29 replies to this topic

[showmasters]

hi all

well now this event is over i can now say what i feel about the event


ok

the venue on the day informed us the parking was not going to be the same price as last time which was £1 and they were now going to charge £3 which i do think was a bit off   but we could not get them to change it but we did try

next

we have been asked by one or to agents to let "them" bring in guests to the show, some guests that maybe we would not want to bring in as we have worked with them before so we felt this could work and that it might be a good thing for the fans and the show

well this is not something we will be doing again as we are not in control of the guests and if anything gos wrong it comes back on us

the price of the 007 guests were priced up not buy us and were made up buy the guests and agents at the show, the price of autos this is something i do feel strongly about

many of you are not aware that some guests if left to them would charge a lot more than what we have them charge at most of the events we run  and letting guests come to the shows though agents bring them means we cannot control the price so this is something we will not be letting happen again

and the prices will be caped at what we feel is fair

also the guests were not looked after buy our crew which i do thing do a great job for the fans and the guests

next

some of the Dr who guests were also brought in buy a new broker  to us and 2 of this persons guests did not show up and that also let the show down  and now we will just book all this brokers guests direct he can find them and we book them to stop this from happening again

next

i would say as this event was one of the cheapest events around for dealers tables for a 2 day show i think the selection of of tables was very good and interesting

next

as the event was not busy all the fans did get more time with the guests to talk to which is a good thing

next  

I do not think this is the best place to run Collectormania Midlands  and before this event we have decided to move it to the Hilton Metropole NEC hotel were we ran Autographica 11 this year and it was a great place to run an event  we only used 1 hall this year for Autographica  but with the 3 large rooms this will be a great place to run  Collectormania Midlands and with it being a 5 star hotel we can bring in bigger names and also have a great time in the evenings

so lots to look forward to

next and last

people must see that in this time were the world is going a bit to pot things do wobble and hit the odd brick wall, i will not go into to much on here as its privet to one or two of the guests we planed to have attend this event, but a lot of things went wrong with the guests for this event some of this was not down to us and others were just bad luck,   now we have run lots of events and we do pull them of well most of the time but i will agree that this was not our finest hour, but things are now in place to reduce the possibility of us being so unfortunate again with guests at a single event

we do care and only want to run good priced and fun and fair events you all have to see that

i hope you can see we were not happy to have had to run an event with this so few guests and event fewer big names

i can ashore you all we have lots of things in place for next your to show you all we can pull of the best event sin the world like we did back in July at LFCC

we all look forward to showing you what we have planed for the events next year and we are also pleased the be able to move on from this event which we new would not be the best and there was very little we could have done as it was short notice

thank you all for the people that did attend the event and for understanding the difficulties we have had at this event

thank you for reading this

jason

[TommyT]

Thanks for the prompt and pretty full explanation of so many of the issues that have been raised. No doubt the debate over the number of shows per year will rumble on into the next ice age, but I think you've covered a lot of the issues specific to this show.
My one suggestion would be that if there are going to be mods who are not at the show, and if they are going to be available online during the show, it might be nice if somebody at the show could call them or drop them a text about any last minute cancellations, so that they could post the news. I know it might not always be possible to organise, but it would perhaps be of use to people.
Thanks again for the post - it is to be hoped that people appreciate your frank approach.

Edited by TommyT, 03 November 2008 - 01:08 AM.

[showmasters]

a good point

the person that cook some of the stuff of the site was not someone that would do this she was just trying to help out

but it is a fair point and  Andrea dose this most of the time but we had lot of issues with internet over the weekend and that is also why we had someone mod for us this weekend

it has been taken on board

thanks

jason

[yesindeed]

TommyT, on Nov 3 2008, 01:06 AM, said:

Thanks for the prompt and pretty full explanation of so many of the issues that have been raised. No doubt the debate over the number of shows per year will rumble on into the next ice age, but I think you've covered a lot of the issues specific to this show.

you should see glasgow right now, 1.15 in the morning and its so cold i have ice on my window!

[showmasters]

i will see you up there soon mate

"stay frosty"

jason

[Chiandra]

Can I ask what is SO wrong with the Ricoh Arena as a venue? It is a stone's throw away from a major motorway network, has much more food & shop facilites available in the immediate walking distance than the Metropole and is also a darn site cheaper than having to pay 5 star hotel prices for food, drink and facilities throughout the course of a weekend.

You state that having an event at a 5 star Hotel rather than a Football Stadium will mean you can encourage more guests to attend? Well where have you just moved the MK convention to? - don't you have any 5 star hotels in Milton Keynes?

[TommyT]

Chiandra, on Nov 3 2008, 01:34 AM, said:

don't you have any 5 star hotels in Milton Keynes?

Not sure there's anything better than a 3 star, to be honest.

[Psychosis]

Chiandra, on Nov 3 2008, 02:34 AM, said:

Can I ask what is SO wrong with the Ricoh Arena as a venue? It is a stone's throw away from a major motorway network, has much more food & shop facilites available in the immediate walking distance than the Metropole and is also a darn site cheaper than having to pay 5 star hotel prices for food, drink and facilities throughout the course of a weekend.

You state that having an event at a 5 star Hotel rather than a Football Stadium will mean you can encourage more guests to attend? Well where have you just moved the MK convention to? - don't you have any 5 star hotels in Milton Keynes?

