114 replies to this topic

[Talie]

DavidB, on Aug 4 2009, 01:05 PM, said:

It's on the dates that Abrams Inc would have been if it hadn't been cancelled, so this event took its place and therefore had a short time right from the get go.

Presumably it was planned on being something easier and quicker to organise due to the guests being UK based.

ahhh right thanks

[leanne_marie2007]

bewarethepossums, on Aug 4 2009, 10:15 PM, said:

Harsh times. But if we're stating opinions here...

Quote

also i find it fascinating how over what is in fact 2 days, SM are gonna fill the days up with autographs and talks - with only 3 minor guests... hmmmmm interesting eh?!

Well if you actually read the threads pinned at the top of the forum before having a rant, then you may see that it's quite evident they're making a humongous effort to bring us a range of activities to fill up the weekend that most other people seem to be 1) excited about and 2) appreciative of.

Maybe that doesn't make up for "meeting famous people" for some, but surprisingly enough other fans come because they actually like the fandom as well. Meeting people who are just as enthusiastic about it and all that. Perhaps even having fun? A PPP workshop for example seems pretty fun (and damn inventive too - obviously not a result of poor effort) to me. Not "kinda pointless" (in which case why bother going?).

Quote

(also, at least 75% of the people going or wanting to go are fans of twilight aswell, so i would say most of these people are poor now because of 3 eternal twilights and the proms.... )

I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a complaint about Showmasters. But they run events for fans. It's their job. We can't complain if there are lots of events we want to go to.

Though I guess that's a problem in itself. The Twilight mentality, and the fact that there are so many more people around who are part of it. It seems to be more of a "we all like these books and movies with - oooohh - pretty actors we just /have/ to meet" thing than the HP fandom that seems in my opinion to be more community-centered.

Notice that most previous huge HP conventions (mainly USA I suppose) are more about meeting up and being rabid geeks /together/ whilst not being laughed at for running around in cloaks...than hero worship, like you see at Twicon etc. (Not that I will ever complain about meeting Kellan Lutz xD)

So the fact that we have the possibility of guests at all could even be seen as a huge bonus!

Well said   I plan on having an awesome weekend with my friends and get to meet lots of new friends - I still love you SM / ME

[sagart]

bewarethepossums, on Aug 4 2009, 10:15 PM, said:

the fact that we have the possibility of guests at all could even be seen as a huge bonus!

It could be seen as a bonus if it wasn't for the fact that said guests were promised from the start and some of us booked tickets intending to meet them.

[TeamJacobEdward]

sagart, on Aug 4 2009, 11:17 PM, said:

bewarethepossums, on Aug 4 2009, 10:15 PM, said:

the fact that we have the possibility of guests at all could even be seen as a huge bonus!

It could be seen as a bonus if it wasn't for the fact that said guests were promised from the start and some of us booked tickets intending to meet them.

Agreed!

We aren't posting here to cause trouble; but where else can we vent our frustrations about the event? I am just genuinely annoyed by the situation because we expected some main characters - which were in fact promised along with supporting cast. It's not like we have lost a tenner, these tickets plus hotel and travel come to a lot of money, especially for a student like me so i expect my moneys worth. I know SM are probably trying their best, but shouldn't they have had some indication that the actors wouldn't attend from the outset...and if so, warned us? I'm not bashing SM because ET1 was fantastic which is why i booked my MM tickets straight away...i guess if i do go to another event after ET2 i won't be so hasty!

[DavidB]

They won't comment on the guest list before it's finalised. They can't.

All they can do is suggest what they're aiming for. That has to be taken in context.

They can't 'promise' a certain amount of main cast members. It just doesn't work like that, and it's unfortunate if some people saw it like that.

[kegan5]

DavidB, on Aug 5 2009, 12:06 AM, said:

They won't comment on the guest list before it's finalised. They can't.

All they can do is suggest what they're aiming for. That has to be taken in context.

They can't 'promise' a certain amount of main cast members. It just doesn't work like that, and it's unfortunate if some people saw it like that.

To be fair I don't think anyone misread anything...

showmasters, on Jul 3 2009, 08:54 PM, said:

We are pleased to announce a new Massive Events convention, Muggle Mayhem, a weekend convention for fans of Harry Potter, Mugglenet.com and all things magical.

Standard Adult Event Programme:
With the standard adult event programme, this will include Registration pack/Goody pack, Access to 3 parties over the weekend, Access to all talks over the days of the event, 1 free autograph from each of the 4 SUPPORTING cast*. Plus Fan fiction competitions, Cosplay competitions, Academic symposium and Auction.

