Wyvern

SM might want to see the positive in what looks like some pretty angry and negative posting here. TBH, I don't get to these boards very often as I usually access the internet at work and most forums don't get past our firewall for some reason (including this one) but obviously I'd been checking the Ring Con UK website and having seen it lie pretty much dormant for such a long time I'd pretty much thought that the convention wasn't happening. Tonight I'm at home and my husband isn't hogging the computer so I thought I'd have a look-see, and found this thread. And to my surprise I see SM *are* still working on things for Ring Con, but that people are clearly frustrated with the lack of activity. But this is where the positive comes in; if people are able to get this frustrated, hacked off and angry at the state of affairs, that is because they are still PASSIONATE about LOTR. And passion is what a convention needs to run. I know there's been a postponement once already but if it was up to me, I would suggest SM consider postponing again - although this will lead to more frustration - because it simply isn't possible to organise a convention in 2 months. I know, I've been a convention runner locally for about 14 years, and even though the events we run are small - around 100 attendees - they're still hard work. What SM say they'd like to do here is a far bigger undertaking. However, the concern is that there isn't the market for it now. Maybe there isn't. Maybe the more practical way forward is to make the event smaller (maybe aiming at around 250 attendees), more intimate and less costly and put the emphasis on fan activity. Of course, there would still be guests (it wouldn't work without them) and there would still be all the elements we look for in an event but I also think it would be prudent to recognise that the days of the huge LOTR events are most likely behind us now... at least unless the studio finally sorts out the mess around The Hobbit!!! Just my 2 cents. Wy x

I'd be happy with any of them - much to my poor hubby's annoyance, I'm addicted to all the CSI shows!

My LFCC photos Hope people enjoy them!

Been thinking some more about the Radio Play... that wouldn't be the same without the amazing foley work of Mr Bruce Hopkins! Bruce is great fun anyway, but the radio play really needs his erm... interesting... take on sound effects. Is there nothing this man can't emulate with a couple of bags of crisps, some water, a couple of cups and an occasional table?! Of course, bearing in mind what happened last time, I wouldn't recommend using anyone's best table...

In that case, THANK YOU!!!! *bows with gratitude* Hopefully we'll know tomorrow how the photos came out - Dea took them to the shop today and I'm seeing her tomorrow And of course, once I get them online, I'll post a link too -assuming my computer, which really is on its last legs, doesn't die in the process...

you guys didn't happen to be walkin the streets of London with the Dr. Who guy? and asked someone to take a photo with your disposable camera?? I've never met any of em before so thew quick answer would be no... me and my friend did go to see Rachel twice and said we'd be back later if we got bored, but we went to her talk before we could go back. She said we were adorable which put a smile on my face... But if it counts, she did remember us from being there a couple of hours before hand. Yep, that was us We were about to head back to where we were crashing when Dea (Craig the Wraith) said, "I want a picture by the TARDIS" so we popped out the front of Earl's Court station and Doctor Who guy was already there. We had a good laugh doing the photos - if it wa you that took photos for us, thanks!!!

Rachel remembered my friend from that same "unmentionable" event last November Mind you, the fact that my friend was dressed as a Wraith probably had something to do with it - although she did go on to talk about how she remembered that she had not been able to recognise her out of makeup the following day and how surprised she'd been to see what the person under the makeup really looked like! They were chatting away for ages

Nathan Fillion was a total star Even though he was having to rush through at the end of the day (Saturday) he still found time to shake everyone's hand and have a little chat. Obviously, he was seeing so many people by that point he wasn't getting much chance to take in little details like what they were wearing, but as I was walking away (with a big stupid grin on my face) he spotted that I was wearing my Kaylee costume (an afterthought - I'd bunged it into my case because it is a heck of a lot cooler than my Jack Sparrow costume) and shouted after me, "Hey - like the outfit!" which pretty much made my day. Don S. Davis was a delight too, very charming and friendly, a lovely guy. As for Rachel Luttrell - my friend, the Wraith who was wandering around on Saturday, decided to go see her again (they met before, last November) and before she even got as far as the table, Rachel was grinning like a mad person and yelling, "Oh wow, it's you again!". It's a good thing it was fairly late in the day, they were chatting away 19 to the dozen for ages She's such a sweetheart! But then again, everyone I saw was great, and the dealers were fab, the guest talks were brilliant... only wish I could have done both days, though I'm sure my bank manager is glad I didn't...

Either Birmingham or London would be my choices. I'm another of the Devon people and although I don't think bringing the event this far down the country would be a good idea - it would be unfair on people coming down from up country and not the best arrangement for people coming from overseas as the nearest long(ish)-haul airport is Bristol (and the links in aren't that comprehensive) - I also think that going too far up country is equally awkward for people coming from down here. For absolute ease of transport from everywhere, the best option would probably be London because the whole transport network is geared towards there (whether we like it or not... there isn't even a motorway past Exeter, imagine trying to explain the A38 to people who've never driven over here!!!) but for general fairness and reasonable travelling times, Birmingham is accessible, obviously has a lot of Tolkien links and has good air links as well. Just my 2p

In agreement with Spikie about the Haka/Maori workshop idea Though of course it isn't strictly LotR related, it's fair to say that many of us who saw the various Haka performances last year were blown away by them It's a funny thing, but I know that a lot of us Ringers have become quite interested in New Zealand culture too - so if anyone wants to stock the bar with Steinlager... But more seriously, the costume panels and workshops were really good - in fact, one of the things I loved about FF was that if you wanted "hands on" events, there were plenty of them. The interactivity was great. Although it was quite a big even, it reminded me of the "old style" conventions where you didn't just sit and watch people talk all day (not that I wouldn't have wanted the option to do that too) but actually had opportunities to take part in things. And I love the further suggestions that have been coming up here - especially the idea of an interactive sword fighting workshop, though I realise there may be insurance concerns with that. Stunt and makeup demos were always great to watch too - and if you have someone from the makeup FX side of things, it's always a nice idea to run a competition to be turned into an Orc/Elf/Dwarf etc... But another show has such a good reputation, I'm sure whatever you come up with will rock

i'm not sure, but i think there was word on here that he'd said to someone after the last collectormania he was at that he wasn't intendin to do cons agan? He's said that more than once! In fact, after he said that at the last Collectormania he did, he went on and did several other conventions (he just did one this last weekend I believe). He's a little tinker on that score, but I got the impression from a recent interview that he'll probably not say "never" again. Although Mr P's getting back into acting a lot more now, I also remember him saying how much he loves another show, so as you say...

I'd love to see a bit of an Atlantis presence at Collectormania next May - I see we've already got Rainbow Francks, which is a good start, but my suggestion is James Lafazanos, the guy behind many of the Wraith. He's just starting to attend conventions and it would be really nice to get a chance to see what he looks like without the wig, teeth, prosthetics, contact lenses etc., etc., etc...