Dragon Con 2026

It feels like every year I’m kicking this blog back off mainly because I just got back from Dragon Con and I need to write down my thoughts. I guess it feels like that because it is like that.

This year was a little bit harder for me mentally than I expected. Not the Con itself, but the lead up to it. We paused Those Were The Days early in the Summer because the hosts are always busier and doing our ‘homework’ is more challenging. It also works since we’re a re-watch podcast and classic TV always took a seasonal break. TVsTravis also had just shipped our last season of 24FPS Presents… as well. That means I haven’t had a ton of time in front of a mic lately.

Something like that might not seem like that big of a deal, but for someone who has issues with imposter syndrome, I felt like maybe I didn’t deserve to be on as many panels as I was. I have attending pro status but I’m not producing anything of substance lately.

If I had ever questions whether I belonged on a panel, I definitely learned that I certainly have my place. In no small part due to the fact that I have dozens of friends there who seem to think I have it and I’m worth having around. It really helped my self-confidence to spend time with people who appreciate me and can help me see the value I can bring to a show.

I spend most of my time on the Digital Media Track. Either I’m moderating, being a panelist, or just being a fan. It’s where I feel like I’m at home and where I get the most joy. Charles McFall, AKA The Rock God of Podcasting, put me on the kickoff panel this year and I loved it. It may have been one of my favorite panels because it really sets the stage for what to expect across the board in terms of the content and the personalities.

I got a pretty rousing applause and some cheers for an off the cuff comment about “creativity is suffering.” If I was worried at all about my won energy, that definitely helped me get that behind me. I had so many amazing people in my corner. I hestitate to name them all but all of The Horse Girls, Emily Swan, Joe Ard and Charles from Wise and Nerdy, and my friends on Botched really made the whole thing come together for me. Not to mention all the amazing dorks in The Legion of Dorks that I got to see and hang out with.

I also spent a couple panels checking IDs, which was kind of wild and unexpected. I’ve never done that before and I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for it, but I got through it okay. TVsTravis was there too and that helped a lot.

We also won Blood Feud for the second year in a row. That was incredible. That whole game stresses me out so much because if we fail, we have to drink a nasty concoction that Phil puts together and I ain’t got time for that. We didn’t have to drink it this time. That game was nuts and we were almost certain we were going to lose because all the other team had to do in the last round was name all the Universal Monsters. We’re all movie nerds on our team so we were losing it and sure that the other team would know the answer. We got lucky and the person that got on the mic could not remember the last character. That was their final strike and it went to our team. A hush fell over the audience wondering if we were going to pull it off, but every single one of the people on our team was certian. I got on the mic. “The Invisible Man” I said with confidence. “Show me, the invisible man,” the host said. BOOM! We won! It was an incredible feeling to be on top again. We got a picture with the belt and TVsTravis took it home for safe keeping.

Family time was excellent as well, but it was definitely harder to manage with all the panels I was placed on. My beautiful wife, Stephanie, and I had a really good conversation on the way home about how we might do the con next year, with more consideration for both of our schedules and for my son. It’s tough to be eleven and get dragged all over the place, and it’s equally as tough for parents to drag the kids around when the kids don’t want to go. We broke it down into an idea that there are really multiple convetions at Dragon Con and you have to figure out what part of that con fills your cup. For me, it’s hanging out with my friends. For Stephanie, it’s about looking at the art and going to panels. For Sam, it’s the vendor hall and dressing up in costume. That was really helpful for me. Just breaking it down a bit can help us figure out how to better manage our outings as a family.

That being said, we all had a good time. The lines for everything seemed a little more insane than normal this time. Everywhere felt slightly more crowded that its felt in the past few years. I’m not sure if that was just a feeling or if there actually were more people. Everyone was also a little salty the first couple days because it was the hottest its been in Atlanta during Dragon Con for a few years. I spent so much of this con dehydrated because it was so hot and I was so sweaty. The good news is that our hotel never lost A/C like a couple of them and most of the places I wanted to hang out were cool enough.

I’ve left once again feeling pretty dang excited about the potential for content creation. I want to have some fun with it again and I need to find a way to do that. I had such a blast yelling into microphones there and I’m looking forward to doing more of that.

It was such an amazing time and I’m always sad for it to be over. I am very excited to sleep in my own bed though. Speaking of, it’s that time for me. Until next time!