Dukedwarfer

Stone Cold Steve Austin!!

I had a General Lee for my wedding car! I found the company through Showmasters so it might be the same car! But it did have the flag on it!!

I have a Diamond Pass for Pamela Anderson and Tom Wilson and am only attending on the Sunday. I have seen that the Tom Wilson Tombstone photoshoot clashes with the Pamela Anderson talk. (Tom Wilson Tombstone Photoshoot 2.20pm - 2.35pm and PA talk 2.10 to 2.55) Am I right in saying I simply have to pick one of them to miss and I cannot change the Tom Wilson photo to a different one such as the stand alone picture with him which is at 1.40 to 2.05?

Can I just check... I have a YALC ticket for tomorrow so does that mean I q to get in with the gold people? Cheers

You are correct. It is only available Fri and Sunday Well I am not sure that is very good at all. I have a MJF Diamond pass and in the description in the shop it says:- 1 x Photo Opportunity of you with Doc Brown's Tombstone. (Can be taken Friday, Saturday or Sunday) I am only there on the Saturday. If I had known that it was only available on the Friday and Sunday I would have made arrangements to be there on one of those days, but I cant now as Im working on Friday and its sold out on the Sunday.

Is it me or is there no tombstone Photoshoot on the Saturday in the schedule?!

It seems that the distribution of these Diamond passes is all over the place, some people have received them, some haven't, some only some of them. Me for example, I have ordered SW, MJF and BP. I have received all but SW and am now told I have to collect it on the day. It's all well and good telling people not to panic, but then it is only natural for people to be concerned when they pay out a lot of money and do not receive the items, and furthermore told they have to collect them at the event and there doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason as to why some people have them and some don't. Overall, whilst it's only really a minor issue it will (and has) create a negative view for the people who have not received their pass especially those that ordered some time ago. It is pretty poor that it has come to this, it's not exactly rocket science to post out some passes. I just hope that this is not a reflection of how the organisation of the actual event will be. I have confidence it will be good, but this very poor show with the diamond pass distribution doesn't look good.

Hi I have 3 Diamond Passes for this event and they all come with nice extras such as Art Prints, T-Shirts etc. My question is where do we collect these items from? Is there a stall somewhere within the show which you can go and collect your 'Goody Bag' from? thanks in advance D

MJFs signing starts at 11am, so you can either talk to the crew and they will get you through quicker. Or you can go for the autograph on Sunday. Thanks Too Tall - I was just worried I wouldnt make it over as Im sure many people will be in the same boat. Im not there on the Sunday - thinking of coming up on the Friday to get MJ Fox's auto then I havent got to worry about the clash - What do you think?

The Aliens talk at the same time MJ Fox is doing his signing - Good one!! What a waste of money that was - I will have to miss the Aliens talk now. Gutted doesnt even come close.

Hi How long do people think Bill Paxton's autograph queue will be? I am trying to decide if I should buy the Diamond Pass for him? Of all the Diamond Passes, Bill Paxton's offers the least value for money in my opinion however I would be purchasing it for the guarantee and queue jumping that comes with it. Its basically an extra £105 on top of the cost of 1 auto and 1 photoshoot. I cant go to the talk as im not there on the Sunday (I am attending Saturday) and the other inclusions don't interest me. I have a lot of people I want to meet and Im wondering if it is worth paying an extra £105 to save the time and also the rush there will be to get VQ tickets for his auto? What do you think? Is it worth it or shall I chance it on the day? I wont be getting there until around opening time... thanks in advance for your opinions! D

Great news - Thanks!!

Hi Looking for some advice on when is best to arrive at the venue on the saturday? Im assuming it will be very busy and with doors opening at 9 there will eb people queuing before then.... Bearing in mind we have many guests we want to meet and therefore get virtual tickets for - What time would you suggest is good to arrive and get in the queue to be near to the front to get in when doors open at 9? Any advice from regulars would be greatly appreciated! thanks D

Hi Just a quick question.... We are coming up to LFCC for the day and will have our 3 month old baby with us in the pram. My question is do we need a ticket for the baby? I would have thought not as likely she will be asleep for the few hours and not interested in getting autographs or photo shoots like her mum and dad but just wondered if anyone knew if infants are free or if we need a ticket for them! thanks in advance

Hi Can someone tell me when the photoshoot times will be posted up? I need to leave by a certain time on Saturday and before I purchase any photoshoot tickets I want to be sure I can be there! Thanks in advance!

