sirjim

Great guest announcement. Recently he was Fagin in Dickensian, but being a Brit SciFi fan, i'll be meeting him for the brill BBC show Invasion: Earth from way back in 1998 (Anton was the army officer plucked from the blitz by the aliens).

Well for me, Julian has been in so many many excellent things and I am very excited by this announcement. But if I get the chance to go on the Sunday - I will see him for one thing more than anything else. A Sci Fi movie. But its not Star Wars! No, in fact in my humble honest opinion possibly the best British Sci Fi movie ever made (though no doubt others will disagree vehemently) Quatermass and the Pit from 1967 and Julian's major role as died in the wool Colonel Breen, bristling fantastically with Andrew Keir's Quatermass in all their scenes up until his crispy end. Ironically playing a character much older than his real age i would think, but then Hammer always knew how to make the most of young(ish) talent. Many younguns might not like its (comparatively) slow pace when compared to modern action movies, but the slow burning chill, and the setpieces gradually building up one wratchet at a time to the big ending, is what I still find genuinely unnerving. Watch each of the workmen leaving the ship after their terrifying (off-screen) experiences, or the police sergeant in the house sweating with nicely underplayed fear and tell me you don't feel those nerves going on edge... My 2pence worth. (Sorry for the long post)

From the lists above, Mary Lynn and James Morrison were over in the UK a few years ago, but not seen anyone from 24 over here for ages, especially not since the show ended. Would love to see some 24 guests at a Showmasters event, highly recommend the ones I saw previously (Mary Lynn, James Morrison, Louis Lombardi, Kim Raver, Carlos Bernard et al), as they were all great guests and good fun. Mary Lynn has a young one to look after these days though so might not be able to come over. Elisha would be hard to get me thinks, but please please please try

I was secretly hoping that a new movie would be announced at the talk but in my heart of hearts I know that we have to wait for the bean counters at Fox (who must surely be the Syndicate in disguise???) to come to the obvious conclusion. Maybe some of them will see all the publicity from the events Gillian is doing this year (here and in the US) and that will tip a few to the YES column. If that doesn't we keep trying and hoping! As Father Crissman said to Scully - DON'T GIVE UP!

I wasn't in the early queue yesterday so have no personal input, but it seems like people are indicating that at least some of the queue issue was down to the venue staff. Must admit, I did see a few of them during Saturday standing around at exits etc looking rather bemused, so I wouldn't be surprised. Would love to see the same venue next year as the extra size definitely helped - no way could Earls Court have coped on Saturday. Though TFL did not help with the rubbish tube every 20 minutes! Photo distribution table hogging was a nightmare. Was not there today but seems like it was much better so big thumbs up to hear that Everyone obviously learn a lot from yesterday and put it into practice. The only thing to add to that, if it worked write it down, remember it, and don't change it if you go back there next year...

Area B was the area for Mitch Pileggi and that photo shoot was absolutely fantastic and am happy to say so. Area D photo shoot for Nicholas Lea - the photo shoot itself went great from what I could see so no problems with the actual shoot at all. But the photo itself when it came out - wow, I have never in fifteen years of getting photos seen a worse one. Let's get this in perspective - I have had many many photos from SM and others and never had a significant issue before (apart from a bad hair day ) so for the 999 previous photos thanks very much. But something went waay wrong yesterday with the Nicholas Lea photo and others in that area and we can never have that moment back unfortunately. So clearly there is no other option now - get Nicholas back for next year...

There has always been fewer people on Sunday than Saturday, but that is partly because the big big headline guests always seem to be Saturday only. Happy to hear it was hopefully easier for everyone who went today, my body could not take any more after yesterday lol...

