buffy2k

Seconded, we hope so too. Costs us a fortune to go up there and it took me 3 hrs to get there last time as we got stuck on the M6. There is nowhere decent to eat nearby when your on limited time, the airport is too far and the nec food is not nice, we did find a carvery at xmas when i was there but you need a cab for a few of you to make it viable its 10 mins away you cant just walk down the Pheasant and have a choice of loads of food, i'll miss that! The hilton is a little more expensive that the London hotels and they dont do anything other than double rooms i was told when i booked they dont even have twins? We always had the exec room at the radisson for not much xtra which is huge as we like to have a room for 3 @ HW as a friend comes from abroad and she cant afford a room on her own but they cant accommodate this in birmingham and there is no point her looking for a room mate either as she'll have to share a bed too so not sure yet what we're going to do. The hotel itself is very nice but a bit too out of the way for us.

I think this will reassure a lot of people as we were worried we'd be "overtaken" by other fandoms tbh. Very glad to hear our cons will remain as they were. Great news.

Brilliant,havent seen Amy for ages. She is such a sweetie will be lovely to see her again.

At least for the short term Jay as it seems they are ok Robins ex-wife Casey has gone to the shelter and picked both the dogs up to look after but they will still need a permanent home so keep spreading the word. I am sure there will be plenty of offers so cute!

Robin was the first Buffy actor to ever speak to me at a con, it was 2003 my first event and he was in the paragon hotel (now the ibis at earls court) i was sitting on the floor on my own and he came up to the bar and came over and said hello are you alright, i am not sure much came out except i probably looked like a goldfish. All i could think of was Robin Sachs aka Ethan Rayne has just spoken to me. He has always been so nice every time i have met him since, fond memories.

Omg i am so sorry i met Robin a few times over the last 10 years at conventions and he was so much fun, i remember him and Tony Head together they were a blast. Thoughts with his wife Casey and his family, very sad news.

I cant find anything either and sent him a message on his birthday yesterday so would feel awful if this is true? On wikipedia when i went into the site via google it said about his passing yesterday on the main google page but I logged out and went back in and this info has been edited, only giving his birthday so hoping this is an error!

We always had a triple room at the Radisson (they would give us the exec room with an extra bed for not much more cost) as a friend from abroad comes over for hallowhedon and doesnt like to be on her own as she cant afford the single rate. Seems they dont do any group rooms at the Hilton so not sure what we are going to do now. I called reservations and it seems the con rate is for a double bed only they dont even have twin rooms so looks like we are all going to have to share double beds which for us girls may not be so bad but for any guys out there maybe not so much! Also the rate is more expensive up there than it was in London which is going to make it more expensive on top of the extra travel for a lot of us & there are not so many options for cheaper hotels up there. The hotel is rather out of the way and you cant just nip down the pub for a quick lunch either between breaks. We have found a nice carvery but its a 10 min cab ride away so can only get out in the evening. Apart from that this leaves the NEC where the food is not nice or trying to get to the airport which takes forever to get to as well. However the rooms themselves are very nice just expensive. All in all much prefer the london hotels and it just seems there are too many cons being shipped up north now but we dont all live up there and this is going to get expensive for a lot of people, hope its not a permanent move!

ooh good guest, i missed her when she was last here and that was some years ago so look forward to meeting her, wow 4 guests all at once very impressed.

Great guest and one of the few i have never met either so looking forward to meeting him.

Aw great guest i have met Jane several times and she is really interesting to talk to and many stories to tell about her time on the shows and she is a really lovely person too. Dont think she's been here since the event James and David did so nearly 9 years ago so i am sure someone a lot of people have not met either. Look forward to seeing her again.

I dont watch Doctor who but remember when she was Dirty Dens mistress Jan in Eastenders back in the 1980s. The first photo doesnt look like her though was it many years ago?

She co wrote The House of Elliot as well which i loved, thats been back on tv recently as well.

Me too would love to see Emma again and I still have a couple of Anya's outfits for her to sign as well.

Emma has done a number of events in the UK but not been here for 4 years so it is getting long now but she was asked to an event by another organiser in the last couple of years but has been tied up with her show so here's hoping she can come back again soon.

Same as yellowmarlin it will depend on the guests to this. Usually i would have said silver as we have done in the last couple of years as they are better value than the golds we got at HW1/2. However with the new "set up" (for which we still dont have any details from ME) this is probably one of the first events for buffy/angel i have ever been to in 10 yrs where i will wail till quite late to get a ticket to see how many guests we get as i will have no interest for anyone outside this genre i'm afraid so not sure silver will be worth it this time unless we get at least 5 from the whedonverse and other shows on top. Plus the new thing about having our personal photos posted for all and sundry to look at and buy is putting me off a bit at the moment so will wait and see. I do hope it sells well i know a lot bought tix based on last year & we want this to succeed there are certainly plenty of fans but with the "other" event round the same time this year ME need to make us want to get the tickets for this one by announcing some good guests & hope we get the ball rolling before xmas to keep the buzz still round the last event.

no problem, i think its a good hotel and a stones throw from the venue, the smaller hotels in the area are just as expensive for less value, see you there.

