Thoughts From Sunday

[Count Fooku]

My main reason for going back today was the photoshoot with Mike Tyson. Wasn't really planning on getting any signatures today but ended up getting a picture signed by Dave Prowse and Michael Culver which I was pretty pleased with.

 

Surprised how quiet the autograph queues were today, it seemed by the time I arrived, 10am, almost every was an open queue or a low numbered Virtual Queue.

 

The Mike Tyson photo queue was well organised and they seemed to keep things moving well. The man himself seemed to be in good spirits and pretty friendly.

 

Only slight grumble for me was the Mike Tyson photo itself. It's a good enough picture (even though I'm in it!) but I'm not so keen on portrait style pictures. A bit of my arm has been cut out of the picture and for a photo that size I'm not sure how its going to look framed on display. Personal opinion of course but I much prefer the landscape style.

[Flibble]

Sunday was much more relaxed for me. I got the two autographs that I wanted in about 10 minutes, and then, I went to see a couple of talks. I bought a gold pass, and I was a bit miffed that I got chucked out of the talk area before the William Shatner talk, and when I got back in, I ended up sitting on only part of a chair due to some bigger guys either side of me. It was very difficult for me to take photos squashed in like that.

 

I did want to stay for the Lis Sladen talk, but I was getting a bad headache by then , so I went home.

 

All in all, I had a great weekend, and I just want to say thank you to Jason and the very hard working crew.

[john_198421]

Overall the event was f88king amazing... I even snogged the Alien walking around!!

 

The best people for me were Russell Tovey, Virginia Hay, Liz Sladen!!!

 

Imm so tired n trying to keep my eyes open here!!

 

Roll on the next con I go to.. Be hard to beat this one!!

[Vitani]

My main reason for going back today was the photoshoot with Mike Tyson. Wasn't really planning on getting any signatures today but ended up getting a picture signed by Dave Prowse and Michael Culver which I was pretty pleased with.

 

Surprised how quiet the autograph queues were today, it seemed by the time I arrived, 10am, almost every was an open queue or a low numbered Virtual Queue.

 

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised at how short the queues were too.

 

Overall the event was f88king amazing... I even snogged the Alien walking around!!

 

The best people for me were Russell Tovey, Virginia Hay, Liz Sladen!!!

 

 

 

Virginia Hay was so nice!

[A007]

Got in & out inside 2 hours today, got all 5 guests I wanted with hardly any queueing and all with posed photos. Result.

[DIDS]

Well pleased with the photoshoots.

Had photo's with Sean Young,Virginia Hay and Kristanna Loken.

Sat in on the talks with Liz Sladen and Katie Sackoff.

 

Good day.Even went in to central London while waiting for the photo's to come back.

[pamela86]

Sunday was so much better for me. Was generally a lot quieter than Saturday and the guests seemed more relaxed today. Lots of open queues which was a surprise.

 

Today I had photo shoots with:

-Ben Browder who was lovely and allowed me to give him a hug!

-Lis Sladen who was very quick and despite the "no hugging or touching" rule, and the seated shoot (which was new to me, never experienced that before) she was very polite and generally a very nice lady.

-Matt Lewis was a total sweetheart. I knew he was a lovely bloke anyway. Very polite and easy going.

 

Got autos from:

-Virginia Hey. She went open queue from VQ ticket 40 (I got 41!) She didn't have anyone waiting when I approached her. She was lovely and apologised that she had some sort of chest infection thing going on before using hand wash before she shook my hand or touched my poster cos she didn't want to pass it on! I said to her that her jewelery was beautiful. She then gave herself and bosom a shake to make her bling rattle. Enough to make any male's mouth water! She signed my Farscape poster and did little doodles around her face! I totally regret not getting a photoshoot for her. No money left!

 

-Lis Sladen. Her queue had died down a little by the time I had finished my photo shoots. When I got to her she was really nice but apologetic that I had been waiting a while. I told her it was fine and to be expected. It wasn't her fault she had been busy! She then said something about wishing everyone was as understanding as me. I felt quite bad for her. Seems that she had gotten people being quite nippy about having to wait. Poor thing. She was lovely!