Had to edit down your essay KR lol Sorry KR, have no idea what you look like so no idea if we chatted or not yesterday, but i think we were probably at opposite ends of the queues lol 1) You and me were both praying madly all that time for the "Guest cancellation" post not to appear 2) Skinner's crush on Scully from your talk question made me laugh when I saw it on the XFN report 3) Cannot believe these idiots with the photo requests and "hugs" in the middle of talks. If only we could identify them beforehand and lock them out 4) FIVE autos - I am sure that you stated repeatedly you were never going above 3 5) Shame I missed you in your cosplay with the sunflower seeds bet that was awesome... Have to say it was a REALLY big bonus (and something of a pleasant surprise) to get personalisations on my 2 autos, Gillian asked me where I wanted her to sign the I Want To Believe poster, really professional with everyone and most importantly she seemed genuinely happy to be there and enjoying the day and the interaction. Which was very important to me as hopefully, hopefully, that means that one day she might be back. So, Jason, have you got her to make that call to David about LFCC 2013 yet... Roll on next year! PS Sorry about any "bitching" about Saturday's organisation on other forum posts. I DO know that everyone did their best, just wish for it to be the best that it possibly can and, apart for the chaos with Adam Baldwin, for me it would have been. I am a senior manager where i work so I know not everything can always be under control, but for me the communication always seems to break down rather easily when things go wrong and I would start there. PPS Catwoman - raaawr

Agreed. I was one of the many trying to make sense of it all yesterday afternoon. I could see his photoshoot was going way over and went to his queue which was still going on for that whole hour his photo was delayed. I was confused and concerned like everyone else and asked her if she knew if he would be back after the photo. She had no idea (not her fault in any way, just a symptom of the total lack of communication and organisation that seemed to be apparent), she just suggested that I look for a "red shirt" and ask them, which actually was spot on the right thing to do looking back at it tonight. I walked away rather frustrated, knowing nothing but also realising that nothing she could do about it. I am sorry if I was in any way abrupt with her, hopefully not as its not generally in my nature to be like that. Looking back, I agree its quite amazing that she managed to keep her cool in all the chaos... So Ruth - if you read this, well done. PS Showmasters - you might like to tell the person running a queue whether the person at the end of the queue is going to be signing again or not...

Blimey - Did i log on to match.com by mistake??? Though if anyone wants to say hi feel free. Chatted to lots of people in the queues, it was all a blur but i remember the girl who was on the verge of tears in the Gillian photoshoot queue in the morning (any relation to Andy Murray???) and the guy in the Gillian auto queue at the very end while we waited for Gillian to re-emerge from her break for the last few autos (you helped ease my irrational unspoken fear that she wasn't going to come back for us). I hope you are enjoying your newly signed boxset! I also met a lovely lady who apparently grew up in the UK and America and spent some time in Vancouver. Think she said her name was Gillian [For the posts below, I have always found it difficult to get hold of people I have met after events so I DO think this is a good idea, just keep it under control eh lol]

Today's been and gone... *cries* I want to wake up at 6.30 again and find the day is a re-boot in classic SciFi style... Surely SM can arrange this for us??? Been such a wonderful day. Been waiting so many years to meet Gillian. What the heck can I possibly look forward to now? Got it - Sunday's surprise announcement that DD has been booked for next year (with a Gillian repeat of course). You know it makes sense and you can't Fight the Future! Will never forget the redhead right in front of me in the Gillian photo shoot queue first thing so happy and emotional she was on the brink of tears. I think watching you doing all this stopped me from "betraying my ice cool exterior"... And also for the guy at 7pm when we were just outside Olympia chatting about how today was all about X Files for him (as me) while i tried to work out where the heck I was supposed to be going. If you see this, I hope you have a wonderful day Sunday, know you had Nick and another shoot to do, lucky you, I blew it all in one day and have nothing to look forward to, (well - apart from a trip down Route 66 later in 2012) (not that I have any money left after today you understand...) Wonderful. Will always remember today EDIT - Had the X on my back all day and nobody mentioned it after all that planning from KingRichard. It's not like there were thousands of people in the place...