* - Autographs from REGULAR cast members are sold separately. ie. those that appear in most of the films. Also note that the free autographs included in the programme will be on personal items that you
bring to the event with you.

...

It clearly states 4 supporting cast members, the * refers to the cost of additional autographs that would be charged seperately.

Jason himself then said:

showmasters, on Jul 3 2009, 09:33 PM, said:

There will be  4 SUPPORTING cast that you will get one free auto from each

and there will be several more guest attending which there autos will be charged for separately all in all we hope to bring at least 8 guests to this event maybe more ? we shall see we will have the first few guest put up in the next few days

we are so excited as we have wanted to run a Harry Potter event for years and now its come true    

hope to see you there

jason  

The indication given all along was that there would be at least 4 guests.  

We all know SM do their best, seen it first hand at many other events :) and as much as I love Potter, and the ideas been put into this con now there is no way anyone can tell me it's worth £125...

I still have every faith in SM, this isn't meant to knock them in any way shape or form, just wanted to make a clear point, that we're not being delusional the posts are there in plain english.

Edited by kegan5, 04 August 2009 - 11:22 PM.

[sagart]

DavidB, on Aug 5 2009, 12:06 AM, said:

They won't comment on the guest list before it's finalised. They can't.

All they can do is suggest what they're aiming for. That has to be taken in context.

They can't 'promise' a certain amount of main cast members. It just doesn't work like that, and it's unfortunate if some people saw it like that.

Come on DavidB, I know you'll always stick up for SM and I, for one, know that can't always be easy but SM did more than 'suggest' what they were planning for this con. It's been repeated a number of times what the original guest plan was for this con and it's clearthat that plan is not what's happening and even if they do somehow manage to pull another couple of guests out of the hat, it'll be too late for most of us who needed to make plans long before this.

Look, I know I'm sounding like a broken record and I don't mean to get at you at all. You're in the firing line I suppose and I admire the way you always come on here and try to keep us all in order (not an easy thing) but SM need to address these issues here, online. If the con doesn't work out as they hoped (and I know they'll try their best), then they need to be upfront and admit that holding on to the hope of great guests, 2 days before the con starts is an impossible position for many of us.

I've been to many CM's and LFCC's and they're always great. No one's gonna hold it against SM for trying and coming up short but a little reality and common sense is perhaps what we need right now.

[MICHEALS KILLER]

I think they should cancel the con, and re-think of doing this one in the near future. As it be a great one to do and they could possiably get new guests, they should really focus on the LFCC london, C16, LFCC 2010 and other major cons. Showmasters can add Harry Potter stars to another con. This muggle mayhem seems to be alot like the Lost con were it didnt happen. But i do indeed have faith in showmasters they may still pull it together.

[TurkFox]

MICHEALS KILLER, on Aug 5 2009, 07:30 AM, said:

I think they should cancel the con, and re-think of doing this one in the near future. As it be a great one to do and they could possiably get new guests, they should really focus on the LFCC london, C16, LFCC 2010 and other major cons. Showmasters can add Harry Potter stars to another con. This muggle mayhem seems to be alot like the Lost con were it didnt happen. But i do indeed have faith in showmasters they may still pull it together.

I don't agree, most people would lose money somewhere if it was cancelled, whether it be travel or whatever.

[kegan5]

TurkFox, on Aug 5 2009, 11:06 AM, said:

MICHEALS KILLER, on Aug 5 2009, 07:30 AM, said:

I think they should cancel the con, and re-think of doing this one in the near future. As it be a great one to do and they could possiably get new guests, they should really focus on the LFCC london, C16, LFCC 2010 and other major cons. Showmasters can add Harry Potter stars to another con. This muggle mayhem seems to be alot like the Lost con were it didnt happen. But i do indeed have faith in showmasters they may still pull it together.

I don't agree, most people would lose money somewhere if it was cancelled, whether it be travel or whatever.

People are losing money anyway, there's no real answer to this... If the line up remains as it is then obviously me personally... as enjoyable it will be running around in a cloak battling Beaubaxtons in the tri wizard tournament etc... there's still no way it's worth £125 in which case I've lost money or however you want to see it that's the bottom line.

I feel bad knocking the line up, but I bet if you asked any of them if they'd pay that money to meet the equivelent of themselves they'd probably disagree :)

I'm just hoping now SM will do the decent thing and come up with a solution that would suit at least the majority if not everyone, obvious one would be to find a last minute guest, reduce the ticket prices, offer something for the next MM2 if there would be one (not a free t shirt! lol), or... since I live about 6 miles from the Potter studios I might drive down myself and pick a random actor lol, and bring them with me

I do hope things work out, but kind of agree on the cancelling part if the current weekend stays as it is.