I understand the reasons for this. Last year I was one of the few that went to both this (the unofficial) and the other (the official). The Official event is fully supported by GN which, not only is run as a charity, but I have to be honest and say has the edge on the Showmasters event last year. I wont go into the reasons for this, but my thinking is that as this year the 2 events were proposed to be within 2 weeks of each other didn’t help Showmasters cause. I can understand where GN are coming from and given time I think SM could probably of put on an on par or even better event that the official crew. But they were always going to struggle as Showmasters seem to of developed a bit of a following with people whearas the official event demonstrates a different format which is naturally going to appeal to a more wider range of people, which is fine as in many ways it separates the 2 different products. For example, Showmasters RD event:- Autos and Photo shoots = Brilliant Saturday night entertainment:- Appalling Official RD event:- Autos and Photoshoots = below average Saturday night entertainment:- Fantastic But, Showmasters do not promote themselves as ‘Sat night entertainers’ (with the worst DJ ever on the decks) but they promote themselves as auto collectors etc and they do this well. The other guys do it the other way around and it works well. Ultimately, it is a shame this happened, but in my eyes it was always likely to happen.

Lizzy, there is no need to be sarcastic like that, like everyone else on this forum I was just expressing my opinion. And just for the record….I am not a fan of Alan SugAr. I was just joking that he would probably have something funny to say about how this has worked out. I think its fair to say there is also no need to comment on typos such as my miss spelling of Sugar. I think we all know that there are some awful grammar and spelling errors on here and its just part of the ‘game’ although I was tempted to comment at the recent ‘serves’ rather than ‘service’ blunder, I decided against it, as there really is no need and just shows up the person making the correction. Reading through the comments on here it is clear that everyone is speculating about how to run an event like this, myself included. That said I stick by my opinion that a Lost event would be a massive success. To the person who commented on 1st class flight costs – Yes they are expensive, but if you do your research, negotiate, set up deals – Invest time, you can get some very good rates on flights which are certainly no where near the figures you are quoting. Its all down to Showmasters at the end of the day. The fact is that there are rival promoters out there putting on upcoming cons with very big names coming over from the States, and they are making a profit, so it is possible. But these guys are working on it 24/7 (before anyone analyses that comment it’s a figure of speech!!!!) – to keep their costs down, find the deals and get the big names. I don’t know if Showmasters are doing the same and they are just unlucky, but this event should not of failed really. I am not claiming to be an expert in running a con like this, maybe if I devoted all my time to it I could make something like this work, but unfortunately I have job and a mortgage and many other responsibilities.

I would so love to hear what Alan Suger had to say about all this!!!! I know what you mean, and really do understand where you are coming from, its just that I have seen businesses be successful and I have seen businesses fail time and time again and the fundamental reasons for faliure always stay the same. I am never going to get everyone to agree with what I am saying. But lets just say that when Lockdown was announced in September 2007 with Henry IC as the first guest, they sold the majority of the overall ticket sales in the first 20 days from when they went on sale. Then we all know what happened with the Lockdown Con. This time around people were very careful about purchasing their ticket and didnt purchase their tickets when Michael was announced as they wanted more to make sure Lockdown didn’t happen again. This is the difference, and from what I can tell Showmasters have the same approach and strategy for all the weekend cons they do, and that just isnt going to work. They needed a different strategy and approach to I stand by my commitment that, if Showmasters took a 'gamble' on this and organised it in PLENTY of time it would pay off big time. I think the amount of hits this topic has had speaks volumes - And not everyone who goes to these cons comes on the forums.

I think you are missing the point here. After Lockdown Showmasters should not of expected ticket sales to be high with just one guest announcement. The fact is plenty of of people would of booked but, rightly so they didnt as we were waiting for a couple more announcement....which never came. This is why this event failed. As I have already said, for some barmy reason Showmasters dont see it this way and I think they actually thought that they would sell loads of tickets with just the one announcement they had. If I am right, this is concerning, as thought processes like that are just never going to work. That said, I think Showmasters have admitted their mistakes here, however I fear they are making another mistake by not running another Lost Con next year, cos if they did it right, it would be a success, no question. Only they can make their minds up about this, but I would eat my hat if it failed like the last 2 if they had a change of approch.

