[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

Good video of the queue lengths (not mine)

 

thanks for posting..i should beable to find myself somewhere with a lost look on my face hahah x

I see me! I look well impressed. I joined when it was half this size- it was 4 hours then... I say that queue looks more like 14 hours lol!

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

 

 

 

 

I agree too for if we had E-Tickets that we could print off on out own computers then showmaster could sell tickets up to the day before the event then close the shop and know the exact number of tickets sold and then give a post as to whether they will have any tickets at the door and exactly how many.

 

What about those who cannot print then? It is all very well and good having E-tickets, but you have to provide the option of postal as well for those who cannot print!

There's nothing to stop there being dual options (post , eticket) and you can pick the option that suits you- then when it gets too close to the event you stop the postal option and leave only etickets.

Though saying that if you don't have printer access then usually ya can get it printed at any workplace, or library, friends /family houses etc.

There's even Mtickets that go straight to your mobile.

Now they do cool things with etickets that can be printed before but can also be printed or reprinted on site at self-reg machines. We use them and they are really great and not too costly to implement at all.

I know about all that! Just trying put across that for some people etickets and mtickets are not an option. And then there are people like me, who are old fashioned and love to keep the ticket stubs!

Then a dual option would be nice compromise :)

See, we can play nice can't we? LOL!

Absolutely! anger only begets anger after all.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

 

 

I agree too for if we had E-Tickets that we could print off on out own computers then showmaster could sell tickets up to the day before the event then close the shop and know the exact number of tickets sold and then give a post as to whether they will have any tickets at the door and exactly how many.

 

What about those who cannot print then? It is all very well and good having E-tickets, but you have to provide the option of postal as well for those who cannot print!

There's nothing to stop there being dual options (post , eticket) and you can pick the option that suits you- then when it gets too close to the event you stop the postal option and leave only etickets.

Though saying that if you don't have printer access then usually ya can get it printed at any workplace, or library, friends /family houses etc.

There's even Mtickets that go straight to your mobile.

Now they do cool things with etickets that can be printed before but can also be printed or reprinted on site at self-reg machines. We use them and they are really great and not too costly to implement at all.

I know about all that! Just trying put across that for some people etickets and mtickets are not an option. And then there are people like me, who are old fashioned and love to keep the ticket stubs!

Then a dual option would be nice compromise :)

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

Afternoon,

 

A lot of emphasis on reading (not all) the comments on this thread (that would take me all evening) are strongly directed at the H+S of the event

 

I, as stated Saturday, did not attend and have no idea what the place was like

 

Does anyone have any photos of the said locked fire exists or photos taken of the crowds inside

 

A picture says a thousand words.

 

I would assume SM would have a H+S policy together with a PLI policy in case of any incident that would involve injury to guests fans and staff either that a disclaimer would have to be clearly marked

 

So far my encounters with SM's events have been a 70/30 good and not so good result

 

SiFi

I can believe the majority of their events are great. This one is an exception perhaps for all I know, but I and others still feel it needs addressing.

 

It is good to know the majority are good though!

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

I agree too for if we had E-Tickets that we could print off on out own computers then showmaster could sell tickets up to the day before the event then close the shop and know the exact number of tickets sold and then give a post as to whether they will have any tickets at the door and exactly how many.

 

What about those who cannot print then? It is all very well and good having E-tickets, but you have to provide the option of postal as well for those who cannot print!

There's nothing to stop there being dual options (post , eticket) and you can pick the option that suits you- then when it gets too close to the event you stop the postal option and leave only etickets.

 

Though saying that if you don't have printer access then usually ya can get it printed at any workplace, or library, friends /family houses etc.

 

There's even Mtickets that go straight to your mobile.

 

Now they do cool things with etickets that can be printed before but can also be printed or reprinted on site at self-reg machines. We use them and they are really great and not too costly to implement at all.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

I agree- however 1of2 has now said that they aren't representing SM so I can only hope and wait on SM's feedback.

