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Dear CONnie, I was wondering how much money – minus ticket, hotel and travel expenses – I should plan on spending/needing to attend Dragon Con with a bit of style?
Signed, Curious (oh all right the person’s nick wasn’t curious, but… but… it sounds good okay!?!.)
Dear Curious,
Actually, Dragon Con is amazingly affordable in every respect but the alchol area.
You can eat inexpensively (and quicker) in the mall right next door to the Hyatt. Breakfast or lunch can be had for 5.00 -10.00 tops, well actually cheaper, if you do the Mikey D route.
For your dinning pleasure there are several reasonably priced restaurants nearby if the gang wants to go out for dinner. Which I highly recommend. The hotel food can be pretty pricey for what you get. Moderate prices ranged from about 10.00 – 20.00 each, unless of course you order something totally off the wall or like to drink your dinner.
Of course there are some really great restaurants in Atlanta and I imagine the prices are about the same as they are in the Dallas area. Say 30.00 – 50.00 each, (not top shelf but still very nice) but I found that the time was a factor, there was so much to see and do, I know I wasn’t really interested in great dinning.
Hummm, Drinking at the Bar or one of the bar setup areas in the hotel…. I am not sure what the beers were running, but the drinks I usually drink, WERE NOT AVAILABLE (Bad Hyatt! Bad Marriott!) but the simple stuff like screwdrivers were running about 4.00, so about average I guess. When I say mixed drinks, I am of course speaking of SIMPLE mixed drinks. The bar staff at the Hyatt had neither the materials nor knowledge to mix anything fancy.
The thing that really saved me money during this trip was that everything I wanted to do, from the moment I woke up, until I crawled into a bar was included in my base ticket price. whooo hooo. So anything in excess of the above, will let you have a fine time with your fellow lexxians.
Signed,
CONnie
Dragon Con Tickets are on sale until Nov 15 http://www.dragoncon.com/member/index.html
Main Info site http://www.thefrey.com/UsCon.htm
Dear CONnie,
I have heard that last year they had a parade at Dragon Con. Are they going to do it again this year?
Signed, Excited
Dear Excited,
As a matter of fact, I have just heard that there will be a PARADE. According to Mark, from the Dragon Con office.
If you want to be in it and need costume ideas you might want to check here. http://www.sadgeezer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=22&t=000089
Oh something to get Excited really excited… Mark also said if you want someone to be invited, you need to call and write, otherwise they have no way of knowing who you want. contact info is of course here http://www.sadgeezer.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=22&t=000100 Although CONnie really hopes you have that one book marked by now.
Dear CONnie,
Not only am Imatweedle, Imataloss on how to write a proper letter to the nice Dragon Con peeps. I want to ask them to invite All the Lexx cast! Should I write a seperate letter for each one, or include them in one main letter? And exactly what should I say? Do you think you could post a “sample” letter I could copy? Thank you, Ima.Dear Ima,
Nothing could be easier, but the trick to using a starter letter is that it is just that. Never send it with out making some changes or adding some text!
It is amazing how suspicious people become when they get identical letters from lots of different people.
What kind of changes you ask Tweedle-gurl? Well instead of being ‘very interested’ in attending dragon con, you could be ‘definitely’ attending, or ‘hoping to be able to make it’ ect… Instead of ‘dearly love to see a few panels’ you could ‘be excited at the chance to meet WHOEVER’ or ‘hoping to get WHOEVERS’s autograph and picture.’ Ect… if you need more ideas check the UScon page for more information at http://www.thefrey.com/UsCon.htm look under NEWS and then LETTERS.
Anyhow, here is a starter letter for Ima;
Dear WhoEverYouAreSendingItToo,
I am very interested in attending Dragon Con, I looked over last years offerings and there seemed to be a lot going on. The only thing that was missing was Lexx.
