Xenomorph

Excellent, I love GoT guests :)

Outstanding guest and a fantastic price. Thank you SM

I'm gonna wait until closer to the time and see who is going. As it's a smaller event, I shouldn't have any issues with hotels, so I can afford to wait a bit longer for the off-peak events. :)

Yeah, I agree with this. I didn't buy a gold pass this year for exactly this reason. I can honestly say that I barely noticed a difference. Most of my photos were batch 1 or 2, so little difference there. The autograph queuing was riotous at best, so it wouldn't have made any difference there. The only benefit would be getting in a few seconds before the main queue. This needs to be extended to 20 mins minimum, but even then, this was to give us an advantage for virtual queues tickets which were largely useless this year anyway. I won't be buying a gold pass again unless the price comes down or the benefits improve substantially.

I see quite a few comments regarding apps and the like. It sounds good, but data coverage is a major issue at these events. Not only is your signal weak or non existent whilst indoors, but network congestion is a nightmare.

The Highs The layout. Excellent for the most part with lessons learned from the first few Olympia events. Sensible locations for the photos, autographs etc. Thanks for moving the queue zones for Photo A-D. That prevented the usual congestion on the floor area in between. There was a lot of space between stalls as well, which really helped foot traffic moving around. The crew. Most of them were excellent and helpful. They seemed to be very well informed this time so I think whoever was in charge of the daily briefings did an excellent job. Air con. Excellent throughout, despite the insane heat outside. The autograph area became a little overheated, but that was due to having so many people and a lower ceiling. Lots of free talks on the Friday and Saturday. That really helped to fill the gaps. Thank you. An excellent guest list. You managed to cater for so many genres and interests. Outstanding agency work there. The Lows Autograph queuing. I already posted about this separately, but this weekend was the worst I'd ever experienced. The queue needs to be treated like the Photo pits with very clear instructions on which passes/numbers are being currently accepted. The queue needs to max out at about a 20-25 minute wait. Any longer and it causes chaos for your customers. For instance, the Lance Henrickson queue was ridiculous. I tried to join three times and when I finally managed to get in, it was a 90 minute queue. This meant that I missed a photo shoot and was able to obtain less autos overall (costing you guys money). If a queue is 90 minutes, you also need to factor in the guests breaks, talks and photos, so a 90 minute window isn't that easy to make room for from a customer perspective. The crew were completely ignoring the virtual queue system that day. Anyone could join the queue at any time and as a result, it was massive. When they finally took control and started calling out numbers, it was too late. There were people waiting with numbers like 80, whilst people with 300+ were already in the queue. Completely pointless, a waste of time for many, and it would definitely have caused SM some lost revenue. The pit staff need PA's or something to help them control their zones. It would help with their sense of presence and control of the area. Very few free talks on the Sunday. Extremely uncomfortable seats. I know that's probably beyond your control as the Olympia own the seats, but geez, those things really did into your back. Overall, an outstanding event Showmasters! I can't wait for next year.

Personally, I think it's just another large expense with potential IT issues. I think most would be satisfied with a large White Board on Velcro that they can just pull down and update. Either that or give them PA's so they can be heard by everyone. They certainly need some help. Being a pit crew boss must be one of the most challenging jobs at the event.

<wrong thread>

They're trying to sort it out now, but the virtual queuing system has been completely abandoned now.

Hello, please fix the autograph virtual queues. They're far too long. They're allowing queues to form deep into the hallway with waits of around 1 hour +. This defeats the whole purpose and efficiency of virtual queuing. Ideally, the queue should end at the notice board which is around a 20-25 minute wait. It's just a mess otherwise and they're not even checking ticket numbers any more.

Ooo, someone from the West coast? Hence the time delay?

Anyone remember the hilarious Sun headline a while back. "Hard to Fill"

Incredible! What a legend!

Outstanding guest! Nice one SM!

I've only got 5 guests this year (Fox, Capaldi, Weller, Calllis and Staite). That's the fewest guests I've ever met at a LFCC. Since I travel from Glasgow, I like to make it worthwhile and get at least a dozen guests, but the lineup this year isn't as interesting for me as it usually is.