126 replies to this topic

[5phere]

all taken in to consideration the con was great!
- the commentry is a BRILLIANT idea. keep that one if you can!

on the negative..
the meet and greet for the gold pass holders was abysmal, (sorry). but i would never have bought a gold ticket if id known and unless it changes wont buy one next year. This was my first massive events event so i was a bit gutted at that.

you had 30 people around a guest which is not only uselss for us (as most people cant heae) but probably a bit more uncomfortable for them. and leads that horrible fandom swarm... baaaaad!

way to do it is to have round tables with 10 or so people on and the guest move from table to table. yes you get less time but its quality time, less stressful and more personal - thats what i paid for.

please please please rectify this. Paying gold was not worth it in this instance imo
and i know many people i spoke to felt exactly the same

[Elfriniel]

Orangepeel, on Nov 1 2010, 03:25 PM, said:

I think the Friday night party could have been better to be honest.
Little upset the guests never seem to come in the hall for the party clearly not anyone's fault altho i got to see Tony at the bar so

I think were it was held was really bad it felt like a Town Hall or something.
But i felt the staff did their best and we helpful

And i got to meet Tony so i was happy

I thought Friday night was awesome, bungee running and cheesy convention songs, it can't get better. Plus the theme was perfect, because it didn't take too much getting ready (just as well as we were running late)

The guests did come to the hall Saturday night (I am not sure about Friday as they left before we got there) but they were around for quite a while Saturday. I found it a little bit irritating that they were being guided around by staff constantly, and followed by huge groups of people. Think they might have relaxed a little if they had been left to their own devices.

[DavidB]

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 03:56 PM, said:

I found it a little bit irritating that they were being guided around by staff constantly, and followed by huge groups of people. Think they might have relaxed a little if they had been left to their own devices.

Safety of the guests is paramount, and I think it's a great idea to have them attend but feel a little more in control by having the staff with them.

[Elfriniel]

DavidB, on Nov 1 2010, 04:01 PM, said:

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 03:56 PM, said:

I found it a little bit irritating that they were being guided around by staff constantly, and followed by huge groups of people. Think they might have relaxed a little if they had been left to their own devices.

Safety of the guests is paramount, and I think it's a great idea to have them attend but feel a little more in control by having the staff with them.

Oh I totally agree on the safety part, but security were standing back a little, it was the event staff and fans that seemed to crowd the most.

[Too Tall]

5phere, on Nov 1 2010, 03:52 PM, said:

on the negative..
the meet and greet for the gold pass holders was abysmal, (sorry). but i would never have bought a gold ticket if id known and unless it changes wont buy one next year. This was my first massive events event so i was a bit gutted at that.

you had 30 people around a guest which is not only uselss for us (as most people cant heae) but probably a bit more uncomfortable for them. and leads that horrible fandom swarm... baaaaad!

way to do it is to have round tables with 10 or so people on and the guest move from table to table. yes you get less time but its quality time, less stressful and more personal - thats what i paid for.

please please please rectify this. Paying gold was not worth it in this instance imo
and i know many people i spoke to felt exactly the same

Sorry about this. As regulars on here and to our shows will know this is one of my pet projects and I've been changing it over and over again to get it to work. We now have good system. As long as we have the room.

At all of our other shows how you described it is how we do it, we have around 10 tables and much smaller groups.

On the day it was thrown at us that the room we had it in was the only one available to us and so we had to go with it. For that I can only apolagise. We did look at putting more tables in there but if we'd put 10 tables in there we wouldn't have gone all of you in there too. I hated it as much as you did, due to my day job I couldn't be at the event until just after the gold drinks reception started, and I cringed when I saw the room. I really really really am sorry. We ended up in there last year and it was discussed that we needed a bigger room this year.

It's just one thing in a long list of issues we had with the venue and is one of the reasons for moving to the Rad for next year. We will have a bigger room and so we will have the 10 tables. Again sorry it didn't go right this time.

[Too Tall]

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 04:03 PM, said:

DavidB, on Nov 1 2010, 04:01 PM, said:

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 03:56 PM, said:

I found it a little bit irritating that they were being guided around by staff constantly, and followed by huge groups of people. Think they might have relaxed a little if they had been left to their own devices.

Safety of the guests is paramount, and I think it's a great idea to have them attend but feel a little more in control by having the staff with them.

Oh I totally agree on the safety part, but security were standing back a little, it was the event staff and fans that seemed to crowd the most.

The security guys are there just for that, the physical security of the guests.

The crew being there is to help the guests feel emotionally secure. The guests know the crew are there to handle any uncomfortable situations for them.

