1st time poster - Autographica 14 thoughts

[maxf]

Hi,

 

It's my first time posting here, but Saturday was my 2nd Autographica. I meant to sign up here after the last one, but life got in the way.

 

I drove up from London, so Heathrow would have been easier, selfishly, but Birmingham has excellent transport links for north and south, so thumbs up for the location. Also, being able to pay at the desk for everything by card was excellent and very useful.

 

My GF and I arrived at about 12pm and a few of the guests were tied up in photoshoots so we wondered around looking at the stalls. I like to enjoy the day as much as possible so don;t just jump in to getting autographs! The stalls were nicely done and well spread out - I recognised a few faces from Collectspace.

 

First I went to Al Worden who seemed to have a steady stream of people. I hadn't met Al before but he was a real gent (as all of the Apollo Astronauts have been when I've met them). We chatted for a few seconds about jet lag, and he signed my book, shook my hand and we were done.

 

While I was waiting for Al, a couple of people wondered past and muttered that we must be mad paying £50 for an autograph! A little random I thought.

 

Next was Tom Stafford. Contrary to the gasps when his fee was announced, there seemed to always be a few people waiting to see Stafford, which was good to see. I waited in line and got to the front to be told that unlike the other guests they didn't accept the 'autographica money' at this desk! Arrrgh - back to the back of the queue after obtaining the correct ticket. Stafford was a friendly chap, although we only said hello and shook hands (I couldn't think of much to say and there were people behind me waiting) - he signed my book as requested and off I went.

 

I can understand why Stafford has decided to not do any more shows/signings. Seeing him on Saturday really bought home that he is an elderly man entitled to a few years of peace and quiet. I hope he has a very happy 'retirement'!

 

I opted not to get another Dave Scott signature or meet Scott Carpenter, mainly due to the cost of Tom Stafford, which was an unfortunate compromise but one of those things. Both seemed to be doing well without my funds anyway.

 

Finally, it was time to see Stirling Moss. He was absent for a while and I'd like to think he was off watching the F1 qualifying somewhere! Again, he had a short but continual queue. I picked one of his photos and had it dedicated to me - it's already framed in my office! He was a real gent, but it was another short and sweet meeting.

 

After that it was off to the restaurant for a couple of club sandwiches before the drive home.

 

All in all, it was a very good few hours. Hello to the guys behind me in the Stafford line also with the 'Full Moon' book - I hope to get mine that full of autographs eventually!

 

My only critisisms would be the signage wasn't too clear and I felt a bit of a wally not realising Stafford didn't have the same payment system as the other guests (but that didn't really matter). I don't tend to take photos so that issue didn't bother me.

 

What I really like about autographica is that it is laid back and relaxed. The guests all seem very friendly and tend to be willing to 'give as they receive' - by that I mean if you just want a friendly hello and handshake they are as willing as if you want to know what they meant in minute 1067 of the Apollo 10 transcript

 

Sorry for the huge 1st post! Looking forward to A15 already.

[Scruffy]

No reason to apologise about length of post

It is always good to read how someone spends their day .

[Count Fooku]

I've given an overview of my experience of the day already but I'd prefer to do it in a thread that isn't called 'An Uninspiring Day' (no disrepect to the chap who started that thread, his opinion is as valid as anyones!)

 

I thought this was an excellent show, one of, if not the best I've been to. I was quite glad Sunday was a bit quieter after such a hectic day on the Saturday. In hindsight I felt a bit guilty not talking to the Spitfire pilots for longer. Tom Neil had been telling me about his squadron's record in the war but because I was due at the Al Worden talk I couldn't really follow up with any questions.

 

The photoshoots seemed to be back in good time and I was very pleased with them. Obviously being the rakish, handsome devil that I am I should always look good in photos but sometimes the lighting seems to make me look like a deranged halfwit!

 

I thought Ursula Andress's selection of pictures was very good, took me a little while to choose one given I'd already got a Dr No beach shot from her before.

 

Something that has just occured though, I wonder if it might be a good idea to have a microphone in the lecture room for audience questions. Age catches up with us all and unsurprisingly a few of the gents giving talks were a little hard of hearing which meant people needed to repeat their questions a few times. I was thinking either a microphone or a member of the AIS team in the room to help with the questions would save embarrasment.

 

Also a suggestion for next time, I wonder if a group pilot photoshoot would be quite popular, either one each with Bomber and Fighter pilots or one with them all.

 

Another one, which I recognise might be more problematic, would be a group photoshoot with any astronauts that attend. I know some of the American shows have these and they always look really good. I know the question of dispersal of money made from these would be raised but I for one would be happy to pay good money for something like that.

 

Anyway, all in all a great weekend and I can't wait for the next one!

[spocks-brain]

Something that has just occured though, I wonder if it might be a good idea to have a microphone in the lecture room for audience questions. Age catches up with us all and unsurprisingly a few of the gents giving talks were a little hard of hearing which meant people needed to repeat their questions a few times. I was thinking either a microphone or a member of the AIS team in the room to help with the questions would save embarrasment.

 

Also a suggestion for next time, I wonder if a group pilot photoshoot would be quite popular, either one each with Bomber and Fighter pilots or one with them all.

 

Another one, which I recognise might be more problematic, would be a group photoshoot with any astronauts that attend. I know some of the American shows have these and they always look really good. I know the question of dispersal of money made from these would be raised but I for one would be happy to pay good money for something like that.

Definitely agree with all of those excellent suggestions Count. I think I read in one of your posts on here that you were at the Scott Carpenter talk on Sat. I was at the same one and the microphone idea would certainly have helped Scott and the audience members asking questions.

 

And I think the group photoshoots would be very popular.

 

Something else that I thought about since the show. Quite a few have said its a shame there hasn't been an Ursula photoshoot on either of her Autographica appearances. Obviously we all understand that she has an eye problem which means that flash is a no go. But I wonder if its possible to do a non flash photo shoot. I'm no camera expert but I guess it would mean using a higher ISO setting.

 

Sure the finished photo may look different to the ones we're used to. But as long as it was clearly Ursula and us in the photos I'm sure most of us would accept the compromise if that was the only way to have a pro shot. Just a thought for if she hopefully returns to a future show.

[Count Fooku]

Another thought that has just occured, would anybody be interested if they ran themed guest only photocalls at the event

 

For example, I reckon a group photo of all the astronauts and pilots that attended this weekend would have been really good to have. If this was restricted just to guests then it wouldn't take as long as there would be no queue to manage as such, and if say this was done at the start or end of the day it would cause minimum disruption to signings, punter photoshoots or talks.

 

Not sure how the selling arrangements would work, maybe people would need to pre order or they could be done through the online store after the event. It might even provide people with an additional item to be signed which could generate more autograph sales.

 

Just a thought!

[spocks-brain]

Another thought that has just occured, would anybody be interested if they ran themed guest only photocalls at the event

 

For example, I reckon a group photo of all the astronauts and pilots that attended this weekend would have been really good to have. If this was restricted just to guests then it wouldn't take as long as there would be no queue to manage as such, and if say this was done at the start or end of the day it would cause minimum disruption to signings, punter photoshoots or talks.

 

Not sure how the selling arrangements would work, maybe people would need to pre order or they could be done through the online store after the event. It might even provide people with an additional item to be signed which could generate more autograph sales.

 

Just a thought!

 

Yes, I like that idea. An extra option as a souvenir of the weekend. I wonder if SM take a few photos like that for their own archives anyway. Making the shots available to us would be good. If they took them first thing on Sat, or Fri night for the early arrivals, the photos could be included amongst the photo choices for signings at the desks from Sat onwards.