TrekGreg

(also - drink prices were set by excel & are normal for big london events I am ashamed to say). I will respectfully disagree with the prices set being london prices because the bars I visited around the excel had full sized bottles and cheaper prices.

This was my first convention and therefore I may have had nothing to compare this con too, but I also know what I want to expect and get out of it so here's my 2 pence worth. I was genuinely excited about attending this event and when i got there I wasnt disappointed with the attendance. My main aim was to get as many signatures as I could, as I have NONE and I purchased the photos I wanted too on top of my Gold ticket. All of my comments below are based not on my expectations, but my EXPERIENCE there as a first time con-goer. TICKETS: The gold ticket for me, I felt was a little overpriced. The priority queuing for the captians signatures was EXCELLENT as was the "free" access to the captains talks.... The only down side here was that I only got to see 2 captains talks because of other clashes which slightly depreciates the value but hey ho... The free signatures were very nice, just a shame they werent really as random as hoped. I think seat allocation was also a little poor due to the number of gold passes sold, overall though, I was happy. VENUE: The Excel is blatantly big enough to cater for all needs - great choice, big thumbs up. SIGNATURES: I thought I would have to be queuing for ages to get signatures. I walked in at 2pm on friday and grabbed the VQ tickets I wanted... I needn't have worried, I got 8 signatures in 30 minutes! I like the VQ system and it seemed to work well - Well Done. PHOTOS: I was extremely lucky that I got a lot of low numbers and hence got mine quite quickly, but i was absolutely stunned at how quickly the photos were being churned out... Brent spiners queue at one point for the way OUT was building up! On a positive note, the instant photo production was a hands down win for me. what a genius process and whatever that cost was worth it because quite frankly, it was epic. Big points tick for me there. I think the improvements should be MUCH clearer signage about which numbers are being called and when they can expect to go through - the shoots last an hour, so estimated times of when the ticket numbers will come up will stop the huge masses forming outside the photo areas at the top of the hour. TALKS: This was unfortunately a let down for me. I managed to see Patrick Stewart and Scott Bakula (i wasnt missing PS for love or money) but missed the 3 others due to clashes. The clashes were smack bang in the middle of the talks so its not like I would only miss a few minutes, id miss the crux of them. If each captain had done 2 talks a day all at the same time, then there would be six slots to fill and you would know that you wouldnt get clashes because you wouldnt have another captain having a photshoot whilst another was in a chat. You could at least see one chat over the weekend. STALLS: What happened with the Lanyards? I brought one first thing, im so glad i did.. they ran out? how does that happen? I think the number of stalls was nowhere near enough.. i spent some time looking for an outfit or a T-shirt or something for my 3 year old and NO-One sold for that age group... very disappointing. The selection was a little poor too and the prices were hugely inflated.. a 2009 reboot phaser for £98? I brought mine for £42!! 100% markup - come on, not the way to impress fans. Remember, we know every little bit of detail about every film and episode, if you think we will miss the vendors inflating the prices.. we wont! lol. STAFF: I have nothing but compliments for the crew. They must have been put under a lot of pressure with some poor support from above, But every one of the crew listened to any issues i had and tried to sort them for me. They were polite, helpful and firm (which i thought they needed to be with some people)... I heard a rumour that some werent fed properly during the day.. I hope thats not truebut if it is, They need an apology and you need to ensure that NEVER happens again. They were epic so well done to all of you who gave your support. FREE THINGS TO DO : Not enough really, If I wasnt queuing for photos and talks etc, then I could have done everything in the arena in about 3 hours. As it was I didnt really get a chance to be bored or look for things to do, because every time i had some free time, I was autograph hunting whoever was free. Now I have them though, future events will need to have more things to do I feel. PARTIES: Oh dear.... If you take any feedback away from the fans, please take the feedback about the parties. They were appalling. The Bar was extorinately priced. 2 smaller bottles of carlsberg for +£10.... utterly ridiculous even for london. The music was frankly terrible. I wanted a party!!! i walked into the warblings of Avery Brooks which maked me want to walk right back out again. Where was the decoration? Where were the themed drinks? Where were the SEATS! You put out some garden furniture for the few to sit down on.. bear in mind, we have been queuing all day, standing around waiting for photos, standing in queues for talks... and at the end of the day when you want to sit and have a beer, I have to stand for 3 hours and get robbed by the prices in the process...... To say I was disapppinted is an understatement. The custom house hotel over the road form the Excel, made up a menu of trek themed drinks, there was a fake bridge built and they kept the bar open for us until 2am with loud, party music. The drinks were reasonably priced and after being at both parties for an hour, I left bored and tired, and went to the custom house where frankly, they cleaned up! you could have had that profit if a little more thought had been put into it. So overall how was it for me. There were problems and I kow you are recognising those so PLEASE take them on board. BUT, I got EVERY signature (and more) that I wanted, I met my hero in PS, I got my photos quickly and they are great quality. I met some fantastic friends and made some there too. So I would say my first con experience was brilliant. Just a few tweaks and you can have THE CONVENTION EVENT to go to in the UK..... Just think about that for a moment... because thats huge. Thank you for your work in putting the show on and if you have another DSTL next year, I will DEFINITELY be coming.