I am a huge fan of Lexx and would dearly love to see a few panels and some of the cast at Dragon Con. After all no one is cooler than (Ellen Dubin, Brian Downey, Xenia Seeberg or Patricia Zentilli) I loved when they played (Giggerota, Stanley H. Tweedle, Xev of B3K, Bunny). If you have any suggestions of who I should contact about this, please let me know. I am really looking forward to having a great time with my fellow Lexxians at Dragon Con 2003.
Thank You,
WhoEverYouAre
YourAddressOrContactInfoP.s. My favorite Lexx Star was also in WhatEverTheyWereIn.
[ 09-11-2002: Message edited by: thefrey ]
Dear CONnie,
I have heard that Dragon Con has a large attendance base, but how large is it? I have heard the number 20,000 being bandied about, but is that number of people attending or number of people attending x the number of days they bought tickets for?
Signed, WannaKnow
Dear Wanna,
It is true that some sci-fi conventions count “bodies per day,” so a person with a 4-day membership is counted four times toward the final total.
However Dragon Con like most other professional conventions and trade shows traditionally count each membership as one attendee, so whether a person attends one day or all four days, he/she is counted once toward the total. The 2000+ figure reflects the latter method; IF they used the “bodies*day” method then Dragon*Con 2001’s total would have been approximately 43,000 instead of 20,000. Lots of peeps hey? No matter which way you count them.
Hope to see you there,
CONnie
Dear CONnie,
I am not from the states, so could you give me an idea of how much money I will need for the whole Lexx Mission to Dragon Con?
Signed,
Frugal
Dear Frugal, I hope I understand your question properly. How much money will the average Lexxian need to do dragon con properly?
Let us look at it.
Convention stuff in general
Shuttle from airport to downtown hotels front door…. $24.00 round trip ticket
Or Train from airport to close to downtown hotels $3.00 each way. If you are use to Trains (which many Americans are NOT) this is a good way to go. It will let you off right next door to the Hyatt. I am not sure if our hotel has a stop, I think not. But you come up the steps, go next door to the Hyatt, through their lobby/pool area and go down a few steps and across the street to the Marriott. It is close enough that even as out of shape and round as I am, I will be taking the train this year.
Autographs are 20.00 – 30.00 each, with a few of the more popular stars (michele nichols from star trek?) costing more.
Most t-shirts are between 10.00 to 25.00
Art work of course varies in price.
ALL activites except the DC guest of honor banquet (which we will be missing since we don’t care) are included in the price of the convention. With your ticket you get access to all areas of the convention for all four days. All Exibition Halls, Art Gallery, Dealers Room, Forums and Musical events/dances. Very good price. Since I didn’t buy any autographs and not much else… I spent less than 100.00 last year. But I don’t drink achol much, and mostly bought water to drink! 😀
If you have any gamers, the games are resonable priced according to theBrother.
Drinks at the hotel are expensive!!! 4.00 to 7.00 USD per drink plus tip. Heck beer was 4.50 I was told.
Don’t eat at the Hyatt!!! Food is expensive and bad!
The Friday night and Sunday night fan parties will be at bars, so no cover charge at all. All the parties will have a cash bar so you will need money for your drinks. You will also be able to order food at the Friday and Sunday Bar Parties. (if you are snacking there figure 10.00 12.00 plus your bar drinks)
Breakfast can be as cheap as you like. I spent about 5.00 to 10.00 per day. Lunch was the same.
Dinner can also be just as cheap, unless you want to go to a near by restraunt, then 12.00 to 25.00.
Atlanta has many ‘fine’ Resturants costing between 50.00 to 100.00 per person. And some higher, if you are into that kind of thing.
I am not sure about where you are from, but here hotels are taxed for any enterainment improvements a city makes. My guess is that Atlanta will be the same as Dallas, so figure 15% (my room at marriot is 145.00 per day, will cost 167.00 after taxes)
You can see the cast at their table. Also most of them will be in the the Lexx “The Blue Planet Tour” forum Saturday 08/30/03; 1:00:00pm; Regency 6 & 7 and the “Lovely But Lethal: The Women of Lexx” forum Sunday 08/31/03; 1:00:00pm; Centennial I
Most if not all of the cast will also be at the Saturday night party.