Hmmm. Well have to say everyone i met was great. Hayden was only a photo this time as I was waaaay too high VQ ticket number and Hayden was clearly not particularly happy with something (I think it was the endless amounts of photos she was having to get through judging by elsewhere on here (apologies for my lack of understanding but don't the guests know how many photos there are going to be beforehand or is this all dealt with by management or something? - it just seems really strange that they wouldn't know?) I have been building up to meeting Gillian ever since I first saw her announced on the forum, and a friend had suggested that Gillian might be a bit of a disappointment partly because of this and the "reputation" she used to have, but I found her really friendly, really classy. Lived up to the build up. Really seems at ease with the fans now - think that is the perfect way to put it, maybe because the short term hype of the 90s has gone and what she now sees are the long term "genuine" fans if you see what I mean. I think we got to see the "genuine" Gillian today too because of that, she was able to just "be herself". Jane Badler was a really classy lady and wow I couldn't believe how stunning she was. Natural charisma and oodles of personality. Discussed The Highwayman and why it still wasn't on DVD (think that got her involved and chatty too as I am not sure she would get as many people talking about that as V). Told her that I first saw Mission Impossible in English on holiday in Portugal of all places with Portuguese subtitles, because it just wasn't shown over here for years and I never understood why... Jewel Staite seems to have a permanent smile on her face. Really friendly relaxed personality. I told her I hadn't seen her since 2004 (met her with Nathan and Summer hubba hubba I was happy that day) and she couldn't remember it at all not surprisingly (long time ago!). But she said she was pleased that I was back to see her and, importantly, you could see she was genuine. EDIT This was much later on (4pm), so maybe she had chilled out a bit by then (could have been tired/jetlagged first thing I guess). Adam Baldwin - well, you have to get this guy back if you can! So many people wanted to see him, think you maybe underestimated his appeal. Soooooooooo tall and soooooo big and muscular (made me feel really inadequate lol) but seems a real big softy underneath. Cracked a Chuck joke in the photo shoot "that explains the Crown Vic in the car park", he had a little chuckle at that (ok not that brilliant a joke but the pressure to come up with something witty can be tough...) Adam was signing for us so late in the day, even though he was shattered. He said he would keep on going to get everyone their autographs, really went the extra mile. I told him how happy I was to have him on my Firefly DVD now (which was signed by the three others in 2004) and wished him luck for tomorrow. Really modest guy I think, genuine and just the kind of guest i love the most. Top guy! Mitch Pileggi similar to Adam - he wasn't enjoying the heat on the photo shoot, but a very charming and "honest" guy, again very modest, asked detailed questions about how and where I wanted my X Files comic book signed. Smashing. Nicholas Lea - A little surreal, think he was probably knackered - got his auto at like 5.50 and his area was pitch black (what was that all about?). Told him how amazing it was to be there today seeing everyone as a big XPhile and I think he appreciated that for how it was meant. Missed out on Jeri due to time but I did see her way back in the 90s when she was over for a convention, which most people wouldn't have done, so it is now 1-1 or maybe deuce since it was Wimbledon final today Too tired to go back tomorrow and seen most of what i wanted other than John Simm and the Hunted talk, but hope the guests are as lovely for you tomorrow as they were today for me!!! And when you meet Adam, be gentle with him as he'll be knackered Thanks for bringing wonderful guests over and making today so special, warts (Baldwin photoshoots) and all! EDIT - I normally mix the big guests with some of the "smaller" ones - that way you get to see the biggies you have always dreamed of (Gillian has often been in my dreams over the years cough) and you also get more personal experiences with less busy guests (which is why I made a point to see Jane Badler yesterday which paid off because she was lovely)

It was very busy and organisation could have been better but that has been done to death elsewhere already. In the end, I got all my autos that i wanted and I got all my photos back even Adam Baldwin (though it was 6.45 by then) though I know a lot of photos didn't get to their owners for various reasons. Guests were all awesome and meeting Gillian was better than I hoped in the end as it was end of day and she was on open Q and not overly rushed through, and Gillian was gorgeous and charming beyond my expectations!

