TrustyBadger

Thanks for posting the links above, by and large they confirm what one of the autograph dealers was saying (one of the ones that wasn't trying to push 'fancy-schmancy' / expensive storage solutions).

Alan Lee Brian Froud John Howe

John Hannah (The Mummy, Spartacus Blood & Sand) Ray Stevenson (Rome) Polly Walker (Rome, Caprica) Kenneth Cranham (Rome) James Purefoy (Rome, Camelot) Tobias Menzies (Rome) I guess you can see a pattern emerging... :)

I've been reading everyones experiences here with great interest as it was the first time I've ever attended this kind of event and I wanted to see how my experience compared with all of you. Personally, I had a great time at Collectormania 17 but that's not to say it couldn't have been better. I attended Saturday through Monday (out of necessity I couldn't stay much longer than 11am each day). Firstly, I really have to congratulate the staff, within the event, the queue management was brilliant. For a conference noob like myself to meet around 3-4 guests by around 11am each day was really unexpected! Reading peoples different experiences, I consider myself very lucky because I got to meet all the guests I wanted to see (David Warner, John de Lancie, Chase Masterson, Robert Patrick, Peter Davison, Anthony Head, Nicole de Boer and Kenny Baker), each of them personalised when signing, not only that but all of them obliged to my request for a photo, either posed or 'over the counter'. David Warner was particularly wonderful, sharing an annecdote about his TNG appearence in Chain of Command. John de Lancie arrived quite late at around 10.30am on Sat, I was first in line to see him and he did seem a bit rushed off his feet - he was very kind in standing up to pose for a photo. Chase was wonderful (see below). Robert, Peter and Anthony all agreed to 'over the counter' photos; and Nicole as well as being quite chatty also posed for a photo. I think it's fair to say that the smaller the queue and the earlier in the day, the more obliging the guests were. I thought about meeting Gates McFadden but must confess I was put off by person handing out virtual Q tickets dimissing any type of photography i.e. with/out flash, posed/non-posed, or video footage. That said, I think I preferred to hear it from the 'ticket master' outside the tent than from Gates' herself! In any case I already had Gates' autograph and although it would have been nice to meet her in person, I decided to meet Kenny Baker instead. I did consider a photo shoot but frankly I do prefer candid, over-the-counter photos to the more contrived poses inherent to photo shoots. I like what Chase did, asking that I make a donation to her charity in exchange for a posed photo - which I did without a second thought. I wish more guests did that as I really do prefer that to photo shoots. I appreciate if a guest has a busy queue to deal with then a posed photo is unlikely, in the interests of making sure everyone gets to meet the guest. Showmasters: please, if given the option to pay more for a candid photo (with the guest standing or sitting down) as part of the signing I would gladly do so. The decision as to whether it would be offered could be made before meeting the guest depending on the guests inclination to that and how busy they were. If theres one thing I would change about the event is that I much prefer to pay for an autograph at a seperate table before meeting the guest, I don't like flashing money in front of them (no matter how discretely it's done) especially when the cashier is sitting right next to the guest. I imagine the guest doesn't much like it either. Indeed my better experiences where with David Warner, Robert and Nicole where it didn't feel like a 'transaction'. Also, if it were better advertised when the money is being donated to charity it would go some way to making like-minded folks feel more comfortable. Anyway, I had a wonderful time - thanks to Showmasters for organising it, thanks to the guests for attending and thank you all for sharing your experiences in the forum