 

-Ben Browder. After getting the limited print from the talk yesterday, I decided to get that signed today. He was a lot better than he was yesterday. I actually managed to have a conversation with him. He said he was feeling better, but not by much. Which is understandable given his circumstances (I didn't press the matter, it's not our business is it?) He was very nice and I totally him!

Edited July 18, 2010 by pamela86

[CosmicAvatar]

Today for me was the Andrew Robinson photoshoot, getting William Shatner's autograph(s) and the Katee Sackhoff and Shatner talks - all very enjoyable and much more relaxed than yesterday.

 

Less enjoyable was the printer cockup which meant Andrew's photos (which should have come back first as he was the first photoshoot of the day in Photo Area A) came back at 4.30pm instead of 2pm-ish (my intended leaving time), meaning I was twiddling my thumbs for several hours, having been assured several times that the photos would be back soon so I thought it better to wait rather than get my photo sent to me at additional cost. Auuugghh! Stupid photo-processing company!

 

Great weekend on the whole, though.

[heroes]

Thought sunday was quiet until 10am once the early birds had finished, open queues mostly think apart from a couple. Had to leave early so hopefully get photoshoot photos by next weekend.

[Christoff]

I'm glad I went today rather than yesterday after people told me how busy it was. Managed to meet the two guests I wanted to, unfortunately I didn't get to see the Shatner talk as it was sold out

[adriangill]

I did like how the area for Shatner was laid out. It certainly the stopped any huge crowds from gathering around if he had been sat in the main signing area. I'm guessing the same applied for Tyson as well (I didn't see him so can't really comment)

[Count Fooku]

I think the Tyson area was like Shatners only even more so. It looked like they were putting a whole load of extra screens in place before he came to sit down. I'm guessing they placed them in front of his table so people waiting in the queue couldn't sneak photos of him.

[adriangill]

That is what I also liked about the Shatner layout. It allowed people who were actually going to meet him to grab a quick photo (although it appears that sometimes there were no photos...not sure what happened there) from a reasonable distance rather than everbody hanging around the end of the queue trying to grab a picture.

Edited July 18, 2010 by 1of2

[Kinggodzillak]

Less enjoyable was the printer cockup which meant Andrew's photos (which should have come back first as he was the first photoshoot of the day in Photo Area A) came back at 4.30pm instead of 2pm-ish (my intended leaving time), meaning I was twiddling my thumbs for several hours, having been assured several times that the photos would be back soon so I thought it better to wait rather than get my photo sent to me at additional cost. Auuugghh! Stupid photo-processing company!

 

 

This would be my only complaint for the weekend, and maybe if it were just Andrew's photo I might not mention it at all, but long delays seem to have been a common thing for the smaller photoshoots. Nicholas Courtney's, for example, was also an 11 o'clock shoot but the pictures weren't back until after 5...and yet the Shatner/Sackhoff/Loken/Tyson shoots all seemed to come back within the predicted 2 hours. Were the busier shoots given priority? Cos a five/six-hour wait both days is pretty poor...

[Count Fooku]

I have to say I was surprised how quick the Mike Tyson photos came back. The shoot started after 12 O' Clock and I think the first batch of pictures were laid out by about quarter to two. Mine had to be reprinted so I was told it would be back around 3.30-4pm but it was ready for collection by the time I came out of the Bob Anderson talk at 2.30ish.

 

Maybe with Mike Tyson they were trying to get the photos back quickly so people could get them signed before he left at 2pm.

[Kinggodzillak]

 

Maybe with Mike Tyson they were trying to get the photos back quickly so people could get them signed before he left at 2pm.

 

That was the plan for my Andrew Robinson photo. He'd left by quarter to five though...

 

Ah well. It's still my fave photo of the weekend, just could have done without such a long wait...

[thefreckles]

Had mixed experiences. Some very good, some not so good.

