thefreckles

Showmasters need to get The Lone Gunmen over (but not for EMS, please, as I can't make it now the date has changed). They really, really need to get them over. Please? *bats eyelashes*

Forgot to mention make less Gold Tickets available too! I was almost tempted to buy one given the number of talks I would have liked to have attended and to be assured of my autos and getting my photos done earlier but am REALLY glad I didn't spend that money now. I would have been beyond annoyed if I had spent a lot of money on one only to find I was in row 5 or 6 for the talks if other committments meant I couldn't have queued up at least some 15 or 20 minutes beforehand. Surely one of the benefits of getting a gold pass is to be assured of a good seat for the talks and being able to just walk into them? Previous Showmaster events I have been to have usually had just the first two or three (maybe four on a few occasions) reserved. Believe me, if you like taking photos as I do, those 2 or 3+ rows extra can make a LOT of difference. Will not ever consider a gold pass again if so many are going to be sold. It loses a lot of its sparkle and usefulness for me. Hopefully though, this whole business of charging for so many talks will cease (have complained about the dreadful sound quality at various venues over the years). For the few talks I ended up paying for, I got seats in Rows 8-9 despite having tickets in the top 15 (when they did acually decide to call by ticket number, which was not always the case despite being told differently) and queueing for between 45-60 minutes on all occasions. Not impressed but that's for another area

Better signage if a guest is allowing personalisation or not. Am gutted I missed out on Gillian Anderson personalising my auto. I asked but wasn't sure if she heard me and didn't want to pressure her or embarass her so didn't push the issue as I'm so used to the PA asking if we want it done and then ensuring it is mentioned (didn't happen here so thought it may have been a no-no). Some kind of sign saying allowed or not allowed would be perfect and make things easier for all! If an auto was £20 or £25, I'd be tempted to pay again just for my name (no sig) if they ever get her back but not at £45!

Must admit I was sceptical of this at first thinking there was NO way the coverage would be any good or cope with all of us but it was brilliant! And so useful. Thank you so very much to all involved in this. Loads of posters around with username and password and it all worked very, very well.

I can vouch for the crew being wonderful with getting lost property back to owners! I lost my purse a good few cons ago and they went to literally every effort to track me down and eventually did so by contacting the political party I belonged to at the time (my membership card was in there)! It eventually wended its way back to me safely :) I agree with the previous poster who suggested looking for Too Tall tomorrow (ask a crew member if you can't see him) or any of the crew at the Organizer's Booth (they are all long-standing pros). If you are going tomorrow, please, please do bring it with you. That person could be there and be camera-less thus have a large part of their weekend ruined by not being able to record memories (I know it would be for me).

Gillian was personalising? Drat! I got to see her very early and even though I asked she just signed her name. I thought she might not have heard me but didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable by pushing it so didn't ask again. Still, I got to see her, speak to her and received a lovely, lovely smile so am trying not to be a little disappointed (and it's working *g*).

I just tried it too (not that I need to have any photos sent) and I'm getting the same error message. Maybe it's a browser or an OS thing? I tried using Firefox on my Linux netbook.

Actually, it probably would to some extent. The biggest problem was with the Early Bird pre-paid queue so, effectively, we weren't buying tickets at all. It was down to sheer numbers and utter lack of organization and that could have happened at any free event as well. The queues needed to be snaked and split due to the large numbers of attendees and it was the management of this that was frankly appalling. I can understand in the past why they make you pay to get in (I imagine costs of hiring the venues are astronomical) but given that we now seem to be paying for so many of the talks (including ones I would not have expected to pay for), it does make you begin to ask what you are getting for your money. If more and more talks are going to be paid for (and more rows of Gold ticket holders added), I will just stop going

One of the main staircases to this was blocked off and I was told we were not suppose to have access to this but they forgot to close it off so couldn't do anything about it. Do you know if we will still be able to get up there tomorrow?

Queuing in general was appalling today! I got there at 8.20am and in between that time and getting into the venue, I was told to go to 4 different places by 4 different people (twice after having queued for some time). And I was not the only one, there were scores and scores of us. Totally ridiculous and unecessary. This could have been easily managed with more people on the ground. Towards the end, a (very) long line of us queuing were told to go to the other end of the road but there were already other people queuing in the opposite direction. We were told to just feed in but that must have seemed very unfair to those behind us (we were hundreds in number) and no explanation was given to them - i.e. that we had been queuing for ages at the opposite end. A family behind me then got really shirty and were making lots of loud sarcastic comments once the snaking stopped and we were all (presumably) told to face one way. They then just charged in all holding hands and more or less pushed past the crew members who had been told to hold the queue at the door. I can understand their frustration but actions like that really don't help matters either And let's not talk about the queuing for the Gillan Anderson and Dredd talks (though to be fair, the latter was more to do with con attendees than the crew). I must admit, if I hadn't already paid for a talk tomorrow, I would be seriously considering not going despite having already paid for an Early Bird ticket and not getting all my autographs. Having moaned about all that, kudos to the crew managing the Mitch Pileggi photo shoot. They did a great job and brilliantly managed things!