I was there too and at no point did any crew member stop an attendee talking to the guests. But they were there to help the guest if they were being swamped or someone was monopolising their time. If attendees are polite and fair and so come up and see the guest, ask a couple of questions and go, the fact that the crew are there will never effect them. The crew will only get involved if someone (or a group) starts being unfair and starts to swamp or try and monopolize the guests time.

It can be very uncomfortable for the guests if someone starts to monopolize them and they don't want to annoy or embarrass anyone. So if the crew see it happening they will step in and politely remove the guest from that situation.

The crew were there to help it be fair to everyone, not stop anyone. I hope that makes sense.

Stuart.

Edited by Too Tall, 01 November 2010 - 04:32 PM.

[5phere]

thanks for letting me know that. if something went wrong at the hotel then i can see its beyond your control. and a horrible pain in the ass for you also. (and im kinda relieved that is wasnt actually "organized" that way.

as you say - hopefully the radisson wont pose such problems!

but before i buy gold again id probably like some sort of guarantee, that if something like that happens again there might be some other way to deal with it. like doing it in two sessions - or something. either paying//asking the guests to stay a bit longer or giving us half the time (as its be better quality) in each session!

anyway i can sympathise that at the time you just had to run with it.
the whole rest of the con was fantastic so welldone on that!!

Quote

Sorry about this. As regulars on here and to our shows will know this is one of my pet projects and I've been changing it over and over again to get it to work. We now have good system. As long as we have the room.

At all of our other shows how you described it is how we do it, we have around 10 tables and much smaller groups.

On the day it was thrown at us that the room we had it in was the only one available to us and so we had to go with it. For that I can only apolagise. We did look at putting more tables in there but if we'd put 10 tables in there we wouldn't have gone all of you in there too. I hated it as much as you did, due to my day job I couldn't be at the event until just after the gold drinks reception started, and I cringed when I saw the room. I really really really am sorry. We ended up in there last year and it was discussed that we needed a bigger room this year.

It's just one thing in a long list of issues we had with the venue and is one of the reasons for moving to the Rad for next year. We will have a bigger room and so we will have the 10 tables. Again sorry it didn't go right this time.

thanks for letting me know that. if something went wrong at the hotel then i can see its beyond your control. and a horrible pain in the ass for you also. (and im kinda relieved that is wasnt actually "organized" that way.

as you say - hopefully the radisson wont pose such problems!

but before i buy gold again id probably like some sort of guarantee, that if something like that happens again there might be some other way to deal with it. like doing it in two sessions - or something. either paying//asking the guests to stay a bit longer or giving us half the time (as its be better quality) in each session!

anyway i can sympathise that at the time you just had to run with it.
the whole rest of the con was fantastic so welldone on that!!

Edited by Rhianydd, 01 November 2010 - 04:35 PM.

[Rhianydd]

Sorry for editing your post 5phere, the [ quote ] was missing so popped it back in

[Buffy Lover]

I have no complaints whatsoever, this weekend was amazing. All the guests were really friendly, the crew were helpful, the parties were enjoyable (We even managed to stay to the end of the party on Saturday, something we didn't even consider last year ) and everything was well organised and made for a very interesting, memorable weekend. I really enjoyed the live commentary and the quiz - That's about all I have to say, I have no complaints, at all, like I said - Oh, except the fact it had to end...

[5phere]

Rhianydd, on Nov 1 2010, 04:36 PM, said:

Sorry for editing your post 5phere, the [ quote ] was missing so popped it back in

thanks :) i wondered what id missed

[peridot]

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 04:08 PM, said:

i) The people: Wow!!!! I met some really great people and they made it for me. The celebs were great but tbh it was a relief when we could kick back and relax after they had gone for the night. Sat up till 4am being loud and annoying because we didn't want it to end. (if you were one of those people get in touch as I don't have all the names, did you make it to breakfast?)

Nope didn't make it to breakfast at 6, the last ones went to bed at around 4:30 I think, but it was a very funny night we had.

Kim

[Elfriniel]

Too Tall, on Nov 1 2010, 04:30 PM, said:

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 04:03 PM, said:

DavidB, on Nov 1 2010, 04:01 PM, said:

Elfriniel, on Nov 1 2010, 03:56 PM, said:

I found it a little bit irritating that they were being guided around by staff constantly, and followed by huge groups of people. Think they might have relaxed a little if they had been left to their own devices.

Safety of the guests is paramount, and I think it's a great idea to have them attend but feel a little more in control by having the staff with them.

Oh I totally agree on the safety part, but security were standing back a little, it was the event staff and fans that seemed to crowd the most.

The security guys are there just for that, the physical security of the guests.