Edited by kegan5, 05 August 2009 - 10:25 AM.

[TerraHawk]

TurkFox, on Aug 5 2009, 11:06 AM, said:

I don't agree, most people would lose money somewhere if it was cancelled, whether it be travel or whatever.

yes, no point panicking people either. It's far too late to cancel

As it is ME are probably going have to top up the donation for the charity to save face, its hard to imagine it making that much of a profit

Edited by TerraHawk, 05 August 2009 - 10:44 AM.

[TurkFox]

kegan5, on Aug 5 2009, 11:25 AM, said:

or... since I live about 6 miles from the Potter studios I might drive down myself and pick a random actor lol, and bring them with me

Pick Chris Rankin! He gave me doughnuts once when I was upset.

[kegan5]

wouldn't it make more sense, rather than holding an event clearly a majority are not happy with at least cost wise.

Re schedule an event that's likely to get the potter fans flocking, more ticket sales, better for the charity and if like the twilight cons it was a success which I imagine it would be, MM2 would be equally successful and it would work out better overall.

Clearly I/we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, lol Daniel could have a pen in his hand ready to sign for all we know, but I dunno I can't help but feel if this continues to be pushed with random ways to overlook the lack of guests many will avoid booking for MM2... or be a bit apprehensive at least.

... unless a good line up is announced from the start :)


Lol I'll see if i can find Chris, I'll tell him we need to go to a big donught factory xx


EDIT: Clearly I have no idea of any costs for SM to cancel this event etc, the idea is coming purely from a guests point of view :)  Ah well, I can't see them cancelling realistically, i intend to enjoy myself regardless.

Sorry if I come across as a moaning minnie x

Edited by kegan5, 05 August 2009 - 10:45 AM.

[Talie]

I deffo would've come had there been more of a time scale I love HP as much as twilight, even more so (first love haha)

However like without sounding harsh Nigel isn't even a character from the books :| and Gaunt doesn't even play pansy anymore, like kegan said 125 for these actors is very steep. I think David is being very admirable, but why are SM leaving him to deal with the flack :/

Again I'm not attacking SM (I do worry that if I say ANYTHING negative i'm gonna get banned from future events lol ;( ) and I do loveeeeeee the twilight events.

Edited by Crépuscule, 05 August 2009 - 11:35 AM.

[hufflethispuffleemilie]

bewarethepossums, on Aug 4 2009, 10:15 PM, said:

Harsh times. But if we're stating opinions here...

Quote

also i find it fascinating how over what is in fact 2 days, SM are gonna fill the days up with autographs and talks - with only 3 minor guests... hmmmmm interesting eh?!

Well if you actually read the threads pinned at the top of the forum before having a rant, then you may see that it's quite evident they're making a humongous effort to bring us a range of activities to fill up the weekend that most other people seem to be 1) excited about and 2) appreciative of.

Maybe that doesn't make up for "meeting famous people" for some, but surprisingly enough other fans come because they actually like the fandom as well. Meeting people who are just as enthusiastic about it and all that. Perhaps even having fun? A PPP workshop for example seems pretty fun (and damn inventive too - obviously not a result of poor effort) to me. Not "kinda pointless" (in which case why bother going?).

Quote

(also, at least 75% of the people going or wanting to go are fans of twilight aswell, so i would say most of these people are poor now because of 3 eternal twilights and the proms.... )

I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a complaint about Showmasters. But they run events for fans. It's their job. We can't complain if there are lots of events we want to go to.

Though I guess that's a problem in itself. The Twilight mentality, and the fact that there are so many more people around who are part of it. It seems to be more of a "we all like these books and movies with - oooohh - pretty actors we just /have/ to meet" thing than the HP fandom that seems in my opinion to be more community-centered.

Notice that most previous huge HP conventions (mainly USA I suppose) are more about meeting up and being rabid geeks /together/ whilst not being laughed at for running around in cloaks...than hero worship, like you see at Twicon etc. (Not that I will ever complain about meeting Kellan Lutz xD)

So the fact that we have the possibility of guests at all could even be seen as a huge bonus!

Well Said- I agree with everything you said. As I have already stated on another thread, I am not in this for the guests and I am looking forward to this con as much as when I first read about it!

And that's all I have to say on the matter

[kegan5]

Maybe we're all so used (or just me?) to ME/SM events and their ability to book guests and good ones (well known) at that, makes us a little expectant ?

