Count Fooku

Nice! Although now regretting not getting Edward Fox to sign a Day of the Jackal poster when he did the show!

so you have to pay MORE money for a pic you've alreay paid for? because putting a jpeg up for download or mailing it to your billing add is just far too difficult in this day and age, right? disgusting. There are lots of disgusting things in this world, charging people £5 for an extra service isn't one of them!

I'd be surprised if there wasn't to be another MK event, I think I'm right in saying the very first SM event was in MK and I'm fairly sure Jason has spoken in the past about it being important to him that MK continues to be used.

Interesting read, I did think at the weekend that possibly a fourth day would be a good idea so useful to know that a Thursday preview evening is being planned. I have to admit that I didn't have massive problems moving between floors but I could see for some that it would be a problem, especially if they had timed photos to get to. I did think it was less likely to be an issue next year though with the extra space already being talked about. I think the key thing for me this year was the diamond passes, having seen how busy the diamond guests were I do sort of regret in hindsight not buying a couple but thought I would get away with a virtual ticket for them. I think the basic concept is good, paying more for the otherwise unobtainable guests so I think next year if there is a diamond guest I really want I'll not take the risk and get the diamond pass.

Problem is they have no means of knowing if a pass is being shared between friends or if someone has bought it with the intention of selling parts of it off for a profit. Unfortunately we have seen with this event that now demand is starting to outstrip supply that people will cotton onto that and will look for any loopholes they can exploit for profit.

I think maybe this was a plea to bring back the early bird/regular system that we used to have. Going to e-tickets and wristbands is fine and all, but selling only one entry time means everyone is more likely to show up at the crack of morning (even those who would have preferred the later entry with the old system) making the venue overflooding with people from the very beginning. I didn't go last year, but the two years before that were very doable in terms of crowds in the morning. I never had any issues getting to what I had booked and I rarely had to do the afternoon shoots for a guest meaning I had that time to browse or get autographs instead. That would mean less crowded photoshoots as not every single one would flock around the first one making it hard to get to for those who genuinely had the correct tickets, and many of the early birds would not show up for the later shoot as they got through in the morning, meaning less crowded shoots for those opting for later entry. Your notion might work, but it was more a plea to stop going 'hey, the official regs say we can let in x number of people, so let's do it' when clearly the feedback from those inside (not just me, a number of friends and other feedback posts have mentioned this) is that the official capacity is too high and the floor is very uncomfortable, even when under full capacity. :) Simply sell less entry tickets. With the massive guests SM can pull in, I can't see them losing too much money this way! Not sure its as simple as that though, certainly the first two floors were very crowded, not surprisingly as that was where the majority of the guests and dealers were based but the YALC area and top floor were a lot clearer so it probably averaged out in terms of there being a reasonable number of people actually in the building at any one time. The question is probably not numbers of people but layout of the event in terms of easing congestion across all areas.

I guess if you bought one between two people and one person say got the autograph and went to the talks and the other had the photoshoot and the free things for example you would technically be breaching the terms and conditions as I believe the passes are non transferable. You'd probably get away with it because it probably isn't viable to carry out checks on every pass but I guess if showmasters decided it was being widely misused then they could start putting checking in place

Lots to like in there, the nods to the OHMSS soundtrack, brief glimpse of a Nehru jacket, Moriarty from Sherlock and all topped off with a white dinner jacket! Glad to see no sign of a safari suit though, that might have been a step too far!

Wasn't able to meet her at the weekend but really hope they get her back again.

I think it would help with a lot of the "Why don't they just do xyz" type comments that often appear after a show. I listened to a two part thing recently with a former CEO of one of the top premier league teams and it was interesting to hear him talk about decisions that were taken which seemed very simple from the supporters side, but once he got into all the factors he had to consider you could see how tough it was and why things were done a certain way. I suspect there are plenty of things that Showmasters have to. Insider with events that wouldn't even occur to most of us (not saying things don't go wrong and that people don't have genuine complaints of course!)

Doubt it, the show received quite a bit of negative press and I don't think it was especially well attended

At the last destination Star Trek you could only pay for autographs with pre purchased tokens as the signing area was managed by a different company. Pretty sure showmasters said after the event that they wouldn't go to a token only system as it created too many problems.

He was part of a couple of talks last year but it sounds like he came off his own back this time.

Good idea but I think Jeffrey Jones might be problematic given some aspects of his private life.

It's funny you say that, I walked past what looked like a dealer table yesterday which didn't have much out on display and a couple of people sitting there chatting. Did cross my mind that I wondered what it would cost to book a space like that but just use it as a place to use as a have a sit down etc whenever you fancied it. Didn't know people actually did it though!

It is what it is, they do it every time, I fully expect the Daily Mail to follow suit soon. I'm not sure why they bother really, it can only be of limited interest to people who don't go and those that do will know the facts anyway. Nice easy article for someone to write I suppose they because they can copy and paste most of it from the last one!

I'm not sure it's as simple as that anymore. I've been doing these events a few years now and in the past guests have maybe done one or two photo sessions a day at most, one talk a day then have been signing the rest of the time. Now you have a situation where the big guests are doing up to five photo sessions a day and more than one talk so the actual time they are sat at the desks signing has been reduced quite a bit. That's before you take into the account the increased number of hold passes being sold and the introduction of diamond passes. Previously I've usually arrived at the venue for between 7-7.30am on a Saturday and never really had any problems getting everyone I wanted. Usually could be done by lunchtime/early afternoon. I was probably a little bit later than that this time but was still through the doors by 9.15 and don't think I had a TV for a lot of the bigger screen guests that was under 400, when I left just after 2pm none of them were close to the numbers I had. I'm not really complaining, clearly getting the even bigger names to come along needed a re-think in strategy including pricing and how they can maximise income from the time the guest is here (like it or not Showmasters are a business and they have to be able to make money or the whole thing will collapse) and to be honest all in all I'm pretty happy with what I came away with, but I think the indications are if you want a big name then just turning up early is still no guarantee.

I got there about 7.45 this morning and was in the door at 9.15

They did try a pre sale thing a couple of years ago but I don't think they have done it since so I guess they found it didn't work. I think part of the problem is while they can control how may photos can be done at a photo session, they can't really control how many autographs a guest will get through so if they ended up pre selling more than can be done then they will have a lot of unhappy people to deal with at the event. Virtual tickets might not be perfect but I think it's the best method as things stand.

It did feel today that unless you had Gold or Diamond it was very difficult to meet some of those top level guests. Not the end of the world, but will need to remember it for next year.

They did some stuff at Destination Star Trek so I think it probably is legit

Great news, very good last minute announcement!

I think the reality is its going to be a very difficult thing to stop, its been going on with concerts and sporting events for years without anyone really finding a solution. I do wonder sometimes if thats because the football clubs etc are that bothered about stopping it, but that's a different matter. I suppose you could start printing names on each ticket then telling people to bring ID to the show but that would massively slow the entry process down not to mention the extra staff it would need to do the checking, plus you'd have the problem of people who have been given tickets as presents etc. The only thing I could see to do is to see if eventbrite are able to offer any re-sale facility for tickets so at least those people who are no longer able to attend and just want to get their money back rather than re-selling to make a profit are able to do so in a relatively controlled way.

I wonder if that means he'll be prancing round the photoshoot saying "I'm Free" in the style of John Inman

Probably easier said than done, presumably with the big names they have to book them at the events they are available for. I guess as well that SM are aiming to take this event to the next level where it is on a par with the largest American shows. One of the main ways to do that is by getting more big names in.