August 22, 2025 • 21 mins
Dragon Con Spokesperson Charles McFall talks about Dragon Con 2025, the parade, NAMI Georgia, the blood drive and more! And Dr. Shawn Cruzen from CSU's Coca-Cola Space Science Center talks about science and science fiction.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
King Transmission.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is the dragon Con Pregame Show powered by Columbus
State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center, where you can
learn the science behind the fiction. This is our galaxy,
that is our destination. This is the way to me.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Casey's the chosen one, he is, he will avenge.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And now here's your host, West Carrol.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
This is the twenty twenty five edition of the dragon
Con Pregame Show. Labor Day weekend is more than just
a long holiday weekend in Atlanta. There's also a celebration
of fandoms, and these fandoms have a major economic impact
on the state of Georgia. College football kicks off with
(01:08):
not one but two AFLAC kickoff games at Mercedes Benz
Stadium this year and about a dozen blocks away. Approximately
many of the other fandoms are represented in the five
host hotels of dragon Con. For almost four decades now,
dragon Con has grown into one of the largest and
most beloved pop culture conventions in the world. It's a
(01:32):
chance for fans to celebrate comics, literature, movies, TV, science fiction,
science music, cosplay, gaming, and the people behind bringing these
things to life for all of us, and for twenty
four years now. I've been covering Dragon Con and host
this show to prepare you for the convention and bring
(01:57):
you interviews with some of the guests who will be
attending this year on the show, Katie Sackoff, Sam Whitwerer,
Diana Lee, and Asanto, all representing the Star Wars universe,
animation and live action on some of the TV shows,
and maybe even one of them or two of them
(02:17):
in an upcoming film we'll see. We begin with the
Dragon Con twenty twenty five spokesperson Charles McFall Charles for
the uninitiated, what is dragon.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Khn Absolutely west. Everybody can hit you with the facts, right.
We got five host hotels across the four city square block.
It's five days of costuming and fun people and things
to do. But I gotta tell you for me, it's
called it is what you make it. Do you like sience,
We've got science for you. We've got space track, science track,
(02:49):
all kind of stuff. You got your kids you want
them to do some cool things. We have kid character meetups,
we have a whole kids track. I run a digital
media track myself because I was a lifelong podcaster in
digital me a creator, and we have everything's a con.
Withent a con so you can find what you love
at dragon Con. You want to watch people, we got
(03:09):
the people for you to watch, amazing costume designs and funting,
the celebrities and bands. It is the thing you want
to make it and it is just it is the
highlight of my year every year.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I like that you mentioned kids because obviously some people say, well,
you know, I hear that this is a convention that
goes on all hours of the night. You know, there's
the ongoing joke where people say, well, what time does
it shut down every night, and he say, well, Monday,
it shuts down on Monday, like that's when it closes down.
And people think, well, you know, maybe after hours maybe
(03:44):
you know, isn't quite right for the kids. And it
obviously depends on where you are at the convention sort
of what your interests are. But there's a lot for
kids to do during the day, and I like to
mention to people. Gaming is a big component of dragon Con,
and that covers all that covers you know, adults that
want to play games that they've been playing since they
(04:05):
were kids, and of course kids have their own games,
and there's you know, lots of things for them to
do while they're.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
There, oh, one thousand percent. And gaming is is let
call every clean neck or every facial tissue cleanex right,
it's we have tabletop games, so you do all the
role playing you want to dabble. We get entry level
tabletop games all the way up to the complex stuff.
We have card games where magic gathering tournaments are happening
and those kinds of things. Then you've got regular board
(04:33):
games that are we grew up with and that are new.
You get video games ranging from the newest technology to
classic games like Monopoly and things that we grew up with.
I'm sorry to say I played video I play Monopoly Go,
so I'm thinking video games there with. But it's we've
got every video game from the early Nintendo on up
to the current systems. We have VR systems, and we
(04:55):
even have simulators where you can go fly your own spaceship,
like Star Trek style kind of thing going on. And
I believe I might be a little mistaken on this, somebody.
