chrismk

As has been said time and time (and time and time) again, the decision regarding over the table photos is almost exclusively down to the guest (sometimes their agent). The only time it might be an organisers decision, is if there is a huge queue (such as with Karen Gillen) and that is to allow as many attendees as possible to meet the guest (over the table photos slow things down.) The guest may not want to have flashes going off in their face all day, or they may not want to be constantly standing up to pose for pictures. Often, they use the photo shoot as a shield to hide behind, because they don't want to come across as 'the bad guy'.

Why didn't you park in Asda or Ikea? Time-limit on parking. It might have been okay I suppose, but wasn't prepared to risk it just for one autograph. Ah I see... for what its worth, I'm not aware of Asda MK ever issuing tickets (and I used to park there for the football). Ikea (next to Asda) has no time limit. (Though next time, the stadium car park shouldn't be such a mess!)

Why didn't you park in Asda or Ikea?

Depends on how up to date your Satnav is.... if you have problems, try looking for Ikea or Asda on your Satnav, they are adjacent.

I think they should play it on the PA system....

Apologies.. I'll remove the gun from your head, so that you don't have to read it in future...

They both have guests, attendees, autographs, photo shoots, dealers and now talks and parties. Its really quite easy to compare them. Also, you CAN compare milk or cheese (really, cheese?) for your cereal, again, its quite a simple comparison. A difficult comparison would be between a can of tuna and a space shuttle. Taste is irrelevant when looking at value for money.

I wasn't going to reply again, but this has annoyed me. Clearly, you don't grasp the concept of 'value for money'. It IS partly about 'how much it costs', that would be the 'money' part. If your most favourite guest was doing a signing and charging £5000 a ticket, you might WANT to go, but clearly it would be poor value for money. If your favourite guest was charging £5, it would be very good value for money. Value for money is determined by things like comparrison, NOT what can be afforded. If John Barrowman charged £5 for an autograph, then it would be good value for money, regardless of whether someone could afford it or not. Likewise, £25 for a party ticket might be considered poor value for money, by someone who CAN afford it. There's always choice, but choice is irrelevant when considering value for money (again, you are confusing it with 'cost'). Jason has said his bit. I don't agree with it, but as he rightly pointed out, it's his show and I hope it's wildly successful and I'm proved wrong. Can I afford the parties? Yes. Will I go to them? No. (That's my choice BASED on value for money.)

I appreciate that Jason has explained himself fairly, but as a final (you'll be grateful) comment, I'd like to point out that there is a big difference between expense and value for money. I fully accept that people spend what they want and are in control of the expense, but for value for money, it compares very poorly with other SM/ME events. I don't accept some of the comments about cost, because they are costs that have existed since Collectormania moved to the stadium, when there were no talks or parties. They only way that they are relevant now, is if the talks/parties are subsidising the event.

Any chance you can point it out, as I can't find it!

Oh, I do know... which is why I've made the effort to post my thoughts! :)

Ummm... from what's happened at many events, guests HAVE attended 'out of the goodness of their hearts'... or, more likely, to have a fun night out! Its rarely contractual, which is why there is a disclaimer posted, because attendance cannot be guaranteed.

People want day tickets, because they can't afford a full weekend one (or perhaps can't afford it along with the additional hotel costs). To be honest, I think it's a reasonable idea to charge people at a convention a small amount, just for being able to attend talks/parties. I do not agree that the events are 'completely different. They both have guests, signing sessions, photo sessions and now they both have parties and talks. The biggest difference is that signings have a bigger variety of guests and a low entrance cost, meaning a LOT more people can/do attend them. Yes, the costs are different, but the biggest costs (guest fees, guest transport/accomodation, venue hire) are similar and scalable to the number of attendees. I know that Showmasters are fans, I've known Jason and Mark for years (as I say, going back to Stantonbury/Woughton campuses) and I have respect for them, which is why I'm highlighting something that I see as an issue.

I feel that £25 per night for a party is too expensive. I suspect I will not be alone in that feeling. I may not be aware of the EXACT costs to Showmasters, but I have enough experience to be able to estimate them (having a party at your own wedding will give you a vague ballpark figure!!). If the costs are that high (which I don't think they are), then they should look at alternatives. Don't get me wrong... I've done EVERY MK Showmasters event in the past (back to when they were held at Woughton and Stantonbury campuses) and I want the events to do well and grow. But I feel strongly that the pricing is wrong and will not help achieve this growth.

There is less to do at this show, than there is at LFCC. Yes, I accept that there is a charge to get in to LFCC, but that's only the cost of one of the cheapest talks. I do understand the difference between a signing event and a themed convention, although this one is blurring the lines more with the nightly parties. Lets put it another way then. John Barrowman did at least 1 Hub event. A ticket for the Hub event was around £80, which got you 3 parties, an autograph from John and at least one talk by him (plus a whole bunch of other stuff). At Collectormania, it will cost you £90 and that doesn't factor in the additional party or additional guests at the Hub. Can you not see how this is worse value for money? This is irrelevant of fanbases or genres, it is an actual example. Maybe this highlights what good value for money the ME events are, but I think it also highlights an issue with the pricing policy of the new things at this event.

