Johhanneh

I'd be very interested to know what you're comparing this to? Without naming names (as we cant), I have no idea what cons in THIS COUNTRY offer a similar package for a far lower price. They're all pretty standard. Same with the autograph pricing actually. It's fairly standard across the board these days. Considering Showmasters have lost money on many events, I can't see how they're robbing anyone. If they lowered prices to something you consider more reasonable, they'd lose even more. I would imagine you don't really know the costs involved, just like most attendees don't. I agree with this actually - £15 for an autograph is amazingly cheap and £195 for a gold ticket is decent value, particularly as it includes photoshoots which others don't! That being said - what Showmasters have consistently failed to realise was that the failure of Lockdown meant they had to do more this time to convince fans to buy tickets. I love Michael Emerson but I was never going to buy until there was one or two more half decent guests announced. I feared a Lockdown 2 - or even worse as if Michael cancelled and the other guests were from Alias or Fringe I wouldn't personally have bothered going as my interest was Lost.

Now I may be wrong but I thought tickets were sold on the basis of 4 guests. Just no guarantee of who they were. I remember this debate for lockdown and it being said that because we had 4 guests - albeit there were no main cast - there were no refunds. That being the case are we entitled to refunds if we don't wish to come for just one guest even if it isn't cancelled?

I think Showmasters run a well organised event - kudos to them! I think the only thing I'd change is the way tickets were sold for hub 3. There has got to be a better system than queueing for almost two hours. . . at other conventions I've been to you are able to book your ticket number for the next con up until Sunday afternoon. That cuts out a lot of queueing and 'sleeping in the foyer' to get Gold 1. Sunday afternoons you are allowed then to upgrade if there are upgrades available - e.g if you are G60 and G1 hasn't booked you get the opportunity to get G1. This reduces panic and queueing, and gives a little 'loyalty bonus' to people who go regularly who can work their way up to a prime seat. Just an idea. At the very least there have got to be a few more card machines around so the queue can go down quicker! I was still queuing when I was called for autographs. . . Another little idea would be to mix up the talks and signings a bit. I know by the end of the morning I'm exhausted from the queueing and it may make it more enjoyable if there was like a signing/auto session in the morning, then some talks, then in afternoon more talks, then signing autos. But maybe this would be a pain for Showmasters having to prepare/load the hall twice rather than once. . . But kudos for a fantastic weekend. Jo

Me too!

I think James is one of the most likely. Saving some of the 'main' cast for Hub 2 makes a kind of sense and James had a big-impact guest star role, think he'd be welcomed

Well I spoke to Eve at C13, and at that point she said she'd been invited and was looking at her schedule

Got mine!!! Thank you so much. Although I'm confused - I thought there were only 100 golden tickets - I'm G135. . . does that mean it ended up being 150 golden?! :) If so, I'm happy as I would have missed out LOL Jo

You're exactly right about this. It can be quite difficult to explain that just because a person sings professionally and loves their work, it's not always safe to assume that they're willing to perform at an event they're attending for other purposes or to fulfill other obligations. Most of the performers I know (and I know a lot of them) don't like to jump up and sing or play without prior notice, and the pros don't like to do so without getting paid, unless they're doing it for charity, family or friends. Well yes I agree - but we're not talking about him performing without prior notice, but a planned event. You're right about maybe the acoustics wouldn't be right - I'd know nothing about that :) but if they're ok then let showmasters negotiate with him. And if John needs to charge more that's absolutely his right - make it a separate ticketed event to cover this. I'd be willing to pay more!!! But something tells me I'm just gonna have to wait for his next round of concerts LOL Jo

Thank you. I did try and keep their names out of my post by using asterisks, so apologies if that is still breaking the rules. I didn't realise it'd count :) Now, back to the topic. I'm very happy there'll likely be more guests... also, if Showmasters have time I would love to hear what the rules on free autographs will be if we do get more than six. Just so I can work out how much I'll need to spend Hi - I do agree that other organisers would give one autograph per guest (except for bonuses) BUT it's swings and roundabouts. At no other convention I've been to have photo ops been included in the price (and I'm assuming that's for 6 as well, which personally I think is great value. If we get 10 - 12 guests, even if none of the others are main cast, I'm MORE than happy. What I would absolutely LOVE (and some others do have it) is an evening cabaret featuring a guest or guests. C'mon - let's have John give us a mini concert :) :) :) I'm sure he'd be up for it, and I've never seen him in concert! Jo

Love Micky and Martha! Let's get Freema and Noel for the hub now :) Jo

For golden ticket holders if we are entitled to six autographs and there are more than six guests are we allowed to choose who the six we get as 'free' are? For instance if Eve was booked I'd love it but already have her autograph so its not essential for me to get her again so would I be able to not get her and get one of the other guests, if you know what I mean LOL. Jo

thank u!

