What I'd luv to see at 7.4 / suggetstions

[mshute]

I was at Chevron 7.3 and I’m eagerly anticipating 7.4, having been to a couple of other cons in the US and the UK there are a few things I would luv! to see at 7.4 that they didn’t have at 7.3 and some suggestions.

 

Want to make this clear that 7.3 was a GREAT con and 7.4 I’m sure will be also be just as excellent, so please, nothing here is in anyway a criticism, merely a suggestion on possible ways to improve on greatness for both guests, staff and attendees.

 

1. tables at gold party cocktail get together – this would be so much easier for the staff and guest and would mean ticket holders aren’t worried about seeing everyone and wondering if they’re standing in the right place. 10 tables with 15 gold members and a spare ‘reserved’ chair for the guest is all it would need, at five minutes per table that would be 50 minutes and would work out great.

 

2. cabaret night – saw this in the US, where the guests get up on stage and ‘perform’ something, Robert Picardo sang, David Nykl read from a book with two audience volunteers acting out the scene (it as a mills and boon book so really funny!) and Connor Trineer did a ‘radio sketch’ with Robert Picardo. It was really good and was about an hour, would be great to see this done say before the party kicked off one night.

 

3. episode showings – was really surprised at 7.3 that this didn’t happen, so instead of using the ballroom for autographs or guest encounters another room is used so the ballroom always has the seating in and when different groups are waiting to be called or are in between photos and autographs there are Stargate episodes shown (or Dogs Breakfast which would be great!)

 

4. one queue for autographs – went to a ‘con’ where you queued once and went straight from one autograph table to the next, seemed to work really well and meant that it felt shorter for ticket holders, could also do three sessions one for gold, one for silver and one for standard to break it up a bit for the guests (admittedly if you had Rainbow like we did at 7.3 might be difficult as he took three times longer than the others!)

 

5. competitions – costume competition (the guy who was dressed in full Jaffa outfit with glowing eyes at 7.3 was great!) and music video or similar competition. Prizes can be really simple like a voucher off a future convention or a voucher for the dealers room.

 

6. guest talks – wasn’t keen on the ‘quiz’ at 7.3, was good to give it a go though as you never know until these things are tried, so definitely more guest talks and the ‘group’ talks were hilarious so definitely want a few of those please! if questions aren’t put in abundance could always have half hour talks (NB: I didn’t know where the question box was until the Sunday morning, so might be good to make sure it’s easily located where everyone knows where it is)

 

7. numbered seating – too late for 7.4 I think, but if there’s a 7.5 would be easier to have set seating for the entire event that is numbered, would have thought it would be easier for Staff as well as attendees.

 

As I said above, 7.3 was great and I did really enjoy it – obviously everyone has different idea’s and preferences and I have no idea if any of the above has been tried before and maybe wasn’t successful.

[DavidB]

Only things I'd really disagree with are:

 

Episode showings - always thought that'd cost money and not really worth it, but I get why people want to be continuously entertained.

 

One queue - I'd personally hate this idea, and I do at other events if they implement it. I just don't think they work, especially with the schedules of a convention. Plus, if anything, it feels even more like a factory line.

 

It would mean that you'd have to meet all the guests at once, when sometimes you like to spread it out a bit. Or if you want to get an additional one later, you'd have to wait behind everyone etc. I've just never been a fan of it.

Edited December 18, 2009 by DavidB

[InYourHonour]

I think the current format for getting autographs is better, for the reasons given above.

The episode showing would probably cost too much, and there is plenty to do in Birmingham if you want to stay entertained.

Some of the other suggestions are good though, like the numbered seating and competitions. However, not too sure how easy to pull of numbered seating would be

[etmuse]

The other issue with the 'getting all of your autos at once' idea is that it means all of the guests have to be there all the time - the current method means they can come in and out to the photoshoot sessions individually, keeping everything going all the time. The attendees who weren't in the group currently getting all autos also would have nothing to do.

[Queen_Sindel]

One queue - I'd personally hate this idea, and I do at other events if they implement it. I just don't think they work, especially with the schedules of a convention. Plus, if anything, it feels even more like a factory line.

 

Exactly. Plus it means an enormous backlog if they have a fast signer and a slow signer sitting next to each other. I've seen it happen and it wasn't pretty.

 

2. cabaret night – saw this in the US, where the guests get up on stage and ‘perform’ something, Robert Picardo sang, David Nykl read from a book with two audience volunteers acting out the scene (it as a mills and boon book so really funny!) and Connor Trineer did a ‘radio sketch’ with Robert Picardo. It was really good and was about an hour, would be great to see this done say before the party kicked off one night.

 

This is something I am very torn about. If you have guests that can provide entertainment - such as Robert Picardo singing or James with his stunt performance - yes, absolutely. But I have been at events where guests were practically tossed on stage and had no idea what to do. There have been some good ones, but I've left early or not even attended those things because I was bored of my mind way more often.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Queen_Sindel

[mshute]

I used to run a film club and you could hire DVD's for a weekend for only about £75 that had all the copyright included, so one DVD with 4 episodes on - so cost wouldn't be much at all.

[Queen_Sindel]

I am not sure how the situation is in the UK.

 

But in Germany those broadcasting/copyright(screening fees do depend also on the type of event you want to rent the material for, and on the number of potential viewers. Here a convention with roughly 600 or more attendees would be charged a completely different and significantly more expensive rate than a (private?) film club.

 

Maybe someone who's more familiar with the UK situation can shed some light on this.

Edited December 18, 2009 by Queen_Sindel

[biggestfanever]

Could massive events get in contact with the dogs breakfast people and see if they could get the rights for nothing as they were publising dogs breakfast maybe showmasters could sell them on behalf in return for allowing them to play it?

[jvd737]

please not numbered seating...I would hate that!!!

[Queen_Sindel]

please not numbered seating...I would hate that!!!

 

If I recall correctly TooTall has posted before that there are no plans for this.

 

I can see why someone would ask for numbered seating, but having been stuck behind people way taller than me at shows with numbered seating I am not really a friend of that system either. The way it is done now means you are not constantly stuck behind someone blocking your view.

[Ladyofhay]

4. one queue for autographs – went to a ‘con’ where you queued once and went straight from one autograph table to the next, seemed to work really well and meant that it felt shorter for ticket holders, could also do three sessions one for gold, one for silver and one for standard to break it up a bit for the guests (admittedly if you had Rainbow like we did at 7.3 might be difficult as he took three times longer than the others!)

 

 

 

I wouldn't like this way of getting my autographs, I have many diffrent things that I get sined, from posters to postcard to large art work. I like the fact that i can leave a line once i've seen a guest and put away one item and then sort out the next one. I would never have enough hands to go from guest to guest with all my stuff.