Dezzy

I completely agree with everything there. It takes no time at all to just put "To So-and-So.." before they sign an autograph - all you have to do is write out your name clearly on a piece of paper or a post it and it's as good as done. To some extent I can take being herded past like cattle if a guest is incredibly busy (see Elijah at C4, luckily I got a personalised auto and a pic but would have been pleased just to have met him). However, I don't appreciate my friends and myself being treated that way when there's no need. Sean Astin had an open queue at the end of either Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which day) and my two friends went to get an autograph. A crew member told them that there was no personalisation and no photos, even though THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES IN THE QUEUE! The reasoning behind the restrictions on Sean was that he was so busy, so why the rules had to be enforced when he wasn't I have no idea. (And yes, Sean immediately asked if they wanted their autos personalised and posed for a picture before they could even ask he was happy to do it)

Thanks! I may post some more up of Sean when Photobucket stops faffing around :)

Urgh, JCB. Definitely doesn't know how to treat people. I could tell you all some stuff, but my sources are confidential and I want to keep it that way

I have a couple of pictures I thought I'd share with all you lovely people Me with Sean Astin (boy was I drunk/dishevelled/tired) :) Sean thumb-wrestling Corin Nemec All in all, I enjoyed the event. However, I have some constructive criticism as well as general annoyances about the weekend. Why was Bernard Hill £15 on Saturday, and then £20 on Sunday? I'd figured out how much I had to spend beforehand, so in all the confusion (oh, and being hurried) I took the extra £5 from the wrong section of my wallet and ended up overspending, so I had to borrow money from a friend later that day. Fair enough - half of that problem was my own lack of organisation. And, you know, I didn't mind paying £20 for his autograph anyway. It was the unexplained change that annoyed me, on top of being hurred past him and not even getting to say anything except 'hello' and 'thank you' when there were approximately three people stood behind me in the queue at the time. Ah well. The Party - again, I quite enjoyed myself. Towards the end of the night the DJ hit the nail on the head with the choice of music in my opinion, but I do understand that the people at the con/party have varying tastes and all need to be accommodated for. I just don't think that the venue is suited to the event. There was stuff outside (and the weather was incredibly warm over the weekend) so people wanted to be outside. There were two rooms, so people didn't want to think that they were missing out on anything, so they were constantly going back and forth. I think the party upstairs needs something more to it - something going on at the front to draw people in. Some people were a little too shy to go on the dancefloor, but probably would have done had the crowd been bigger. Just .... I don't know, I feel that a change of venue is in order. My main prerogative in attending C7 was to get a personalised autograph from Sean Astin. Yes, I knew he'd be busy. No, I did not also expect a photo with him. Yes, I did get there at an ungodly hour. I expected C7 to be like the previous events - get there early enough and personalisation is a possibility. Get there later on and it's not. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but after all the people I've spoken to/met at these events (I'm a talkative person, and this was my sixth Showmasters event) I think I'm fairly sure in saying that most people would like a personalised autograph. I do understand that you need a balance here. The 'No Posed Photos' rule I can deal with - I understand that it's very time consuming and not an ideal situation when dealing with very busy guests. However, how much more time consuming is it if, say, you write your name (or whatever it is you want written on your autograph) on a piece of paper or a post-it before hand?? It takes what ... 2, maybe 3 seconds for a guest to look at it and then write it. I chose not to get Sean's autograph in the end, as I already had a non-personalised auto from him. It's a shame really, as all I wanted was my name on it. I think I'd even have paid an extra £5 for those five little extra letters. That sounds incredibly bitter, and I apologise. I was lucky enough to meet him at the party and see him thumb-wrestle Corin Nemec - that was worth the train fare alone. What with people going to talks and having to go home, Sean did have an open queue at the end of the day (which day it was I can't remember) and two of my friends were lucky enough to go see him and ask for personalisation and a quick photo, which he was happy to do. The only people who weren't happy about this was the crew. If the 'No Photos' rule was imposed because Sean didn't want to do photos, then that's fair enough and they, as we've done before, would have respected this rule. However, if that rule is imposed due to a guest being very busy, and at some point in the day they're not, I don't see what the problem is. Maybe the crew were worried about being told off for allowing someone to break the rule - I don't know. I just feel quite annoyed that my friends were made to feel very uncomfortable even though Sean was happy to do it. A crew member stood in front of them and said "No photos and no personalisation" even though they were THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE QUEUE. I just feel that that was a bit harsh. ..... I'm still tired from the weekend and I've run out of steam, so I'll post this and go get a coffee

I shall be attending on Sunday. This will me my 6th Showmasters event, so I shall definitely hunt you down *saunters off to finish packing*

Devon Murray? Woot!

Argh! there's still so much to do! I have to finish packing, organise train travel, buy food, buy vodka, get mum to tape Dr Who on Saturday night, organise what I'm going to wear, and then freak out anyway. Oh the joys of Collectormania!

Sean and John at the party? Woot! *does a happy dance around the forum*

If you go Here this shows you where the shopping centre is in relation to the train station. :)

I intend to see it with my friends on the Sunday night at the Xscape thingy. Looking forward to it - the film looks fantastic! :)

what freebies? *clueless* :)

Oooh, I hope they're net to CM as well! *hopes for high-profile Gryffindors and perhaps a teacher or two*

Actually, I'm rethinking the situation now - my coach journey would cost £20, whereas the train will cost £34. But if there's no free or normal buses then I'd have to get a taxi, and as someone previously said that's about £5 a pop .... kind of defeats the object of me bothering to get a cheaper coach ticket really ..... Bah! Stoopid buses, foiling my evil plot!

That's beautiful! *rightclicksave*

I intend on getting on a coach which gets me to MK coachway at about 1 o'clock on the afternoon on the Saturday. If anyone else is getting there for about that time, mayhaps we could share a cab and try to not get lost together!