ozycomms

I would still like the organisers to put the floor plan online for DST: Europe tomorrow in order for me to be able to print it out and plan on how I am getting from the talk stages to the photoshoot areas. It would be extremely helpful for a lot of the attendees if this can be arranged.

I've never been to LFCC but I've been to past Collectormania (Collectormania Glasgow now renamed as Glasgow Film & Comic Con) events both in Milton Keynes and my home city of Glasgow as well as the past DST events held in the ExCel centre in London. I remember that a floor plan PDF file WAS put up on the forum in the week leading up to DST3. I'm hoping for the same this time around too. For those newbies out there, the souvineer programme available at the event, and included with the packages, usually has the floor plan.

Will you be putting up a copy of the floor plan showing where the stages and photoshoot areas are for this new venue on this forum ? It would be helpful in determining if there is a problem getting from talks to photoshoot areas if, as in my case, a photoshoot starts at a time before the end of a talk and the photoshoot is very short.

As you have a Commander ticket, you would normally pick everything up when you initially visit the registration desk. This will include a weekend pass with your name on it and will state that you have the Commander package which will allow you entry to all the halls used by DST: Europe all weekend. You'll also be issued with your goody bag too at registration. Usually if you know of any problems beforehand, these can be discussed with event staff which may involve visiting a seperate, dedicated customer service desk. Due to Frakes' cancellation in 2014, this was what I had to do to resolve a problem that I had and knew about before arriving. This usually means the Friday registration period which opens at Midday (12:00pm) assuming that you are going on the Friday. You won't require to go to the registration desk again on Saturday or Sunday as you should already have evertything you require for the weekend unless there is a problem that occurs after you've registered.

Queen_Sindell, could you ask the organisers if it is possible for an attendee to customise their autograph group selection. For instance I had selected Group 6 for both talks and autographs before knowing who was in them. I have already met Bobby Clark at DST3 but haven't met Eric Pierpoint and I do not own another personal item for Mr Clark to sign. My point is this, I'd only like to make a single change to my group autograph allocation and was wondering if this was possible. I'm not asking for a full group change which I accept you cannot do but a minor tweak instead.

This is why I preferred the system used in 2014 where the organisers actually ASKED the attendees in an email sent in the August of 2014, for DST3 in the October that same year; who they'd like from a list of attending guests.

Finally the package autographs and talk groups are being shown on the DST: Europe website under whatever Ticket Info relates to the package you bought. ​The included '50 Years Not Out Celebrating Star Trek' talk is on Sunday and 'The 50 Year March of the Klingons' talk is on Saturday according to the Eventbrite DST: Europe ticket booking site. ​Here's hoping the schedule gets posted up early tomorrow.

They Khaaaaaaan't do it without the actor's agreement.

I agree with you that the event is meant to be fun and going by what happened in 2012 and 2014 I'm sure it will be. It is just been the process of getting to that point which has had me concerned. I've no such concerns about the actual event itself. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To Queen_Sindel: I try to respect other people and NEVER call anyone names unless I know them personally and even if I do, it would only be done in jest. THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO CALL ANYONE NAMES ESPECIALLY THE FORUM MODERATORS.

Sir, I'm already dissappointed by the lack of information and I am only trying to assist the many attendees who are reluctant to post themselves, I am getting concerned that should I continue to voice my opinion that I will be banned from this forum for doing so. I should not need as you put it 'to set my own arbitrary timelines for announcements'. Those announcements should have happened long before now. This event for me is my first holiday that I've had since the last Destination Star Trek in October 2014 which has not caused me as much anxiety as this event has done. I have no desire to antagonise anyone and I wish all those attending both Sherlocked and DST the best experience possible. I feel someone has to speak out and in the past I have refrained from doing so. I do not enjoy challenging authority, I never have and anyone who really knows me will tell you that. A lot of the time I sit on the fence and leave it to others to say something. The complete lack of information this time around and this close to the event has forced me to speak out. I hope you and the moderators can understand that. I now feel that I have been wasting my breath by attempting to have the needed package details released in order that people had plenty of time to plan their trip to DST: Europe. It would also have benefitted the organisers too as with the release of the missing info many more people would choose to book a package deal.

