Ironside
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Posts posted by Ironside
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My faves were Dean Andrews and Marina Sirtis. I love down-to-earth celebs and they were both great.
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I dont think the very busy trams are really practical. Nottingham is quite rough, and busy. Carrying large items to get signed and dressing up could be a problematic. You often dont get a seat on the trams and even park and ride has limited spaces for such a busy city.
Thinking about it, Coventry did nothing wrong at all in my eyes. It wouldn't bother me if the event was held there all the time. I'm just being selfish as I live in Derby and would like it more local !!!
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I got him to make out an autograph to my gf, Verity. He hadn't heard the name before and Marina has to spell it for him then told him it meant "Truth". Then Brent said she should just have called herslef Truth, lol!
Also, I asked him for a pic of him and Marina together. At first he said "No way! Not with here...!" I thought he was serious at first, but then he did it for me which was nice!
He said to my GF that she should dump me
I let him off though as this is probably his usual schtick at these things. Although he then repeated it at the talk which made me go beetroot (hate being singled out in crowds). I was half tempted to send him a guestbook message saying 'thaanks for that brent shes upped and left me now'...to make him feel guilty but I can't be arsed.
Funny bloke with a weird sense of humour, he had a real hangup about his domain name being taken didn't he?
Although I don't think he's looked into this very closely as i'm pretty sure he could sue and get his real website back if he really wanted too from the bit of investigation i've done on the web.
Thought Marina was a great counter-foil to him, she was lovely. Nice to hear her 'proper' accent.
Dare I suggest Showmasters do a full on-Milf convention? :) Sophie Aldred, Marina Sirtis and Gates McFadden could be the starters for 10?
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I find it humerous that for a Midlands event, they chose somewhere which is a stones throw from MK!
I did enjoy the experience of crewing at the Ricoh.
Once inside, i got my bearings well (always good to know for a crew member), however, outside, i got soooo confused. Its a giant orbital road and car park mix, where it looks the same in every direction. I noticed some people were trying to exit via the photo shoot area, insisting that is where they came in! More signs for exit direction would probably be a good idea!
The guests were a pleasure to work with, and everything seemed a little less tense backstage.
The organisers did a great job.
RE: Oxford as a location.
Not a totally diabolical idea, however, it would require a LOT of forethinking and planning to ensure people find their way to the location. I think moving up to Nottingham, and the National Ice Centre, or maybe over to the Birmingham ***** (probably as accessible as Ricoh). I'd suggest Leicester, but off the top of my head, I can't think of anywhere in the area to host it!
I think the Notts Arena would be a great venue. I'd suggest Pride Park Derby but it hasn't really got the conferencing facilities, which is a shame as its real near to the Rail station and its dead central.
Anyways, I thought the Coventry event was excellent. Me and My GF had been to Milton Keynes and the LFACC before. Milton Keynes was ok but quite hassly, but we had a dreadful experience in London. It would take a lot of convincing for me to go back to either of those. I've yet to experience Manchester and Glasgow.
Coventry was perfect. It was quiet, but thats how we like it! we got all our autos without overdue hussle and bussle, the talks were great (although I'd like to have had longer on Marina and Brents talk), and the bus shuttle worked well too. I think everyone was relaxed and this is the way the events should be.
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Well this is the second time my husband has met him and today we spent 75.00 on his signatures. He didn't look up, didn't acknowledge anyone in the queue, just signed and pushed things on. There were absolutely no photos, not even just walking down the queue. This is the 2nd and last time we would ever go to see him. It ruins the experience after such a good day with all other guests. The no photos at all is unfair, I can understand no posed photos but if you are just in the queue waiting, why can't you take a photo. It was rushed and uncomfortable and very disappointing.
The above comment simply does not come close to reflecting my experience and pleasure of meeting Mr Stewart on Sunday.
