General impression on Saturday.

[OurDek]

Have to say that personally I don't think this event was worth the cost of the early entry.   I met all of the guests, walked around the dealer area and was out of the event after 45 minutes because there was nothing else to see.

This could be a great event, the venue was nice apart from getting in (I have trouble walking and the stairs were a killer) but it needs more guests to make it worthwhile.   This was my second Sheffield con and the last one I attended was far superior, that was number 2 in 2015.   I'm only 40 minutes away from the venue so this is my local comic con, if I go next year I think I'll just go for the standard entry.

On the subject of entry, there was more security at this event than LFCC and Collectormania combined.   The man in front of me actually had a can of baked beans confiscated! and their were several bottles and items of food taken from people trying to enter.

I'm not really complaining, it's just that it was a little disappointing to find so little at the con.

Hopefully next year will be an improvement.

 

[A007]

I got early entry and was in the arena by about 9:45. Wanted autos off the 3 Aliens cast and the Game of Thrones dude, got it all sorted in less than an hour and it was only that long because Colette Hillier was taking her time lol Stuck around for the Aliens panel (which was pretty good to be fair) and left straight after.

 

Edited August 12, 2017 by Queen_Sindel
other event info removed. Not giving the show's name does not mean the forum rules don't apply.

[only_jay]

Can only echo what everyone else has said... Enjoyed what was there but just wasn't enough, I had done everything pretty much within the first hour (including looking at every stall) which left me waiting until 4 for the photo ops.

[Bingo Boy]

When I entered through security I had a nice Ginsters Cornish Pasty and a can of coke taken from me , not at all happy so I took it back to the car and then went out for my lunch break.

When leaving the skip was full of stuff taken from the guests upon entry and when I asked what would be done with this lot I was told it would be scrapped.

Now don't get me wrong but in this day and age that stuff should of been handed to the local Trussel Trust and donated to the food banks to help the people that are really struggling in life.

[Wrong Name]

52 minutes ago, Bingo Boy said:

When I entered through security I had a nice Ginsters Cornish Pasty and a can of coke taken from me , not at all happy so I took it back to the car and then went out for my lunch break.

When leaving the skip was full of stuff taken from the guests upon entry and when I asked what would be done with this lot I was told it would be scrapped.

Now don't get me wrong but in this day and age that stuff should of been handed to the local Trussel Trust and donated to the food banks to help the people that are really struggling in life.

Security at these shows is generally handled by the venue, and not SM so they wouldn't have a say as to what happens with any confiscated items.

Generally though, if security have issues with items, especially food, it is usually down to a worry that they could contain something that could be used in a potentially harmful way to others, like acid or poison. If it is being confiscated for those reasons, it's generally not a good idea to be passed on to others to be consumed, no matter what their status in life.

[Raylenth]

29 minutes ago, Wrong Name said:

Security at these shows is generally handled by the venue, and not SM so they wouldn't have a say as to what happens with any confiscated items.

Generally though, if security have issues with items, especially food, it is usually down to a worry that they could contain something that could be used in a potentially harmful way to others, like acid or poison. If it is being confiscated for those reasons, it's generally not a good idea to be passed on to others to be consumed, no matter what their status in life.

Also there's the potential for food poisoning.  Food has to be properly maintained otherwise homeless charities won't take it, they can't risk taking fresh food in case, especially in the case of meat products like the pastie, they have been sitting in the sun for hours.

[maxcat]

confiscating ur food and drink ur taking in to the event on arrival? thats ridiculous-why would security for such an event want to do that? 

[Spacecadet is here]

2 hours ago, maxcat said:

confiscating ur food and drink ur taking in to the event on arrival? thats ridiculous-why would security for such an event want to do that? 

Lots of places do this, its so that you buy food inside the venue.. so they take your food away. I can't see any other reason for it.. and its not SM's fault. Check what the venue rules are, you will find it might say No Food or drink to be brought into the Arena.. 

[wjbleming]

2 hours ago, Spacecadet is here said:

Lots of places do this, its so that you buy food inside the venue.. so they take your food away. I can't see any other reason for it.. and its not SM's fault. Check what the venue rules are, you will find it might say No Food or drink to be brought into the Arena.. 