I am EXTREMELY dissapointed that there are no staff available to deal with Destination Star Trek: Europe issues.I EXPECTED there to be information released by today and not everyone to be dealing with an event that does not involve a major anniversary. We your loyal customers deserve better. I'm totally not disagreeing with your right to comment about the organisation of the event Ozy, not at all, but seriously. To say that you expect them to ignore the event they have running this weekend just because the Star Trek on is an anniversary is preposterous! As someone who is attending said event this weekend I expect them to be concentrating on that one rather than ignore/abandon/dismiss (pick your adjective) it for one that isn't happening just yet. Maybe you don't mean it exactly like that, but I'm sorry to me it does. I'm really sorry Sherlocked is getting in the way of your event, but it is before it and they have to deal with it first. I have no beef with those attending Sherlocked, Showmaster should be giving them plenty and the majority of attention this weekend. That does not mean that DST: Europe should have no one in the office looking after their needs. I would expect the same situation had Sherlocked been arranged to take place after DST: Europe. In that situation I'd also expect Sherlocked fans to similarly complain. However, if they'd released the package information a month ago like they did for the event in 2014, this situation would not be occurring. It upsets me that I am having to put up these types of posts when the previous events were organised so successfully.

Finally, some more news trickles out but not what I was hoping for.

I am EXTREMELY dissapointed that there are no staff available to deal with Destination Star Trek: Europe issues. I EXPECTED there to be information released by today and not everyone to be dealing with an event that does not involve a major anniversary. We your loyal customers deserve better.

It is now time that the Showmasters Destination Star Trek: Europe team release immediately to the forum moderators the details myself and others have been requesting for the last month; the details of our packages. We, the attendees, have been more than patient waiting for this information that, in 2012 and 2014, we were supplied TWO MONTHS before the start of those last events; even if some of that information was subject to change right up until the week of the event. This is a very special anniversary for the fans of Star Trek and, in my humble opinion, should have had greater attention paid to it than either of the previous Destination Star Trek events. I beg you not to further dissappoint the attendees by ignoring this plea. We are after all investing a lot of money in your events, not to mention the travel and accommodation costs that a lot of us have had to take into consideration not living within easy travelling distance. In my case I have to book flights and accommodation not long after an event is announced in order to get the best prices. Once this is done, in the case of my flights at least, I cannot get that money back and for me it is an expensive outlay. This is not to mention the cost of the eight photoshoots that I have pre-booked too. Prices also tend to skyrocket once the hotels realise an event of this nature is taking place due to demand and limited availability of rooms. This is why I book accommodation, flights, then the event in that order and it is pointless not booking all three months ahead. My decision to attend these events depends very much on the assumption that we get information released in a timely fashion. If this will no longer be the case, then I'd have serious doubts about attending future events where I have to book travel and accommodation months in advance. Please release this information now to allow us, your loyal customers, to plan our trip, whether the information is finalised or not.

When I booked my package I expected to have known the package information well before now. I'm dissappointed by the turn of events, but I'm still looking forward to the event.

If you are happy not knowing who your talks will be with I'd would say the Commander package is a better deal as you get both parties, more autographs and more paid talks with the package. The seating can make a difference depending on when you join the queue for the talks on the day. You also get better priority for autograph queueing. You also get more items in the goody bag. If you are able to wait until the full details are announced I'd wait before committing. Had you asked me the same question three months ago I wouldn't have hesitated to advise you to book straight away.

There has never been a Problem with non-Star Trek items before. I can't see Christopher being any different. Whenever I was near his area in Frankfurt Karl Urban seemed to sign a LOTR Picture. At DST3 in 2014, William Shatner and James Darren both signed my T. J. Hooker DVD boxset; Denise Crosby and Jeri Ryan both signed my The Flash (1990s) DVD Boxset and Karl Urban signed and personalised (without me having to ask) my DVD copy of Dredd. I had other non trek items signed by the behind the scenes guests too. So I agree, there should not be a problem with getting Back To The Future items signed.