 

The good

 

- the crew were generally great, with some really fabulous members. Nice to see very little power-hungry maniacs this year and things mostly ran quite smoothly. A big thank you to those that helped, those that smiled and/or chatted and those that apologised for not knowing the answer to our questions but still tried their very hardest to help. Much appreciated!

- most fellow attendees. Very friendly and well-behaved. Made a nice change

- David Nykl. A wonderful, charming guest and so appraochable. Thank you enormously for having him back over here. Such a shame there was no talk

- thank you so much for getting William B. Davis over here too. Can't wait to read his memoirs. I do hope he can be tempted over here again. A charming and entertaining man.

- the free talks. Really enjoyable with some great guests. Thanks for these!

 

The not-so-good

 

- I don't think much can be done but the lighting here is appalling! In the talk arena, all my photos without flash have a horrible colour cast and and glints in the eyes and reflections off the teeth are blue. Very horrible and such a shame.

- the way the queues were managed for talks on Sunday. Saturday ran really smoothly with the hall being emptied each time but that was most certainly NOT the case on Sunday. Despite being there some 40 minutes early for the Katte Sackhoff talk and being sixth in the queue, there were already at least 30+ people in the hall when they let us in. For the Elizabeth Sladen talk it was even worse! I got there very early, was the first in the queue but when they let us into the hall the first two -three rows AFTER the Gold ticket holders area were full! That is just not fair on those that waited patiently for all that length of time having being promised that the hall would be emptied. If the hall is supposed to be emptied, then please make sure it is so. Crew just didn't seem to care

- flash photography. If it is only going to be allowed for 50 seconds, then please tell us at the start. As usual, I expected 3-5 minutes of flash during Katee Sackhoff's talk. Indeed we were told flash photography would be allowed for the first few minutes only. Great! Enough time for me to grab a few shots. What we got was less than 50 seconds! I know this because I looked at the start and end times of the measly two I was able to take. If it is going to be that short, then tell us at the start! May grumble a bit at the time but at least we know what to expect. Most disappointing and very annoying! Especially as we were not told to stop at any of the other talks on either day and I think pretty much all of us sensibly self-regulated.

- the seating for the Elizabeth Sladen talk. What the heck happened? Chairs were all over the place with rows being extended and then reduced. This meant that the chap in front of me was seated much further out to the side than me and really restricted my view despite having an aisle seat. Not helped when he kept arms out a lot of the time taking photos either. Could not see very well at all at times.

 

All in all, I had a good time, though, and thank you to all who helped make it such a fun event! It was odd that it seemed both busier and yet less manic/crowded/full of queues than at previous events here. Very mysterious! What were they piping into the air vents or putting in the water???

[adriangill]

I don't think much can be done but the lighting here is appalling! In the talk arena, all my photos without flash have a horrible colour cast and and glints in the eyes and reflections off the teeth are blue. Very horrible and such a shame.

Suggestion. If your camera allows it change the white balance setting from auto. Manual setting would work best or try fluorescent, tungesten, or something else. Experiemnt prior to the talk and you should find a setting that should eliminate the colour cast issue

 

 

flash photography. If it is only going to be allowed for 50 seconds, then please tell us at the start. As usual, I expected 3-5 minutes of flash during Katee Sackhoff's talk. Indeed we were told flash photography would be allowed for the first few minutes only. Great! Enough time for me to grab a few shots. What we got was less than 50 seconds! I know this because I looked at the start and end times of the measly two I was able to take. If it is going to be that short, then tell us at the start! May grumble a bit at the time but at least we know what to expect. Most disappointing and very annoying! Especially as we were not told to stop at any of the other talks on either day and I think pretty much all of us sensibly self-regulated.

I think they tend to stop it earlier than stated if there are a lot more flashes going off at once, i.e, dozens compared to a dozen. From the guest point of view it is blinding. If you ever get a chance just have a look behind you during this and you will see (or not ) the effect.

