Vhiper

The cosplays were awesome again this year :)

*facepalm*, fine, stuff a croissant in there instead of the breadcrumbs I mentioned, the comparison is still valid, it was indeed not what people thought it would be, because something else was promised, which is exactly my point!

Uhm, if you'd go to your local baker and he sells you a bag with the promise there is a bread inside, you'll be happy with his explanation "Sometimes things just don't turn out the way originally planned" when you only find a few breadcrums in the bag? It reminds me of last year with the webby awards, when we were promised a show too with Stan, when the actual event was seeing Stan for 1 minute and pretty much no one of the award winners showing up, with the presentor trying his best to make jokes to cover up the mess... Or the GoT screening of last year, which was promised a special guest, who turned out to being a pinata of Joffrey... If you make a promise, you stick to it in my book...that or if you really have no choice, at least have the decency to apologise and inform people what they are actually getting up front, which was not the celebration as announced, but 15 or so unknown guests stuffed in a room half of us couldn't even find...

Stuffing about 15 unknown guests in an unreachable room (Where was it anyway? I found the amount of guests less then I had expected already, but I thought I was dreaming, but missing out on a whole room would explain it...) on the 3rd level with little to no attention is not what I'd call a celebration

Just an observation here, but maybe then not announce you're celebrating the 35th anniversary of Empire Strikes Back until you've actually got the guests for it, instead of screaming it off the rooftops, getting people excited and then just ignore it because you managed to sign MJF to come to your event....?

Nice try but you were wrong. but l'll forgive you for not knowing the TOS by heart...l looked it up myself

uhm, according to the SM TOS the copyright actually belongs to Showmasters Ltd....all we get for our 10 - 95 pounds is a print and the print and any digital copies you might buy (again.. ) afterwards are only given to you for personal, non commercial use only. Making copies for personal, non commercial use is still personal, non commercial use, so it's within the rules of the licence we've paid for. So I don't see why any photoprint studio would say no to perfectly legal business.

lol I could post my whole wish-list here as there was no one announced this summer from it.... Still a nice group of non-diamond level guests, so still got to meet a swell bunch of nice guests, but topping this year's lineup for me shouldn't be too hard for SM to accomplish...Lets see in a few months who they'll start announcing...

Nope, Summer experience and reaction to that from SM made me decide to skip LFCCW. focusing on other events now. Might be back for next year Summer event, depending on the line up.

Only saw them being sold on the sunday, for obvious reasons I was not interested anymore...Event was almost over

Yup, missed out (And I had a gold pass mind you...didn't give me priority in the staircase/elevator queues...maybe a tip for next year? lol) because at one point getting to (and from, which also stopped me going there too often) level 3 was pretty much impossible...Not true according to Jason, reading his posts, but the pounds still left in my wallet are proof the auto's didn't happen...Oh well, luckily the missed out on guests I still wanted auto's from have been announced elsewhere instead....so won't miss out after all :)

Met a guy on the friday who missed out on his hero, Christopher Lloyd, even though he went straight for the tickets when he got in...got him VQ ticket 33 on the saturday first thing l was inside, made his day. Never saw him again afterwards though, so hope he got his auto. This whole vq ticket thing is why l have a gold pass though, so l don't need to worry about this....still sad that has changed with DP's...

Won't happen, would mean less sold auto's, thus less money made and in the end that is what the show is about.

Part of the game, people buy auto's, people are allowed to sell their property...remember, you buy the auto, not the time with the guest, or so SM reminds us.... Personally, yeah, it's the time with the guest l gladly pay for, being a real fan, and yeah, it's sad if people who do not cherish their moment with the guest and just get the auto's to sell get to meet the guest while real fans miss out, but unfortunatly l don't think there is anything SM can do about it...

You're missing the point autograph wise..You could easily get autographs from the non-diamond pass guests as most of them had open queues, so a gold pass didn't give you any help there and for diamond pass guests you needed a VQ ticket, again no gold pass help there. So the gold pass has become pretty useless for the autograph collectors. For photoshoots the same thing. Yeah, you go in first, but if you buy your photoshoots quick enough, which is now extra easy with Etickets being sold, you'll get batch 1 tickets, who go straight after the golds, so you won't be waiting that much longer either. Goodie bag had a few old trinkets, Chill out room consists of a few tables, chairs, sweets and water and was closed during talks, photoshoot vouchers were handy thanks to the last minute rule change, but autograph vouchers were useless. So no, I didn't think I got value for money on the gold pass this year, unlike last year when that pass actually helped with the biggest guests. So I hope next year improvements will be made to make that pass worth it again. I am sorry i think you miss the point gold passes will normally get in first that will not change going forward and infant we may even extend the early entry more on this soon but there is great value in that as you can pick up all your VQ tickets and that is priceless If the gold pass dose not work for you and you feel it has no value thats fine but i will remind you we did sell a lot of them the week before the show and that in the end we did sell out of them by the days of the show and the feed back is that they are very useful. people talk about the sweets in the gold's room or how big that is or the goody bag is but that is just titbits the value is getting in to the lines at the back with out having to get a VQ ticket and the diamond pass guests you get access to these guests first so if you wear you can get a VQ ticket , thats the value and i know many of you know this and see is for what it is. jason Sorry Jason, but maybe you missed where l mentioned most of the queues for smaller guests are open, so gold pass doesn't help there. For the diamond level guests we now need VQ tickets, we didn't need those in 2014 and before. You said it yourself, that is where the value was, so you lowered the value, plain and simple. Yeah, you sold out gold passes. Why? Because they were the only remaining tickets left to buy to get in, not because they were good value, because they sold out last of all available tickets for saturday/sunday. btw, my comments are feedback too and yes, golds are useful, but not as useful as they used to be and l'd love for you to correct that. I'd even pay more for it, but you don't seem open to even consider it, but instead put me down, that's sad, l'm just trying to help.