For me, the distance is a factor. I don't have a car. With the new venue I can just stroll out of the train station and be there - not so, unfortunately, with this. I'm pleased with the move.  No longer stuck out in the middle of nowhere  

[oldnick]

Chiandra, on Nov 3 2008, 01:34 AM, said:

Can I ask what is SO wrong with the Ricoh Arena as a venue? It is a stone's throw away from a major motorway network, has much more food & shop facilites available in the immediate walking distance than the Metropole and is also a darn site cheaper than having to pay 5 star hotel prices for food, drink and facilities throughout the course of a weekend.

You state that having an event at a 5 star Hotel rather than a Football Stadium will mean you can encourage more guests to attend? Well where have you just moved the MK convention to? - don't you have any 5 star hotels in Milton Keynes?

I'm a fan of the Ricoh, living close by, but I can see two major interrelated problems.

One is the shortage of accommodation on site. the other is the distance, and hence cost, of transport from major public transport and hotels.

It's an excellent venue for people who can travel by car on the day, but for anyone who wants to travel by public transport and stay in an hotel, it works out as very pricey.

Edited by oldnick, 03 November 2008 - 09:32 AM.

[MikeDonovan]

Chiandra, on Nov 3 2008, 01:34 AM, said:

don't you have any 5 star hotels in Milton Keynes?

You'd be surprised, but 5 star hotels are actually few and far between - especially outside of London. Even 4*'s are relatively unusual. There will be a few 4*s in Milton Keynes though. I will say  that while there are certain things a hotel 'has' to have to be 4*, it's not always an exact science - I've stayed in a few 4* hotels that I wouldn't give 2 stars to :)

Edited by MikeDonovan, 03 November 2008 - 10:07 AM.

[Psychosis]

Also, can I just add that the NEC is actually easier to access by road than the Ricoh Arena? It is literally straight off the M6.

[nicky]

showmasters, on Nov 3 2008, 12:36 AM, said:

the venue on the day informed us the parking was not going to be the same price as last time which was £1 and they were now going to charge £3 which i do think was a bit off   but we could not get them to change it but we did try

I didnt actually notice the difference in price it was so long ago. I actually like the venue and hope the new one's parking facilites is easy.

[oldnick]

Psychosis, on Nov 3 2008, 10:02 AM, said:

Also, can I just add that the NEC is actually easier to access by road than the Ricoh Arena? It is literally straight off the M6.

Well, not really. A mile down the A444 from  M6 junction 3 isn't really very different from a mile through the NEC grounds from the M6 or M42 junctions.

Both are great for access by road - it's the buses, trains, and planes where the Hilton Metropole wins.

nicky, on Nov 3 2008, 11:05 AM, said:

showmasters, on Nov 3 2008, 12:36 AM, said:

the venue on the day informed us the parking was not going to be the same price as last time which was £1 and they were now going to charge £3 which i do think was a bit off   but we could not get them to change it but we did try

I didnt actually notice the difference in price it was so long ago. I actually like the venue and hope the new one's parking facilites is easy.

The Hilton / Metropole has a good area of parking immediately outside the hotel. It's a bit of a sprawl of linked carparks, and they do charge, but there's usually enough of it, and it's all a) within a short walk of the hotel, and separate from the NEC car parking which surrounds it.

Edited by oldnick, 03 November 2008 - 11:07 AM.

[vintageSW77]

It cost us £13 in a taxi from the hotel to the Ricoh and the same back.
Im glad its moving.

[hello-to-you]

I'm glad it's moving because I can arrive by train and walk to the hotel ..... and the NEC where another larger event will be clashing.

See the reason now ?

[Mr Bennet]

I still believe that Showmasters need to do less events a year. If they have less events but more guests at the shows they do have, then more poeple are likely to make the journey and spend more money.

I understand they want as many people to eaily be able to attend they're shows but why not ease the load and have one Collectormania MK, one CM Midands ect

[TerraHawk]

hello-to-you, on Nov 3 2008, 11:21 AM, said:

I'm glad it's moving because I can arrive by train and walk to the hotel ..... and the NEC where another larger event will be clashing.

See the reason now ?

Is that the same weekend? in that case i don't suppose stall room will be soo much of an issue. And I guess it means my chance of attending has just doubled at least.

[RMC001]

I remember that during the MK event last spring when John Barrowman attended, my family and I were asked to complete a survey, the questions were "Had we come for the event?", "If so, are you also going around the shops in the centre","How much are you spending in those shops","Are you using the restaurants" etc. At this point I realised the people who run the shopping centre were starting to question whether or not the event was bringing more customers in, and if the survey showed people were not using the local amenities, the event was going to be short lived. I was right - the MK event has been moved to a stadium, which is sad because we certainly used the shops and restaurants when we went and we told them that in the survey.
Over the weekend, not only did we purchase drinks and food in the hall, not only did we make use of the retail park next door, but I purchased something from the football shop, letting them know I was here for the event, just in case of some similar survey taking place. Unfortunately it didn't do much good, because later I found it was moving to the Metropole anyway!

[Chipwad]

Spell check alert Mr.Mod LOL. In all honesty I don't think it was too bad and I'd hate to see it change venues. It's only up the road for me.

Edited by Chipwad, 03 November 2008 - 02:18 PM.

[jael001]

Chipwad, on Nov 3 2008, 01:49 PM, said:

Spell check alert Mr.Mod LOL.

"Mr Mod" is Jason who runs Showmasters and he's dyslexic, please dont be so rude.