I believe we actually have some escape rooms this year.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Nice. That's another aspect of gaming that I hadn't even
really thought about. And I think a lot of people
you know they they've grown to love these escape rooms,
so I'm sure a dragon especially as a Dragon Con
themed escape room, that would be pretty surreal, I think.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Yeah. And for the kids also, I'm probably as an
adult all these cool things and kids can do that
as well obviously and introduce them. I introduced my children
to card games and those kind of things at cons myself,
but that whole kids track, and there's lego panels where
they actually build and play. There are creat there's so
(05:47):
many different kid creator panels where they can go make
up that they then take home with them. So it
is it is a very family friendly environment.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Speaking of things take home, you mentioned the host hotels,
and this is a convention that is different than others
in that it takes place almost exclusively in the host hotels.
And then there's America's Mart. That's where the vendors are
and that's where there's lots of stuff you can take home.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Oh yeah, yeah, it changes from year to year, but
there's at least three to four floors in the America's
Mart where you have the comic vendors, you have the
book vendors, you have the cool stuff vendors, you have
the fun collectible stuff vendors. You've got everything you can
think of and stuff that you will never thought of
(06:38):
that will blow your mind. There.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And when we talk about the host hotels, each hotel
sort of kind of has its own theme and has
some different aspect of the convention taking place there. And
when we talk about hotels, sure you can go outside
and walk across the street to the next hotel or
the convenient hamster tunnels that connect all the hotels and
you never really even have to go outside.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah. The habit trails as they're called, is they connect
the most of the hotels together, specifically the Hills End,
the Marriotte, and the Hyatt. Yeah, you can follow these
trails that are covered from the environment, so you're not
going to get rained on, and you can go through
most of the hotels without ever having to go outside.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Rained on or extra sweaty. You mentioned you mentioned parking
in that. Let's talk about parking. That's always one of
those things when people come up for one day or
they're coming up for the whole weekend. People are looking
for those places to park have their car being a
safe spot for the weekend. And then folks that come
up maybe just for one single day looking for the
(07:42):
best place to park so that they can maybe on
Saturday get to where the parade's going to get started
or whatever. So parking always a concern at the convention.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
It is, and our biggest piece of advice is to
go with commercially owned parking lot, so that is the
one to have to signs out that have been there
for a while. To have the machines that you pay,
sometimes they'll bring the people out. We're not saying don't
pay the people, but there are definitely top up parking
lots that you have to be careful with. But in
our four block radio there are tons of great legitimate
(08:14):
parking deck and open parking lots that are there for
you that will still keep you close to the common.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Or dragon Con pregame show. Right after this, let's talk
about the charity aspect of dragon Con. Every year dragon
Con partners with a nonprofit and makes a significant donation
(08:43):
not just financially but also through volunteers and other resources.
And each year it's always a different nonprofit. This year
it's the National Alliance and Mental Illness of Georgia.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Yeah, NAMI Georgia is very important. Mental health health is
such a key factor in our lives. I myself have
been a paramedic for almost thirty years and I see
the effect of mental health and the latterof in our
society and in our people. So we're very happy to
partner with NOMI Georgia that provides trained volunteers and leaders
(09:19):
throughout Georgia provide peer led education programs, support groups and
all kinds of materials and solutions at no cost to participant.
So no Me Georgia is really doing a big job
in Georgia at helping keep our mental health up the
snuff so we can be healthy human beings.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Working as an EMT, you know a lot about the
importance of blood drives and the fact that we're always
short and always dragon con the annual blood drive is
always a huge event.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Yeah, lifestyleth has partnered with us for a very long time.
