Dragon*Con Experiences the Thriller

By: Dennis Rayburn
09/07/2009

Dragon*Con had been buzzing about the event scheduled for Sunday night all weekend. It had been announced that the undead and the un-undead were invited to take part in an attempt for a world record involving the Thriller dance made famous by the legendary video by Michael Jackson. There had been other instances of the dance at Dragon*Con in the past, but they were either a person performing it an one of the numerous parties, or a group of folks going around the convention, one dressed as Jackson, and the others as members of the undead.

However, this year was different. With the sudden death of the King of Pop, there have been numerous events of large groups performing the dance together. The official record was set in May of this year by 242 college students at William & Mary College. There has been an attempt in Mexico with 12,000 people, but according to multiple reports, that attempt was disallowed by the keepers of the Guinness Book of World Records, due to the wrong version of the music being used.

All during the weekend, attendees of Dragon*Con registered at a sign-up desk in the lobby of the Sheraton Hotel. As they registered, each received a ribbon which was attached to their convention badge with a number. At 4pm on Sunday, those who were going to attempt to break the record arrived at the Sheraton, one of the four hotels where Dragon*Con is held each year. At first, they took part in practice sessions, including the one below at that hour, and then again at 5:30pm.



Shortly before 7pm, everyone began to gather in the hallway outside the Main Ballroom for the attempt. The crowd was separated into groups, with each group entering through an assigned door where each person's ribbon was checked, and then the person signed on a sheet with their name and badge number. More and more people arrived, and things began to get just a bit crowded and a bit hot also. Finally everyone was checked in, the doors were closed and it was time to get it on!

Jill and I were two of the officially counted group of 903 people in that ballroom. Before we had one massive practice dance, Pat Henry, Dragon*Con Convention Chairman addressed the crowd, telling them that, “We were having a science fiction convention and a party broke out.” After words of encouragement from the event organizers, the practice session was held. After that was completed, there were some final things done to set up, and everyone got ready. Suddenly the cue (the blast of a bullhorn) was heard and the music started. 903 people, many dressed as various characters, creatures, and monsters (including one brave soul who was dancing in an Alien costume) began to slowly rise from the floor on cue and the dance was on.

For several minutes, the group performed the dance to the music. As a group they were counting off the steps and calling off the shoulder movements, the clock like moves, and all of the things that makes the Thriller so unique. At the end, everyone froze in the same vicious pose as the last of the music track played. When it stopped, the celebration was on!

The record attempt was videotaped by the convention staff. That videotape is being sent to the Guinness Book of World Records for official certification along with the sign in logs and other required documentation. Organizers also promised that a copy of it would be uploaded to YouTube as the earliest possible time for everyone to see. A ruling from the Guinness authorities is expected as early as late this week. I'll keep you posted about this and will report the Guinness ruling as soon as I get it.  You can see a brief glimpse of the possible record setting dance in a CNN news report by clicking here.

There will be no columns tomorrow as Jill and I will be on the road returning from Atlanta. We will both be returning to our regular writing schedules on Wednesday.

See you then!

Photo:  DragonConThriller.com
Video:  YouTube.com

Author: Dennis Rayburn

Dennis Rayburn is a columnist for Roddenberry.com. His column, "Two Strips of Latinum" appears every Sunday through Thursday.
Contact: drayburn@roddenberry.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/drayburn

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