I'll see you all soon zooming around :) x

[TommyT]

kegan5, on Aug 5 2009, 11:42 AM, said:

wouldn't it make more sense, rather than holding an event clearly a majority are not happy with at least cost wise.
Re schedule an event

Thereby causing a loss to anybody who is coming who has booked non-refundable transport tickets, and anybody who may have booked non-refundable accommodation elsewhere. Plus annoying anybody else who had turned down something else this weekend in order to come to the event. Plus the people who suffer are those fans who actually committed to come to the event. Seems like they are the last people that should be suffering. Sure, look at ways of compensating them for the lack of guests (should lack of guests still be a problem come the actual convention), but try to avoid them suffering the costs and inconveniences of cancellation.

kegan5, on Aug 5 2009, 11:42 AM, said:

EDIT: Clearly I have no idea of any costs for SM to cancel this event etc, the idea is coming purely from a guests point of view :)  Ah well, I can't see them cancelling realistically, i intend to enjoy myself regardless.

This close to an event, I imagine that the cancellation fee will be the same as the booking fee, since there's so little time to find replacements. That would mean that the event would probably have to pay either full cost or a hefty percentage of it for all the conference facilities they've booked, plus their hotel rooms. Plus probably something for all the rooms booked by attendees which will also get cancelled. Plus probably a goodly proportion of the guests' fees (since they'll have also given up the chance for alternative work this weekend, or turned down personal stuff. Plus of course all the staff time that has gone into booking this event and organising the activities will be a cost that won't be covered. Plus the cost of refunding all the payments. (Credit card companies charge per transaction, so for every refund as well as every booking).
Basically cancelling this close to the event will cost them a substantial amount.

[Hannanora-Potter]

Well, I've sort of yo-yo'd on this event.  I was so ecstatic when it was announced - which you can sort of see as I'm Gold 3!  I began to get a bit worried as there were no further guest announcements and a little guilty because I'd persuaded my younger sister to pay out for Gold with me too!  But now I'm getting really excited again.

I know it's not the kind of convention most of us signed up for, but ME/SM are obviously putting in a lot of effort to making it a fun event for all.  Even my dubious sister is saying that it seems to be a better kind of con then ones I've talked about in the past and we're both really looking forward to it.  I'd definitely pay again for Muggle Mayhem 2! (Fingers crossed!)

[kegan5]

TommyT, on Aug 5 2009, 01:40 PM, said:

kegan5, on Aug 5 2009, 11:42 AM, said:

wouldn't it make more sense, rather than holding an event clearly a majority are not happy with at least cost wise.
Re schedule an event

Thereby causing a loss to anybody who is coming who has booked non-refundable transport tickets, and anybody who may have booked non-refundable accommodation elsewhere. Plus annoying anybody else who had turned down something else this weekend in order to come to the event. Plus the people who suffer are those fans who actually committed to come to the event. Seems like they are the last people that should be suffering. Sure, look at ways of compensating them for the lack of guests (should lack of guests still be a problem come the actual convention), but try to avoid them suffering the costs and inconveniences of cancellation.

kegan5, on Aug 5 2009, 11:42 AM, said:

EDIT: Clearly I have no idea of any costs for SM to cancel this event etc, the idea is coming purely from a guests point of view :)  Ah well, I can't see them cancelling realistically, i intend to enjoy myself regardless.

This close to an event, I imagine that the cancellation fee will be the same as the booking fee, since there's so little time to find replacements. That would mean that the event would probably have to pay either full cost or a hefty percentage of it for all the conference facilities they've booked, plus their hotel rooms. Plus probably something for all the rooms booked by attendees which will also get cancelled. Plus probably a goodly proportion of the guests' fees (since they'll have also given up the chance for alternative work this weekend, or turned down personal stuff. Plus of course all the staff time that has gone into booking this event and organising the activities will be a cost that won't be covered. Plus the cost of refunding all the payments. (Credit card companies charge per transaction, so for every refund as well as every booking).
Basically cancelling this close to the event will cost them a substantial amount.

Makes a lot of sense :)

[NewDawn]

I never expected the big 3 as never done a con and doubt they ever   will


But this con has turned into Lost all over again. Showmasters clearly have too many cons and this once again proves it .  There is no way this con at the way it stands is worth £125 .


Heres hoping tonight thiy get Tom , Evannah , Bonnie , Freddie Stroma or David Thewlis to prove me wrong. I am hoping they can get somebody big but its Wednesday so not holding out much hope.