Dragon Con turned 40 this year. Georgia Aquarium marked the milestone with an 80s-themed party built to pull guests straight into the era of big hair, bold color, and early MTV. Live Events served as production partner, delivering lighting, audio, video, and rigging for the transformation, alongside YES Event Designs who brought the decor to life. It also marked 17 years of partnership between Live Events and Georgia Aquarium on Dragon Con, dating back to when the Aquarium first began hosting the convention in 2009.
An 80s Concept Straight From the Client
The theme came from Georgia Aquarium’s Director of Group Sales, John Walker. He wanted a party that captured the spirit of Dragon Con’s 40-year run, and he pointed the creative team toward early MTV as the reference point. Walker came to Live Events with specific visuals in mind, and the production team built the technical design around that vision.
Bringing Early MTV Into the Ballroom
To turn that concept into a full production, Live Events engineers Tony Wallace and Les Diamond designed a custom LED and video DJ booth, then coordinated the imagery across LED screens and video mapping throughout the space. Lighting engineer Alan Reyes programmed a design built to keep energy high on the dance floor, layering lighting cues with the visuals and the DJ’s mix so the whole room moved together.
The gear was modern. The look was pure 1980s.
Lighting, Audio, Video, and Rigging: The Production Behind the Party
The production covered every discipline Live Events brings to an event of this scale. Here’s what powered the room:
- Lighting: Additional fixtures were flown to highlight the dance floor and decor, run off a High End Systems Hedgehog 4 console with a dozen Ayrton Diablo S fixtures anchoring a wider mix of moving lights and PARs.
- Audio: Full sound coverage in the Oceans Ballroom, plus DJ audio setups extending into the Atrium and Ocean Voyager galleries, powered by six JBL SRX line arrays and four JBL VRX powered subs run through a Behringer X32 digital mixer.
- Video and video mapping: Custom content mapped across LED surfaces to reinforce the 80s theme, including two M-Vision 27000 WU laser projectors that brought the Atlantic Wall to life.
- LED: A custom-built LED and video DJ booth served as the party’s centerpiece, 130 Gloshine 2.9mm LED panels spanning 50’10” wide by 11’5″ tall and driven by a Novastar VX-1000 4K processor, rounded out by two LG 75″ 4K displays and one LG 86″ 4K display for a broadcast-studio feel.
- Truss structures: Custom truss and motor packages built to frame the space and support the lighting, video, and LED elements throughout.
- Decor: Live Events built the center truss structure, and YES Event Designs decorated it with day-glo slinkies, tube lighting, and a Moon Man centerpiece, tying the ballroom’s biggest visual element straight back to the 80s theme.
Dragon Con activations extended across the Aquarium, but the bulk of the production lived in the Oceans Ballroom, where the party’s biggest visual and technical elements came together.
Planning Around the Details
Flying lighting to spotlight the dance floor and decor required careful coordination, so the team built in a full day for setup, testing, and adjustments before doors opened. That runway gave the design team time to fine-tune the lighting against the LED and video elements before a single guest arrived.
A Standout Build: The LED DJ Booth
Ask the team what they’re proudest of, and the answer is quick: the LED and video DJ booth. Designed by Tony Wallace and Les Diamond, the booth was the visual centerpiece of the party. The client’s reaction confirmed it. The morning after the event, the feedback that stuck was simple and fitting for the theme: the production was “absolutely radical.”
The Team Behind the Party
A show like this doesn’t run on one or two people. In the Oceans Ballroom:
- Les Diamond — Project Manager and Designer
- Tony Wallace — Video LED Engineer and Designer
- Jason Yelle — Video Engineer
- Carlos Otero — Audio Engineer
- Alan Reyes — Lighting Engineer
A second crew ran audio setups for two DJs in the Atrium:
- Clay King — Project Manager
- Khory Lowe — Audio Engineer
This year marked Dragon Con’s 40th anniversary at Georgia Aquarium, and the 17th year Live Events managed the production.
Live Events is the production partner trusted to deliver when every detail matters, bringing technical expertise and operational discipline to lighting, audio, video, LED, and rigging for events of every scale, from themed anniversary parties to large-scale conventions.
