subject_117

This is something I could easily obsess over!!! How about "Your the live friend" (as in youre alive and your dead friends want your brains?) I'm reaching now I know

What were you "deep in conversation" about? That might give us a clue as a lot of actors try to incorporate into the autograph what you chat with them about I thought the first word might have been "your" or "yours" but then again i've been drinking...

Thanks for the info That sounds like it would have been an absolute hoot, shame i couldn't make it

When you say "out of costume" is it ................

Yeah he was great in Back to the Future wasn't he

I've tried looking everywhere for the answer to this but it doesn't seem to be written anywhere: How was Craig Charles disguised? I have heard he was in "make up" but thats all. Was he a big trucker with a beard, was he dressed like Kryton, was he an old lady? Also, what kind of annoying questions was he asking Chris? Details people details!!!!

*cough* glasgow *cough*

LeVar was at a convention in 2001 in London (he was a last minute replacement and was not signing) and at that show he was involved in photograph sessions! Couple of hundred people lining up just to get photos taken with him, he seemed totally relaxed and enjoying himself. So I find the agoraphobia line hard to believe unless he was just having a good day back then. I also find it hard to believe that a helper would give out such personal information about his medical status rather than say "at mr Burtons request please dont' take any photos" Ive worked in several autograph lines for varying other companies and so long as pictures are taken from the side with no flashes it usually doesn't cause a problem. The problem comes when fans are trying to juggle money, autograph tickets, photos, plastic sleeves, backpacks and cameras whilst already agitated at meeting the actor and want to take a picture either with them or of them signing the item! What might seem like a reasonable delay to an attendee in preparing to take a picture CAN prevent people getting an autograph and thats a fact! I know this having witnessed the delays first hand. Another classic example of time wasting is some people actually keep the photo in a sleeve, in a folder in a backpack until they are right up at the guests table!! Nothing gets more infuriating as a helper than people flouting the rules. We get abuse from people that we tell cant take pictures and we get abuse from people at the end of the line because some people took pictures and they didn't get their autographs as a result. Whats that saying: you can please some of the people some of the time, but you cant please sci-fi fans at a convention? And from the guest point of view I know that it can get troublesome if flash bulbs are going off in their faces for 8 hours a day. Its possible that some actors asked for no photos to prevent headaches from developing as a result of the flashes.

Patience young paduwan!!

Details are up on the watchdog website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/thisweek/index2.shtml Mannys response isn't up yet its to follow shortly

Its amazing how quickly this forum can go compleeeeeeetely off topic. Personally I didn't care much for what he was saying. If people were so afraid of travelling during the war in Iraq then why did Nana Visitor, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Ethan Phillips, Marina Sirtis, Cirroc Lofton, Anthony Stewart Head, Ray Park, Leni Parker, Jason Carter, Gil Gerard, Robert Leeshock all travel to Germany the weekend before his show was supposed to be Well done Dragonmate1 for putting across the plight of so many others that were unfortunate enough to sign up to this convention. Unfortunately I just don't know how much more likely a refund is now than before

I always think it looks like Jonathan Frakes is giving Levar Burton a biiiiig hug in that picture

NO, explaining to people the need to recoup costs, pay the talent and keep some money for Showmasters (either as pay for themselves or as collateral for a future show) is like banging your head against a brick wall!!! I cant believe anyone seriously would expect £5/£10 entry fee to be enough to go in and meet all of the actors and get a photo with each without purchasing a single autograph from any of them. You are paying to get in which is why its called an "ENTRY FEE" its not called "CHANCE TO GO IN AND MEET EVERY GUEST FOR £5 FEE" I'm guessing the reason this place has an entry fee is because it has cost Showmasters a good deal of money to book. I'm guessing here but I would suspect the signers only get a proportion of the autograph money they sell as opposed to a portion of the entry fees. Like if I pay £5 and only go to meet John Rhys Davies does he alone get say 10% of that money on commission? If someone goes to meet 10 different people do they get 1% each? How would showmasters know exactly who was there to see who and how to split the commissions between the guests? Solution-DONT! Give the actors a cut from the number of autographs they sell Anyone know if I'm right or wrong here? I think it would silence a lot of malcontents if it emerged that paying an entry fee did nothing to assist getting the actors over here and therefore doesn't entitle you to a photo. i think its great that showmasters even entertain the idea of letting you get one for free if nothing else is happening at the time. They sure as hell don't have to offer that luxury!

I have an idea: Why don't Showmasters pay for all OUR travel expenses, let US in for free, put US up in accommodation and then the actors can pay US £20 each for supporting them in their various roles and making them a success? And so that we don't have to stand in line they can bring in 5000 lazy boy armchairs and the guests can make their way round to us while we relax! That seems to be what people want so lets do it that way. Sure showmasters will go bankrupt and the actors won't do too well from it either but hell at least it'll please the malcontents on this board that want everything for nothing!! Or will they then complain that showmasters are perpetuating the growth of the couch potato generation...? I should be working for Blair/Bush, I could have ended the Iraq conflict in no time...... C'mon people!!!!! Bottom line is you turn up early you have a good chance of meeting the people you want. You pay your money you have a good chance of meeting the people you want. Very few conventions (and this is not a convention so I don't like to compare) GUARANTEE autographs, infact its written in their disclaimers so why should Showmasters be any different? If you can't get their early enough or you can't afford the trip then DON'T GO!!!! If getting someone's autographs means you have to live off Baked Beans for the next month then either open all your windows wide and warn your neighbours not to light matches or DONT GO!!! I don't see anyone forcing your arm.

Does anyone actually remember what C4 was like? People were going crazy trying to get a glimpse of Elijah and Dom on one side of the building and just as many people were going just as crazy for Sean and Andy on the other side of the building. In the centre and outside the centre against the glass it was difficult to move. If all four were grouped together then you would have even more crazed fans in a combined space than ever before (whether there be one queue, two, three or four there would still be a LOT of gawpers that were just hanging around)!! It would be crazy to put all the actors that are the big draw in one space And for people saying we should line up the actors at a long table and go from A to B to C to D but if you wanted to you could miss out B if you don't want to see him or miss out C if you don't want to see him I have a problem. Yes it would mean you only had to join one queue BUT it would only move as quickly as the slowest signer/most popular guest could get through the autographs. It would cause a backlog and you would have some of the actors twiddling their thumbs waiting for the fans to get finished with the actor ahead of them. I have seen this backlog happen at shows that have autograph sessions that only last 2/3 hours and can't imagine what effect 8 hours of that set up would have if Showmasters were to implement it And don't say "well then put the actor who is most popular at the end so that he doesn't hold the others up" because that doesn't help if a lot of people walk past guests A, B and C to get to him because pretty soon that queue will block the other tables. The solution to that problem? You put the more popular guests in separate parts of the building, with plenty of space for a queue. IE Don't group together the actors that are the biggest draw no matter how many queues you have because it won't work. Showmasters you are doing things fine!! B7, Red Dwarf, Star Trek,etc guests could be grouped without too much problem because they are not as huge an attraction (don't get me wrong though, I love them all) but a lot of the LOTR fans are really fanatic and will cause pandemonium if you cram them into one space. Please don't group them all together because it will be a nightmare for the guests, the fans and more importantly YOU! Did no one else study Queuing Theory at university?