Fantastic pics everyone! Didn't really have time to get a table pic with Jane Badler as I was rushing between other photo shoots at that point, but yes she is stunning for her age and dare I say it, to my completely untrained eyes, her face looked basically natural if you see what I mean. She was lovely to talk to as well. A really classy lady with obvious personality, but there seemed to be lots of classy guests around today (the ones I met anyway)

I think I got "Hayd" last time but it was about 5.59 if i I remember correctly ... I didn't get autos this time as I had just too much to get through in the day, just a prebooked photo so i can make my friends jealous again She seemed polite in the photo session though clearly not entirely buzzing with pleasure (from what I read about her crammed shoot I think I now understand why). I said to her that i looked forward to seeing Nashville as I thought that was something quick and good to say, and skipped off (i really did skip off for some strange reason - if anyone had to endure that, I would like to apologise unreservedly )

I second the big thanks to all the crew. Lots of hassles around and about the hall for them to deal with, though i try not to be one of them but never a snappy retort all day and nearly always a smile even at 6.45pm handing out the Adam Baldwin photos, even if they were possibly not feeling the same way inside I have mentioned elsewhere that I think if this event is getting bigger it needs more staffing somehow though I accept there is no easy solution to that - you cannot just invent people ( ah that is the solution maybe - alien clones of DavidB and Too Tall?). But the staff/volunteers that are on hand have all been working their butts off today for hours and hours. It's hard enough standing in queues that long, imagine having to spend that long actually trying to police/organise them!! And I will never ever forget having had the opportunity to meet Gillian after 18 years of hoping since those heady days of September 1994 on BBC2 when I had no bags developing under my eyes and a full head of hair lol In the end if this event wasn't so big, we wouldn't have just met the one person (along with DD for next year obviously... ) that we all wanted to meet! I'm exhausted, unable to sleep, have more aches and pains than I can name from today's queuing and very very very happy. God help me when the adrenalin finally wears off...

I think the nail has been hit on the head. I don't think the venue or event was too big. The hall was certainly able to take the crowds from what I could see. I think the only major logjams were the photo shoot areas because they are also main thoroughfares especially when the stalls get busy. Passing traffic plus two photo areas next door to each other = jams. I think there was a post on the forum previously or on the website saying the event space was 40% bigger than Earls Court. But the number of staff/volunteers has not noticeably changed. I don't think this is necessarily SM's fault - if people are not willing to volunteer then they cannot invent them (I can't talk on this by the way, I've never volunteered for various reasons). EDIT - Agree with the comments about people hogging the photo despatch area. Every now and again, I basically had a look at the photos on the table, (which does take time when looking for a Gillian photo amongst hundreds), but once I had been around once and seen what was or wasn't available I went elsewhere - got an auto, had a walk around, browsed the stalls or took a couple of minutes break in the gallery area. The gallery area despite the hard floor has to be the best thing I have seen at one of these type of events in many moons!

Only real complaint I had re photos was the awful lighting on my Nicholas Lea photo (and to some extent on Adam Baldwin). If I have too much "sky" then I will deal with that ony my pc when I upload at some point. I wasn't sure whether the light issue was because the photos were rushed out late, but from reading on here it seems like it was actually a venue lighting issue. My other photos came out well (or so it seemed when I picked them up). Again, I am sure they will look at this at some point in the future, but obviously tomorrow the event is still running and I hope they got it fixed for you guys getting photos tomorrow so you get the best photos possible