Having previously survived the JCB-controlled 'Shatner Experience' in Milton Keynes, it was more than obvious that SM were adopting the same procedure, which I felt was acceptable on this occasion given the limited time available for signing. Having been herded through the conveyer belt system to the signing table, I expected nothing more than the three in-person autographs I had requested. I was therefore delighted when, after signing the first piece he stopped, looked up and asked how I was. That provided the opportunity to open up an albeit brief and limited chat on the success of his recent Shakesperean roles and the resulting move of the production to the West End, all ending in smiles and encouragement to go and see the play(s). I found him extremely friendly, good-natured and more than happy to engage in a brief conversation.
It may have been that he was simply resting his hand but for me it was a fantastic and unexpected experience, all the more special for having been prompted by the man himself. My apologies to the people around me in the queue who may not have been so successful but I left completely happy and satisfied with the experience.
Well it seems that you were one of the lucky ones then as we had watched him for quite a while and he barely looked up and didn't hardly talk. When you compare him to people like Nana Visitor and her wonderful personality, there is no comparison. I know he is very much in demand but it doesn't cost anything to look at each person (who is paying a hell of a lot of money in some cases) and say hello then go back to signing. By the time he told the previous person in this thread he was signing and could not shake hands, he could have shaken the hand. I understand these people are incredibly rushed but a smile costs nothing and can make your day. I know these stars are not anyones property and we have no right to a quick hand shake or conversation but to not even look up is very upsetting. Without the fans these people would be nobodies. At the previous convention in London he did exactly the same and it was just as uncomfortable there yet it cost 45.00 per autograph. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE and look forward to every event and always have a wonderful time looking around the stalls and getting very starstruck! but nevertheless, my husband was very disappointed and I am disappointed for him.
I wasn't really over-awed with the experience of meeting Patrick at comic-con because of the rushed atmosphere, but the latest news is that he is playing Claudius in Hamlet next year with David Tennant as Hamlet!
Thats got to be worth a ticket.
To be fair what can you expect him to do in such an environment?
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This was my second convention having attended MK earlier.
To be fair to the MK crowd I slated the MK area when I attended it, and people did say wait until you go to London to make judgement.
So I have to say, hands up. I think MK is the better venue than the one on Saturday, I agree with the general consensus that the lighting was too dingy, and the arena as a whole was a bit grotty and there could have been better seating, waiting areas and queuing.
I also thought that the main stars should have been spread out a bit more and maybe some of the other guests who had only a few people interested didn't merit such a big area. The space could have been so much better used.
Pros:
* It was a good line up of guests in the end, it would have been amazing had their not been some of the good guest pull out though. I was especially looking forward to Brent Spiner and Zachary Quinto. As my GF pointed out generally Collectormania has a better spread of guests than its rivals.
So fair play to showmasters for getting the Petrelli bros at short notice.
Me and my GF had early bird tickets, but because we waited so long to make sure we got Patrick we unfortunately didn't get any heroes autos. Which was a shame as I'd just finished watching the series and thought it was awesome. I guess quite a few people had to make that particular choice even with early bird tickets. We got VTs as well for the heroes crowd but didn't even come close to one of them.
I had the general feeling that showmasters underestimated how many people would turn up for the heroes crowd, but we intend to make up for it at MK with the heroes guests there.
* For volunteers the staff did a good job, but I think they were let down by the general organisation, especial thanks to John who seemed to be using his commonsense on the Patrick Stewart queue in circumstances that were beyond his control and for helping us out when my GF lost her ticket.
* Good to see the cos players and the gaming community sneaking into the comic con :) Was good to see the Guild Wars and Total War stands as i'm a big fan... but I felt on the whole MK had more of a 'fun' vibe.
Cons
* The General area and atmosphere of the place as above
* Couldn't find good Star Trek TNG or heroes posters as we wanted to start them off for future conferences. A little suprised we couldn't find good ones.
* Poor general organisation. Although I did like the idea of having a photo with the Petrelli brothers and Hayden I think this meant a lot of people were ultimately disappointed at not getting their autos. I'm not sure how Showmasters could improve this though. Maybe be listening to some of the people on this forum and installing tannoys and boards as in Milton Keynes (big boards!!!)
In this day and age couldn't some of this be computerised somehow?
