PeterMegahey1701 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I thought I’d give a detailed review of my gold pass experience to help people who are thinking about getting one for future events. Firstly you arrive to a long queue at the entrance with no dedicated entrance for gold pass people that I could find, but that’s not a problem because you’re in no hurry to get inside as u have VT #1 to everyone. Then you get to enjoy the nice long queue at the Showmasters table even to get your pass. Only to find that they don’t have your (£75) Pack. But the crew are kind and helpful and suggest sending it out to me which I’m happy with. Now here come the problems; 1st: The gold Pass is only useful on guests using the VT system but only 4 where. Now that’s not a moan because I knew before a bought the pass that it was completely at Showmasters decresion who were using VT. However on Sunday some guests needed VT for the first 200 people in my opinion. 2nd: Showmasters Forgot what Virtual Queuing is. It means that you don’t have to actually queue for a guest. You can browse the dealers or see other guests while waiting for your number to go on the boards. Then you join the back of a short queue. A gold pass ticket allows you to join the back of that SHORT queue. Wendy (who was an absolute star and deserves some kind of medal) from the front Showmasters desk said “there should only be 10-12 people in the queue at a time, that’s the whole point of virtual queuing, if there’s anymore then that’s down to lousy pit bossing†she then continued “That queue should not be there and you should pretend that it’s not and join the back of the 10-12 people who should be there†basically she wanted me to queue cut which of course every crew member knows that the gold pass doesn’t give you the right to do. So I had to have a small argument with about 5 members of crew to get into Leonard Nimoy and Ben Browder's queue where I should be. And even though each individual argument was resolved in a professional and respectful way, 5 small arguments feels like one big argument to me. I got a bit sick of saying “Wendy says that the queue shouldn’t be longer then 10-12 people and i should join the back of those 10-12 people, that’s what VQ is for, if you have any problems with me jumping in here take them up with her†and paying £175 for the privilege. Overall I felt that the pass had its advantages but failed on one massive factor. It was supposed to make you feel more relaxed and instead made you more stressed then if you didn’t have one. In LFCC 07, 08 and C12 I thought the virtual queuing was executed with the level of perfection and class we have come to expect from Showmasters. Unfortunately now it needs more work. Overall event review Dealers were amazing Quests were the best ever (and the nicest) Tom and Avery were brilliant. That’s all that really matters in an event like this so thank you Showmasters for organising a great show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Parkers-Girl Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I do agree that the lack of VTs wasn't good I was not a Gold pass but I rushed Sat morning to get a VT for tom, planning to go back to car for my photos n such to be signed later, but he didnt have VTs Iv never known so few Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMegahey1701 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Yeah Tom needed VT all day really. He always had around 25 people in his queue. well worth the wait though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdog Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I think you have a point. For example, I was surprised how quickly tickets up to 200 were being allowed in even though the queues were already pretty long. For an average punter its a minor gripe but if I'd been in your position with a Gold Pass I can see it can be very annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightymax Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I have used Gold Passes in the past but only for LFCC not CM. Just for a mixture of reasons (seems to be more guests that I want at LFCC, talks, and its more difficult for me to get to LFCC so I like the idea of not wanting to worry about queues etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma62 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) I also had a Gold pass and thought that it was well worth the money this time. I had 9 photo sessions during the 2 days, with 6 on Sunday and I was at the front of the queue for all of them, except Leonard Nimoy's as I also had John Delancie at the same time. But I was allowed into the Nimoy session as soon as I got there. Also, with the autograph sessions, I wanted all the very popular guests as well as a few others, but I never had to wait more than 5 minutes to see anyone, including Leonard Nimoy. However, I did notice that some queues, such as Leonard Nimoy's, did seem to be very long at times, especially considering how the VT system is supposed to work i.e short queues. I guess I was just lucky to get there when it was much shorter. Overall, I saw everyone I wanted & had time to look around the stalls, didn't have to rush & felt stress-free at the end of each day. I do agree with the issues regarding the entrance & organiser's booth as I think there should have been specific doors for the Gold pass holders and a separate area to collect the gold passes & packs. I have had Gold passes before & sometimes thought it was a waste of money, but other times, such as this time, felt it was worth it.......for me, anyway. Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days I was there, thought all the guests I met were friendly and I'm now looking forward to LFCC next month...when I also have a Gold pass! Edited June 8, 2009 by Enigma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwarfbabe Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I also had a Gold pass and thought that it was well worth the money this time. I had 9 photo sessions during the 2 days, with 6 on Sunday and I was at the front of the queue for all of them, except Leonard Nimoy's as I also had John Delancie at the same time. But I was allowed into the Nimoy session as soon as I got there. Also, with the autograph sessions, I wanted all the very popular guests as well as a few others, but I never had to wait more than 5 minutes to see anyone, including Leonard Nimoy. However, I did notice that some queues, such as Leonard Nimoy's, did seem to be very long at times, especially considering how the VT system is supposed to work i.e short queues. I guess I was just lucky to get there when it was much shorter. Overall, I saw everyone I wanted & had time to look around the stalls, didn't have to rush & felt stress-free at the end of each day. I do agree with the issues regarding the entrance & organiser's booth as I think there should have been specific doors for the Gold pass holders and a separate area to collect the gold passes & packs. I have had Gold passes before & sometimes thought it was a waste of money, but other times, such as this time, felt it was worth it.......for me, anyway. Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days I was there, thought all the guests I met were friendly and I'm now looking forward to LFCC next month...when I also have a Gold pass! Hello Enigma. I agree with everything you say. Definitely an almost stress free weekend and my autograph pack was one of the best I've had so far. I picked my Gold pass up on the Friday afternoon and, seeing the queues on Saturday morning, I'm glad I did. I've got a Gold pass for LFCC next month as well. Maybe I'll see you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma62 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I also had a Gold pass and thought that it was well worth the money this time. I had 9 photo sessions during the 2 days, with 6 on Sunday and I was at the front of the queue for all of them, except Leonard Nimoy's as I also had John Delancie at the same time. But I was allowed into the Nimoy session as soon as I got there. Also, with the autograph sessions, I wanted all the very popular guests as well as a few others, but I never had to wait more than 5 minutes to see anyone, including Leonard Nimoy. However, I did notice that some queues, such as Leonard Nimoy's, did seem to be very long at times, especially considering how the VT system is supposed to work i.e short queues. I guess I was just lucky to get there when it was much shorter. Overall, I saw everyone I wanted & had time to look around the stalls, didn't have to rush & felt stress-free at the end of each day. I do agree with the issues regarding the entrance & organiser's booth as I think there should have been specific doors for the Gold pass holders and a separate area to collect the gold passes & packs. I have had Gold passes before & sometimes thought it was a waste of money, but other times, such as this time, felt it was worth it.......for me, anyway. Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days I was there, thought all the guests I met were friendly and I'm now looking forward to LFCC next month...when I also have a Gold pass! Hello Enigma. I agree with everything you say. Definitely an almost stress free weekend and my autograph pack was one of the best I've had so far. I picked my Gold pass up on the Friday afternoon and, seeing the queues on Saturday morning, I'm glad I did. I've got a Gold pass for LFCC next month as well. Maybe I'll see you there. You never know......maybe you will! Can't miss me.......short, fat, tattooed, bald bloke! And those are my good points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avengers7 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ive got a Gold Pass for LFACC as well - I thought there was separate entrance for holders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma62 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ive got a Gold Pass for LFACC as well - I thought there was separate entrance for holders? From past experience, at LFCC there is, but at this last weekends C15 there wasn't so Gold pass holders had to queue with everyone else. It wasn't really a problem for me as the doors had already opened when I arrived and everyone had already gone in and at the organisers booth I picked up my pass reasonably quickly. So I was happy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwarfbabe Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) I also had a Gold pass and thought that it was well worth the money this time. I had 9 photo sessions during the 2 days, with 6 on Sunday and I was at the front of the queue for all of them, except Leonard Nimoy's as I also had John Delancie at the same time. But I was allowed into the Nimoy session as soon as I got there. Also, with the autograph sessions, I wanted all the very popular guests as well as a few others, but I never had to wait more than 5 minutes to see anyone, including Leonard Nimoy. However, I did notice that some queues, such as Leonard Nimoy's, did seem to be very long at times, especially considering how the VT system is supposed to work i.e short queues. I guess I was just lucky to get there when it was much shorter. Overall, I saw everyone I wanted & had time to look around the stalls, didn't have to rush & felt stress-free at the end of each day. I do agree with the issues regarding the entrance & organiser's booth as I think there should have been specific doors for the Gold pass holders and a separate area to collect the gold passes & packs. I have had Gold passes before & sometimes thought it was a waste of money, but other times, such as this time, felt it was worth it.......for me, anyway. Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days I was there, thought all the guests I met were friendly and I'm now looking forward to LFCC next month...when I also have a Gold pass! Hello Enigma. I agree with everything you say. Definitely an almost stress free weekend and my autograph pack was one of the best I've had so far. I picked my Gold pass up on the Friday afternoon and, seeing the queues on Saturday morning, I'm glad I did. I've got a Gold pass for LFCC next month as well. Maybe I'll see you there. You never know......maybe you will! Can't miss me.......short, fat, tattooed, bald bloke! And those are my good points You sound like you could be the chap who was just in front of me in the John de Lancie photo queue. He wasn't what I'd call fat though, just a bit on the stocky side. If that's you and I see you at LFCC, I'll pop across and say hello. Mind you, once I see Sendhil Ramamurthy, it's likely to be a long time before I move again. I'll probably decide I want to stay and enjoy the view for as long as I can. Edited June 9, 2009 by dwarfbabe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedude57 Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I see no reason for gold passes on CM events when you don't pay for the entrance (ok for LFaCC i suppose) i do not see any advantages i arrived on Sunday 1 hour before opening and following short queueing obtained tickets number 1 for Burn Gorman, ticket number 19 for Philip Glenister and number 6 for Nathan Fillion. This allowed me to go round the show at my own pace, checking out the dealers, obtaining signatures of the the non - VT quests (andrew robinson, Kerri green and mark Mcclure) and joining the queues of the 3 VT tickets when