Torchwood and Ashes to Ashes

We booked the ibis back in the summer, they used to hold Buffy cons there "back in the day" when it was called the Paragon so we wanted to take a trip down memory lane was £99 i think inc breakfast. We went there 2 years ago to check out the bar upstairs which is really nice & hasn't changed a bit so if anyone wants to come for a drink in the evening after the event we'll be in there its open till past 1ish i think. As far as i know you can go for a drink without staying there. We tried going to one of the smaller hotels you can find bit further away but they were all more expensive for a pokey little room so this year i'd rather spend the same money and get a decent room with a bar!

Anyone from Buffy of Angel would suit me as we dont seem to have any guests outside of Hallowhedon now but thats only a couple of guests so more would be great, we used to get loads to CM and LFCC. Emma Caulfield, Eliza Dushku, David Borenanaz,Amy Acker,James Marsters

Thank you. Sorry i get a bit passionate when it comes to the Jossverse so i really want this to work for our fandom. Going back to do some work!

Me either, does this mean we get some green demon from a B movie nobody has ever heard of ? We are still waiting for some proper confirmation as it was not clear at all what is happening with this con as people have interpreted it a number of ways so far. It would be good if we could have this cleared up. What other show/s are covered? how many guest are you looking at will we get more than 4-6? breakdown ratio Whedon - other? etc. There were two main reasons why nos were lower & this needs to be addressed:- Money - we were in recession this year and fans chose one con over another,some could only afford one they are luxuries and its no longer possible to do lots as you may once have done and there are numerous events around. Its unfortunate that there are 2 cons with a similiar theme within a month of each other too. Personally a monthly saving plan is great its a year away & just a little a month works - we need to be inspired to get those tix early tho. Guest Nos- Some simply did not book due to the small no of guests this year, its a catch 22 as you cant book guests till you have a lot of fans booking but people did wait for a 5th guest. As it was it was their loss cos the 3 guests we had were amazing but even with a couple of days notice i wonder why there was nobody from the 4 main shows available as a replacement, why was there no back up,canx happen & i'v seen other cons get guests short notice before. Ultimately there has to be good nos of guests though, other cons have a lot more than 3-4 so if it means doing away with the window dressing for another guest so be it, we can do without the little extras like mugs, beer mats etc if its taking all the money (even though we like them). Lastly we need better communication, i think we do need someone in charge of each con who can do this,no offence to the mods but they have no info to give a lot of the time which is frustrating, other cons update regularly. I realise there are other events going on but it does seem we get sidelined for the larger signing events which take all the time & the cons are left so late to finalise. There wass a real buzz after HW4, We have a great FB page and its great the fans are really pulling together, posting lots & i hope this continues with lots of tix sales, we had a lot of newbies this year so lets hope they enjoy next year as much as this so we can keep this going for years to come but we do need to be kept informed better whats happening and i am sure we will all do our best to help any way we can. looking forward to hearing official news on the changes to our con soon which may reassure our fans into parting with money which ultimately gets more guests.

The hotel itself is spacious and rooms are fine,even though its not as convenient as london and it seems stuck in the middle of a roundabout. The convention room is quite away from the bar area down that corridor you end up losing your friends tho, at least at the rad we were all on that 2nd floor.with own security guard too in the evening and you only had the bridge to cross to find the photos/autos and dealers room all of which you could see from the hall. Every con has a home and a lot of us felt the rad was the HW one just like the Park was for the Hubs but we will give it a go. The main thing for us is not being near a proper pub, the centre does have a w/spoons if you can ever find it open but its like a MW service station, food not wonderful & very small open area. If you want to go to a pub for lunch/dinner its a 10 min car drive away which is not convenient when on a schedule. We just love the Pheasant too much & there wont be any trips to McDonalds in the early hours with or without the guests as there isnt one i know of. Going up that way in December so will pop in & check it out .

Same here. it would be useful if we got a message from ME on how EXACTLY this is going to work ie breakdown of how many guests your looking at in total (is it still just 4-6 or more) & what other show/s will be covered outside our fandom as i know some our new fans have already signed up based on this year and a bit of reassurance that we wont be "taken over" would go a long way to make the seasoned regulars cough up some money (as well as some great guests of course).! Going to B'ham next month so will see how they operate these days, still prefer the Rad though!

I get to be the first to post for this one thats a first for me! So the important quetion is what guests would you like to see for HW5? I'd like to see Emma Caulfield, Bianca Lawson, Eliza Dushku, Amy Acker Alexis Denisof & Seth Green, Bailey Chase, Elizabeth Rohm, Lindsey Crouse (think she canx a CM once?), Harry Groener (he canx at HW1) from those who havent been to HW before + anyone from the Whedonverse! Of course if we could have this years guests back as well that would also be great as Nicky,J & Kristine (and John) were awesome! Sorry i dont have a list from non Whedon guests as not interested - sorry!