Quinzel Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 It seems that there are a lot of complaints about the event, but I just wanted to take the opportunity to post a little good (since positive experiences are rarely shared!). I bought an early bird ticket but due to something popping up last-minute I was unable to get to the Arena until about midday, at which time there was an enormous queue. For us it was a two hour wait. The staff made the wait much more bearable than it ordinarily would have been. Everyone around me was in good spirits, there were staff members walking down the queue frequently to keep us updated, visitors with photoshoot tickets were being escorted to the front so that they wouldn't miss their slot, vendors were selling snacks and drinks, and the Storm Troopers, etc. were keeping the kids entertained. I was extremely impressed with all this, having in the past at other events just been left to queue with no idea what was going on and amidst increasingly frustrated visitors. I loved that the photos from photoshoots were printed off instantly rather than having to continue returning to a crowded table throughout the day to find yours - this saved a lot of time and space. The food and drink situation was great - never saw much of a queue anywhere. The arena was not the perfect venue for an event of this scale, but the space was utilised very well and obviously there was never a shortage of seating. Issues with attendance aside, I honestly thought that this was one of the best organised events I have been to in the UK. The problem was in the number of people that showed up. Perhaps it would have been worth making it a pre-bought ticket only event - if there were any tickets not sold online, they would be available on the door. As there is already a thread of negative experiences/opinions, how about we have a thread of positive feedback? Certainly some things did go wrong, but there was a lot that went right too and the organisers definitely need and deserve to know about that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadelouised Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) I had a great experience too! Absolutely amazing weekend. I got to meet everyone who I wanted to meet, and they all absolutely made my weekend. My brother had a brilliant time which was great because I'd bought the tickets for him for Christmas. I didn't have problems with queuing and not getting in and whatnot either day thankfully. On Sunday because I only wanted to meet Kai Owen I was in and out by 10am! There were so many little things that made it for me.. found John Leeson's book on a stall there and got it signed by him.. bought a knitted K9 then took a photo with John Leeson of us with our K9's (profile pic)! Snuck my K9 into a photo with Sylvester McCoy and he loved it.. was first in line to meet Kai Owen because I arrived at his table before he even did (keen.....), and Danny John Jules was such a chill guy. People's costumes were fantastic and the atmosphere was brilliant. Showmasters staff AND arena staff were amazing and lovely to me! Also John Leeson spoke to me in K9's voice and that has made my life, I don't think it'll ever be topped. Loved it so much I've booked Glasgow for my birthday in August. My only regret is that I didn't dress up. Edited March 9, 2014 by jadelouised 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johnson1970 Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Thought twas great! Found some vintage carded figures along with a boxed speeder bike with inserts and tray with bonus loose sw figure for a bargain 80 squid. Got a Terrahawks figure for 15 quid and tons of comics some signed by their creators. I have to say I was very impressed by the amount of quality stalls this w/e. Spent loads. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_g Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I'm lucky, as the whole weekend was like clockwork for me and I had a ball. The north east did us proud and I hope now there is such high demand it'll become a bigger and bigger deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompa Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I personally loved the weekend I didn't have any problems getting In on the Saturday and I bought a early bird ticket for the Sunday. I found the staff extremely helpful and polite also I was never board throughout the two days I certainly will be attending next year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BasG Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I had a great weekend as well, I arrived at the venue (without a ticket) at 9am and was in by 9:30am. I picked up my VQ for Carl Weathers first, met the other guest who I wanted to meet, then met Carl Weathers when it was my turn. The queues for the guests were not long at all and all guests I met really took their time and I had my picture taken with most of them. Then I took a seat in the talk area for the Carl Weathers/Ian Whyte talk, very entertaining. I had to wait a bit longer to meet Frank Bruno and I left the arena at about 1pm. Until I was on my train back to Glasgow and read comments on this forum and on Facebook I was completely oblivious to the problems that were encountered by many people who arrived a bit later. I hope despite these problems most people enjoyed their day/weekend anyway. I for one am happy this event was very successful in terms of interest/attendance and am already looking forward to the next NFCC. Now bring on Autographica, 12 days to go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie_443 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Just wondering if the crew only walked the line for pre paid tickets? I was in the pay on the day side for 5 hours, saw one crew member who was not able to give us an update. I walked to the front doors a few times and again couldn't find a crew member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinzel Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 Just wondering if the crew only walked the line for pre paid tickets? I was in the pay on the day side for 5 hours, saw one crew member who was not able to give us an update. I walked to the front doors a few times and again couldn't find a crew member I was initially in the pay on the day queue, and I saw staff members walking down (was only stood in it about 10/15 minutes). There were more with the pre-paid line but I think the reason for that was that, as we were told, the pay on the day line had been closed and someone had been down the line telling people after a certain point that they weren't going to get in. Seemed to be a mix of event staff and arena security. I think the priority was with the prepaid line because of photoshoots, etc - they were trying to prioritise who needed to get in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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