Perfect - thank you, that means ill be able to get all my signatures as long as i visit the booth at some time during the day asl longs as my number has been called.. excellent!!

Well i do have the number one ticket - reckon they can squeeze me in lol..... Ok, ill work around it somehow Another question if i may - I have a gold ticket and am just filling in my schedule to get the signatures I want during the weekend. Do i get ALL the VQ tickets for the signatures I want for that day only or for the whole 3 days. Also, if i miss my slot can I then go back into the queue at a later time and get the signature? Thanks

Hi all I have my ticket for a manu photoshoot on saturday which according to the timetable is 9:55am I have ticket number one! I Fancied going to his talk and noticed that it starts on saturday at 10am, 5 minutes after his photoshoot is supposed to start? Is this an error or will he only be having a 5 minute photoshoot? thanks

absolutely!!

I have a photoshoot as part of the gold pass so there is no number for it. Are we able to get the photo for this at any time through the weekend or will we have a set time?

lol accept that if you want.. Im not

There is usually a 5 minute gap between photoshoots going from other events. So I wouldn't show up 3 minutes before the end or something like that. well that depends on when the talk ends no - I have no control over that Unfortunately clashes can happen and some things you have to cut short or miss. My schedule is generally ok, a few overlaps but should still work out as long as things run to time. My biggest clash is the Kate Mulgrew talk on Saturday with Nana Visitors' photoshoot. As I have no idea how long the photoshoot is going to be I may have to leave the talk early just to make sure I don't miss it. Just because it's scheduled for an hour or so doesn't mean it won't finish early and without knowing how many tickets have been sold there's no way to accurately guess if you can leave it until the end. Saying that I might see if I can swap the photo to Sunday as that doesn't clash with anything. Doesn't look like I'll be able to get to any of the Stage B or C talks either which is a pity as some of those look good.but will see how the time goes. Just not possible to do everything you'd like. Im sorry but leaving a talk early is not an option. I have paid for what I want, talks, photos and signatures, I expect to get everything i paid for. Now, If a way around it can be found then so much the better, but not getting what I paid for is not going to happen. The talks, photos and signatures are what make the conventions what they are so missing out on them at all is not an option.

There is usually a 5 minute gap between photoshoots going from other events. So I wouldn't show up 3 minutes before the end or something like that. well that depends on when the talk ends no - I have no control over that

If you are there before the photo session closes: yes, that is correct. You can go any time after your number is called, kind of like the VQ ticket with the autographs. So as long as I schedule the talks and photos that clash, so that the talks are always the first to finish, i'll get all my photos! awesome cheers

is it right that if my ticket number grouping is called for a photo but i miss it because im in a talk, then whent he talk is done, I should be able to go the line and get my photo?

any star wars costume wearers will be summarily phasered and dumped in the docks... just so ya know

To clarify... The photshoots for the bridge shoot are running constantly so basically I can go anytime I want to have the picture taken? If so why the.. "Bridge photoshoot A etc" Thanks

Any chance of a response to my last query - thanks all