The crew being there is to help the guests feel emotionally secure. The guests know the crew are there to handle any uncomfortable situations for them.

I was there too and at no point did any crew member stop an attendee talking to the guests. But they were there to help the guest if they were being swamped or someone was monopolising their time. If attendees are polite and fair and so come up and see the guest, ask a couple of questions and go, the fact that the crew are there will never effect them. The crew will only get involved if someone (or a group) starts being unfair and starts to swamp or try and monopolize the guests time.

It can be very uncomfortable for the guests if someone starts to monopolize them and they don't want to annoy or embarrass anyone. So if the crew see it happening they will step in and politely remove the guest from that situation.

The crew were there to help it be fair to everyone, not stop anyone. I hope that makes sense.

Stuart.

That makes perfect sense, and I don't think the crew were stopping the guests, just maybe cramped their style a little, and it was mostly certain attendees who wanted to monopolise the guests and just followed them everywhere. But again, its only a small moan, wonderful event :)

[chosen108]

My convention all in all very enjoyable i enjoyed all talks commentary fantastic ..the crew were friendly I loved Alan friday night he went round talking to guests and stephanie amazing on the wine reception shaking people hand and asking our names..

my point of view i wont be going to hallowhedon 3 next year i spent alot on gold ticket but now i wondering why apart from t-shirt and mug the reception was good but again overcrowded and hard hear but i think crew were good in making sure those who were at the front moved to the back so everyone got there turn..  the drinks were good also!!

i think my crtiscim was the security over guest i know you need protect guests thats fine but i went to the toilet and two separate occassions and for two separate time the crew guarding guest in toilet with security outside which was bit intimdating as they may you feel like you doing something wrong..on friday the guests were there for short time and were getting crowded which is shame for people who stay out way..

i didnt go sat party as costume didnt go plan so stayed away ..sunday i woulda like guests stay afterwards but soon as it was closing cemory they were rushed into cars and gone ..again didnt stand outside to crowd them


the quiz great think that team i was sitting team winning team shoulda got a prize!!!

I got angel poker chip as seen on tv from audition thou got it woulda like something to show its off the show..

I went with family member and from my own pov we didnt meet anyone new it seemed like everyone knew each other from last year so little dissapointed

i did enjoy it loads much to my comments and got to meet guests never met before

[ChrisR]

One other suggestion I'd like to make for future events - get some better backdrops for the photos. Those awful 60s tie-dye bedsheets have to go! Can we have something a bit more fitting for the event next time - maybe a graveyard, interior of Serenity or something similar? Or [if changing them over is too difficult] just a plain light-coloured background. Or is it only me - and my girlfriend - who dislikes the backdrops?

[fivebyfivefaith]

The live commentary was a great touch- as was the quiz.

Disappointed by lack of lanyard/delay in tags- this seems like a small thing, but was a real nuisance.

Huge difference from last year was the lack of drinks offers/clearly displayed prices at the bar. I think a lot of people held off from the parties due to the prices. Is there any way to negotiate some drinks offers with the hotel?

Friday night party was a little on the boring side- there was nothing outside the main hall to do. The karaoke/roulette tables last year were good. It's not really enough to just open the bar and say 'here you go, here's your party'- there needs to be more attractions hired in. I loved the attention to detail, and the decoration last year- I guess you set your standards pretty high!

Questions in talks were much better this year.

All in all, I can't wait till next year. I hated going home, and back to work! Thanks to all staff- you did a fantastic job.

[Sazzzy]

I also wasnt inpressed with the no layards but as mark apologised theres nothing else much that can be done so fair enough on that.

i thought the guests were amazing! absolutely hillarious! i didnt get to see most of the saturday party as we had an issue (which again the hotel staff were USELESS with) but i enjoyed the friday and it was fun to mooch around in my jammies on the sunday

i thought the talks and quiz went really well, i thoughjt photos n autos went well too.. i did have an issue in the alan photoshoot but i got it made up to me on the sat night so all is well :)

must say the commentry on band candy made my weekend, u HAVE to do that again, hillarious.

alll in all i had a wiked weekend.

[dragontattoo]

The guests were absolutely brilliant, so friendly and down to earth - they really made the weekend.

We went Silver this year as we were standard last year and felt like there wasn't much to do between autographs and whilst waiting for the talks.
We're glad we went Silver as the reserved seating area was good to get a better view (for the most part) of the talks, and the photos being included in the price was good to get an extra minute with each guest, a photo with them (nice keepsake from/of the event) and helped filled the day a bit more. The only slight issue was with scheduling, photo shoots at the same time as autographs which was a bit awkward but worked ok luckily - there were a few moments where we thought we weren't going to get a couple of autos, but we did.

