Been reading a few of the posts regarding NFCC and though I'd add my own verdict on it.
This was my second event after attending Collectormania Glasgow last year. Main reason for attending NFCC was simply the chance to meet Peter Beardsley as I'm a huge NUFC fan however the chance to meet the likes of Carl Weathers & Danny John-Jules was also a factor.
There were a lot of positives to take from the event - good line up of guests who were very approachable and happy to chat with the fans etc, reasonable pricing on photoshoots / autographs, the SM staff I dealt with were helpful (bar one which I'll get to in a minute) and for the most part, it was a well run event given that it was the first one at that venue.
On the flip side, the queuing was a joke. The biggest gripe I had with it was had my family or I taken any of our stuff back to the car rather than carry it about with us all day, we'd have been faced with a minimum 2 hour queue with people who hadn't paid to get back into to an event that we'd already paid for. That just seems wrong to me.
The other things I had gripes about - the lad on the ticket desk who thought it would be funny to crack a joke regarding Scottish Independence after I'd stood in the cold for a good while waiting to get in wasn't a good start to the day ... but that's just me!
I also thought the layout of the hall could have been better. You've got the vast majority of fans trying to get the back of the hall for the signings and having to squeeze through, to me, an overcrowded stall area. Compare that to Glasgow where it was, pretty much, come through the doors and turn left for signings and right for the stalls. On a similar topic, the talk stages. Why have the guests having to squeeze through the crowds - and in some cases have to have SM staff move people out of the way - to get to a talk area when there was one next to the signing area? I know some of guests enjoy mingling with the crowds - Danny John Jules stopped off to do some shopping on this way to his talk lol - but it, to me anyway, seemed a bit unprofessional for want of a better term when you see staff/stewards having to carve a path through the crowds - again that's just my opinion.
Lastly, there did seem to be a bit of "left hand not knowing what the right was doing" at times. As I said, I went to meet Beardsley who was running late for his signings. At one point, there were at least 3 different SM staff running back and forward trying find out where he was and why he was late - each of them saying something that contradicted the others.
However, despite my gripes, it was a good event which was well the trip and definitely one I'd go to again. Beardsley was really pleasant and easy going while Danny John Jules was a pleasure to meet. Yes, it had problems but given that it was the first in that venue, there were always going to be teething problems which will hopefully be sorted for next years event.