giuseppe1969

I believe the sunburn is a collateral damage and it is not obviously Showmasters' fault. But it is their fault if people were outside for so long, no matter if there was sun, snow, rain or a perfect fresh weather: standing in a queue for so many hours IS bad enough! It is NOT attendees' fault if they want to buy a ticket on the day if the organisers state on their website that there are plenty. If, for whatever unforeseeable reason, you can't let anymore people in for a few hours, you really need to get out there and tell them to go home or stay and wait at their own risk.

I have been attending Showmasters conventions for many, many years but I stopped going to London two years ago because of the huge chaos that comes with the event. And it is really excruciating, as there have been many guests I wanted to meet but the idea of facing long (and often disorganised) queues everywhere (outside, autographs, photshoots, stalls) is stronger than my will to attend. The last convention I attended I had a golden pass, so I got everything I needed but moving around was really difficult and when I left, about 3 pm, there were hundreds queuing outside and I felt sorry for them. I read the forum and the relative comments and I understand that this issues keep resurfacing all the time (all recent London cons, Newcastle, Star Trek). It doesn't seem Showmasters is taking on board any of the criticism/advice we provide. The "people not knowing which queue to join for lack of information" issue has been going on for years but you do nothing to rectify it. The "photoshoot clash with talks or other photoshoots issue" has been going on for years but you do nothing to rectify it. The "lack of well-trained staff in key positions" issue has been going on for years but you do nothing to rectify it. The "the dealer chap in front of me had 35 posters getting signed" issue has been going on for years but you do nothing to rectify it. However, the "I can't get out of the venue because there are hundreds of people at the entrance preventing that" thing is a novelty (with some serious health and safety issues, I believe). I hope this doesn't happen again. I only attend Autographica at the moment, as it is more relaxed but I really would like to come back to London. As someone said, the show is getting bigger and bigger (good) but the organisation standards are not catching up (this is fact... not fiction, dear Showmasters). A real change of pace is needed here; either you get fewer guests (and take back the show to dimensions you are able to afford) or you organise the event at Wembley stadium and with more staff, next time.

Excellent! Well done, Showmasters!

Too bad but he's coming next year anyway so it is ok. Any Apollo astronaut(s) would be a suitable "replacement" and I wouldn't complain much

Met him two years ago, a very nice and kind man. He answered a couple of questions and posed for a photo. I might meet him again and ask about noetic science.

Excellent! Thank you Showmasters.

I would support that completely.

also AC Milan!

Agree Alien Guests please and how about getting David McCallum too... Please ...and Joanna Lumley.

I met her when she came to MK 5-6 years ago. I remember queues moved very slowly because she loved to chat a lot to fans and posed for pictures. Excellent guest!

TheWizard, your view is rather romantic and I agree with you on many things. It is true that sometimes you might get ideas or nice stories from other attendees if you hang around and this is an added value to the experience. However, remaining stuck in the queue for 25-30 minutes because of ONE single person, it might cause my romanticism to evaporate. As Aseefsid has pointed out, we need more rigorous guidance from the organisers and stick to it, in order to avoid the same problem in the future. And, yes, I also think that flash photography should be avoided, if possible.

Kevla's comment shows that rules are a bit erratic. Regarding the fact that at other events, such as Collectormania or LFCC, these things wouldn't happen, I have to say that in more than ten years I have seen dealers holding up queues even there. On one occasion, a chap before me asked Karen Gillan to sign some 30 pictures, which (fortunately) she did in less than a minute (bless her!), but not all guests can be as fast as her. Although unfair, I also understand that conditions, guest's mood etc. may change during the day, so some people may be allowed to chat longer than others in different moments and I can accept it. I know that we pay for an autograph only and everything else (picture at the table, chat, etc.) is a bonus and I am happy when I get one but a skype connection to New Zealand seems a bit over the top even to me: attendants should have said something about it. Again, I don't have anything against dealers or fanatics of international communications but more rigid OFFICIAL rules should be decided and implemented by Showmasters, so next time we all know where we stand.

