Dragonsteel 2023: Recap
Dragonsteel 2023 was awesome! I am so thankful to have been able to go this year. Here’s a recap video and some notes in case you are wondering what Dragonsteel is like!
Saturday: Travel
I arrived on Saturday and walked to the mall that is close to the convention center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. There I hung out there for a while to pick up a few things that my friends and I needed. We enjoyed dinner at the Cheesecake Factroy! I am also pleased to report that they have improved their Oreo cheesecake compared to a few years ago.
There is also a Walgreens within walking distance of the convention center so that was convenient as for some snacks.
Sunday: Rest
Sunday, we had lunch at a Pho restaurant. It was a cold and rainy day, so it was a perfect way to spend the meal over a hot bowl of noodles. Yumi and Painter would have approved.
Badge pickup began at 2pm on Sunday afternoon. This was a welcome difference from last year, since badge pickup was on the morning of the convention. I remember spending a couple hours waiting for badges last year.
Monday and Tuesday: Convention Days
We enjoyed the photo ops that Dragonsteel had setup. They had many fun backdrops and ring lights for snapping some photos.
There was a DDF Flight crew set of games that were pretty extensive. I joined the Kitsen flight crew.
I ran by the crafting space and picked up my doomslug terrarium craft kit.
There were a whole lot more food vendors this year. There was grilled cheese, barbeque, classic burgers and chicken tenders, along with Falafal. There were also additional food truck vendors available right outside the Salt Palace convention center.
The Cosplay Showcase was new this year. I loved it! The MCs were wonderful and I think there were several hundred participants. It was truly delightful to see so many clever cosplayers bring their favorite book characters to life.
Last year I went to the paint along session in the evening. This year it was with Howard Lyon, Steve Argile, and Kari It did not disappoint this year and was intense artistic fun. This year the model was of Alanik from the Skywrard series. This is probably my most favorite panel of all time at ANY convention I have ever attended.
The Dragonsteel store was about 4x bigger than it was last year. The lines were still long, but the volunteers did a great job managing the flow. Everyone was very kind by holding places for people who needed to go to the bathroom, or go refill a water bottle.
Highlights:
I gave two panels this year. The first one was all about Cosmere Content! My friend Jacky and I discussed some methods for producing content and organizing your ideas.
The second panel I gave was an Intro to cosplay LEDs. This panel was a fantastic success. I am so thankful for the people who came to learn about lighting and effects.
In the vendor hall, I got to visit some of the Dragonsteel booths. It was so great to be able to chat with the editors and the art teams!
It was delightful to see many of the friends that I have made at previous conventions, as well as meet so many online friends who I now got to meet in person.
Dragonsteel 2024 is going to be a three day event! I’m super pumped about that and I can’t wait to see you next year!
Huge thank you to the Dragonsteel team and all the volunteers. I’m so glad to have been part of this story.