This is the time of year when people start plugging all the Dragon*Con skeptic events, and pre-events, like the Atlanta Star Party. And every year I am dismayed, because there is no way I can attend any of it — it’s the first week of classes. The week I am going slightly mad trying to get organized and get my students focused and get into the rhythm of the semester. There’s no way I can escape at all.
Clearly, the only solution is for Dragon*Con to change their date. Two weeks earlier or two weeks later, I could swing it. They’ll do that for me, won’t they? (“Who?”, I can hear them saying already.)
Dragon*Con is still the con I need to go to. Just wish I could have gone when Anne McCaffery was still hosting it.
Shouldn’t that be “Doctor Who?”
Who knows, you might look pretty good in a bow tie.
And a fez!
February or March would be nice time to visit Atlanta for us notherners.
Bow tie? Pfft. Get a scarf.
Fire-breathing aside, you’re not even a dragon!
D*C is great, and I’ve had a lot of fun at SkepTrack events in the past. C’mon PZ – use your mad skillz to get a TR schedule and at least make it down for a Saturday! Or, you know, enslave a grad student to hand out syllabuses and tell students to buy the book already. ;)
Scarf? Pfft. Get a smoking jacket.
The solution is simple really. Presumably your students are busy that week too. You just need to ensure that you attract enough students to make them a significant portion of DragonCon. Then you’ll have enough leverage to force a change of date.
Hold your student orientation at Dragon*Con.
Fortunately, Dragon Con co-founder and pedophile Edward Kramer has finally been bought out of his part-ownership. Until this January, part of every dollar you spent at dragon con helped pay for Kramer’s disgusting crimes against children.
Dragon*Con was the first big con I ever went to. It will also be my last, with any luck. I learned the hard way that people with social anxiety should not go to places where people are packed in like sardines, no matter how friendly and how well it meshes with your interests.