Nice postcard from Autographica, Helmut. Well done!

If memory serves me well, I think Lee Majors was announced as a guest in one of the Collectormania show some 8-10 years ago but he then cancelled. Does someone else remember that?

Thank you Queen, there is no hurry to know what happened, we can certainly wait a couple of days to solve the mystery. "Just imagine - you got an autograph from guest A and decide to have a photoshoot later. You love the photo so much that you decide to get it signed. If everyone could only go through once you couldn't do this." Nobody wants that. I think it is fine to have as many autos as you wish, provided you don't get more than X items in a single visit. After that, if one wants more, he/she can join the end of the queue again and again. That chap yesterday really spent some 25-30 minutes at Alan's desk. What is done is done, the aim of this discussion is to realise that things like that may happen, so next time we (staff and fans) are all prepared. And, yes, rudeness should be avoided, regardless how annoying it might have been. ----- Thank you aseefsid. I am sure we'll meet again at the next Autographica or LFCC (hopefully not because we are stuck in a queue ), we are regular goers. After getting Alan's auto, I tried to get to Barbara Bain's lecture but it was about to end (I later got a report from my wife ) so I went to get Bruce's auto. Then queued for Buzz and Alan photoshoots before going back to sunny Clacton. Nice day, after all.

I have been in many different venues but I this is the first time I attend a show at the Radisson. That was a pleasing experience, although the parking experience lasted too long I agree all guests were great and a pleasure to chat with them. I agree with Leacroft on point 3, I wrote about this on the dedicated topic. All in all, I am happy bunny and look forward to next Autographica.

Dwarfbabe, yes the issue was raised with Alan's attendant. Anyway, when somebody turns up at the desk with such large requests, it should be automatic that this is going to become an issue in one microsecond; I think it shouldn't have been allowed in the first place. We have all been convention goers for many years and we support Showmasters and their wonderful team all the way but I really hope that they will do everything they can to avoid such issues in the future.

My wife and I were in the queue in front of aseefsid (hello!) and I can confirm what he says. I waited for one hour and when Alan arrived and started to sign we were by the stall that sells meteorites, i.e. not very far away from Alan's desk but it took ages to get there. Because of that, I missed Barbara Bain's talk (fortunately, the organisers refunded my ticket: I greatly appreciated that). In my opinion, dealers do their job and it is probably fair enough that they sell their stuff on ebay five minutes later, this is not the point. The point is that Showmasters should put in place rigorous limits to the number of items any person can get signed and organise a different route for dealers; for instance, they could gather up their items aside, pay in advance, and have them signed by the guest in a moment of calm and collect them later or even dedicate 20-30 minutes to dealers only at the end or the beginning of the show, perhaps, or similar measures - bottom line is: you can't get more than X number of items signed, possibly with 1<X<10. It doesn't make sense that some 50 people have to suffer, worry to miss lectures, photoshoots etc just for the benefit of one. A little Spock's wisdom should be used, here.

Is she staying for the whole week-end? Autograph prices?

Shall I go to Autographica? I am full of doubts. --Barbara Bain Announced!-- The doubts have vanished!

Excellent! A Young Sherlock Holmes reunion is in progress. Please get Sophie Ward and Anthony Higgins too, if possible

YES! YES! YES! Actually, it would extremely nice to have Barbara Bain. ...and some Cosmonauts as well.

Yes, Regina from Space: 1999! Time to plan another travel to MK.

As usual, a long drive from Clacton-On-Sea and back but it was worth it. I met the Apollo astronauts and Nick Tate. All very nice. The atmosphere seemed more relaxed than last year, with fewer people around. I hope I am not detecting an unexpected lack of interest; I am sure many have chosen to go tomorrow: it will be busier.

Yes! Indeed, we also need to get Melody Anderson and Ornella Muti.