MrsEllacott

I am not that person either, but that was so nice of them! Glad to see things like this happen!

Considering the guests they had booked, shouldn't they, as a professional company that has been doing this for years, have been able to predict it? As soon as Stan Lee was announced, my partner and I jumped online to order early birds - with this being his last European signing, we KNEW he would draw loads of people to the event. Also, we knew we'd have to start queuing much earlier than we do normally, so we started our journey to London at 3 am. We've only being going to cons for a year, but even we were able to predict that numbers would be massive! Maybe SM should hire us I was the same as you but I have to admit I didn't think the queue would still be so long come 4pm on the Saturday!

Go to the pinned post at the top, Jason has made a full explanation of every thing in regards to Stan Lee, for which most people have accepted and understood.

Exactly and even then you still have to allow those with any pass for priority in front. So number 1 will never be number 1!

Natalie's refund was mentioned her cancellation thread. It will be done automatically onto the card you paid with and you will get an email when it is done, though before it has cleared.

Despite it being written down, my husband's autograph from Billy Dee Williams was written to Joh not Jon!

Few people! The guy doing VTs and the woman on the sales desk for Jenna? The Pit Boss for TJ Thyne's queue? And the crew on organisers' booth who remembered me from previous cons? Just want to say a personal thank you to each of you for being brilliant this weekend!

Positives: Great Variety of Guests Helpful and Hardworking Crew/Volunteers Forum and Twitter Posts from SM Con-Goers (met some fab people over the weekend) Support for Disabled People (excellent this year) Clear Timetables for Photos/Talks Expanded Comic Area (didn't get a chance to look properly but loved the expansion) Bigger Gaming Zone (one very happy son as a result) Great Value for Money (Entry, Photos and Autos) Rough Layout posted before Event (even if I could not remember where one photo shoot was) Negatives: Organisers Booth too small to deal with so many people for a variety of things first thing Saturday! Con-Goers stopping in inappropriate areas/blocking important areas (I say this as it happens every year).

The mail in service for one of Stan Lee's next appearances is 10 pounds cheaper. I guess if they operate like Showmasters, and charge a handling fee it may actually be 15-20 pounds, and none of the problems featured this weekend. If you delete this post, please admend yours - as its clearly misleading. But the cost of an autograph or photo is dependent on a whole host of factors. So yes, it may differ depending on the convention but most prices won't change significantly!

I have to agree with this. I chose to do two days this year as I knew I would need more time for the photos and autos I wanted! I spent all year saving so I could afford it and spread out paying for the tickets I wanted. I spent more time and more money this year but that was my choice, no one else's and quite honestly I didn't mind so much, because I had a fantastic time! Whoever suggested the survey, think that might be a good idea. A lot of ideas on here and think some are getting lost among the many posts!

Before I get in trouble, this was Bernard's idea to have my kids in the photo, not mine and the photographer encouraged it!

Not the best quality of these shots as took them on my iPhone! Thought I would put this one up for those who had asked about the silver sticker for authentication!

It is to do with the Stan Lee photo shoot. People were asked not to touch him when having their photo taken.

Yes perhaps. But even when I attend events for the first time, I make sure to research it to figure whether I should expect to queue and if so, where do I need to go etc. Everyone has some kind of access to internet these days and the information may not have been on the main website but it was on twitter, facebook and the forum! So no I am not glossing over it, because while I am regular con-goer, everyone starts out as a first timer and we live in a world where information is easily available. Not going to bother trying to get my point across any more! I know how I deal with long queues so whether other people know how to is not my problem.

If you have planned and organised an event correctly,once it has started the management team should have nothing to do except deal any unexpected problems that arise, that's how event management work. You don't sleep for days before but if you have done things right once it starts it's runs itself except for the unexpected. Unexpected numbers should have been considered and there should have been a plan in place to deal with it, that's what your disaster recovery planning is for, to put in place plans for the unexpected so you aren't caught out, not dealing with things on a wing and a prayer and "oh we will deal with it, if it happens" I left the event at 12:30 on Saturday and I saw no-one managing the queue,or even dealing with the mess of people at the doors, it was chaos, inexperienced people in blue t-shirts trying to cope. Plus if you are experienced in event management you have suppliers of things like water and other stuff already on speed dial. Then I know other Event Management teams who are completely awful! I have queued for hours after things ranging from concerts and red carpet events and at each one, it was expected that would be many people waiting around for a long time! At one event I went to, the person at the front of the line arrived over 24hrs before the event and no one offered her anything! Never have I been offered water or other things to help me cope with the wait! It was down to me and only me to do that, no matter how long a wait I am in for! If you choose to turn up and queue for ages, then it is common sense to bring water or whatever you need! I'm sorry but I really don't subscribe to the view that just because you have seen other events that are worse, that this makes something acceptable. People should aim to be the best in what they do, not say "well so and so were worse" as an excuse. Whatever customers did or didn't do, it doesn't mitigate the fact that the Event Organisers got caught out by events which they should have planned for. I never said they were worse than SM, though quite honestly it is not the worse queue I have seen and it is not the first time I have seen a queue not been given no information about what is going on! Simple fact, it happens and most of the time, it is completely unexpected no matter how well they plan for it. What I said, based on my experience, event organisers, even when do know how busy it will be, will not provide drinks etc to those in the queue because it is not their job to do so!

