to our guests and panelists for making this year’s DC*MMO track such a success.
Felicia Day is amazingly cool, and apparently had a really good time at Dragon*Con. Thank you Felicia, and thank you fans for showing her a good time this year. Felicia screened all of seasons 1 and 2 as well as the first episode of season 3 which debuted last week just before the convention started.
Thank you Funcom for throwing a killer party on Friday night!
Thank you Sony Online Entertainment for throwing a killer… well… all day Sunday!
Thank you CCP, Cartoon Network, Wardog Studios, Artix Entertainment, Hi-Rez Studios, Massively.com, and WoW.com for hosting excellent panels and events for us. We look forward to working with you again next year.
Thank you, WoWTCGLoot.com, NCSoft, iZ3D, and Turbine for donating prizes for us to give away this year.
Most of all, thank you to my staff of unpaid volunteers who busted their humps for me all year long in order to pull this weekend off.
My assistant directors, Trevor Legg and Krystalle Voecks. I could not have done this without you two by my side to keep me sane and remind me of all of the things that could have slipped through the cracks. Trevor’s ideas and ability to think creatively (I hate the term “outside the box”) and Krystalle’s organizational skills and industry knowledge were both absolutely essential to our success. I thank you both.
To the rest of the gang, Michael McGreevy, Rafe Brox, Ian Wickenkamp (I didn’t forget you this year!!!), Jonna Crane, Doug Keller, Scott Blanks, Jay & Sheryl Sturrock, Sam Levine (Happy Birthday!) and all of the folks who stuck around and chipped in to help us even though they didn’t have to… You have my thanks, and that doesn’t even begin to cover it. I put you guys through a pretty brutal wringer this year, and you all came through shining brightly. Rest well, you have earned it.
Planning for Dragon*Con 2010 starts next week.
-Grim