ever i wanted (only slight wait for burn to reappear after photoshoot) We had great time, met the guests we needed, brought plenty of goodies and was still away by 1230hrs to head home - and it did not cost me a £175 pass for the pleasure. I can agree (at some shows) why gold pass could help, but for all the collectermania MK's i have been to (all but 2) i have never seen the need the dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterMegahey1701 Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 I think you have a point. For example, I was surprised how quickly tickets up to 200 were being allowed in even though the queues were already pretty long. For an average punter its a minor gripe but if I'd been in your position with a Gold Pass I can see it can be very annoying. Yeah just a bit, lol. There was one point where Nimoy's queue had about 50 people in it and I watched in horror as the crew put the VT number up. I think if there’s more the 20 in a queue the queue should be closed. But then you'd have people queuing to queue. Showmasters could lower the VT number if it gets too busy. But then that would defeat the point of being able to see the guest whenever you want once your number’s been called. The only realistic solution is that the VT number goes up at the right time, Even if it has to go up in 5's or 10's. When there are already 50 in the queue the VT number goes up 50 you’re just asking for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dum dumdum Dum Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I have to admit that I am slightly amazed to hear that Wendy said a queue of more than 10-12 was down to poor pit-bossing........ In fact with the way this event was laid out there would be more than 10 people between the guest and the photo table! Having said that this was the first time I saw the queueing to queue phenomenon and I am not too sure where that came from. Normally I would ask people nicely to go away and come back in about 20 minutes once the queue had gone down a bit and promise that the number wouldn't go up in that time. This time there seemed to be a new policy from somwhere. The only thing I can think is that it was in the hope of getting more people to see the guest quickly. Personally I didn't like it or see what the point was and agree that it kind of made the VQ system redundent! Still maybe it all came down to the venue and layout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinC Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Must admit although I bought a Gold Pass and only used it once (for Ben), I was gonna use it on the Sun morning for Leonard Nimoy, but from early on his queue stretched round to the dealer's area. The others were all open queue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flibble Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Thank you all for posting your gold pass reviews. I have bought a gold pass for the LFCC and wasn't sure quite how it all worked, but now I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdt1984 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Thank you all for posting your gold pass reviews. I have bought a gold pass for the LFCC and wasn't sure quite how it all worked, but now I know! So, just so I'm clear on this (I was contemplating LFCC), the gold pass doesn't include autographs from the guests? It'd be awesome if SM released a pass that was like the Gold Pass but included 1 autograph from each guest... *hint* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwarfbabe Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Thank you all for posting your gold pass reviews. I have bought a gold pass for the LFCC and wasn't sure quite how it all worked, but now I know! So, just so I'm clear on this (I was contemplating LFCC), the gold pass doesn't include autographs from the guests? It'd be awesome if SM released a pass that was like the Gold Pass but included 1 autograph from each guest... *hint* You're correct in thinking that it doesn't include autographs from the guests. Don't forget that you do get an autograph pack of your choice from those available though. For SM to release a pass like the Gold Pass that included 1 autograph from each guest is a nice thought but, unfortunately, never going to happen. At an event like LFCC, they'd have to price it really high because of the number of the guests that they get and no one would be able to afford it. What would be good though would be for the Gold Pass to include an additional option for autograph vouchers instead of a pack. The value of the vouchers would of course be equal to the estimated value of the packs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stobbs Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Definitely an almost stress free weekend and my autograph pack was one of the best I've had so far. what did you get in the autograph pack? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooby81 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Definitely an almost stress free weekend and my autograph pack was one of the best I've had so far. what did you get in the autograph pack? I was going to ask the same thing. What did people get in their autograph packs? Just weighing up in my mind if a Gold Pass would be worth me getting for a future event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwarfbabe Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Definitely an almost stress free weekend and my autograph pack was one of the best I've had so far. what did you get in the autograph pack? I was going to ask the same thing. What did people get in their autograph packs? Just weighing up in my mind if a Gold Pass would be worth me getting for a future event I went for the Stargate one and got Michael Shanks, Chris Judge, Carmen Argenziano, Torri Higginson and Jason Momoa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKKNIGHTS Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I got the same photos as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHiFu1010 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Yeah Tom needed VT all day really. He always had around 25 people in his queue. well worth the wait though. I didnt get a VT for Tom why did everyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queen_Sindel Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Yeah Tom needed VT all day really. He always had around 25 people in his queue. well worth the wait though. I didnt get a VT for Tom why did everyone else? Apparently he started off the day with no VT and then they gave them out after all because the lines got too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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