Events/News/Site News

Announcing the Con of Thrones hotel and convention location!

Posted on by Con Of Thrones

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Last month we saw the end of Season 6, the beginning of a new off-season, and the introduction of Con of Thrones. Your response was incredible. The announcement reached further than we could have ever expected or planned for. The only answer to this kind of passion, love, and enthusiasm from the community this was created for is more passion, love, and harder work.

In the summer of 2012, I stood in the indoor city of the Gaylord Opryland and dreamed of organizing this convention there. I visited again last year. I saw potential bowls of brown stewing nearby Dornish cosplayers skirting through alleyways for a mid-afternoon between-panel photoshoot, and the list goes on. Thanks to this community and the hard work of Mischief Management, our convention has a ridiculously epic locale.

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This is a brief summary of CoT, from my announcement last month:

It will be a celebration of all George R.R. Martin has given to the world, and what HBO and we the people have created because of it. We will rally on June 30th 2017 in Nashville, TN for one truly stunning weekend. I couldn’t be more excited, and we here at Watchers couldn’t be more thrilled to spend the next year refining, hammering Con of Thrones into the celebration this ever expanding community deserves. I’ve partnered with the good folk of Mischief Management, who have given love and sweat to build this into something we can be proud of, and who have always put fans first. This convention is led by die-hard fans of the series, no detail will go unnoticed. The time is right to celebrate this phenomenon with people and new friends who love it most.

Rooms are going fast. If you’re joining us in Nashville, now is the best time to book your stay. Tickets for the convention are on sale August 22nd at conofthrones.com. A new website with detailed information will launch on the same date. In the mean time, we’ll be working on those details. Nothing can be announced without complete confirmation. The con is just under a year out, but we are working to move things along now.

The hotel is amazing, I think you’re going to love it. I am so excited! The community is growing, but this will always be our home. We hope to meet all of you in Nashville next Summer.

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Con Of Thrones

73 Comments

  1. Nashville or bust!! I plan to be there. What a lovely location this is, can’t wait to see it.

  3. how crucial will it be to stay at the Opryland hotel? I love Nashville and was looking forward to staying at my usual airbnb on the east side of the city. Will I be missing out by not staying the main conference hotel?

  8. Looks really cool.

    I would have loved to join…..but alas this damn ocean won’t let me…. 🙁

  9. namex,

    Because you’ve used a different login/email combination every time you’ve commented- essentially marking yourself as a new commenter (requiring approval) every time. Stick with one login.

  11. I absolutely want to go and will try to go to at least a few days of this. Are there any nearby hotels in case this one fills up?

  14. Have the guests been announced yet? Any GoT actors/writers/producers/directors coming?

  15. Tried to book online and showed all rooms w/rate already reserved. Should I call? Or am I doing something wrong?

  19. Hey guys, as you may have seen, the new season will be starting later than usual next year. I saw “July 6” listed somewhere, and they are saying early July in more than one place I’ve looked. Here is my concern: if the cast and writers and everyone are at the GoT premiere in Hollywood or wherever, then they will obviously not be guests at Con of Thrones. Any thoughts on this? 🙁

  23. Flayed Potatoes:
    Have the guests been announced yet? Any GoT actors/writers/producers/directors coming?

    The only thing confirmed so far is the panel I will be conducting about the life and times of Rygar’s penis.

  25. Cumsprite: The only thing confirmed so far is the panel I will be conducting about the life and times of Rygar’s penis.

    Ooooooo sign me up!! LOL

  28. I certainly plan to be there. Will make the trip from Texas. Looking forward to it already!

  29. rastus lou,

    What is the hotel requiring to make reservations, deposit-wise? (I also tried online and it showed that there were no rooms available).

  30. Woa, that’s what I call a VENUE. Wrong side of the pond for me, unfortunately.
    Anyway London Film and ComicCon starts tomorrow and I’ll be doing my very first cosplay as Jorah Mormont. Come say hi if you like (I’ll probably be the only female Ser Jorah around).

  31. I ended up reserving through a travel site, instead of getting the discount rate. I have no idea if I will actually be free to go next year, so I wanted to reserve a room without putting any money down and keeping an option to cancel.

    Hopeful that the list of guest speakers/events makes it worth the trip.

  33. Kristen:
    Hey guys, as you may have seen, the new season will be starting later than usual next year. I saw “July 6” listed somewhere, and they are saying early July in more than one place I’ve looked. Here is my concern: if the cast and writers and everyone are at the GoT premiere in Hollywood or wherever, then they will obviously not be guests at Con of Thrones. Any thoughts on this? ?