[Comments]

 

People don't like stuff being deleted, so I've tried to lock with a comment so we don't keep having the same discussions. That's all :)

 

If something was removed by SM then that's up to them.

 

I understand that you do the best you can and Sm can do what they want but the deleting of post they don't like is very poor and something that annoys me with this forum. It does not show them in a good light at all.

I believe DavidB at least is trying to just lock them now.

 

Shame about the ones that have gone MIA though. There was a ton of valid feedback good and bad on there. I hope they still read them. SM shouldn't censor people.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

Thank you for your clarification around that.

 

I hope this thread doesn't get locked as I think it has been reasoned and fair so far.

[Comments]

Hi DavidB,

 

Thank you! Thank you for handling this correctly and treating everyone with respect and actually engaging with us. I look forward to seeing your future comments on all the issues addressed.

 

You are a star.

 

Claire

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

 

 

They hadn't stopped selling early bird tickets online, only standard entry ones.

 

I assure you they very much had. Or I would have had an EB ticket as was my intention. No tickets could be bought online by the time I was able- except for the tickets for things inside the venue like master classes etc.

All ticket sales stop at a certain advertised point as the Showmasters store staff need time to process them and get them sent out to people in a timely fashion to reach them in the post.

That is correct, hence why people are asking to change to etickets - as you would have mmore time because they wouldn't need to close it until right up until the event. What are people to do if there isn't anything they want to see whilst the on line tickets are availabel, but guests/events they do want to see are announced afterwards?

Completely agree- that would be good :)

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

And the other issues 1of 2?

 

Not to bang on but it would be nice to see the key points made summarised and answered (though I know a big ask when you are volunteers believe me I do!) I can't answer the health and safety inside the venue as I never actually got that far.

 

Though I' wouldn't be saying it didn't bother you as you assumed the venue was okay... I was always taught where health and safety goes never ASSUME.

 

We aren't trying to cause strife we just want to know why it was such a painful experience for so many, and if we get silenced without answers it just makes us feel as though our valid concerns are being ignored.

 

If you guys weren't there then can someone from the team who was there kindly answer us and not just repeat that "fact not drama of fiction" thread which was not very good as damage control goes.

 

Thank you for your time 1 of 2.

 

-claire

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

They hadn't stopped selling early bird tickets online, only standard entry ones.

I assure you they very much had. Or I would have had an EB ticket as was my intention. No tickets could be bought online by the time I was able- except for the tickets for things inside the venue like master classes etc.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

I met a lad in the war weary queue that had paid for a ticket to Stan lee that I can only assume you had no intention of honouring, because he was standing in the queue with us... Waiting to get inside, without a front door ticket!

 

Well surely he should have bought a door-ticket at the same time of purchase? That's hardly the organisers fault if he bought one ticket and not the other.

Except they'd stopped selling the door tickets then... Just still selling the others. And had they not been advertising plenty of on the door tickets on their website he wouldn't have bought it as he told me. He was a keen fan that just got slighted by bad timing sure.... But to be honest if they had a registration website that only let you buy the extra tickets once you had a main door ticket that would have stopped that happening and SM being showered with refund requests. Now I know that means some people wouldn't have got to see Stan lee for example , as they missed the ticket sales online and an on the dat VT would have been too high...but tbh at that point if they were in our queue... They didn't anyway, and as everyone keeps mentioning that IS what you buy EB for?

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

I have no beef with those who enjoyed themselves - good for you - but what I have a beef with is PROFESSIONAL care for ALL fans, not just those who are having a wonderful feckin' time but those who are scared, hot, & ill which if you look around between some of the angry posts are very very valid - myself included.....

 

 

The only thing I will keep going on about and I REFUSE to be shouted down by those who had fun is the Health & Safety aspect for ALL people there on Saturday...Fans, Guests, Crew, Owners, Police, Volunteers from Earl's Court, Staff etc....if Fire Exits were indeed chained up and someone is to blame - who depends on whether you are 1 of 2 or me I guess - then these are the IMPORTANT things that MUST be answered...

