KernowMatt

Maybe not everyone had been to an event like this before and didn't know what to expect? I certainly didn't. I luckily had friends who were old hands with me so they told me to bring cash in advance, and I checked if places took cards, But I didn't even know about this forum beforehand. Maybe when buying tickets for day entry when the confirmation email is sent there could be a link or pdf with "Things you need to know" which would be really helpful for first timers and help everyone out. Also when you are new having so many people coming across as exasperated with you hardly makes you feel welcomed into a supposedly friendly community....? Just sayin'

Have to say, and yes I didn't have a Diamond pass not all of us are fortunate enough to afford them, or get enough time off work to attend all weekend, that this is a totally avoidable error on SM part. They KNOW how long it takes, how many shows has Robert done with them? Not only that, but BEFORE the con even started I saw posts on here about the length of time it takes, for his makeup to be applied. I drove up 7 hrs the day before and after a long and hectic day had to drive 7 hours back, and thank god he wasn't my primary goal, or I would have been jumping. Now I know how poor his photo shoot is, wearing their merch instead of full regalia, I wont be getting a photo with him, and I will choose to go a a smaller con with less guests to improve my odds. I genuinely feel sorry for anyone let down by this total lack of foresight, and hope it didn't completely ruin their weekend. I guarantee Robert is just as gutted, as that guy lives for his fans, and really goes out for them. I know he would be just as disappointed.

And imagine I still didn't find the one figure I wanted. Saw it at one stall, but had to rush to a photoshoot. Until I made it back it was gone. Oh no! What one was that?! One store had the Firefly ones. I was after Mal. (That sounds terribly, terribly wrong. ) I told myself I wasn't going to get into these figures, but that one was love at first sight. I made that same vow, But I then saw Buffy, and suffered your fate....!

Hey Everyone! So my name is Matt, I am from the sometimes occasionally sunny land of Cornwall, and LFCC was my first con by SM, Was great fun despite a few logisitical issues which I hope aren't repeated, and I hope to go to more in the future, probably starting with Bournemouth as its closest to home! Big fan of Sci-Fi, from books, games, TV and films, Buffy and Ghostbusters are my biggest loves, but don't get me started on reboots/remakes! I also write film and book reviews for Geekchocolate, check us out! Hope to meet some of you guys in the future, and become part of the "community" more!

I am completely new to any of these type of events, and new to this forum, so forgive my green-ness. But having been to my first event this year these are some thoughts and feedback I would like to voice. 1) The layout. Whilst I haven't been to any events by SM before, I have been to trade shows, Expos and the like, and usually you have large maps posted regularly, with clear sign-age, a lot of places have free maps given out at the start. When you have to struggle to find locations, then signings, then times, and then after that there is no guarantee you chosen "star" is even there, it isn't very helpful. There seemed to be little thought put into the layout and what is placed where. that whole 2nd level seemed wasted on what was there when you had lovely guests suffering as much as us fans in the depths of Hades aka Level 1. I don't know how many staff are on the team, and how much notice they have before hand, but seemed like people were just stuffed where there was space, not much continuity. And for those who were struggling with various ailments to finally find Level 3 which I and seemingly countless others did, to then find I couldn't even buy a water up there, bit frustrating. Also the stewarding of areas like the stairwells was lacking, when people are sitting on the stairs taking up a lot of room its difficult to keep calm and polite when people are shoving you. Having the cosplay section right in a main thoroughfare by a stairwell was rather counter intuitive as well, given the bulkiness of those items. 2) The event stewards. Whilst I never came across any Rudeness myself, I can understand if not condone it, as they were under a lot of stress from frustrated fans and probably not paid very much. However, I don't know how much training they are given, or prep each day. But when speaking to some and they don't know who you are talking about, some rudimentary knowledge of who is at the con would be nice. also a working knowledge of the layout would be good, why were they not kitted out with maps themselves? I have been to other cons were the stewards are volunteer fans, and therefore are more passionate and it worked better. Of course an event this large it wouldn't work, but maybe a better recruitment process may be considered? or at least look at training and equipping staff to deal with queries. 3) A large sign/board at the entrance of each day detailing any alterations, amendments, cancellations etc would be a time saver for a lot of people, also as other posters have mentioned use of a twitter account to get this info out would help. I didn't even know about this Forum until AFTER the event, and not everyone who goes to these events is au fait with how things work, being a geek doesn't make us instant experts! and defo not psychic! I personally queued for 45 mins to buy tickets, to be told I was in the wrong queue, nearly missed one photo, missed a few autos and fun with my friends, and when i finally got my ticket and got to the shoot, the time had changed from am to 4 hours later. It wasn't very good. 4) The ticketing itself seemed very confusing. No mention on the site about how the allocations worked, and a lot of people who understandably didn't want to miss shoots were then cluttering the lines waiting for other stars. I almost missed my Neve Campbell shoot as was stuck behind Hayley Atwell queuers who were told repeatedly to leave but didn't. so I had to barge my way through to get there. also I spent 40 mins queuing to buy a Sherilyn Fenn ticket, to be told I was in the wrong line, (Sales Desk should be renamed Customer Services to avoid confusion) then when I got to the front of the right queue they couldn't spell or find her name, and when i finally showed them they said they sold out. I was gutted, but then I looked online and was able to purchase one online. seems a little counter intuitive to have to different methods that aren't joined up, and probably led to many disappointed fans, or the other way may explain oversubscribing. 5) being soo overcrowded, which led to the heat problems on the 1st level, regardless what is said of whether things were turned on or off is regardless, the fact is that people felt it, guests, staff and visitors alike. This is a business, and therefore I do appreciate the need to maximise revenue, but not when it comes at a price of being nearly dangerous in health and safety aspects. The fact that 2nd massive hall was opened for use just to queue on Sunday, which wasn't used on Friday or Saturday begs the question, why wasn't it used before? things could have been spread out a lot better, with a policed concourse to ensure people weren't sneaking in, and could have provided more room for all involved, and made it more accessible for EVERYONE. some areas seemed very hard to get through, and I hate to imagine how tough it would be if an a Wheelchair or with a pram etc. 6) Since this is the modern age, and the only real information being given out was by fans and visitors on the forums, having a phone battery die on you is a literal nightmare, especially since my photo ticket was on there, i had 3% left and just barely got into my Sherilyn one before it died. having a recharge area may not be the worst idea in the world? other cons and festivals have them, so maybe worth looking into for next year? 7) I didn't go to get Robert Englund, But I have heard a lot of times in previous events that things had to be amended due to his make up time, it seems hard to believe a star who is such a regular of SM would NOT know how long it requires to get ready and adjust his schedule accordingly. 8) Again, not one I was dealing with personally, but a LOT of people including my friends were upset at the handling of the Rose Leslie situation. again, giving Staff clear and consistent information would then lead to the same message going out to fans. when people are being told different things, it leads to confusion, and ultimately disappointed patrons. So these are just my own personal musings. I had a successful time despite the obstacles, literal as well as metaphorical, placed and managed to get everyone i wanted to. Sadly the friends I went with weren't all as fortunate, and its a shame as it does, at these prices, question how things are organised. Yes, you can never plan for every eventuality and cannot please all of the people all of the time, but there were a few glaring issues that I heard and saw people mention previously, that just had NOT been addressed. I hope these can be taken on board constructively, and put into making next years a BETTER experience, with out needing it to be bigger.