Yeah, you're right there, Mr. Camel, it says on the Sheffield Arena's website below only food & drink bought on the premises can be consumed on the premises, as there's a number of outlets on site, so it's the arena's decision, not SM.

http://www.sheffieldarena.co.uk/plan-your-visit/food-drink/

[Aperciwho]

I got lucky with the bag search. I had taken a spare canvas bag and popped my drink inside it. When I took it out of the main bag I said it was empty and she just looked into the main bag which had two books and an autograph file.

Enjoyed meeting the 5 guests I came to meet, which took 30 minutes. Colette being the loveliest of a great group of people. I was amazed at how quiet the early entry period was but was glad to see the Aliens talk. Shame the staging was poor.

The biggest problem I had was getting my son into the convention after the talk. He had been elsewhere with my wife and daughters but wanted to look around. He walked up to the security people but didn't want to come through without me there. I asked at the door if I could come outside to get him as I had his ticket and the women with the radio (an arena official) said I wasn't allowed to leave and come back in again. I walked to the other doors and asked the Showmasters people who walked with me to make sure they knew I had already been admitted so I could get back in with my son. It didn't disrupt or ruin the day, it was just a bit of a faff. 

 

Edited August 13, 2017 by Queen_Sindel
other event info removed. Again: Not giving the show's name does not mean the forum rules don't apply.

[maxcat]

Hmmmm, although I wasn't actually at this con but I like to look very closely at whats going on at each con such as this one the security and the guest list appear to be the theme should I say some of you may be a miffed about. but in regards to the guest list i guess its whom Showmasters are asking to be guests at the show, which can be quite difficult if you have a large number who are asking say no and if they are asking 'rarer' or 'new' names to come headline. i've also never had a problem bringing food and drink into a Con as they're either hidden or in a lunchbox. but at the end of the day, its a comic con, and lots of us love to do them and Showmasters always put their utmost effort into creating a great show!

[Queen_Sindel]

I think the "no outside food" came up at the last Sheffield show a number of times already. The venue there indeed seems to take this very serously.

[D4vem88]

Did anyone get a photo with the Wizard Wanted poster?

[loveamyadams]

It was o.k but not really enough to do. Took 40 minutes to do the one guest i needed and then browse a couple of stalls i was interested in. And that was it. I should have known better but never been to Sheffield before and thought it would be a little busier.I also had food and drink they tried to take off me. Absolutely nothing to do with security despite their daft claims. Its simply to force people to buy their overpriced food within the venue. Nobody is fooled by these sort of claims any more.Most venues don't enforce these rules even if they have it in black and white on their website , as they know it causes ill will .Normally i don't take food to venues as i use local shops like the ones outside the Olympia but i didn't know the sheffield area so took my own to save time.None of these security people ( if you can even call them that) have the knowledge on how to spot something thats possibly dangerous due to a lack of proper training and half hearted bag searches. On my way home i realised in the smaller bag i still had some of my work stuff in the bag from the previous day including a knife i use for cutting cardboard.I came out in a rush as i got up late.The woman who checked my bags didn't bother with the smaller one ( missing the knife) and the larger bag has a false bottom and some side pockets none of which were checked ( because she wanted to make a big thing about no food which was placed on top of my big bag) making the whole thing completely pointless and just a gesture.They missed the knife but got the sausage roll! obviously the food and drink thing not an issue for showmasters ( or the venues poor token security) as you just hire the venue and no control over the local staff but showmasters could pass on peoples complaints. If the venue risk losing a booking over bad feedback they might change their greed. If other venues like Olympia and the NEC can do it when they are so much busier then they can too.These venues have no outside food and drink on their website too but they seem to accept its not really enforceable so they ignore it and use a bit of common sense.Anyway i just stepped aside in Sheffield and ate my food in front of them. 

[OurDek]

The security checks did seem to be rather random.   A guy three in front of me had a full metal detector scan (front and back) and frisk while my son's bag which has several zipped pockets was only checked in the main compartment with a quick prod inside from the female security officer.  We guessed that they were venue security rather than Showmasters.   Coming out was just as difficult, we had to hand over our printed tickets when we left, if we wanted to re-enter they were tearing corners of tickets but they discarded ours.