 

 

I'm glad you had a wonderful time....I didn't, I was scared and panicked and had to leave...my day wasn't ruined but if I had been trapped in that place due to a serious emergency I know darn well I probably would not have had a very good chance of getting out if indeed any FIRE EXITS were chained shut!!!

 

 

I hesitate to say it but it does indeed sound a criminal offence if this is true....

 

 

Editing to add that I am very "hot" on this due to an experience of a fire in a venue I attended in London a few years ago...I was at the front barrier of a gig when under the stage caught fire....it was a small fire but I couldn't believe how quickly it escalated and the heat and smell from the smoke was horrific!!...everyone got out safely but there was panic and many people were traumatised over a very "small" incident...

 

This is NOT fun folks, trust me....I remember that smell and that heat now ..which is why I'm so adamant on knowing that if I return to another crowded venue like this I can trust Showmasters 1000% ....at the moment, and after Saturday I don't...

 

 

However I am sure this one aspect that Jason will want to give a true and honest answer to us all...

 

Sorry to moan the way I did, but starting to feel like I am wrong to bring anything positive to these forums and being made to feel I should only have bad things to say. People forget that the positive stuff is just as important as it means Showmasters are more likely repeat or get a guest back and so on! Everyone has a different opinion and we should be allowed to have one, whether it is negative or positive so Showmasters can learn from all of it. No one should make out that their opinion is more important than someone else's because they are ALL important!

I absolutely agree- by the very definition a forum is a discussion- no one should be totally shut down for their opinion. And when people speak eloquently and back themselves up as you have I appreciate it- it's the other side to the argument and there always is one. I think the issue some of us have is the people who are basically saying "shut up- your stupid- I got an early bird ticket and all the stuff I wanted so pipe down". I mean that's a very negative way of backing SM which actually just makes no helpful point right? Other than to run everyone else down. At least we're voicing concerns they can fix?

 

It's just not constructive, I hope you can agree. You didn't do that- you made valid points- others on here haven't and just stoke the flames of discontent. I'm not stupid- I took showmasters at their word when they said they had plenty of tickets after I finally got the day off agreed by work and realised there was no EB tickets left. I took them at their word when they said it was a 30 minute queue. I now know never to take them at their word. I certainly won't ever go without an EB ticket again, wasn't my intention to this time either really- but perhaps now I just.... Won't ever go again.

 

I hope you know- I hope you all know- I really wanted to love this event. If everyone would stop focusing on sunburn and start focussing on the real issues that... As far as I can see reading back- no one has addressed yet.

 

Thank you mrsellacott for you positivity :)

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

 

Showmasters do say online when the shop will be closed so you are told when ticket sales finish. Don't think you can blame showmasters for a broken air con that is the venues fault and people selling drinks outside for high price that is the normal for any event in this country.

 

But I can blame them. They are the events organisers and I know what that means. It means you are responsible for the running of the event and the attendee experience. If they had been visible and monitoring the queue the touts wouldn't have been able to do that. If they had recced the venue appropriately they would have had a back up plan. Like. I said- I do their job.

Additionally I'm criticising their whole ticketing system which is outdated and clearly doesn't work. People don't know months in advance if they will be free that weekend in this day and age - weirdly people work Saturdays a lot now.

Yep I work all weekends except when I book this off as holiday aproximately six months in advance, I'm not stupid. I purchased my tickets three weeks prior to the event, usually I get standard but they had stopped selling them. Realising that meant capacity had been reached if I hadn't managed to get earlybird tickets I wouldn't have bothered turning up on the day. But then I use common sense such as bring my own bottled water that has been in the freezer all night so it defrosts throughout the day and makes an excellent cold compress when you are stuck in a queue.