Trust me I know. I am in a very fortunate position to know things like this. As I say I keep most things to myself out of respect to showmasters, but I can tell you that a Lost con is do able, and I really feel strongly that showmasters have got it wrong here. I am not saying that Showmasters should be as good as Alan Suger (although I can picture in my mind what he would have to say about all this!! ) but if they had a different approch, I would bet good money this would of worked, and produced a nice profit for them. So are you saying that you are a rival promoter.... because that's what it sounds like. LOL! No mate! Wish I had the time to do something like this!!

Trust me I know. I am in a very fortunate position to know things like this. As I say I keep most things to myself out of respect to showmasters, but I can tell you that a Lost con is do able, and I really feel strongly that showmasters have got it wrong here. I am not saying that Showmasters should be as good as Alan Suger (although I can picture in my mind what he would have to say about all this!! ) but if they had a different approch, I would bet good money this would of worked, and produced a nice profit for them.

Nop, I actually think they beleive that people in general are going to buy tickets before several guests are announced. From what they have said in the past, in particular when Jason said that he expected the Gold tickets to sell like hot cakes when the next guest is announced (which turned out to be Michael) and of course they didnt. I am convinced without any doubt here that Showmasters have got the wrong end of the stick when it comes to why this event failed. They expected tickets to sell sell sell when they announced that Ben from Lost was coming, and I knew all along they wouldnt. It all comes back to this catch 22 situation. If showmasters see past this redundant excuse and organised a Lost Con with at least 10 months notice including at least 4 MAIN characters announced at that time, then I would put my money where my mouth is - I would cover any losses they made from the event providing none of the guests cancel before the event, or if they do cancel - a suitable replacement is provided. Why would I say this...As I know this would work...I know the fan base is there and I know that it can happen. Lets say you sell 100 Gold Tickets at £195 Thats £19,500 And 100 Silver at £125 Thats £15,625 And 100 Std tixs at £95 Thats £9,500 That would be £44,625 revenue. Now I know the fees involved for bringing the stars to cos and out of respect I am not going to post that information on here, but if Showmasters are reading this - You know that its well within that figure for at least 4 main characters and to still have plenty left over to cover the other costs. I do beleive that more than 100 tickets of each type would sell if good guests were announced which would then give you more income...you know how it goes from there.

No they wont do another one, which is a shame as I am convinced that if they actually announced some great guests BEFORE tickets went on sale, many many months in advance the ticket sales would go through the roof. You only have to look at how popular Lost is as a TV show. I am convinced that if done right (to be fair, not how its been done so far which has resulted in 2 failed cons) it could not only work but be a massive success!! But, Showmasters dont see it like that, for some reason which still baffles me. In fact next year could be a perfect time, after Lost has finished, many actors I am sure will be available and fans will want to celebrate its 6 years on TV. Maybe we should start a poll - Who would buy a ticket (or several tickets) to a lost con next year if it was announced many months in advance and had at least 4 of the main lost cast in attendance? That would be interesting to see! Anyone out there who knows how to do these things want to set that poll up?????

AGREED. Showmasters didnt see it that way though. Maybe they would go to Alton towers if there was only 1 ride.

An interesting point to make..... I called the hotel and they told me many people had been cancelling their hotel rooms in the last month or so, as they had decided not to come to the convention. Interesting, it seems many, like me, had booked their hotel but not purchased a ticket. Ie, had reserved their rooms and were waiting to buy the ticket(s) based on when the guests were announced. The hotel chap said to me that the cancellations in the last 4 to 6 weeks had been 'consiberable.' He also said that people were supposed to pay in full up front but they didnt really administer that rule when taking bookings which made it easy for people to do this!! Showmasters should check this out...apparently a lot of people did this and it just goes to show that this event would of worked, had they announced more guests. People had booked the time off work, put the dates in their diary and booked their hotel....They were just waiting for guests to be announced before they purchased their ticket and were holding on after what happened with Lockdown. Hmmmm.... Interesting indeed!!