I cannot comment on the Queues as I arrived at about 9.50am with my Early Bird walked straight through the doors without anyone checking my ticket although I was waving it around trying to find someone to show it to (maybe someone did see me waving it and I didn't notice them - I don't know for sure), and dashed to the photo shoot queue for Gillian. I am lucky that I live reasonably close so am always able to stay on till the end to get what I can so have never bothered to arrive before opening. I find getting there around 10am seems to be the best option for me as there are huge queues every year and i just cannot face that, with all the OTHER queues to come during the day... I think to be fair it is blatantly obvious from the posts here that there was not enough personnel/barriers controlling the queue and that is the ONLY answer for an event this big! In one form or another, this is the method used by Disney/Universal/Alton Towers and so on and so on, and I would hazard a guess that they have an idea about what they are doing And boy my impression today - is this event massive now!!!! Earls Court used to feel big when full but Olympia felt like the next level up from even that! I am sure they will look at the queuing when the dust settles. I am not saying that a response at some point in the future isn't appropriate in this case, but they needed to prep for tomorrow and that seems kind of obvious to me. Had a wonderful time though and Gillian, Mitch and Adam were all awesome! Had no problem with any crew members, they were all fine with me other than they seemed to be rather poorly informed at times but clearly that is not their fault. I think it was a symptom of the overwhelming size of the event. One final point - I totally agree the Mitch photoshoot was maybe the most "clockwork" shoot I have ever been in, so something tells me they need to be promoted asap!!! And I mean that quite seriously, people that run things this well should be running Photo Shoot A or something and this might free up longstanding staff/volunteers to focus on other areas???

Have to agree I think there were too many photoshoots running which is why Adam Baldwin who was basically the last one ended up being an hour or more late. (I know the people on the queue got us through as quickly as they could - none of the blame goes to you people). I think when you have FORTY photoshoots in one day (count them up) the chances are that not all forty are going to run smoothly the way things run currently. I want to say that I don't put any blame on any of this with the people who were covering the photos or the distribution - I think they were all doing best they could but it just ended up disorganised. Let's face it, no-one there wants things to become disorganised, but i think all the constructive ideas are hopefully useful to them to get it improved in the future. I was able to stay till virtually 7pm and I did get all of my photos back so I am lucky in that respect compared with others. Personally, I like to have my physical photo but if the only way to deal with the issue is to have them emailed or whatever, then i can understand. I also have 2 overexposed photos out of 5 (Nicholas Lea and Adam Baldwin being the last 2 which were printed out on site) but have nothing to add on that point that isn't already on that thread. Still, for everything that happened, had an incredible day. Meeting Gillian will always stick in the memory and her photo looks great (well apart from my messy hair from having just run in from the rain and gone straight to the shoot )

It was sooooo sooooo sooooo much cooler up there today and a handy place to grab a bite to eat and have a break (not that I had more than 5 minutes break in the 9 and a half hours I was there today lol...) I don't know - Is it just because these places are older? - but Olympia and Earls Court are just overwhelming in the crowds, there were people verging on fainting in photo queues at times (especially the Adam Baldwin one but we won't go there, I know it was a nightmare for everyone Showmasters people included and no point dwelling on it because everything else has been awesome today !!!)...

The date is set for 3 days time... And you can't fight the future.

Love how people come up with such creative and unique things to get signed. Though some of the best things i have are not at unique, like my Firefly DVD box leaflet which I got signed by Nathan, Jewel and Summer some years ago when they all came over. Looking forward to adding Adam's signature to that. For the XF guests I have a "I Want To Believe" which I hope to get signed by Gillian. I also have the recent XF comic book which I think will be a good choice for the XF guests generally. Other guests will probably be photos although I have the Star Trek Blu Ray insert as a standby for Karl. But I suspect there will be something more interesting in the stalls as i am sure they have been scrabbling around for something interesting to sell this week! PS £990 xxc - That's impressive (or crazy, not sure which...)

What getting paid is like? For sure, I have seen the guys sitting next to the guests and for the big guests there is very little interaction. xxc - I TOTALLY missed the Scully reference, sorry (and I call myself a fan ). I've never been the same since my out of body experience when I was younger. KR - Got your message and replied. *Empties the ashtray after CSM ... AGAIN! God that guy is messy...

The forum is here to answer questions. Hopefully, they sorted you out above. I was going to say you are welcome to take my photo as long as you pay me, but who the heck would want to do that Though I do have a resemblance to a certain current Prime Minister as I get reminded on a too frequent basis... Hope you have a great weekend!