[Spectrum]

My inarticulate and sleep-deprived thoughts are basically . . . wow. This was an absolutely fantastic event and I had so much fun! All my guests were wonderful, I met so many lovely people around, the cosplay was amazing, I found something I've been after for ages on one of the stalls, the talks were great, the crew I encountered were all so friendly and doing such a good job . . .

 

Only downside is that I missed a couple of things I kinda wanted to do because I was at other things! Might have to stretch over two days next year.

[BeatrixKiddo88]

Have to agree with most of the points here, very good day over all.

 

Have to say on the flash photography front, I only went to Shatner's talk, and no one said 'stop flash now' or anything, yet the audience stopped themselves after the first few minutes and it was great, occasional flash every 5 mins or so and that was it.

 

I applaude my fellow Shatner fans for being so gracious without being told. Made for a wonderful talk.

 

Tyson shoots being portrait: Sorry Count that you wernt that happy with it like that. I passed the table and had a gander at them and 1) Most were landscape (dont know how Malcolm chooses, have to ask one day) and 2) He looked smiley and awesome, wish I'd bitten the bullet and got one.

Edited July 18, 2010 by BeatrixKiddo88

[adriangill]

Have to say on the flash photography front, I only went to Shatner's talk, and no one said 'stop flash now' or anything, yet the audience stopped themselves after the first few minutes and it was great, occasional flash every 5 mins or so and that was it.

 

I applaude my fellow Shatner fans for being so gracious without being told. Made for a wonderful talk.

I noticed that it wasn't said as well. Initially I thought this could go on for a while but what a respectful bunch 'we' were!

[thefreckles]

I don't think much can be done but the lighting here is appalling! In the talk arena, all my photos without flash have a horrible colour cast and and glints in the eyes and reflections off the teeth are blue. Very horrible and such a shame.

Suggestion. If your camera allows it change the white balance setting from auto. Manual setting would work best or try fluorescent, tungesten, or something else. Experiemnt prior to the talk and you should find a setting that should eliminate the colour cast issue

 

 

flash photography. If it is only going to be allowed for 50 seconds, then please tell us at the start. As usual, I expected 3-5 minutes of flash during Katee Sackhoff's talk. Indeed we were told flash photography would be allowed for the first few minutes only. Great! Enough time for me to grab a few shots. What we got was less than 50 seconds! I know this because I looked at the start and end times of the measly two I was able to take. If it is going to be that short, then tell us at the start! May grumble a bit at the time but at least we know what to expect. Most disappointing and very annoying! Especially as we were not told to stop at any of the other talks on either day and I think pretty much all of us sensibly self-regulated.

I think they tend to stop it earlier than stated if there are a lot more flashes going off at once, i.e, dozens compared to a dozen. From the guest point of view it is blinding. If you ever get a chance just have a look behind you during this and you will see (or not ) the effect.

I shoot RAW only so can change the white balance easily (and non-destructively). I pretty much shoot manual on everything all the time (have a dSLR). I turned to to Tungsten (the usual for these situations) but it was still really bad. Clicking on a grey point in Lightroom ended up being too strong on the blues so have had to do the best I can with a custom white balance. Big give away if it's the lighting are the glints in the eyes etc. If they are coloured ain't much you can do! Thanks for the tip though, hopefully it may help someone else!

 

::grins:: It honestly wasn't that bad with the flashes. I've been going to cons and signing events for many, many years and it was around normal. I've been subjected to a barrage of flashes myself so do know what it can be like. I just wonder if the person was worried she may forget and pre-empted things? That's when a watch would come in handy! Not someone I have ever seen make announcements before (not saying she hasn't done so, I just can't remember her). As myself and others have since mentioned, people are usually pretty good and will self-regulate. I can't see Katee's talk being worse than that for William Shatner It's just nice if we are warned upfront if it's not going to be the norm and/or any times given are then respected by crew.

[timelord81r]

another busy busy day for me, very tired. again we had delays in photos causing more delays else where, I have no idea why tyson was 20 minutes late for his photos when almost no one was signing when i went past to start queueing for the pics. shats talk delay meant missing lokens shoot, luckily there was a pick up later on thank you guys.