Last year we had four thousand donors, over ten thousand
units of blood components put together. And I will say,
not only is it a good cause, it takes very
little bit of your time to donate there and make
a difference in the world. Because you're right, we're always
(10:14):
short on blood products in the medical world. You get
a very unique and collectible shirt for doing it. And
I find that not only do you get when I give,
I get that satisfaction of helping. I get something cool
to take away. And who doesn't like something cool.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Everybody likes something cool, especially if it's a free souvenir
for a dragon Con that you can take home and go, hey, look,
I did something to help. And also, at least for
part of the day, you get to wear that thing
on your arm. And that's a nice little way because
if you have that on and you pass someone who
also has one on, there's an acknowledgment usually because people
(10:50):
who are doing it know the importance of doing it,
and it's really nice to be able to sort of
have that moment as you're passing each other somewhere at
the convention.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
In the most air conditioned space that we have and
all the conventions. If you get hot and eat a
rest gives the blood. At the same time, you'll cool
off and you'll feel better.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
And you know, we always talk about when we talk
about DragonCon the importance of hydrating when you're there at
the convention, so that will at least motivate you to
pre hydrate before you give blood and then remember to
follow up and hydrate after the fact, because there are
a lot of people that will you know, just kind
of forget to drink or forget to eat, and sadly
sometimes forget to shower. We always remind people that too,
(11:32):
you know, you got to stay all of those things.
But that's all motivation to give blood and reasons to
do all of those things.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
It is indeed, it is. Indeed.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Let's talk about some of the fandoms represented this year,
and I know we hit on some of the things
that the convention is and sometimes these specific fandoms that
get represented or big draw every year. This year, obviously
we've got an anniversary Back to the Future. Some of
the stars from Back to the Future will be there. Also,
(12:05):
nice representation for Star Wars this year. We haven't always
had that at Dragon Con, so that's really nice. Some
of the more recent projects, obviously Mandalorian and the latter
sequel trilogy starting to get some representation. To Star Trek
is always represented well. William Shattner will be back cast
(12:27):
from Bones will be there, the Magicians, the Aero Verse,
X Men, ninety seven voice actors. There's a lot to
see this year.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
You just said it all, I don't. I mean, heck,
what's your favorite? What are you looking forward to most?
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, one of the things I enjoy the most
about Dragon Con other than you know, like you said, home,
being there with friends, meeting new people, people watching. But
I always enjoy the reaction that the voice actors get
when they meet fans. And I always like, and I've
had conversations you know, with Rob Paulson over the years,
(13:06):
and Bill Farmer and you know, some of the really
great voice actors and you know, they had had Tom Kenny,
SpongeBob especially, We had a great conversation about this. And
it's for some people, it's tapping into a specific moment
in their life, whether it's from their childhood or it's
a connection that they have maybe with their kids, and
(13:29):
it's just really tapping into that. And I always equate
it to if you've ever seen those videos of like
a mother singing to a young baby and the baby
just cries, and there's just something in the soul that
gets connected by the song or by whatever it is
that they're hitting a very specific place I think inside
for someone and it gets that reaction from that baby.
(13:51):
And I think that also happens with voice actors. They're
seeing them in person for the first time maybe and
they're hearing that voice come out of a face that
just doesn't look like the right face, and they're just
connecting with some specific moment maybe in their in their life.
And it's always and the voice actors are I mean,
everyone does a great job I think for the most
(14:12):
part when when their fans come up, but there's just
something about the voice actors when they get that time
with a fan and they especially with kids, they really connect.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
It's magic. It really is. You see their face by
that and and on both sides of it, like you said,
and it is just the magical moments that are very
natural and like you pick the path, it's a little
off beat, right, It's not just the on screen TV actors.