Free talk tickets are usually only released on the morning of the talk and not in advance. It depends what time you plan to get there on Sunday morning but I doubt they will have all gone as it is in Talk Zone A and looking at that earlier this evening there are loads of seats there. Still, I'd plan on getting it earlier in the morning, rather than later if you can.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the free Ben Browder talk! Yay!

Got my photo today (have yet to see it) but they have a sword there for you to pose with May have to get another one as I was all 'OMG! I AM SITTING ON THE IRON THRONE!' so didn't pose at all. Will have to do a 'Ned' as previously posted, methinks... Oh, and you pay where the throne is (or you did today, anyway).

Sorry, I hadn't heard back on this specific question. But it happened last year, I can't see this changing. Great! Many thanks as always.

It should be on sale when you pay to get in because the weekend ticket includes the preview night entry. But I'll get this confirmed. Hi Queen_Sindel! Did you manage to find out if we can buy Early Bird Weekend tickets on the Friday? Many thanks.

Thank you!

Actually, no. There are two talks I would really, really like to go to but i) money is tight and I have to really think about what will give me best value for money and ii) I semi-baulk at having to pay some of the fees announced given how absolutely awful the sound is in these venues. Paid a lot of money for one talk and, at times, you could barely hear the guest and I was in the first or second row behind the Golds! And that is my main objection. If I am going to have to pay for a talk, I expect my money's worth and to be able to hear the guest. Also, more free talks meant I was more likely to go both days (and end up spending more money both days on spur of the moment autos/photos). Will probably only go the one day now. With the fact that this has come with no warning whatsoever so close to the event (thus no time to manage budgets) has not left me feeling positive. Obviously my feelings only but am entitled to air them here just as those who disagree with me are too :)

Oh, rats! I will be elsewhere that weekend. How annoying!

I've been to one before (Scott Bakula) and swore I would never go to another unless it was an amazing guest (for me) and Gillian is exactly that! I had ticket number 90 and actually had quite a good seat behind the Golds etc. It wasn't horribly far back at all given how many rows there were and still allowed me to get a few nice pictures with a long zoom lens. However, and one of the main reasons I haven't paid for a talk since then, the sound quality was utterly, utterly terrible! It was simply appalling and was so difficult to hear what was being said. This, though, is a different venue and, fingers crossed, the sound will be better here. And, hopefully, Showmasters have learnt from past mistakes. Hope that is of some use!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I can't believe you got Gillian Anderson and she will be signing X-Files items too! You are the very best! Was so giddy seeing this on Twitter, I couldn't remember my username/password for the online shop and had to get it re-set Talk ticket ordered. Just hoping and praying there will still be a photoshoot ticket left for me on Friday... Edited to ask if we can be warned when the photoshoot tickets are getting low, pretty please?

As has been pointed out elsewhere, Jason is dyslexic and most of those errors wouldn't have been picked up by a spellchecker anyway. I actually found it much easier to read than those that use text speak on here

Casual arm around the shoulder or half around the waist is okay. I didn't mean it to sound as if Joe was stand-offish or never let anyone get fairly close or touch. It's if you wanted more, or different or something quite close... I got Joe to stand behind me on Saturday and put his arms around me. A little closer than the standard pose and different body part come into contact... And Joe is a lovely and warm person. I've just always got that personal space vibe from him though (as being someone like that myself).

Mods, if actors and agents do read the forums can someone not change the thread's title to something a little kinder? Seems such a shame especially if she is chronically shy (I know quite a few actors that got into acting trying to overcome this and was pushed into studying Drama myself to help overcome/deal with my own chronic shyness). Didn't get to meet her myself but do feel for her... Thanks!

Not too sure about the few complaints about the pay on the day queue getting in quicker than the pre-paid queue. Unless the pay on the day bods had started queuing very early, I think the majority of us got in after the pre-paid bods. I was mid-way along the pay on the day queue on Saturday and way before I even up to the doors (let alone inside the building), the pre-paid queue had disappeared. I was only going for one guest so didn't want to pre-book a ticket in case they cancelled (luckily they didn't). I'm not going to get into the fact that both parties pay the same amount for a ticket! Of course, once in I got tempted by other guests, as I knew I would :) One other negative I forgot to mention - myself for totally forgetting Masie Williams was going to be there on the Sunday (despite having tweeted about it myself). Am so annoyed!

I've always been of the impression that Joe has a very well defined (and fairly large) sense of personal space - something I understand very well! Have always been wary of asking him to do my typical photoshoot pose before now because of that but I carefully phrased a request on Saturday so he had an easy out and there was a second's thoughtful pause before I got an 'okay, sure'. He has seemed to slowly relax in photoshoots over the years though, hence my request :)