 

Showmasters warned us time and again that this was going to be big but demand obviously overtook all expectation and results in people accusing the Showmaster team of being all about sucking money out of customers and then moaning that Showmaster's didn't take your money for autographs or photos, ie they didn't deliver what you wanted. They also get accused of not training crew enough, my answer to that is for you to go work for showmasters if you think things need changing. The crew is primarily people who used to be customers like you, and at least you get into the event for sure then.

 

Yes I am being cheeky but really you should email and volunteer to crew. You sound like the type of person that Showmasters needs.

I am glad that you are able to book time off that far in advance. However in my lime of work and I am sure in others, we could be required to change days off last minute due to events coming that need experienced staff to be on site- and we know that, I also have other commitments in life that aren't up for discussion but mean every weekend isn't my own and that again is a situation many find themselves in.

 

Be cheeky, that's fine to do, I could do it better, by the sounds of the people here most of you guys could do it better too- however- I can't- because of the above. I'd love to- really- and if my company was allowed to help them run this event I would do it like a shot- but showmasters would rather run off free volunteers than a paid members of staff. (And I'm sure a lot of them are more than capable too! I didn't see any but others have mentioned them and showmasters lucked out with such good free support- I commend them!)That's their business decision and I'm sure it's a nice thing for volunteers to put on their CV. However there comes a time when corners shouldn't get cut like this-morally if not legally- if they aren't briefed, if they don't know what they should be doing, or what the crowd should be doing- then not only are they the face of showmasters bringing it into disrepute with bad behaviour, but they are a danger in an emergency situation. How half this stuff passed risk assessments I don't know- I fill those damn forms out all the time and it would be on me- the event organiser- if something was overlooked and people got hurt.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

 

Someone should answer the question why the fire exits were chained up. Pretty sure that's illegal as it has a massive health and safety risk

 

That is down to the venue not event organisers.

But surely a company as professional as Showmasters would have checked that ALL aspects relating to Health and Safety were in place and working before they dared let anyone in the room?....

Once again, as an event organiser- it's equally the responsibility of the venue.... And the events company who contracted them and should be policing them.

 

And as people seem to insist on harping on about the sunburn issue- I had both drinks and sun lotion guys- as did most people- but when you stand and cook for 4 hours , you kinda run out of drink and lotion kinda stops being helpful. Which you just don't expect in the 30 ,impute queue you were told about. If they had at any point told me it was 4 hours and we'd be lucky to get in... I wouldn't have been there. fact. How can I know what to do for my own health if I've been lied to about where my expectations should be.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

I got there at 8:30 am and was still out there queueing at 1pm. I have never ever burnt in the sun in my life due to being naturally olive skinned but I BURNT WHILST I WAS IN THE QUEUE. I brought three bottles of water and guzzled them all in the queue as well as offering them to others who hadn't got any drinks. They were letting people re-enter whilst people who hadn't even got their tickets were frying in the sun outside, which was completely unfair. LET PEOPLE IN WHO HAVEN'T BEEN IN YET BEFORE ALLOWING RE-ENTRY! When I eventually got in I fought my way through the insane crowd and went straight to get a VT for the only guest I was there to see, Bernard Cribbins. The attendant tolf me they were only on number 100 (my ticket was 418) so I should come back at about 4. I did just that only to be told that he was going home and no matter how much I begged and pleaded the answer was no. And the board said tickets 1-450 which couldn't have given me a big time-window anyway. I wouldn't have been as disappointed if the autograph was for me, but it wasn't, it was to be a birthday present for my baby sister. I went home in tears because I had let her down. Since I got home I have been constantly drinking water and sleeping due to heat stroke, dehydration and exhaustion.

This was such complete and utter bulls***. I went for a day out to enjoy myself and got disappointment, anxiety, heat stroke and sunburn.

Before someone jumps on here and tells you the sunburns your fault for not having a ticket or that you should have drank more or any of the other things people without a clue what it was like say. Thank you... For being honest and I'm sorry it happened to you too

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

You are right of course... I just didn't want to be abrasive for the sake of it. Why shout and be ignored when you can speak and have a conversation, and talk it out ya know?