It is the voice actors. And we absolutely have comic
book artists like Shandra Free who wrote The God Machine,
(14:45):
and we've got great our authors. You can meet your
favorite authors there like Jim Butcher and Bab Mgoo. We
have everybody that can have a fandom is represented, so
you will find your favorite person at dragon Con. They
get to meet them and get a picture.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
It's amazing and sometimes, you know, we were talking about
kids earlier. Kids maybe they have an interest in comic
books in a way where they say, hey, I'd like
to be an illustrator, or I'd like to you know,
maybe one day they're interested in arts and they want
to write. It's an opportunity to talk to some of
these people that have done this as a career and
get that advice and tips on ways that maybe they
(15:24):
could make this a legitimate career option for those kids.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And most, in my experience, most artists, comic book artists,
painting artists, every artist that is there at Artists Sally,
they love to give you their time of day. They
love for you to come by and talk to them
and have especially a kid, ask questions about hey, how
do I get started doing this? It's again, it's another
magical moment and light up. They're educating, they're connecting, and
(15:51):
you see some really cool art and possibly buy some
cool things to take hold.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Let's talk about memberships. Dragon con is a convention that
doesn't sell you a ticket, sell you a membership. They
want you to be part of it kind of help
own the convention. This is a convention that is about
the members it's not about a big corporate thing, and
it's one of the other things that sort of separates
this from other conventions. So let's talk about memberships for
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
We have five day memberships that right now, well actually,
let me forget okay, we have five day memberships available,
so those are the ones that will get you everything
from Thursday to Monday. You get in and out of
all the events, all the hotels, all the panels. It's
for me, it's the best thing for your buck. But
(16:37):
we also do sell single day tickets, so you will
need to check on DragonCon dot org. You go to
the store and check and see. Of course, you can
get some QR codes on site. We don't sell them
on site, but you can get the QR code and
go to the store at any time. And we have
eternal membership. This is the one that you buy for
a lifetime. You pay one time and you come back
(16:59):
to the rest of your life. So there's all kinds
of ways to access the amazingness of Dragonton.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Charles, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Looking forward to seeing you soon, my friend. Thank you,
ask I appreciate the opportunity or.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Dragon Con pregame show right after this. Next we talk
with doctor Sean Crusen. He's the executive director of Columbus
State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center in Columbus. He's
(17:35):
also the co host of the Mate of Stars podcast
with me, and we've talked a lot Sean about the
importance of science and science fiction and how those two
are interwoven.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Just recently on our podcast, we covered a very sad
story which is the passing of very famous NASA astronaut
Jim Lovel. Jim was the commander of Apollo thirteen, but
he also had several other flight to space, including the
very famous first ever flight around the backside of the
Moon on Apollo eight. Now, one of the things that
Wes and I discussed on our show is just how
(18:12):
much of an inspiration the life of Jim Lovell was
to all of those of us who go into science
or just follow science, are interested in science. And that's
partly because he became famous because of his NASA career.
But there was this little Hollywood motion picture made about
his life, and specifically made about the incident of Apollo thirteen.
(18:33):
You know that movie Apollo thirteen, that's the one with
Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon. You can use it on
that Six Steps to Kevin Bacon list. But the important
part of that motion picture was revealing the heroism of
not just those astronauts, but also the people on the
ground who were so instrumental in solving some never heard
(18:53):
of before problems in a very short period of time
to be able to bring those astronauts back home safely.
And so the amazing part that ties in with dragon
Con is that all of those incredible achievements are reflected
in the motion picture, and many of the people who
may never have really followed the details of the Apollo program,
(19:15):
didn't really know who Jim Level was, otherwise found out
a lot about Jim Level's story through the motion picture
of Apollo thirteen, right. And so it's just a reminder
of how the motion picture industry and the importance of
science and science fiction portrayed in the arts is so
important to the continuing endeavor of science in general because
(19:38):
it helps the public better understand or just be inspired
by all of the things necessary to do great science
and great exploration. And that's one of the things that
dragon Con has at its core. They even have a
Science Track at dragon Con, which is super important because
it allows all of those who just love science fiction
(20:01):
and fantasy to also tie in the real science that
is pushing the boundaries in frontiers of our human understanding,
and then that ties back into the science fiction that
gets written and produced, and then that science fiction then
inspires more scientists to go push the boundaries of science,
and then that gets reincorporated back into the science fiction endeavor.