The white t-shirt designed by Barabbas is available for a limited time from cafe express. http://www.cafeshops.com/magicondemand/129310
You can meet eveyone on Friday night at the fan mixer, and then for people comming in on Saturday, you can ask at the fan table what is going on.
Enjoy,
CONnie
Dear CONnie,
Question: We got a hotel 12 miles aways from downtown. It’s only
$100 a day for all four of us. I lived in Atlanta for 10 years so I
know the area pretty well and can get around. However, the car
rental is another $80 a day plus extras and parking and all that
crap. So I’m thinking why not just stay at the Hyatt. Finally,
here’s the question: Are there a lot of Lexxian’s staying at the
Hyatt? ~:-)Signed
Type13PlanetDear Planet,
Staying off site and renting a car is a big no-no UNLESS you have something in the area you want to see.
Parking at the Hotel is hard to get and expensive… like $15.00 a day or something like that. Otherwise you will end up parking blocks away and hoofing it. And even then it is still not cheap.
Staying off site with three other people becomes a logistical nightmare. Having to meet up at certain times, not being able to leave when you want to… or having to leave when you don’t want to because someone else is tired or not feeling well. ect…. Also having to shlep everything with you all day long….. nightmare.
There will almost certainly be people at the Hyatt… and even if the people you want to see are at the other con host hotel the Marriott. Well heck that is only across the street.
Trust me, it will be much more cost effective in the long run to stay at one of the Host Hotels. Me? I will be across the street at the Marriott, since that is where the fan table will be and all the exhibits halls are.
Enjoy. When you do decide where you are staying let us know and we will put you on the Roll Call list on the Lexx DragonCon page.
http://www.thefrey.com/UsCon.htmHi Frey,
I’ll let you know where I’m gonna be staying at as soon as I can; I’m in the middle of letter writing & e-mailing to people what my Summer plans are & it’ll be in that. I’ll be e-mailling you the letter as soon as I can, including the possible hotel I’ll be staying at. I can’t wait till then & have you all see my costume that I’m currently working on, especially the wig.
Thanks for the info & you’ll be getting a letter from me very soon.Your Friend,
Jhevz 😉Dear CONnie,
I heard that it was sometimes possible to get a discounted rate at the main hotels. Is that true?
Penna Pinchir
Dear Penna,
Funny you should ask that , as I just this evening received information about the Hyatt from another list I am on.
The Message Read…
Just wanted to post a quick note for those of you coming to the con and staying at the Hyatt:
If you are staying 4 nights or more, the Hyatt offers a discount of $4 per night. I just called to verify my registration, and they had originally quoted me a rate of $152/night (single/double). When checking the D*C website, I noticed they listed the rate at $150,
plus the info about the discount. I asked the reservation clerk about the rate, and she then changed the rate on my reservation to take advantage of the discount.Dear CONnie,
I want to drive my RV to Dragon Con and was wondering if
anyone could give me information on places to camp in Atlanta where I would be as close to the convention as possible with some method of public transportation to the event.Thank you,
R.S.
Dear R.S.
Nothing is turning up that states that it is in Atlanta…. but your question has been asked on the American SF panel’s board. Many of whom have been DragonConning for many years… So they may know. Also, perhaps we need to ask HDS when next he surfaces, as he works in Atlanta and lives just outside of it.
If worse comes to worse, there are a few of the convention hotels that have Truck & Trailer/Rv Parking, possibly something could be worked out there with some of our Lexxians who are guests of the hotel. We will post here if anything comes up.
Crossing our fingers,
CONnie
Well everyone, it is time for an another edition of CONnie’s Mailbag. And today we will be checking out all the messages received on the RV/Atlanta Question….
K writes – DCon is not currently RV friendly… I have a friend who really wanted to do it this way as well. The closest thing we could come up with was camping around Stone Mountain driving to the Marta and taking that in.