The problem with this becoming a norm is that there will be a lot of people who will refuse to commit to an event if they do not know exactly what they are getting for their money. This in turn will effect the amount of money that the organisers will have available to attract more guests unless they pay for it out of their own pocket. The reason I bought my package early is I am tied down with buying and/or booking reasonably priced travel and accommodation months ahead of an event taking place. These costs, including the package ticket, are all tied to one another making the decision to attend an event a major one. I also had an expectation from the previous events I'd attended, that I'd have a similar good experience this time around too. If the event was local for me I'd seriously consider whether or not to lay out the cash upfront until I was certain what exactly was included in my package. From the posts I've read from others on this forum, I beleive that delayed package booking has already started to happen for those local enough to seriously consider it an option. Most of your events of this size are in the south of England requiring people like myself, who do not live that close, to consider whether it is worth the gamble. The organisers are not the only ones who like to plan for events ahead of time. For instance, I've split my photoshoots and the autographs I intend to get over the three days that I will be attending. I am hoping that there are no clashes with the photoshoots I've purchased or the talks I'll be allocated on any of the days. One week before an event is just not enough time to make these kind of decisions. If an attendee has a bad experience due to late announcements it may make them decide not to attend future events even if the event on the day itself was pretty good overall.

Queen_Sindel, thank you for your response. As far as I can tell you are doing a GREAT JOB in posting responses to my own and others posts and ARE TO BE COMMENDED FOR IT. I must stress that IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT that you have no information to pass on, that lies in the hands of the organisers who are letting YOU and the attendees down. I do not require everything to be finalised, just something put up with the proviso that the information put up is still subject to change. That would have been enough to satisfy me. I really do believe that YOU WILL make us aware as soon as you have something to put up. I believe that someone has to highlight problems and I do not do so maliciously. I just want to be a helpful contributor. I'm glad that I could help you by pointing out something that you were not aware of which is another reason these forums exist. The photo with Linda Park in the 'News' section of the website under the heading 'New Guests Added!' should also have been changed a while back, but I'm not to fussed about that and I don't expect or need that to be changed at this late stage. I offer my gratitude to you and your team for your efforts on behalf of the attendees.

I have been working on the assumption that I'll have to pay for the autographs that I want and have budgeted as such. I actually think that I may get some of the autographs with my allocation. The same goes for the paid talks too, but in that case I've not been able to budget for these. At this point I just don't know how much the talks will cost and I can't remember what they cost at DST3.

You misunderstand, I was just highlighting in capital letters what I expect from the organisers.. I do appreciate that the mods must be frustrated too, however the problem lies with the organisers and it seems that the only way of contacting them is through this forum's mods. An excuse of they have another event this coming weekend is not satisfactory either. I want to know about this event. I have very limited funds and I'll be able to afford one, maybee two, paid guest talks from the funds I expect to have available to pre-book before the event. I'd like to attend the paid talks for Christopher Lloyd and Garrett Wang. I've no idea if i'll have them in my package or if I'll have to pay for them, if I have to pay, and at what cost. As these guest talks are not available to buy from the Eventbrite shop yet I couldn't do so anyway even if I'd wanted to. I hope that you can appreciate that from my perspective, there have been a number of guests that have been confirmed for months and provisional information could, and in my opinion, should have been posted by now. As of today there is still erroneous information for the Captain's package photo groups as it is still indicating Jonathan Frakes in a photoshoot group although having the Commander package this does not affect me. For whatever reason, the organisation of this year's event has so far been extremely poor based upon my previous experience of DST: London and DST3 at this same period of time before the event. I'm not saying that the event itself will be poor I expect it to be great on the day and I'm sure I'll enjoy myself. I'm just not happy with the lack of information being passed to us through this forum or via the website itself. I've had no emails from the organisers explaining this delay either. Please be aware that I do recognise that you are caught in the middle and can only pass on information that you have been authorised to release. It will really upset me if we are still in this same situation and there is only a week left to go. As previously indicated I expect at least some more information to be released before late Friday evening. I'm sorry for causing you frustration on your part, but what else can I do but request information from the organisers through this forum ? I'm sure, from your previous responses, that you understand my position and if the positions were reversed you would be upset too. I thank you for your understanding.