Ah, sorry. My mistake. That model has the Mr Fusion converter, so a little rubbish will do. Ah, ok, so if I throw in my gold pass wristband and 40 pounds worth of autograph vouchers I just fished out of my trashcan, it should work, right?

The original digital file will always be of the best quality possible, unless SM messes with it before putting them up for sale (Like converting them to JPEG's), but even then they'll blow a simple scan of the standard all-in-one private home scanners out of the water. If you've got a dedicated photoscanner though and use it properly, there is no noticeable difference. If you have a lot of pictures or like me, visit a lot of events where you get a lot of pictures, think about investing in a good scanner over paying 5 pounds (!) per photo...It'll be much cheaper in the end and you'll be the proud owner of a good scanner.

OMG, common, is there anything left which IS actually included in the Gold Pass? Not even the plutonium now?

It's already been confirmed that it was, but people seem to like to overread that confirmation... More like being annoyed such things are written off as a simple "miscommunication/misunderstanding" as it was by far not the only "miscommunication/misunderstanding" which happened over the weekend...But I'm sure there's no need to post a list again

You're missing the point autograph wise..You could easily get autographs from the non-diamond pass guests as most of them had open queues, so a gold pass didn't give you any help there and for diamond pass guests you needed a VQ ticket, again no gold pass help there. So the gold pass has become pretty useless for the autograph collectors. For photoshoots the same thing. Yeah, you go in first, but if you buy your photoshoots quick enough, which is now extra easy with Etickets being sold, you'll get batch 1 tickets, who go straight after the golds, so you won't be waiting that much longer either. Goodie bag had a few old trinkets, Chill out room consists of a few tables, chairs, sweets and water and was closed during talks, photoshoot vouchers were handy thanks to the last minute rule change, but autograph vouchers were useless. So no, I didn't think I got value for money on the gold pass this year, unlike last year when that pass actually helped with the biggest guests. So I hope next year improvements will be made to make that pass worth it again. But with a gold pass you can join any queue depending on your movement (unless the guest is doing something else). You can dictate your plan without worrying about what VQ number's are being called etc. You can plan on your terms. I accept your point about the biggest guests from a collector's point of view. Would the collector be doing this for personal financial gain or just another name for his collection? The genuine fans of that guest should come first. I suppose your hinting at what is the definition of a "big guest"? With the greatest respect to Bill Paxton I would imagine there are only some DIE hard fans out there that thought a Diamond Pass was a must. Previous years with a Gold you could join his queue anytime (and perhaps only paid £45 for his autograph). I get it and accept it but that is just one guest out of how many? Of course it has been mentioned before in the forum the cost of the diamond pass enables these names to come. I personally have no interest in Robert Englund (no disrespect) and would be very disappointed if I found the gold pass price has increased to cover all triple A names. Least this way its fair and flexible to cater for all tastes which is key. You can plan on your terms too, easily, without a gold pass, because most queues of the not-so-big-guests are open queues. Only the most popular guests get VQ lines and most of those are now diamond pass guests. Of all of my 15 autographs only 3 had VQ tickets as far as I remember, the rest was all open queues. For the rest my point exactly: Last year you could join the lines of the biggest guests without the need of a VQ ticket, names like Stan Lee, John Hurt, Carrie Fisher and Jenna Coleman were all accessible directly, now these guests would be Diamond level (sorry, but they are at least as big as Paxton) and you'd need to run for a VQ ticket. That's not what you're paying 200 pounds extra for, is it? btw I am a fan, I have never sold any of my autographs, still have them all and wouldn't even buy one from a trader. I want my autos signed in front of me, because that is where the value is: Meeting the guest. I've seen posts in which fans were told they are buying an auto, not the time with the guest, but actually every real fan is not paying for the autograph, they are paying to be standing in front of the guest and say hello for the few seconds the guest is signing the autograph. THAT is where the value is, THAT is why I, as a fan, get auto's and that is why I cherish them, being reminders of the time I met that particular guest. That is what SM should realise and play into. That is why I gladly pay extra for a gold pass to be able to have some sort of guarantee of meeting the guest and go enjoy a relaxed con without running around and that is what is now gone from a gold pass, since for the small guests it was never an issue, queues are open, they are never too busy to miss out, while for the bigger guests the diamond pass is here to stay now and you'll need to buy that to get some sort of guarantee or even a chance at all (MJF) to get an auto. So why I ask should I buy a gold pass, while I could just buy a regular entry to get me the less popular guests with open queues and spend that 200 extra you pay on a gold pass on a diamond pass instead for the big guest I'll want to meet??