D writes – Agree’d. Speaking as someone who Did camp at Stone Mountain last year it was fairly affordable but the drive to the Con was about 15-20 minutes. Not bad by any means on a straight shot with only one or two turns on the highway to the hotels. But as far as I know we didn’t see any public transportation that went from the “mountain” to the atlanta area.
My wife and I love camping so it was no big for us. Stone Mountain is wonderful and in Sept. not to crowded. Though the labor day weekend is one of the last camping weekends for the year so there were more than I would have expected.
On a side note, I was told, and found online, some campsites on the otherside of atlanta closer to Six Flags. I was told, I don’t know it for a fact, that those were cheaper and closer. I don’t know for
sure.
I guess you could call Atlanta’s information or possibly the chamber of commerce. No harm checking.F writes – I live on the West side of atlanta and used to live in Stone Mountain.
MARTA has a bus route that goes from Stone Moutnain to downtown Atlanta, but i don’t know the schedule you keep. See the schedule: http://www.itsmarta.com/getthere/schedules/120.htm#maps
As for the west side. Hum. There are/were RV places around Six Flags over GA, which is by I-20 and a straight shot to downtown (20 minutes). There is a bus that goes to the MARTA Train line (Holmes station) that goes from about 3 miles from Six Flags. There is also parking for cars at the rail line. You’d have to change trains at 5 points and head north, but you’d end up close to the con. http://www.itsmarta.com/getthere/schedules/201.htm
I called Six Flags Over GA and they gave me this campground: Atlatnta West Campgrounds. 770-941-7185.
It looks like a 5 mile drive to the train station. Thorton Road is a 6 lane road to I-20. Find them at:
http://www.campingnavigator.com/campgrounds/719.html
Hope this helps. Stone Mountain is MUCH nicer place to park, in my onion.M wrote – There also may be some campgrounds to the south near the Atlanta Motor Speedway, but I have no idea if they would be further away than any of the ones already mentioned.
Here’s a page from the ALLTEL Racing site that we help with:
http://www.alltelracing.com/handler.cfm/template,track_article/cat_id,38096/?artnum=55Update Comments****
R Wrote – Take my advice, avoid camping near six flags.
They’re doing road work on I-20 out there, AND that place is very…Urban. Theft is a big issue and there’s a ring of car thieves that’ve stolen 18 cars from the QT lot alone within the last 45 days.Dear Connie,
Instead of going as a Discworld character I’m thinking of painting myself blue and going as Mystique. What say you? 😀
Dear Sarahent,
What!!!! No Granny Weatherwax! Oh, the pain, the pain… but… go as you wish. I am sure it will all be great. 🙂
CONnie
Dear CONnie,
What is the cast of LEXX doing these days and why will they not show up at Lexx DragonCon2003? Does the cast show up at any events if so where??
Will M.
Dear Will,
The Lexx cast are currently without a convention manager. This means that they have no one to front the money for travel, hotels, photos and other expenses involved with going to a convention.
DragonCon is such a draw for both fans and guests that over 95% of their guests do not get any kind financial assistance to attend. Sometimes a studio will pick up the expenses if they are promoting something that the star is in, but normally the guest is on their own, and either they or their convention manager must front the money and hope they make it back through autograph sales.
And, the cast have been to a few conventions lately. Xenia was in Australia a few months ago attending two conventions that had been set up for her by their former manager. And just last weekend, several of the cast appeared at a convention in Toronto.
Dear CONnie,
I need to get an autograph from Anne McCaffrey for my boss. Does anyone know if she does autograph sessions and if so what she charges for them?
Mandara K
Dear Mandara,
According to a poster named Gryphon, she normally does do autograph sessions, but he HIGHLY advises arriving early.. since she only does about 25 per session… at no charge.
So there ya go Mandara. All questions answered all knowledge revealed. 😀 See ya in a few weeks!
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