It's good how the talks are filmed so if there's someone tall infront, or if you're far back in the hall, you can still see the guests on the TVs, however both this and last year, we found that who ever is in charge of the camera tends to focus on just one guest in a joint talk sometimes, so we miss the other guest's reaction or response, which is quite annoying - why not just keep the camera on both guests rather than moving from one to the other?

Like many other people, the silly 'non-questions' are a bit redundant. It's awkward when you feel bad for the guests when they look either annoyed or like they don't know how to answer the question.

I could be completely wrong but it sometimes seems like the man asking the questions over the microphone isn't completely interested in the guest's answers? It's kind of off putting, and I sometimes hoped that the guests wouldn't also think the same. (Nothing personal obviously - he seemed friendly enough, maybe he's just not a Whedon fan and he's just doing a job. Same as the other man who did the auction - both years (definitely last year) 'Josh' and 'Dollshouse' were mentioned more than once... just you'd think a bit company like ME/SM should know more about their 'product'...)

Anyway, my main issue is that whilst a handful of the crew were really friendly, helpful and informative, there were a lot who were really unapproachable - especially the woman (sorry I don't know names) who is at the registration desk. She is *so* completely and utterly miserable and unfriendly it's unbelievable. We spend a lot of money coming to these events, taking time off work, to go to an enjoyable event, and the first person we come across (both years) is in a constant bad mood. I have no idea what the issue is, but maybe it'd be a bit nicer to have a friendlier face as the first person you meet at the event, to get everyone off to go a happy start? It certainly puts a downer on the event to be honest.

Also, we wanted to buy one more autograph for Alan on the Sunday as we'd bought an awesome 10x8 in the dealer's room of him and Eliza together, and forgot to buy the extra autograph ticket to get it signed. We asked a crew member in the hall if we could go buy another ticket quickly, were told yes - dashed out to buy one, one crew member at the desk seemed to think we could, but that same cheery woman mentioned above grumped about having closed up and how it wasn't possible anymore. I don't see how difficult it would've been, but she was determined to not give us the autograph ticket. (You'd think a business would be happy to take more money) Anyway, we went back in the hall to join the open queue for Stephanie to ticket my photo with her signed as I didn't have chance the day before obviously, only to find the woman who denied us an extra Alan autograph, join Alan's queue with a massive handful of photos for him to sign - along with a bunch of other crew members, each with their own bundles of photos.
This is my biggest gripe about the event. Staff were coming and going, holding up the queues for attendees constantly with bundles of photos being signed (assuming either for ebay or next year's auctions, as I can't see why you'd need that many un-personalised autographs from the same guest). I understand crew get their own stuff signed, but *that* much - and especially after being told we couldn't buy *one* autograph? Just comes across as bad customer service.

Also I asked a crew member if Stephanie could write a quote (just 3 words) and was told 'no'. (There was no queue behind me - only a few people.) I asked another (friendly) crew member and she said she didn't know why this would be - she wasn't aware of not being able to.

Some of the crew just come across as very arrogant and 'privileged'. For example, I was walking from the main hall towards the dealer's room, and one crew member waved his hand at me (without saying a word) telling me to move over - I immediately did so, assuming I was in the way of someone in a wheelchair or something, only to find that no, it was another crew member, running back to the desk to get more photos to be signed. Oh and I didn't get an apology or a thank you. It was just rude.

Oh and it's probably not a Hallowhedon thing, more a Thistle thing, but there was no vegetarian food at the lunch. I mean yeah, the jacket potatoes served last year were stodgy and awful, but at least it was better than greasy burgers or chips which might not have even been veggie friendly.

Can't comment on the parties as we didn't go - we managed to total our car on the way down to Hallowhedon from Glasgow on the Friday morning, so we were pretty sore and tired from that, so stayed in the hotel once we were done with the day's events.

Oh one more thing - the auction is fun, but maybe the items could all be displayed before hand, or even given item numbers and photos of the items posted online or something - something a bit more like a proper auction. It's easier for us all to decide if we wanted to spend our money on something early on in the auction or save to spend on something different later in it. (Also you might get more money from it yourselves).

The screening with commentary was a brilliant idea btw - it worked really well and was something different. Definitely a great idea.

There were a few organisation issues such as the quiz - great idea, but maybe have it with just the guests next time? Also, organise the whole thing better, so the questions/answers are correct, and so everyone knows what they have to do rather than be confused...