* Patrick was great, but to go down from a weekend to a day then to 3 hours was a bit off, plus I think £25 is a bit steep for saying he didn't personalise anything. Mind you, if he did then he wouldn't have seen many people at all. I do think though (as I said to the GF) that you get better value out of some of the other less costly guests for example I think she had a better time talking to Nana Visitor and Louise Fletcher than she did with Patrick)
* My GF didn't get her 'near dark' DVD signed by Adrian...
maybe next timeHaving attended two conferences now, I am getting used to the fact that there will be some inevitable stress and that if you want the autos of an A lister its something you have to put up with, but that also makes it understandable how people are annoyed when they can't get anywhere near them be that due to their bad planning or somebody elses.
How about some kind of loyalty scheme showmasters if you attend so many cons???
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grace was fantastic!
i only went sunday sadly, and whilst her queue was quite big i did manage to beg my way in far earlier than my ticket would have allowed (the woman must have got fed up with me and my friends just waiting there...). as she was the only guest i went to see i was very grateful for that. anyway whilst i can see that perhaps some people would have been annoyed that she was taking a while, i am glad she did - she was open, friendly and very chatty, and everyone got the same treatment from what i could tell. plus she even remembered me from the photoshoot in the morning which was amazing considering how many people she must have seen by then. she spent a good 5 minutes talking (and signing) and seemed interested in what i brought.
anyway if you are interested please check my LJ for photos/video: http://dr-gaius-baltar.livejournal.com/
i really hope we'll see her again next year - that would make me come again for sure (this was my first con/signing whatchamacallit). the only downside is the quality of photos on sale at the place - cheap laser prints that were bloody awful. however the photoshoot itself was excellent value, as were the autographs.
btw i have to say ray park was also fantastic - caught him by chance as we were leaving and his queue had shrunk a bit by then - awesome guy, really friendly
Damn fine Wallpapers !
Glad I wasn't the only one to namecheck C&C !!!
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Rene Auberjonois was mine and my fiances favourite guest. Although in the end we only saw one person, my fiance (having done these types of events for a while now) said Rene was the best guest hes ever seen.
My fiance was in his ODO costume though if you saw him he did look a little scary hes not exactly as thin as Rene (know he scared at least one kid during the weekend) when he went up to see Rene to get our photo that was already signed by the guy who plays Quark (Armin) he said he had never seen anyone else do the costume with a mask(the mask had a genuine paramount stamp inside it)
We told him about the autograph we both bid on before we even knew each other, and how we met via a trek group in Essex and that my fiance cursed me something rotten (in a nice way though) for winning the ODO auto he wanted.
Rene said to my fiance that if he took the head off he would sign the inside of it for free, unfortunately to get the mask off Matt my fiance had to undo his bow tie then undo his top shirt button to slip the mask off which was really wet from sweat, inside.
But we got a photo taken with him, went to boots got it printed off, came back to see Rene 1hr later, with the mask off and in Matts hands, and not only did he sign the photo we had printed of the three off us (we paid for that) but he also signed the outside of the mask at the bottom for free(so it didn't come off and so it could be hidden by Matts collor if he ever ware it again)
He also started to put the mask on (would have loved to see him wear it) but said it was a little to tight to put on. (Basically you have to make your face wet slight so the mask will go on easier) BUT
He really really made my fiances day
(don't expect your reading this but if you do, thaks Rene)
LLAP
I'll second that, I thought Rene was an absolute gentleman. He took a lot of time answering my GFs questions.
I would say Rene, Avery, William Sanderson and Aron Eisenberg as well.
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I bought a Kill Bill Book, signed by David Carridine,( there with pics of the seller , with David, signing some swords-) for £12.50 . I went back later to buy another for my Son, but they had gone. Overall I thought the sellers were great. But I stilll don't understand the logic of selling signed photo's for more money, than we could have bought them live( ie with the guest) But most of the stalls sold things cheaper overall , than we can buy it on ebay
I was slightly dissapointed with the Dr.Who items as I couldn't really find anything 'old school' enough for my mate, but I made up for that with an autograph from Mat Irvine. The did sell a lot of new series stuff though, thats only to be expected.