You asked us to be patient, I believe we have been.Now with THREE WEEKS TO GO until the event, the attendees who have bought their packages deserve to know what autographs and talks they have been assigned. I for one require time in order to put money by for a talk with a guest that IS NOT included in my package. I CANNOT make that decision if there is NO INFORMATION to base that decision upon. THE INFORMATION ON AUTOGRAPHS AND TALKS IS REQUIRED THIS WEEK AT THE LATEST! We can wait for the final schedule, but the organisers should by now have a good idea of who is being assigned to which group even if they are still keeping other guests under wraps. I get that it's frustrating but they will publish it when they can. With regards to your comment about putting money aside, I'm not saying this to antagonise or anything but I don't get it? surely knowing or not doesn't stop you putting money away? If it's the amount you need to know surely you can still save whilst you wait for the info? Or they may already have some of the autographs or attended the talks of a (the) guest(s) at previous events.Most of the money that I have put by to date I have taken out of my bank account for hotel bills and autographs (on the assumption that they aren't included). Next week I get my benefits paid and i'll be using some of that to pay for unincluded talks and evening meals. There is NO information on guest talk prices; apart from the knowledge that you have a certain number included with the package, so how on earth can we guess those prices? And worse still if an attendee has NOT chosen a package, how do they decide how much that they need to put away either ? Or Section 31 for that matter

You asked us to be patient, I believe we have been.Now with THREE WEEKS TO GO until the event, the attendees who have bought their packages deserve to know what autographs and talks they have been assigned. I for one require time in order to put money by for a talk with a guest that IS NOT included in my package. I CANNOT make that decision if there is NO INFORMATION to base that decision upon. THE INFORMATION ON AUTOGRAPHS AND TALKS IS REQUIRED THIS WEEK AT THE LATEST! We can wait for the final schedule, but the organisers should by now have a good idea of who is being assigned to which group even if they are still keeping other guests under wraps. I get that it's frustrating but they will publish it when they can. With regards to your comment about putting money aside, I'm not saying this to antagonise or anything but I don't get it? surely knowing or not doesn't stop you putting money away? If it's the amount you need to know surely you can still save whilst you wait for the info? Or they may already have some of the autographs or attended the talks of a (the) guest(s) at previous events. Most of the money that I have put by to date I have taken out of my bank account for hotel bills and autographs (on the assumption that they aren't included). Next week I get my benefits paid and i'll be using some of that to pay for unincluded talks and evening meals. There is NO information on guest talk prices; apart from the knowledge that you have a certain number included with the package, so how on earth can we guess those prices? And worse still if an attendee has NOT chosen a package, how do they decide how much that they need to put away either ?

You asked us to be patient, I believe we have been. Now with THREE WEEKS TO GO until the event, the attendees who have bought their packages deserve to know what autographs and talks they have been assigned. I for one require time in order to put money by for a talk with a guest that IS NOT included in my package. I CANNOT make that decision if there is NO INFORMATION to base that decision upon. THE INFORMATION ON AUTOGRAPHS AND TALKS IS REQUIRED THIS WEEK AT THE LATEST! We can wait for the final schedule, but the organisers should by now have a good idea of who is being assigned to which group even if they are still keeping other guests under wraps.

I've been to Showmasters events in Glasgow (where I live) and Milton Keynes plus the last two UK based Destination Star Treks at the ExCel in London in 2012 and 2014. At Glasgow and Milton Keynes, the guests had a selection of FREE photos on their autograph tables which you could have signed if you did not have your own personal item to be signed. At BOTH DST London and DST3 this was NOT the case. Attendees wanting an autograph had to supply either their own item to be signed OR they either had to purchase a photo from a vendor selling DST branded photos or their unbranded photoshoot photo taken at the event. I expect that at DST: Europe this will also be the case; so to clarify, there will probably be NO FREE PHOTOS available for the attendees to choose from or guests to sign. I also expect that, for example, the photos available for Christopher Lloyd will only be stills taken from Star Trek III: The Search For Spock and none from Back To The Future, etc.