 

so memories, good points

 

seeing one of tysons entourage following with a small white plate of grapes for tyson lol

the Shatner, what a guy, loved his talk, nice and friendly all round.

liz sladen similar to the Shatner, shame no touching on the shoot though but such a lovely woman and shes still got it.

the crew worked hard sunday, the Shatner and tyson were busy busy on photos and talks!

 

not so good points?

what happened with the Shatner talk seating? luckily i wasnt effected, but i did jump the queue of like a thousand ppl, i had ticket 14 and no way was i going to the back of that queue, i did similar with the photo shoot as i had number 6.

annoyed that despite having number 2 ticket for liz i had to join the back of a largish and slowish queue, despite wanting to queue for the shats talk! it really annoys me when some use the number system and others dont!

ppl asking the same bloody questions at lis's talk really got on my nerves and it wasnt from kids! and others asking the Shatner whats his fav colour :-(

 

tony the cylon always getting photo shoot hugs! im starting a petition to ban him from photo shoots, its not fair! damn you!!!! lol

 

overall a great con with great guests, but the hardest for me so far a year into cons, 14 shoots and 2 delays messed up the entire thing, i was running like a donkey between shoot a and b and the talk area, sweating like a pig which isnt what you want when meeting the stars! start the photos and talks from 9.30/10 i say, both days.

the female attendees/cos players, some were stunning!

 

thanks showmasters and jason for another cracking con

[adriangill]

I shoot RAW only so can change the white balance easily (and non-destructively). I pretty much shoot manual on everything all the time (have a dSLR). I turned to to Tungsten (the usual for these situations) but it was still really bad. Clicking on a grey point in Lightroom ended up being too strong on the blues so have had to do the best I can with a custom white balance. Big give away if it's the lighting are the glints in the eyes etc. If they are coloured ain't much you can do! Thanks for the tip though, hopefully it may help someone else!

 

::grins:: It honestly wasn't that bad with the flashes. I've been going to cons and signing events for many, many years and it was around normal. I've been subjected to a barrage of flashes myself so do know what it can be like. I just wonder if the person was worried she may forget and pre-empted things? That's when a watch would come in handy! Not someone I have ever seen make announcements before (not saying she hasn't done so, I just can't remember her). As myself and others have since mentioned, people are usually pretty good and will self-regulate. I can't see Katee's talk being worse than that for William Shatner It's just nice if we are warned upfront if it's not going to be the norm and/or any times given are then respected by crew.

Ah same here. You don't need my preaching/help then . I usually carry a mini grey card to tune the white balance. When I forget that (like this weekend) I have found that using the grey panelling as a reference point is pretty close to neutral. It is a slightly lighter tone than the grey card but better than anything else. I use a Nikon camera and their RAW software so it's possible it will 'see' a different tone in the panels than that of Adobe. In an ideal world it shouldn't really, but it's not a ideal world so different combinations of camera and software...

 

I'm still fairly new to this and must admit the Shatner talk is the first time I have seen self-regulation that I can recall. Every other talk I have been to in the last three years has required that someone request the audience to stop flashing. Could have worded that better. I won't change it!

 

 

 

liz sladen similar to the Shatner, shame no touching on the shoot though

That sounds so wrong

[gobo1979uk]

I think it was a really good show this year. At this show the 'big' guests weren't really ones that I was interested in so I didn't bother ith a gold pass. Met all the guests that I wanted to though and were all really nice. Mark Bryan Wilson and Robert Watts were particularly chatty and had interesting things to say.

I though the cosplayers were really great this year too and gave the show a great atmosphere. I have never really got into cosplay and don't know much about it so I basically judge the costumes on how sexy they are ;-) Obviously there was Jessica Rabbit and Wonderwoman who were stunning but also saw Blackcat on massive high heels and a very curvy Powergirl who looked great too. Lots of teenies there in anime costumes, Im too old to describe you as sexy, so I think I will stick at 'cute'. But the costumes were really impressive.

Looking forward to next year. :-)