I thought on the whole there was a good selection though, particularly the guy selling the canvas art, we brought two off him, I thought at a reasonable price.
I could have spent a small fortune, but spent most of my cash on the guests..
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Sorry, based on what?
It's clean, convenient, the public transport is ok.
What exactly is soul destroying about it? What parts of it did you see to make this judgement? Why is the centre any worse than any other centre?
Don't get me wrong, the event in itself was great, I enjoyed it. And most of the locals were pretty polite, the organisation was ok and good friendly guests too, no problem in that capacity.
But how anyone can say the place has any character I don't know.
I guess I should say exactly why I found the place depressing.
There just isn't any character to the centre of MK. Its functional, yes, but for me a little too antisceptic. Its concrete, glass and steel, like a giant skate park (and it was being treated like that). I just didn't like it from an architectural or asthetic point of view, thats my opinion. As with the local football team it feels something that has been 'transplanted' from somewhere else.
Want to go somewhere to eat and drink? well, thats ok if you want to visit an overpriced uber-global chain like Costa, Starbucks, Mcd's pizza hut etc.
I looked around, couldn't find anything but theme pubs. I was itching to find somwhere, well a little bit grimy, a bit normal. I can think of a million better towns for a weekend out, Canterbury, York, Durham, Nottingham, somewhere with a bit of history.
Yes, I know it was a shopping centre what did I expect? your right, its like any other centre, but bigger. and being in MK Amplified everything I hate about shopping malls because its so big.
And its fair enough people going 'well its free', but don't tell me Collectormania didn't make an absolute packet out of the autographs and photo shoots, plus the trade through to the shops wouldn't have done the centre any harm. Swings and roundabouts I reckon.
I personally would be prepared to pay to enter somewhere where you can chill out for a couple of minutes in between the madness. The way I felt was when I left the show, you went to an outer layer to a crowded shopping centre, then out of the centre, just concrete and subways. I didn't feel I could 'escape' anywhere.
Screaming kids every five minutes didn't help neither, although I blame the roaming Alien for that
Maybe its just because its the first con i've ever done, but after two days I felt drained and I was glad to get home. Next time, i'll probably just do a day.
The other two things that I really hated about the place was that we went to see Spiderman 3 at the Odeon (about 8pm) and the kids in their were the rudest I've ever known in a multiplex - they talked right through the film and used their mobile phones all the way through the film. Total chav Brats.
the second thing that really narked me was down at the Railway Station, i know it was Sunday night on a bank holiday, but there was hardly anything down there in the way of facilities. I thought that having a major event on, they might have had a few places open.
And whats wrong with Newbies to the forum having a good moan, do I have to be registered for five years to have a point of view??? jeez i hate forum snobbery!
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When I first saw her I was amazed at just how petite she is but I would not have called her a twiglet - her curves were the right size for her build and in all the right places (at least so my hubby tells me, lol)
When we got her autograph I found her very friendly and pleasant to talk to. she was fascinated by my klingon makeup and asked me alot of questions about it.
She was a pleasure to meet
Kehlan
She was lovely, I had an autograph and photoshoot, she seemed a bit puzzled by my command and conquer reference though....
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i think the shopping centre is a good shopping centre, but MK as a place is a bit shoddy. Im sure americans think it must be a weird place - esp as they are not familar with roundabouts as much!
however, i think it is situated in a good location in terms of people getting in that there is now a london event, a manchester event, a scottish event and the start of it all middleish england MK.
works well i think.
Midlands would be better IMHO (from Derby)
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Hi all, first post. Visited the show on Saturday and Sunday, and the signings, photo shoots etc I had no problem with.
Just one thing..
Milton Keynes.
What a horrid, horrid place, totally soul-destroying. And I really didn't like the shopping centre, what a monstrosity.
Please ditch it as a venue !!
My thoughts on the Midlands event
in Collectormania Midlands
Posted
Plus it's funny hearing the American's pronounce it Cuventry...