You're missing the point autograph wise..You could easily get autographs from the non-diamond pass guests as most of them had open queues, so a gold pass didn't give you any help there and for diamond pass guests you needed a VQ ticket, again no gold pass help there. So the gold pass has become pretty useless for the autograph collectors. For photoshoots the same thing. Yeah, you go in first, but if you buy your photoshoots quick enough, which is now extra easy with Etickets being sold, you'll get batch 1 tickets, who go straight after the golds, so you won't be waiting that much longer either. Goodie bag had a few old trinkets, Chill out room consists of a few tables, chairs, sweets and water and was closed during talks, photoshoot vouchers were handy thanks to the last minute rule change, but autograph vouchers were useless. So no, I didn't think I got value for money on the gold pass this year, unlike last year when that pass actually helped with the biggest guests. So I hope next year improvements will be made to make that pass worth it again.

the air con was working 100% all day every day the thing is in the UK the air con is not that good as there is only about two weeks a year they need it so its never that amazing , there are a lot of you at the event we were light clothing and that seems to work , i myself had to get around a lot and walked over 48 miles over the 4 days but heat was not the issue for me so thinking about what you are going to wear is important unless you are in costume then its a labor of love :-) jason I couldn't escape the feeling the airco wasn't on at the start on the friday, especially near the superstage area. That area was boiling for the first few hours, then all of a sudden the temperature dropped like a rock, so obviously someone turned on that airco.... But overall I have to agree with you, it wasn't too hot. I walked around in costume, 4 layers of clothing deep, wig and everything and yes, of course I was warm, but it was survivable over the weekend. I don't think there is anything more you could have done on this point.

Booked this year the moment they became available, as 2014 was awesome but after this year's experiences I'm gonna hold off until I know who's coming and how they are going to go forward with this event. If I lived around the corner, I wouldn't have to think twice, it will still be a fun event, but I have to spent a small fortune on plane tickets and hotels and now it's becoming a 4 day event, so that just spiked the hotel fees up by 25% too, so it'll have to be really awesome for me to fork out the money again and if it stays at the level as it was this year, I think I'd skip LFCC and go to the many other Comic Con events across continental europe which are popping out of the woodwork lately, as I can just hop in my car and drive back and forth to most of those. I wish SM good luck in convincing me to come again next year, they've got work to do...

Catherine Tate and for once it wasn't SM's fault it was my own, as I forgot to bring the item I wanted her to sign

I suggested this before the event. It was regarded by Jason as a, and I quote, "Silly idea", thus forget it, won't happen. Actually I think SM will rather focus on expanding diamond passes, making gold passes worth less and less...You're probably be looking at the beginning of the end of gold passes. Going forward it'll probably be more likely people will be buying regular entry and diamond pass(es) for guests they want to meet, instead of a gold pass and decide on the day who to meet. I do love when people think they know what we are thinking and are going to do next. when they do not Gold passes are a very useful thing it gives the autograph collector that collects many subjects the chance to go around faster and gather up a lot of autographs in a short time , this really works and still dose for the high end collector so we will be keeping these tickets as they still work very well. Dimond passes came into there 100% last weekend and even the nay sayers saw how affective they are also , if you are coming along way away for one guest then this will guarantee you will get to see this guest so these also work very very well , these fans all make these big guests posable and they would not be here if it was not for these fans buying these tickets so these tickets will be staying also. A few other things to clare up that people say we will do that we will not do are as follows We will not stop over the table photos , we like this and we try to get this to happen every time we can and push back a lot to keep this an option for you the fans. We will still have guests prices starting from £10 i think this is still a great deal and something i want to keep in play at our events for as long as inflation alows us to do so. Hope that helps answer a few points raised Jason As a gold pass holder over the past two years and a autograph collector my experience this year was that Gold passes are useful only for popular guests, who have VQ lines. Those guests are now being mostly diamond pass guests, which gold passes need vq tickets for. For the smaller guests most queues are open. Thus the gold pass is not that useful for auto's anymore. My point is not that you will stop offering the gold pass, but people will stop buying your gold pass because they don't need one for smaller guests and it doesn't help for big guests, because those will be diamond. So regular entry with diamond oasses for bigger guests will be more economical then buying a gold pass. It didn't surprise you regular entry got sold out before gold passes this year? Obvious sign popularity of the gold pass is going down because it's becoming less useful. Just giving my two cents in helping making your event better...