(20:21):
So these two industries, these two human endeavors, which are
kind of parallel but separate to one another, are very
important because they inspire one another and they push each
other to then grow both science pushing science fiction and
science fiction pushing science. And that's one of the reasons
we support it here at Coca Cola Space Science Center
(20:42):
and the coverage of it, because we understand that those
inspirations that occur when people engage with science and science
fiction both really help to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers,
and science educators, which is what we do here at
Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
This is the dragon Con pregame show powered by Columbus
State University's Coca Cola Space Science center where you can
learn the science behind the fiction
King Transmission.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
This is the dragon Con Pregame Show powered by Columbus
State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center, where you can
learn the science behind the fiction. This is our galaxy,
that is our destination. This is the way to me.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Casey's the chosen one, he is, he will avenge.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And now here's your host, West Carrol.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
This is the twenty twenty five edition of the dragon
Con Pregame Show. Labor Day weekend is more than just
a long holiday weekend in Atlanta. There's also a celebration
of fandoms, and these fandoms have a major economic impact
on the state of Georgia. College football kicks off with
(01:08):
not one but two AFLAC kickoff games at Mercedes Benz
Stadium this year and about a dozen blocks away. Approximately
many of the other fandoms are represented in the five
host hotels of dragon Con. For almost four decades now,
dragon Con has grown into one of the largest and
most beloved pop culture conventions in the world. It's a
(01:32):
chance for fans to celebrate comics, literature, movies, TV, science fiction,
science music, cosplay, gaming, and the people behind bringing these
things to life for all of us, and for twenty
four years now. I've been covering Dragon Con and host
this show to prepare you for the convention and bring
(01:57):
you interviews with some of the guests who will be
attending this year on the show, Katie Sackoff, Sam Whitwerer,
Diana Lee, and Asanto, all representing the Star Wars universe,
animation and live action on some of the TV shows,
and maybe even one of them or two of them
(02:17):
in an upcoming film we'll see. We begin with the
Dragon Con twenty twenty five spokesperson Charles McFall Charles for
the uninitiated, what is dragon.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Khn Absolutely west. Everybody can hit you with the facts, right.
We got five host hotels across the four city square block.
It's five days of costuming and fun people and things
to do. But I gotta tell you for me, it's
called it is what you make it. Do you like sience,
We've got science for you. We've got space track, science track,
(02:49):
all kind of stuff. You got your kids you want
them to do some cool things. We have kid character meetups,
we have a whole kids track. I run a digital
media track myself because I was a lifelong podcaster in
digital me a creator, and we have everything's a con.
Withent a con so you can find what you love
at dragon Con. You want to watch people, we got
(03:09):
the people for you to watch, amazing costume designs and funting,
the celebrities and bands. It is the thing you want
to make it and it is just it is the
highlight of my year every year.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I like that you mentioned kids because obviously some people say, well,
you know, I hear that this is a convention that
goes on all hours of the night. You know, there's
the ongoing joke where people say, well, what time does
it shut down every night, and he say, well, Monday,
it shuts down on Monday, like that's when it closes down.
And people think, well, you know, maybe after hours maybe
(03:44):
you know, isn't quite right for the kids. And it
obviously depends on where you are at the convention sort
of what your interests are. But there's a lot for
kids to do during the day, and I like to
mention to people. Gaming is a big component of dragon Con,
and that covers all that covers you know, adults that
want to play games that they've been playing since they
(04:05):
were kids, and of course kids have their own games,
and there's you know, lots of things for them to
do while they're.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
There, oh, one thousand percent. And gaming is is let
call every clean neck or every facial tissue cleanex right,
it's we have tabletop games, so you do all the
role playing you want to dabble. We get entry level
tabletop games all the way up to the complex stuff.
We have card games where magic gathering tournaments are happening
and those kinds of things. Then you've got regular board
(04:33):
games that are we grew up with and that are new.
You get video games ranging from the newest technology to
classic games like Monopoly and things that we grew up with.
I'm sorry to say I played video I play Monopoly Go,
so I'm thinking video games there with. But it's we've
got every video game from the early Nintendo on up
to the current systems. We have VR systems, and we
(04:55):
even have simulators where you can go fly your own spaceship,
like Star Trek style kind of thing going on. And
I believe I might be a little mistaken on this, somebody.