    July 6th sounds way too late for the red carpet premiere if Season 7 will go ahead in the summer. Filming has only been pushed back two months, where they normally start in July and are this year starting in September, right? And they’re only doing 7 episodes. So I would think the TV premiere date would only be pushed a couple of months. Normally, we get March/April, so my best bet would be May/June. In fact, I think that the Sunday after Memorial Day weekend would be an ideal television premiere date, and that may be what they are shooting for. Of course, that date (and almost any date I imagine them considering) will put the conference right in the middle of Season 7, where we’ll get one of the episodes on July 2nd!!!! Wouldn’t it be awesome to watch a live episode during the Con? Goodness, I hope there aren’t leaks, though.

    Opryland is awesome and amazing. Their conservatory is so beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever been to their convention center, but I just got back from a conference at the Gaylord Texan (almost identical to the Gaylord Opryland), and it was so awesome. I’m not sure if food will be part of the conference, but the conference I went to fed us so well. We had a full course breakfast (fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, oatmeal, quinoa, pastries, …). And then they fed us a second breakfast, just like we were hobbits and everything. I kind of am a hobbit, actually. Second breakfast was more of a snack but they had awesome beverages, fruits, granola bars, yogurt, and these smoothies that were to die for. Seriously. One smoothie was in a test tube (like shots) and it was called an immune booster – sooooo delicious. And then there was a really good berry smoothie and a green healthy (but probably delicious) smoothie, both in normal glasses. The lunches were less impressive but always had great salads, veggies, meats, and breads. And then there was second lunch, which was another snack. Dinners were mostly on our own, but one hardly needed dinner after all that. Meals at the hotel are great but expensive; however, there are lots of restaurants nearby if you leave the hotel.

    I’m so excited about Nashville. I’ll definitely be there, as long as the conference cost isn’t crazy high. Work paid for the conference registration last week, and it was quite high – of course, that could be explained by all the second breakfasts and open bar reception the night we arrived.

  34. Oh, I just saw the conference prices on the website! The $149 Weekend Pass is perfect and very much less than the hobbit-laden registration fee I just did in Texas. The fancy-schmancy Valyrian Pass sounds nice, but I imagine that the regular one will serve me well.

  36. Oh, wow that looks fab! I’m so jealous!!!!!!!!!!
    Unfortunately I live an ocean and a continent away – but for what is worth if I were in the same continent I would definitely be there! 🙂

    I will try hatching dragons, talking HBO into transfering me there and teleportation too! 😀

  39. So I did book a room but I’ll only be able to go Thursday-Sunday. Looking at the tickets, would I qualify for the weekend pass or would I have to buy the Valyrian one?

  40. Mihnea,

    No, I’m not Muslim, I am Christian but I am of Arab decent lol!!!!

    I meant as in I will boycot the USA as long as trump is prez

    I ❤️Canada !!!!

  41. Jessie,

    I think it’s really a matter of safety and convenience… If you intend to dress like, and/or drink like, any of the characters, being able to do so for three days without leaving the building is really nice!

  42. BeautyBrienne,

    The convention begins on the 30th of June and ends on the 2nd of July. Valyrian and General passes are both for the entire convention. Day passes will be sold as available at a later date. Looking forward to meeting you there!

  43. I stayed at this hotel a couple of months ago. Everything there is VERY expensive, but it is a nice place. Plus there’s an outlet mall within walking distance. I don’t think I’ll go…I can’t see myself justifying it as a destination location for the family, but maybe when they have somewhere else…

  45. At 32 years old, I plan to go full cosplay as a man-at-arms (House TBD). This literally gives me nearly as much joy as the birth of my children.

    Being able to drive home each day doesn’t hurt either.

  46. I tried booking on the website and it does not come up with any rooms? I want to go so badly. I just need to know the price. I could find a cheaper hotel nearby.

  48. Since it is June 30th- July 2nd, I put in July 28th for check in and July 4th for check out. I got the rate and it is not that bad for that type of hotel. I expected a way higher price.

  50. Will booking a room before Aug 22 SECURE a ticket to CoT? Otherwise, what happens with the rooms are booked and there are no more tickets to the event?

  51. When I go book the hotel it says the event starts that Wednesday, but I thought it was Friday-Sunday?

  52. Jack Bauer 24,

    As far as I know, official convention events will take place Friday June 30th through Sunday July 2nd. The hotel would prefer that you give them additional money for additional days to do things like visiting Opryland, drinking in their bar, or simply sitting in your room thinking about drinking in their bar.

    I booked a room from the 29th through the 2nd, because I prefer to get a good night’s sleep on location the night before, and to adjust my leaving time based on the schedule for the final day, as convention Sundays are often a lot of vendors cleaning up their booths and leaving.

  53. Unfortunately I won’t be attending unless I stumble across a bag of money… But I look forward to the pictures and coverage of the con! Hope you guys manage to get some of the cast/producers involved. Kristian Nairn should do a DJ set! 😀

  54. Grayven Reyne:
    Jack Bauer 24,

    As far as I know, official convention events will take place Friday June 30th through Sunday July 2nd.The hotel would prefer that you give them additional money for additional days to do things like visiting Opryland, drinking in their bar, or simply sitting in your room thinking about drinking in their bar.