I'm guessing you're not actually running a business yourself? (For the record, I used to run my own stall at these events, so I have some idea what I'm talking about.) If the times get tough, you do NOT increase your prices by 100+%. If your costs go up that much, then its time to stop doing it. They DO give these things away free at LFCC, where less than 1/4 of the talks are paid talks. When the times are hard, people have less money to spend. They are therefore more choosy and demanding as to where they spend it and what they spend it on. They are more likely to look at the best value for money (or, given as events would come under the heading of 'luxuries' they're likely to stop going all together.) SM suffer in this time, because their revenues drop as people spend less. HOWEVER, some of their costs will go down as well as venues become more competitive to attract events and guests become cheaper as they find work harder to come by (have you seen how much budgets are being cut at places like the BBC?) You have elected not to go to any talks or parties, but would you still make that choice if they were cheaper? Basic economics says that the price to charge is where supply and demand meet. This is where you will maximise your revenue. If you set the price too high, then demand will be low and you will not maximise your revenue. Given the costs are fixed, you run a risk of making a loss. £25 for a party is a lot. Say 100 people decide to buy tickets, then you get a revenue of £2500. If you charged £15 for a ticket, more people are likely to come and you'd need to sell an additional 67 tickets to get the same income. Obviously it's very difficult to judge the demand for tickets, but then it makes sense to start lower and increase the prices at later events. For a start, it means you are more likely to sell out, which builds demand and exclusivity. Then, you can increase the price, until the revenue peaks. If you start high, it puts people off and if the party is too quiet, it's going to be a harder sell at future events. Similarly, if the talks are over priced, you run the risk of losing money, if the guest would bring it more revenue NOT doing the talk. This is also the first time doing talks at this venue, which means a reputational risk if there are any logistical problems (with sound, or seating, or ticket confusion, or timing problems, or people feeling the talks are too short). A suggestion would be to hold some free talks first, because at least then people don't feel like they've wasted money whilst any teething issues are resolved.

Quick question, how long will the talks last?

As I tried to explain to David, I'm comparing two similar things, to demonstrate that this event seems incredibly expensive. More so than an ME event, or LFCC. At a time when people have less money and there are a huge number of events to chose from, giving poor value for money does not seem like a great option.

That statement is utterly pointless. I am comparing two things to demonstrate a difference in value for money. If you just wanted one autograph, then it would cost you £80 at a convention, £10 at Collectormania, but if you only wanted that, then you'd have to be stupid to get it at the convention. That's why I am comparing as near to like for like as possible (and frankly, my comparison is generous).

Thats simply not true. LFCC has a limited number of paid talks, the vast majority are free, therefore this event is SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive than LFCC. £25 for a part is very expensive, significantly more so than the parties that they used to run at the Hockey Stadium (which WOULD have to be rented seperately). I realise that was a few years ago, but even UK inflation isn't 100%!

Well colour me surprised... From a value for money point of view, most things can be compared. Whilst there are differences between a signing and a full themed convention, there are also a LOT of similarities (especially when the signing event adds talks and parties.) The contracts are irrelevant, Collectormania previously has NEVER charged for entry and has managed to get some of the best guests to an event. The only additional hire are the rooms at the Double Tree and frankly, for the amount of custom that Collectormania is bringing in (off season), the room hire costs should be tiny! Additionally, many of the talks at LFCC are free, which again means that this does not compare favourably (even taking into account the entry fee for LFCC).

Is it me, or is this event working out incredibly expensive, especially when compared to a Massive Events convention? Standard tickets for an ME convention start at around £80. For that, you get 2-3 nights of parties, around 6 hours of talks, opening closing ceremony and an autograph with 4-6 guests. With the amounts being charged at this event for parties and talks, a similar experience would cost several hundred. You could argue that it shows what good value ME conventions are, but it also suggests that the pricing policy for this event is somewhat steep (and I'm putting it gently!) 2 Nights parties - £50 6 of the cheapest talks - £60 6 of the cheapest autographs - £60 Total £170 - and this is for one less party, no ceremony and no talks/autographs from any of the 'headline' guests. In a time of recession, your average punter is looking for better value for money, not worse!

Any word yet on whether Thomas will be prepared to sign Heroes stuff?

While I can see the idea behind this, it's something of a kick in the teeth to those of us who've been supporting you for 10 years, but are local! Seems like we can either spend £159 for a hotel that it a short drive away from home, or miss out :S

Thats a really interesting question. :) I still read Empire regularly and subscribe to SFX. I don't really use fan sites at all, or general movie/tv sites (other than Empire and SFX). Most other info I get from social media (mainly Facebook), friends post stuff they've seen and I'll follow their links if they interest me.