Higher or lower than mine? Cos that amount for me was entry tickets, autos, photos, food, train tickets plus merchandise! Though I will admit I have spent months saving since Stan was announced!

I personally think you guys did an awesome job considering how busy it was! You can honestly not please everyone, no matter how hard you tried! If possible, could Extra Help Passes be made available before events? We had no issue picking ours up but it was manic at the organisers' booth and I feel like this would help reduce the workload there and make it easier for disabled customers when arriving at the shows.

And I said before, and others did agree, but it is not SM'S fault. They asked and Stan's team could have said no, but chose not to!

Well you did damn good job considering the circumstances. I was in the gaming zone around the time it was announced Stan was taking a rest and I saw the hordes of people around his signing area. I do feel very sorry for you having to deal with that!

Let's see! I saved up £600 for the entire weekend, think in the end I came home with at least £100. Not sure how much the photos all were as some were refunded or exchanged. But think in total for the entire weekend, I think it may have been around £800, some of which my credit card suffered from! Never spent that much at one event in my life!

Yes definitely! Plus Clark Gregg!

If you have planned and organised an event correctly,once it has started the management team should have nothing to do except deal any unexpected problems that arise, that's how event management work. You don't sleep for days before but if you have done things right once it starts it's runs itself except for the unexpected. Unexpected numbers should have been considered and there should have been a plan in place to deal with it, that's what your disaster recovery planning is for, to put in place plans for the unexpected so you aren't caught out, not dealing with things on a wing and a prayer and "oh we will deal with it, if it happens" I left the event at 12:30 on Saturday and I saw no-one managing the queue,or even dealing with the mess of people at the doors, it was chaos, inexperienced people in blue t-shirts trying to cope. Plus if you are experienced in event management you have suppliers of things like water and other stuff already on speed dial. Then I know other Event Management teams who are completely awful! I have queued for hours after things ranging from concerts and red carpet events and at each one, it was expected that would be many people waiting around for a long time! At one event I went to, the person at the front of the line arrived over 24hrs before the event and no one offered her anything! Never have I been offered water or other things to help me cope with the wait! It was down to me and only me to do that, no matter how long a wait I am in for! If you choose to turn up and queue for ages, then it is common sense to bring water or whatever you need!

I agree, but not to the final part, cos quite honestly that is unfair. I buy all my tickets in advance, never buy anything once there. I have to plan in advance in order to have successful weekend as I have my autistic son with me, who loves coming to these shows! I prefer standard entry as it is, but have upgraded in the past if I have needed to.

So nice to hear someone say that cos I had a few dodgy looks from other people when I was placed near the front of the queues for photos as my autistic son struggles with long queues! Though most people were happy and understanding to allow people like my son be moved towards the front! Just nice to hear someone who actually understands! MrsEllacott i have epilepsy myself and hence have a greater understanding of people with disabilities. glad you liked my comment. if i were disabled i too would not want to stand in a line or have the thought of injuring someone due to me being in the line. it is important that people think "how would i feel in their situation". everyone will have different opinions but we sometimes need to do what's best for those people whatever the consequences. There was a lady in the second Colin Baker photoshoot yesterday who was on crutches. The crew member was going to place her at the front of the queue in front of us holding gold passes. However, she was quite happy to stand behind us as she thought it unfair as we had paid for the privilege of being at the front. I couldn't, and didn't want to, speak for the others but I let her go in front of me. I am the same as that lady as well! I usually find myself among the gold passes so I have no issue with that. But never do I expect to be placed first, I just go where I am told. Sunday is the only time I have ever asked if I could be moved further up the queue for something and that was only because it was the last thing we were doing that day and my son was on the verge of a meltdown at the time.