    I booked a room from the 29th through the 2nd, because I prefer to get a good night’s sleep on location the night before, and to adjust my leaving time based on the schedule for the final day, as convention Sundays are often a lot of vendors cleaning up their booths and leaving.

    I just booked a room for the 29th-4th! I’m going with 2 other people and we’re driving 10 hours to the hotel, so we figured we should make a week out of it and extend the stay a couple days. Can’t wait!

  55. Hey!! I reserved a room for Thurs thru Sun AM! Any chance there will be a roommates’ board somewhere? We’d love to have someone split the room with us so more fans can stay near the con!!!

  56. QueenofThrones:
    Hey!! I reserved a room for Thurs thru Sun AM!Any chance there will be a roommates’ board somewhere?We’d love to have someone split the room with us so more fans can stay near the con!!!

    How big of a room did you get?

  57. QueenofThrones,

    So glad that you mentioned having a roommates’ board. I’d much rather split the cost of a room (in which I don’t plan to be spending that much time) and save my money for photograph/autograph ops (fingers crossed), Arbor Gold, and memorabilia.

  58. Jack Bauer 24: How big of a room did you get?

    When I made the reservation it said max is 4 people, my spouse and I can share a bed – So we could could room with another couple or a single person.

  59. QueenofThrones: When I made the reservation it said max is 4 people, my spouse and I can share a bed – So we could could room with another couple or a single person.

    I’m definitely interested because it’ll be a lot cheaper this way. I have a reservation for one room, but I went through Hotels.com so I didn’t get the Con discount. Payment isn’t due until check in so I can cancel my reserve. Can I contact you through social media or email or whatever you prefer?

  60. Jack Bauer 24,

    Great! Would like to talk to you about sharing but I have no idea how to do private messages on this site? I don’t think we’re supposed to post emails or whatever. That was why I was wondering about a roommates board or similar.

  61. QueenofThrones:
    Jack Bauer 24,

    Great!Would like to talk to you about sharing but I have no idea how to do private messages on this site?I don’t think we’re supposed to post emails or whatever.That was why I was wondering about a roommates board or similar.

    I don’t think this site has private messages but I have my own board that you can create a username and we can PM there. It is a GoT fansite that is pretty much defunct so I use it as a means of communication mostly.

    http://fireandblood.freeforums.net

    A roommates board is a great idea and it is a year away, so they might have something planned in the future with that. You can contact me at that forum though if you want. My username is the same over there.

  62. I would love to attend with my Unsullied show-watcher husband, who isn’t as big a fan or cos-player as I am, so I want to be sure that he would have fun. If you are taking suggestions for con session topics, how about GRRM’s references to / influences of the Grateful Dead in the books? My husband is a Deadhead, knows that GRRM is a Dead fan, and often comments on references to Grateful Dead lyrics and other stuff in the show (Dire Wolf, Weirwoods, bears, crows, etc.), and I’ve started noticing things, too. We went to a Dead and Company concert last week, and we’ve been watching other concerts on Youtube. Last night, he yelled out “That’s about Jorah!” during one of the songs! I have started taking notes when listening and plan to explore the lyrics myself, but it’s a huge catalog of songs. Just for starters, lyrics to “Uncle John’s Band” — “He’s come to take his children home; it’s the same story the crow told me; it’s the only one he knows” — and “Eyes of the World” — “Wake up to find that you are the eyes of the world.”

  64. The 7th season should be airing, so why not have a VIEWING PARTY (hint hint) on Sunday at the Sports Bar (wink wink) that has 100 big screens (nudge nudge)!!! A great way to bring an end to CoT…

  65. I’m nervous that the season 7 premiere will conflict. What if needing to make an appearance at the premiere prevents the cast from appearing as Convention guests? Any thoughts?

  67. Kristen Andrus:
    I’m nervous that the season 7 premiere will conflict. What if needing to make an appearance at the premiere prevents the cast from appearing as Convention guests? Any thoughts?

    I don’t think Season 7 will be premiering that early. Summer literally begins the week before the convention. I think the season will premiere mid-late July.

  69. BeautyBrienne,

    Check out the Nashville Downtown Hostel! I plan to stay there (I’ve stayed there before). It’s not too far from the convention and is pretty awesome.

  71. Be sure not to confuse the convention site (Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center) with a similarly-named nearby hotel (The Inn at Opryland, A Gaylord Hotel) if you prefer a room at the actual location.

    Everyone has to make a decision based on their budget, but personally I want these events to be as “pretentious” as they can be. I don’t want my memories to be primarily about slogging back and forth to the site.. I want to step outside my hotel room and be immediately immersed in Westeros. If it costs extra, so be it.

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