Anyway sorry this was a long message, but I hope it makes sense. The event as a whole was really enjoyable, and we've got great memories from it, but just some of the things during the event made us wonder if we will bother coming back next year. The guests were absolutely brilliant, and we are really glad we came to Hallowhedon (minus losing our car) so thank you for a great weekend, but the negative bits put a bit of a downer on the whole thing. Thank goodness for the friendly guests. :)



Oh also, I don't know what happened with the lanyards - I see people have mentioned something was said in the opening ceremony, but we missed it and the woman at reception didn't explain anything, just said something about we're 'lucky we've even got the passes at this stage'.
It was annoying having to carry the card around along with everything else,  and kept misplacing it, but from what I can see it was an accident, so obviously human nature - accidents happen.

One other query - with the crew bidding for things, was that for personal use or perhaps bidding the auctions up a bit? Possibly being a bit cynical (hopefully). Just curious. A lot of the stuff auctioned this year seemed to be repeats from last year? Oh also a bit more organisation with that would be good - we heard a lot of people saying that they 'didn't bid that much' etc - which is what happened to us last year - we won a signed 10x8 and got charged more than we had won the auction for, which kind of put us off bidding for anything this year.

[fivebyfivefaith]

One thing that did slightly concern me, was that the guests didn't seem entirely sure about the process/what was expected of them. The opening ceremony was a little odd (largely due to Romanov!) but guests perhaps needed more prompting.

Also, I loved the quiz, and appreciate that something this big was difficult to organise. But there was a lot of waiting time. I don't think the audience needed to contribute for every question. Robin and Jewel's reaction to the acting out part, and Alan's about the pictionary, made me a little uneasy. I know they took it in good humour, but I got the feeling they weren't entirely comfortable with what they had to do, or weren't sure about it. Might be just my interpretation though.

dragontattoo, on Nov 1 2010, 07:16 PM, said:

This is my biggest gripe about the event. Staff were coming and going, holding up the queues for attendees constantly with bundles of photos being signed (assuming either for ebay or next year's auctions, as I can't see why you'd need that many un-personalised autographs from the same guest). I understand crew get their own stuff signed, but *that* much - and especially after being told we couldn't buy *one* autograph? Just comes across as bad customer service.

I agree- We were really held up by staff with massive piles of photos/plates etc

Edited by fivebyfivefaith, 01 November 2010 - 06:20 PM.

[Gypsy]

The convention was awesomeness, I had the time of my life! A few points, good and bad:

Lanyards - think that's been covered  

Guests - they were all just amazing, Robin is my new smutlord and Stephanie is as mad as a box of frogs! Alan giving out gifts was a really lovely gesture, as a relative con virgin I didn't realise this was not the norm, a thoughtful touch.

Guest talks - all very entertaining, good questions and great MCing, pitched just at the right level.

Hotel - this was pretty dire, the staff really didn't want to make any effort. The rooms were tiny, if I hadn't been sharing with my sister I think I'd have felt pretty uncomfortable sleeping that close to someone! The bar shutting at midnight was terrible and effectively ended the parties, did nobody warn them a few drinkers were coming? But as it's moving next year I guess these are moot points.

Screening/commentary - a genius idea, I really enjoyed that and haven't laughed so hard in ages!

Quiz - thoroughly entertaining, I had thought we'd all just sit there with pieces of paper answering questions, so was a very pleasant surprise to see the guests taking part!

Guest encounters - the one I attended (Stephanie) was just a wonderful 45 mins, I really felt like I'd had a special experience and totally worth the money.

Giles - excellent photographer and totally approachable, I ended up buying 3 pics and they were great value!

DJ - again excellent, he played everything that was requested and loads of cheesey con songs, perfect!

Other attendees - everyone was so friendly, and nice, and fun! Think that's what made it for me, the only other con I've been to (not an ME one) people seemed a little elitist, this was the total opposite.


I came to the event thinking there weren't many guests and I might not come next year, left it determined to upgrade to gold for next year! So thank you guys, I really had a ball  

[emmy141]

dragontattoo, on Nov 1 2010, 07:16 PM, said:

It's good how the talks are filmed so if there's someone tall infront, or if you're far back in the hall, you can still see the guests on the TVs, however both this and last year, we found that who ever is in charge of the camera tends to focus on just one guest in a joint talk sometimes, so we miss the other guest's reaction or response, which is quite annoying - why not just keep the camera on both guests rather than moving from one to the other?

This annoyed me too. The people sat in front of me on Saturday kept standing up and switching places, and then one of them leant on the chair back of the person next to her making it impossible for me to see anything on stage. So I went to look at the video feed but half the time it was only showing the one guest.

On a more positive note, the guests were amazing - so friendly and smiley, seemed really happy to meet everyone. Also loved the talks and the commentary was hilarious (don't suppose that was recorded?).