I believe we actually have some escape rooms this year.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Nice. That's another aspect of gaming that I hadn't even
really thought about. And I think a lot of people
you know they they've grown to love these escape rooms,
so I'm sure a dragon especially as a Dragon Con
themed escape room, that would be pretty surreal, I think.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Yeah. And for the kids also, I'm probably as an
adult all these cool things and kids can do that
as well obviously and introduce them. I introduced my children
to card games and those kind of things at cons myself,
but that whole kids track, and there's lego panels where
they actually build and play. There are creat there's so
(05:47):
many different kid creator panels where they can go make
up that they then take home with them. So it
is it is a very family friendly environment.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Speaking of things take home, you mentioned the host hotels,
and this is a convention that is different than others
in that it takes place almost exclusively in the host hotels.
And then there's America's Mart. That's where the vendors are
and that's where there's lots of stuff you can take home.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Oh yeah, yeah, it changes from year to year, but
there's at least three to four floors in the America's
Mart where you have the comic vendors, you have the
book vendors, you have the cool stuff vendors, you have
the fun collectible stuff vendors. You've got everything you can
think of and stuff that you will never thought of
(06:38):
that will blow your mind. There.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And when we talk about the host hotels, each hotel
sort of kind of has its own theme and has
some different aspect of the convention taking place there. And
when we talk about hotels, sure you can go outside
and walk across the street to the next hotel or
the convenient hamster tunnels that connect all the hotels and
you never really even have to go outside.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah. The habit trails as they're called, is they connect
the most of the hotels together, specifically the Hills End,
the Marriotte, and the Hyatt. Yeah, you can follow these
trails that are covered from the environment, so you're not
going to get rained on, and you can go through
most of the hotels without ever having to go outside.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Rained on or extra sweaty. You mentioned you mentioned parking
in that. Let's talk about parking. That's always one of
those things when people come up for one day or
they're coming up for the whole weekend. People are looking
for those places to park have their car being a
safe spot for the weekend. And then folks that come
up maybe just for one single day looking for the
(07:42):
best place to park so that they can maybe on
Saturday get to where the parade's going to get started
or whatever. So parking always a concern at the convention.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
It is, and our biggest piece of advice is to
go with commercially owned parking lot, so that is the
one to have to signs out that have been there
for a while. To have the machines that you pay,
sometimes they'll bring the people out. We're not saying don't
pay the people, but there are definitely top up parking
lots that you have to be careful with. But in
our four block radio there are tons of great legitimate
(08:14):
parking deck and open parking lots that are there for
you that will still keep you close to the common.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Or dragon Con pregame show. Right after this, let's talk
about the charity aspect of dragon Con. Every year dragon
Con partners with a nonprofit and makes a significant donation
(08:43):
not just financially but also through volunteers and other resources.
And each year it's always a different nonprofit. This year
it's the National Alliance and Mental Illness of Georgia.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Yeah, NAMI Georgia is very important. Mental health health is
such a key factor in our lives. I myself have
been a paramedic for almost thirty years and I see
the effect of mental health and the latterof in our
society and in our people. So we're very happy to
partner with NOMI Georgia that provides trained volunteers and leaders
(09:19):
throughout Georgia provide peer led education programs, support groups and
all kinds of materials and solutions at no cost to participant.
So no Me Georgia is really doing a big job
in Georgia at helping keep our mental health up the
snuff so we can be healthy human beings.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Working as an EMT, you know a lot about the
importance of blood drives and the fact that we're always
short and always dragon con the annual blood drive is
always a huge event.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
Yeah, lifestyleth has partnered with us for a very long time.
