Dragons Like Technology Too.

So let me begin my post today by saying I am a huge geek. Ask any Infomedian and they will confirm this for you. I don’t hide the fact that I am a huge Science Fiction, Fantasy, Battlestar Galactica watching, comic book reading, video game playing zealot. I love it. ALL of it. So please refrain from gasping in shock when I tell you that I am still recovering from my trip to Dragon*Con this past weekend.
For the uninitiated, Dragon*Con is a convention that takes place in Atlanta, Georgia every year and pretty much takes everything that I enjoy (see above) and shoves it into one gigantic spot.
Dragon*Con can be a bit overwhelming. Unlike most conventions of its sort, it doesn’t take place in a convention center. Instead it takes place in multiple convention hotels in downtown Atlanta. As you can imagine, this can have the potential to make for a logistical nightmare when it comes to seeing things you want to really see (OMG, what do you mean that Stan Lee panel that was supposed to be here is now in a hotel 6 blocks from here???).
I know you must be wondering ‘what does any of this nerd talk have to do with web development, online technology or social media?’ Fear not, citizen! That time has arrived!
Enter my two best friends over the entire Dragon*Con weekend:

• The Dragon*Con Twitter Feed
• The Dragon*Con App

You want to talk online super heroes? You can stop right here. Thanks to these fantastic online tools, I (and THOUSANDS of others) was able to easily navigate the convention without the usual headache that can come with these events. Using both the twitter feed and app, I was able to:

• Get detailed information about each event/panel taking place over the weekend
• Be notified when panels/events had to be relocated
• Be notified when panels/events were cancelled (bummer.)
• Be notified when panels/events were added (sweet!)
• Actually schedule my entire weekend online (aka my own geek itinerary)
• View maps of the entire convention (trust me you could even get lost without have to navigate through 500 people dressed up like Captain America)

I honestly don’t even want to think about having experienced this past weekend without these tools. In the end, they served an important purpose to me: they made the weekend enjoyable. Not once did I have to stop and ask some brave volunteer a question about the start time of a panel, or directions to a location. I already had that information in the palm of my hand.
Dragon*Con got it right by investing time and resources into these online tools. And while the tools most likely didn’t help everyone (Let’s face it, even in this day and age, some people still don’t even have cell phones. Sorry if I’m talking to you!), having them in place went a long way in make life easier for those who did have the technology, and it most certainly made life infinitely easier for those running the convention.
In the end, when the alien invaders have been repelled, the super villains have been put behind bars, Dragon*Con is just another great example of how an organization takes the power that is The Internet (and all of the wonderful tools that help make it) and uses it for truth and justice! Did I say Truth and Justice? Yes, Truth and Justice. (Hey, did you expect anything else? It was Dragon*Con!)