 

But they are the ones who should be apologising. I wasn't going to post on here at all until I saw their thread about facts, fiction and dramatisation. That just put my back right up! Thanks :)

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

Not a complaint just a curious question

My ticket wasn't checked on entry so I just walked in I wonder how many did that with no ticket

To put it nicely? A large large number .

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

Well i think the blame can be put on you as well. If you truly wanna go you buy the tickets. And as mentioned above. If you couldnt buy tickets online, you probably where Out to late. You snooze you lose. But e-tickets should be a good optin. But then they need other thing to check that your tickets not a fake.

Not if they have barcodes and just get scanned at the door- simple and really easy. Exactly what they do at A rival comicon.

 

I also- once again- repeat that I tried numerous times to get a ticket and it didn't ever work. How am I to blame for that? When I tried for the last time( of 5 attempts) I realised they had been taken off sale. Drat! However not to worry- they have PLENTY on the door ! Hmmmm

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

 

You, my friend, should really have read what ypu get better. VQ tickets for example: you did NOT need them with a silver pass! You could just have joined Stans que and get your autographs in front of everybody else! I got all i wanted and more. Chaotic yes, but if you had a silver pass you could have easilly done everything you wanted with little stress. I'm very happy with how this con turned out, great job SM, although i agree organisation can be improved.

 

Maybe my English is not good enough and I wasn't clear enough for you to understand, but I tried to get there with my silver pass and they told me I still need the VQ. Yes, the staff didn't let me there with my silver pass.

Which goes back around to the fact no one at the venue representing the event had any idea what was going on...

[What a joke]

Same thing here: http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85313&st=0&p=1874398

 

Jediwarrior how much are SM paying you to placate us in every angry thread? kidding of course but... Forums are for discussions and people shouldn't be getting hushed nor valid complaints filled in the bin.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

I find these SM apologists rather confusing.

People were treated shockingly yesterday. Queueing with no organisation and no information, with realistically no chance of getting in, is simply not right. It is no way to run an event.

And then, for those who got in, to find it dangerously overcrowded and unventilated, is again simply not right or fair.

The fault of all the problems lie clearly at the feet of SM management. They should have paid and trained many, many more staff. They are all too willing to invent countless different hierarchical tickets and wristbands in an effort to take as much money off of us nerds as possible, without ever seemingly thinking about logistics and customer experience.

For people on here to say to those with entirely legitimate complaints, that they should have brought a bottle of water with them or put some suncream on, is frankly disrespectful.

Hear hear. If they were in our position at any point in the day I think they feel the same but it's people with the "well I got what I wanted so the rest of you should stop complaining " attitude- that's really raising my eyebrows. Especially as they are picking up on tiny little things I've said and not on the major health and safety implications or genuine issues, which I maintain are predominantly down to bad management and people movement and zero communication.

 

I've been at events where we've had to handle complaints but nothing of this magnitude and I'm not inexperienced, I think it's an insult to everyone when they were actively promoting people without tickets to come down to treat those people as if their complaints are invalid or over dramatised.

 

Someone handle this. Don't tell us it's not you fault- own up. Don't tell us your gonna learn from it , tell us what you are going to implement so that it never happens again and stop fobbing us off. If that's what you want from posts from us as detailed In the rules and regs, have the decency to do it back.

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

Yeah I suppose, just remember sun cream next time haha

Sadly I had it and used it. But we were never out the sun and i think I just sweat it away!

 

Edit: I also don't think that anyone was anticipating 4 hours queuing time! Not when told 30 minutes. I was going to comic con not camping. Didn't bring a gazebo either and that woulda been helpful too at times had I known the queue was that long I would have brought a guitar for a little queue sing song to pass the time...

[Troubles at London Film and Comic Con- an open letter:]

No but then I didn't exactly have the option of shade in that queue either. And I hardly anticipated that we were gonna be there for that long.