Last year we had four thousand donors, over ten thousand
units of blood components put together. And I will say,
not only is it a good cause, it takes very
little bit of your time to donate there and make
a difference in the world. Because you're right, we're always
(10:14):
short on blood products in the medical world. You get
a very unique and collectible shirt for doing it. And
I find that not only do you get when I give,
I get that satisfaction of helping. I get something cool
to take away. And who doesn't like something cool.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Everybody likes something cool, especially if it's a free souvenir
for a dragon Con that you can take home and go, hey, look,
I did something to help. And also, at least for
part of the day, you get to wear that thing
on your arm. And that's a nice little way because
if you have that on and you pass someone who
also has one on, there's an acknowledgment usually because people
(10:50):
who are doing it know the importance of doing it,
and it's really nice to be able to sort of
have that moment as you're passing each other somewhere at
the convention.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
In the most air conditioned space that we have and
all the conventions. If you get hot and eat a
rest gives the blood. At the same time, you'll cool
off and you'll feel better.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
And you know, we always talk about when we talk
about DragonCon the importance of hydrating when you're there at
the convention, so that will at least motivate you to
pre hydrate before you give blood and then remember to
follow up and hydrate after the fact, because there are
a lot of people that will you know, just kind
of forget to drink or forget to eat, and sadly
sometimes forget to shower. We always remind people that too,
(11:32):
you know, you got to stay all of those things.
But that's all motivation to give blood and reasons to
do all of those things.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
It is indeed, it is. Indeed.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Let's talk about some of the fandoms represented this year,
and I know we hit on some of the things
that the convention is and sometimes these specific fandoms that
get represented or big draw every year. This year, obviously
we've got an anniversary Back to the Future. Some of
the stars from Back to the Future will be there. Also,
(12:05):
nice representation for Star Wars this year. We haven't always
had that at Dragon Con, so that's really nice. Some
of the more recent projects, obviously Mandalorian and the latter
sequel trilogy starting to get some representation. To Star Trek
is always represented well. William Shattner will be back cast
(12:27):
from Bones will be there, the Magicians, the Aero Verse,
X Men, ninety seven voice actors. There's a lot to
see this year.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
You just said it all, I don't. I mean, heck,
what's your favorite? What are you looking forward to most?
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, one of the things I enjoy the most
about Dragon Con other than you know, like you said, home,
being there with friends, meeting new people, people watching. But
I always enjoy the reaction that the voice actors get
when they meet fans. And I always like, and I've
had conversations you know, with Rob Paulson over the years,
(13:06):
and Bill Farmer and you know, some of the really
great voice actors and you know, they had had Tom Kenny,
SpongeBob especially, We had a great conversation about this. And
it's for some people, it's tapping into a specific moment
in their life, whether it's from their childhood or it's
a connection that they have maybe with their kids, and
(13:29):
it's just really tapping into that. And I always equate
it to if you've ever seen those videos of like
a mother singing to a young baby and the baby
just cries, and there's just something in the soul that
gets connected by the song or by whatever it is
that they're hitting a very specific place I think inside
for someone and it gets that reaction from that baby.
(13:51):
And I think that also happens with voice actors. They're
seeing them in person for the first time maybe and
they're hearing that voice come out of a face that
just doesn't look like the right face, and they're just
connecting with some specific moment maybe in their in their life.
And it's always and the voice actors are I mean,
everyone does a great job I think for the most
(14:12):
part when when their fans come up, but there's just
something about the voice actors when they get that time
with a fan and they especially with kids, they really connect.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
It's magic. It really is. You see their face by
that and and on both sides of it, like you said,
and it is just the magical moments that are very
natural and like you pick the path, it's a little
off beat, right, It's not just the on screen TV actors.
