FanDominion

As I'm writing this, I have embarked on a flight from the Silicon Valley headed to the heart of downtown Atlanta. The destination: DragonCon, which bills itself as the largest SF/F convention run by fans. With an estimated 50,000 people in attendence over Labor Day weekend, it's hard to argue with that claim.
From past experience with this particular Con, trying to describe it to the uninitiated is next to impossible. But I'll try.
For con vets, I'll ask you to imagine 10 very large conventions - general print SF, comics, PNP gaming, LARP, Steampunk, Goth, American SF TV, British SF TV, Cosplay, and on and on (and I haven't even gone into the specialty tracks, like Pern, Star Trek, Star Wars, Whedon, Tolkein, and more) - each one with full programming from early morning until 11 pm each day Friday until Midday Monday.
It is impossible to see everything at any particular DragonCon, so my goal here is to hive you a taste of whY it's like to attend this most mega of mega media cons.
For con virgins: strap yourself in, this is gonna be a wild ride.