youell

As with Raylenth, my comments are about photo shoots.

I disagree. I think spending 5-10 seconds inputting the information to be displayed as opposed to spending 15-20 seconds with tens of people asking the same questions is surely time saving. I'm not saying anything specifically about the way it should be done ie. TV Screen, tablet etc. There are probably a few different to display the information and specify what information to be displayed just that I think it would be helpful for all involved and may want to be looked into. I guess it doesn't even need to be digital - could be pre printed and displayed with the batch numbers on a flipper type thing. I'm not sure what is the best actual way of doing this, just that I think something should be done. I do agree however that the more technology involved, the more likely it is things will break. And then you will have to deal with people complaining about this and that not working. You have enough complaints to deal with.

Exactly the same for me - was a bit trepedatious (sp?) but what a nice guy. Had a little chat about the lady from the Fawlty Towers episode "Communication Problems" (the grumpy old lady with the hearing aid) and he told me how lovely she was and how fond of her he was. My favourite bit though was queuing for autograph and after being about 10 people away from him, his staff member announces that he has to go for a break. Everyone awwwww'ed in disappointment (in a nice way) so he looked us all with a grin and said, "Well I am 78." Any genuine disappointment disappeared and he left everyone smiling/laughing. As it was he was only gone about 10 minutes.

I can only echo how good these 2 area were. G got me through the Pamela shoot quickly as I had a clash and has the queues very well organised. B ( the welsh guy with a beard) was superb and always so calm. Very clear with his instructions and in command of everything that was going on. I liked that he was checking peoples tickets to confirm what batch they were in as a few people tried to sneak in early. Well done that man!

Smart, funny, kind, happy, dare I say, sexy. I feel a little bit in love, I'm not afraid to say. Had a lovely chat about Sherlock Holmes and former Moriarty's. A lovely lady.

I can only agree with everything said in this thread so far.

This. Doesn't even need to be a TV screen, just some sort of digital display. Seems like a sensible and relatively inexpensive way of providing information quickly and effectively to people. Will free up time for the crew to deal with queuing and other things.

Could not agree more. Was always a bit fan of him as a wrestler and now a bigger fan of him as a person. Talked to him for ages about being a Dad and funny stories of what our kids get up to. You could really tell he enjoyed being there and talking to every single person. During the 'podcast' talk he did not stop laughing. It was lovely to see a guest just embrace the entire weekend and enjoy meeting us as much as we enjoyed meeting him.

In regards to the VQ thing, I don't really see the need as I didn't have a problem getting to see anyone. As far as I'm concerned it's all about planning your day and setting reasonable expectations. These things always change and that's just the way it is. Everyone being on VQ isn't a bad idea as such, but not necessarily needed. I always find if I plan my day, and head for the places that aren't going to be popular first, I can get through loads of things quickly. I didn't rush in/run, I wasn't one of the first ones in and I got reasonable numbered VQ's. But I suppose that was my own experience and everyone's is different. On a slightly different subject, but certainly something that could be considered for future cons, and I have certainly seen this suggested elsewhere on here, but having a digital display for every photo area saying who it is for and what Batch number they are up to would save a lot of people a lot of time, especially the crew. Doesn't need to be anything major, just one like they have on trains. Several times I was at a photo shoot and the crew would shout what was going on, 10 seconds later a few people would turn up and ask who was there and what batch they were up to which must be frustrating. I would free the crew up to manage the queuing a bit more effectively.

Met him before at Sherlocked last year. Lovely, friendly guy. Ah well, hope they get him back for the future. Never mind, these things happen.

Only had a photograph today with him but he gave me a huge hug and held both my hands for a photo. Saw him do this with several people who looked a bit timid/nervous (even though I wasn't, I must have looked it)

Thought he was lovely today - a really nice guy even if he did keep needing breaks during his signing (he is 78). Was pleasantly surprised to see, despite what ive read elsewhere on this forum, that by 1300 he was opened up to VQ for autographs. A one time only guest and worth every penny.

From what I can tell the general rule is if the guest is on VQ's then they will have a No Posed Photo sign at least, plus a few others scattered around. Basically the busier the guest the less likely you are to be able to take photos at the desk.

Damnit only just seen this and had him planned in for tomorrow. Poo. Ah well money saved again me thinks.

Noticed something at LFCC today - all the posters for Sherlocked said it would be held at the NEC!?!?! Surely a mistake?

He wasn't today, no.

He needed VQ today but wasn't ridiculously busy.

Don't know why but I thought he might be a little distant when meeting him, but what a great guy.

What a lovely guy. Very genuine and happy to chat and answer questions. 200! autographs between 9 and 11 with a half hour break. Pretty good going I think considering he will have a chat too.

Just got home - managed to get most everything done by 12 which was good. First time going to LFCC so can't judge based on previous years. It was busy but not hectic and you could certainly easily get done everything you wanted to during the day. Mads had done over 200 autographs by 11am!!! I think thats pretty good going for less than 2 hours. They estimated he'd do between 600 and 800 throughout the day! I actually didn't say many if any people signing straight away when I got there - but that's not to say they weren't. Just the people I was looking for didn't. Not sure about Diamond Passes/loading hall queue as I didn't want to risk it. I just rejigged my plan so got in, got VQ tickets, then went and got DPs. Found the DP queue to be a lot lower doing that as well. Don't have the floor plan in front of me but Mads and Emily were next to each other if that helps.

What a lovely bloke - chatty and genuinely interested in what you have to say. I also got a little tickle - he said he likes to do it because it relaxes people who are a little scared or nervous about the photo. Can honestly say one of the best guests I have ever met.

I know this is normally not done but would it be possible to move a day a Diamond pass photo is set? Have had a hospital appointment come through the post over the weekend whilst I was away which means I won't be able to go to my booked Friday photo shoot and wanted to move it to one of the other days. Have emailed the shop and can obviously provide the evidence.

I'm a bit confused by all this. I'm just coming up for the Friday and hoping to only stay a few hours, should I just park at the NEC? Seems the sensible thing to do to me. And also, do I have to book parking at the NEC? Any advice would great.

I could only attend Saturday so how much more busy was it yesterday compared to Saturday?

I think there's going to be less chance to see the talks personally Gee thanks for bursting my bubble there! Well last year I wan'ted eveyones photo there's a few I can live without this year plus hopefully as platium i'll get through the queues quicker. Besides a girl can only hope. Last year I managed to go to all the talks on the main stage bar one I think. And was maybe 5 minutes late for another. It can be done! Use the time you get during photo sessions - if the photo session runs 10 minutes after the talk has finished, get the photo then! That's what I did anyway. Plus, maybe, it might be a little less busy this year, especially on the Saturday. The sunday last year, the day Benedict wasn't there, had probably half the amount of people there.