I thought I saw an announcement at some point that the 'real' Jack Harkness was going to be a guest . . . can't remember his name. But now the threads disappeared, but there's no cancellation thread so maybe I completely imagined it or maybe it existed for another event?! confused.com! Jo

I understood that attendees of Lockdown were going to get a discount against another showmasters event and I was wanting to apply it to this, but my emails asking how to do this have gone ignored . . . . . If anyone knows anything I would be most grateful. Jo

I have sent two emails . . .pls pls pls respond Johhanne

Thanks for help :) I'll get there as early as can And his photoshoot isn't sold out :) I got one last night :) Jo

Hi I am interested in going to collectormania mainly to get John Barrowman's autograph and maybe a photoshoot :) My question is: due to having to be on public transport it's possible I won't be able to be there until around 10am. Knowing how popular John is likely to be will that be soon enough to guarantee me an autograph? 'Cos the one thing I'd hate is to hang around all day waiting and not end up getting one. Is it the kind of thing you've got to be there at the crack of dawn to get the scoop? Many thanks :) Jo

I have to say I enjoyed the weekend a lot more than I thought I was going to last week. The things I loved were :) a) The Dharma beer given on the first day. With a room full of guests, some uncertain how the weekend was going to unfold, this struck exactly the right note at exactly the right time. Suddenly the room was laughing and ready to have a good time. Kudos showmasters. The guests - while obviously not main cast - were cool people and a lot of fun. They hang out at the parties etc which was brilliant. I also loved 'guest encounters' which of course was only able to happen because of the size of the convention but was a great idea to make the most of what we had. c) The gold pass reception was cool, with the guests circulating well and the other parties were also lots of fun (was it eighties night though? Seemed it on Saturday LOL. Not that that's a bad thing, but would have been cool to have some more traditional 'con' dances) d) Photoshoots included in the price. Loved loved loved that. Not normally the case in the cons I've attended so I've never got that many but since it 's included of course I did - and loved all of them :) Things I think Showmasters need to think about for next time are a) The MC. I read the Eclipse board and they were also ambivalent about this method of asking questions. Yes, I can see how it can allow shy attendees to ask a question but it does rob the occasion of a little energy, and all the spontanaeity. The obvious follow up questions don't get asked. And if there's a theme it doesn't get expanded on. reserved seating. Not a huge problem as it was for Eclipse with people reserving seats. However, I have never attended a convention that doesn't have allocated seating even if just for gold pass holders. That gives you freedom to come and go and know your seat is waiting for you. Due to the size of the event, not a huge problem but if it gets bigger showmasters should look into this. If you want to make sure you're sitting next to friends I'm sure an email to showmasters will sort this out :) c) autograph queues. Again not a huge problem due to size of convention, but could be if it were bigger. Yes, gold pass were let in first which meant we got to the top of the first queues, but then standard were let in and we were stuck at the end of second queues. Solution would be to either make it one queue for all guests and you just go through each of the 4 guests when its your turn or to let gold people have the room to themselves for a while (say the first half hour of the two hour session) that would enable them to get sorted out and then less queues for the standard. But all in all a great event. No we didn't have A list guests but showmasters made the best of what we had Thank you

Thanks :) I appreciate the offer, but no this is something showmasters have to sort with me.

Well guess they're not gonna respond here either. Never mind. Tells me what I have to do :)

Please could you respond to my email, because you have systematically ignored the last two I sent you. Thank you Johhanne

You DONT THINK that they did it on purpose? I'm SURE they didnt do it on purpose!! Ok so they cancell...fantastic idea...............so what do u suggest for those who paid hundreds pounds for flight non-refundable, or other travel paid already................u gonna pay them? Dont u THINK they would prefere to still come and meet guests and party, rather than lose that much money....... U got a GOLD ticket, there we no guarentees on any guests, and if i had got a GOLD ticktet then sure hell be disappointed, but i didnt, but i wouldnt have made so much fuss, cos i id have known that there are no guarentees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Er - I think I was quite clear that I know showmasters aren't to blame. I believe I said I know they're just as upset as we are. And of course I konw there are no guarantees on any guest. But I've never been to a convention (and believe me, I've been to loads) with ZERO main cast. Don't care who they are. It's not like I'd be howling if we had Dominic as a replacement. And you know what for people who have paid flights? I'd never go to a con out of country for prescisely this reason. Most people are UK based and I think if we see the poll a significant number would prefer cancellation.

I'm sorry but I don't think we should be made to feel guilty if we are upset, or obligated to 'support' the event so there will be an event next year. Of course I don't think SM did this on purpose. I know they're as upset as we are. But the fact remains that I, and all other gold pass holders, have paid £200 for a guest list of 4 that only includes one decent quality guest star, and no main cast. By any stretch of the imagination that is not worth it. And yes, in that circumstance I DO believe they should be offering refunds. This is not a cancellation in the circumstance where there is still a decent line up. I am a long time convention goer and I have never paid for one particular actor as they are always subject to cancellation. Any main cast would suit me. Any decent quality guest star would suit me. We're in a situation where Francios has had less than 10 minutes total airtime, and not interacted with any of the other characters. His talks will necessarily be limited. Frederic has been minor and only involved in Kate's flashbacks, and Ade has been in only two episodes. Andrew is decent but he can't headline the convention on his own. I strongly believe this convention should be cancelled and rescheduled to when we have some main cast who are available.