It is the voice actors. And we absolutely have comic
book artists like Shandra Free who wrote The God Machine,
(14:45):
and we've got great our authors. You can meet your
favorite authors there like Jim Butcher and Bab Mgoo. We
have everybody that can have a fandom is represented, so
you will find your favorite person at dragon Con. They
get to meet them and get a picture.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
It's amazing and sometimes, you know, we were talking about
kids earlier. Kids maybe they have an interest in comic
books in a way where they say, hey, I'd like
to be an illustrator, or I'd like to you know,
maybe one day they're interested in arts and they want
to write. It's an opportunity to talk to some of
these people that have done this as a career and
get that advice and tips on ways that maybe they
(15:24):
could make this a legitimate career option for those kids.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
And most, in my experience, most artists, comic book artists,
painting artists, every artist that is there at Artists Sally,
they love to give you their time of day. They
love for you to come by and talk to them
and have especially a kid, ask questions about hey, how
do I get started doing this? It's again, it's another
magical moment and light up. They're educating, they're connecting, and
(15:51):
you see some really cool art and possibly buy some
cool things to take hold.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Let's talk about memberships. Dragon con is a convention that
doesn't sell you a ticket, sell you a membership. They
want you to be part of it kind of help
own the convention. This is a convention that is about
the members it's not about a big corporate thing, and
it's one of the other things that sort of separates
this from other conventions. So let's talk about memberships for
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
We have five day memberships that right now, well actually,
let me forget okay, we have five day memberships available,
so those are the ones that will get you everything
from Thursday to Monday. You get in and out of
all the events, all the hotels, all the panels. It's
for me, it's the best thing for your buck. But
(16:37):
we also do sell single day tickets, so you will
need to check on DragonCon dot org. You go to
the store and check and see. Of course, you can
get some QR codes on site. We don't sell them
on site, but you can get the QR code and
go to the store at any time. And we have
eternal membership. This is the one that you buy for
a lifetime. You pay one time and you come back
(16:59):
to the rest of your life. So there's all kinds
of ways to access the amazingness of Dragonton.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Charles, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 4 (17:07):
Looking forward to seeing you soon, my friend. Thank you,
ask I appreciate the opportunity or.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Dragon Con pregame show right after this. Next we talk
with doctor Sean Crusen. He's the executive director of Columbus
State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center in Columbus. He's
(17:35):
also the co host of the Mate of Stars podcast
with me, and we've talked a lot Sean about the
importance of science and science fiction and how those two
are interwoven.
Speaker 5 (17:48):
Just recently on our podcast, we covered a very sad
story which is the passing of very famous NASA astronaut
Jim Lovel. Jim was the commander of Apollo thirteen, but
he also had several other flight to space, including the
very famous first ever flight around the backside of the
Moon on Apollo eight. Now, one of the things that
Wes and I discussed on our show is just how
(18:12):
much of an inspiration the life of Jim Lovell was
to all of those of us who go into science
or just follow science, are interested in science. And that's
partly because he became famous because of his NASA career.
But there was this little Hollywood motion picture made about
his life, and specifically made about the incident of Apollo thirteen.
(18:33):
You know that movie Apollo thirteen, that's the one with
Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon. You can use it on
that Six Steps to Kevin Bacon list. But the important
part of that motion picture was revealing the heroism of
not just those astronauts, but also the people on the
ground who were so instrumental in solving some never heard
(18:53):
of before problems in a very short period of time
to be able to bring those astronauts back home safely.
And so the amazing part that ties in with dragon
Con is that all of those incredible achievements are reflected
in the motion picture, and many of the people who
may never have really followed the details of the Apollo program,
(19:15):
didn't really know who Jim Level was, otherwise found out
a lot about Jim Level's story through the motion picture
of Apollo thirteen, right. And so it's just a reminder
of how the motion picture industry and the importance of
science and science fiction portrayed in the arts is so
important to the continuing endeavor of science in general because
(19:38):
it helps the public better understand or just be inspired
by all of the things necessary to do great science
and great exploration. And that's one of the things that
dragon Con has at its core. They even have a
Science Track at dragon Con, which is super important because
it allows all of those who just love science fiction
(20:01):
and fantasy to also tie in the real science that
is pushing the boundaries in frontiers of our human understanding,
and then that ties back into the science fiction that
gets written and produced, and then that science fiction then
inspires more scientists to go push the boundaries of science,
and then that gets reincorporated back into the science fiction endeavor.
(20:21):
So these two industries, these two human endeavors, which are
kind of parallel but separate to one another, are very
important because they inspire one another and they push each
other to then grow both science pushing science fiction and
science fiction pushing science. And that's one of the reasons
we support it here at Coca Cola Space Science Center
(20:42):
and the coverage of it, because we understand that those
inspirations that occur when people engage with science and science
fiction both really help to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers,
and science educators, which is what we do here at
Columbus State University's Coca Cola Space Science Center.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
This is the dragon Con pregame show powered by Columbus
State University's Coca Cola Space Science center where you can
learn the science behind the fiction
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