SammyStarfox

I appreciate the thoughts, but don't you think that by going to these events and paying for these things you're basically encouraging the organisers to charge money? Or at the very least hike their prices every year because of the demand. Back in 2012 I went to DST London, I met Patrick Stewart for about £60, we were there at 8am when it opened and met him first with barely any queue. I wasn't allowed a photograph with him, I couldn't shake his hand, and I got about 15 seconds with him as he sortof mumbled hello and I was briskly pushed aside for the next person. 15 seconds! I've taken longer sneezes than that. Once I exited the queue I looked at the autograph and then at my watch, 10 minutes into the con and I had used up 80% of my budget for that day, everywhere else was super expensive with nothing free to experience (the bridge was £10, Transporter room £10, talks £20+) We mooched around trying to find something to do then decided to leave a few hours later, definitely not feeling the thrill of being at a Star Trek con. Since then I've just become totally disenfranchised with the whole concept of comic cons. I usually attend the this show Birmingham con and meet people from more indie stuff or to just cosplay, which is the heart of the convention. Paying such an extreme amount of money to meet these celebrities just gets super boring fast. I get the catch 22, travel and work for the celebs is difficult, and you can't charge too little as the queues would be far too long (I do know why it has gone like it has, supply and demand and all that) But maybe trying it another way would work. Make more smaller cons with one guest and make them the focal point of the event, or do away with the pricing all together and offer each attendee ONE free autograph and at least a few minutes with their person of choice. Don't allow those with loads of money to buy ALL the autographs to see 10 people in one day. Its way too greedy. Just say you get to meet one celeb from the show that day (completely random) and you get a few minutes with them, that way you'll have a more memorable experience with that person (And don't moan you didn't get the big one, like Shatner, I'm sure meeting Marina Siris would be just as fun) You could always have another go next time and you might meet someone else fun. I think the trouble is now that all these events are geared with I MUST DO EVERYTHING IN ONE DAY so its an insane rush to get everything signed. Just calm down and relax, once you've been to a few cons you'll realise they're just normal people and definitely not worth like... £50 per second. (How much money must they make seriously... do they need all that money? Would be cool if they gave it to charity)

I usually attend loads of comic cons, however this time I had to say no to Star Trek Europe, despite living in Birmingham I simply don't agree with how expensive these conventions have gotten, and how little you actually receive for what you pay for. Its a shame people keep paying for like... a square of paper with a famous persons name on it and a few nanoseconds with them, I heard from my friend who attended that they were paying £50+ for photoshoots and they weren't allowed to speak or shake hands with the people, barely look them in the eye. Is that what we've come to? Especially for Star Trek, the idealistic show where money didn't actually exist, fans having to shell out top cash for seconds of enjoyment. Reading the site and comments it seems like everything cost something, pay for a photo on the bridge, pay for talks, pay for meeting people. Its such an elitist thing when it really shouldn't be. I get posting this here will probably just get taken down or banned or something for speaking ill of the event, but maybe someone might agree with me, I'm not necessarily calling anyone out on this, I just felt it was worth bringing up as to why I didn't attend.