Saturday bad, Sunday good!

[Julie_443]

OK I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this so please correct me if I should have posted elsewhere. I noticed on Facebook that attendees have been urged to leave feedback on the event this weekend and I wouldn't normally but I do have some suggestions to pass on to the organisers.

I have to say that I too underestimated how popular this event would be so I turned up at 10:30 on Saturday morning without a ticket, along with my husband, 7 year old daughter and 2 friends. I did expect a wait but was unprepared for the following 5 hour queue a thon! I accept that I was unprepared and it was our fault we didn't buy tickets before hand but there was a lot that could have been done to make this situation better. We did not get any kind of update until 3pm and I walked around the venue several times and could not find anyone from Showmasters who knew what was going on. Secondly as there were a lot of children in the queue it would have been nice if some portable loos were on site and places to buy food and drinks. It was heartbreaking to see so many small children being turned away. We got in around 4pm but by then all we wanted to do was meet Danny John Jules, have a quick look round then go home! We missed pretty much everything that was going on that day and my little girl was gutted that she didn't get to run around in her costume all day like she wanted to.

But to flip it, we had a great day on Sunday! We went along a little earlier and only waited an hour before getting in. We got to do everything we had planned on doing and really enjoyed the day. By the time we left at 2pm the venue was packed but there weren't any queues outside so at least everyone got in.

If this venue is to be used again then I would definitely like to see toilets outside the event, places to buy snacks and more crew available to answer our questions. Also, once inside there really wasn't enough room in the dealer's room. If the person in front of you stopped to look at something you were basically stuck behind them until they moved. At one point my little girl cried she was so scared of the crowds we got stuck in. Maybe the layout could be reconsidered, or have less vendors?

There are only 2 other places I could think of that might be big enough to host the event and they are St. James Park and Gateshead International Stadium.

Anyway I gues there will always be teething issues at new venues and I think it speaks volumes about the way Showmasters operate that things were so much better on Sunday.

Thanks for a great event :)

Edited March 10, 2014 by Julie_443

[Guest johnson1970]

Maybe a biggerplace can be considered. Toilets and refreshments outside when waiting to get in is an excellent idea in my opinion.

[Guest johnson1970]

Maybe a biggerplace can be considered. Toilets and refreshments outside when waiting to get in is an excellent idea in my opinion.

[DavidB]

I would imagine toilets and refreshments are both venue related rather than any event organiser.

[madmilburn]

I've seen a few comments about using St.James Park/Gateshead Staidum.........no.

Whilst at GS there is a indoor area where toy fairs have taken place it wouldn't be big enough for guests & stalls.

The layout at SJP just wouldn't work. Only way is if they were to magically re-do the ground and have a retractable roof, have it closed and the pitch is used for everything.

As it stands the arena (or Telewest as I still refer to it) is currently the best option in the area.