morpheus Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Although I appreciate the argument of getting as many numbers through a queue as possible and I am appreciative that this policy is now clearly marked up on the celeb's wipeboard, I really do think that this policy is not good enough. I came on Sunday too meet a number of people but as soon as I saw that Jolene Blalock was charging £20 but wasn't doing piccies or even a simple "To Paul etc...." I decided not to bother. The first time I came I waited 5 hours to meet Anthony Head and then he told me that he wasn't allowed to do a personalisation. He was lovely and we got our photos taken with him but, frankly, he could've signed the photo with a personalisation in the time it took him to tell me why he couldn't do it! Now, it seems that more and more guests are taking this option and it is detracting from the event as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampwillow Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 i know alot of people feel like that, they actually missed people out because of the no personlisation thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marina Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Hi Morpheus I'm really sorry you feel the no photos and personalisation policy is not good enough. I work as part of the crew and get a lot of abuse and harrassement, becuase they can't have their photo taken or maybe collecting an auto for a friend (not saying from you ) but it happens. We try to get through as many people as we can, so they can meet there favourite guest, have a few minutes with them and ask a question while the guest signs. This doesn't always happen, it seems to happen with the bigger name guest, ie James Marsters this weekend. Plus it depends on how quick the guest signs. I hope this doesn't put you off coming along to other Showmasters events I hope you don't think I'm being cheeky for replying, I just thought I would try and clear a few things for you. It can very irratating, I know as its happened to me in the past. Other than the photos and persoanlisations did you have a good weekend? Hope to see you at another events Wishes Marina x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampwillow Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Marina x *oi stranger* no hello Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike's dream date Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Yeah I hate the non-photo/no personalisations rule. It really affects the whole experience and I think it's a shame. At least James explained why he didn't personalise at his talk (although it just sounded like excuses to me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted May 5, 2005 Moderators Share Posted May 5, 2005 It's a tricky one. Some people want personalisations, and some people strictly DON'T. Some aren't bothered about photos at all, some just want one of the guest signing, and some really want posed photos. At an event like this, I think it's really hard to cater for EVERY need just due to the sheer volume of people turning up. It could easily turn into a factory line .. walk up, put pic down, get signed, get photo, walk off .. cut out the talking .. but then some people find the talking the most important thing. So how do u keep everyone happy? And yes I realise some people already feel like it's a factory line, but it could get more so. When you're ticketing and you're on the end of a line with people saying they've been waiting for hours etc and they really wanna see the guest, it's hard because u really do wanna get as many people through as possible and I don't think it IS possible if every specific need is catered for, which is why such rules need to be implemented at the beginning of the day to make it fair on everyone and let them all be treated the same. In the case of some guests, maybe they have their own reasons for not personalising etc, like James and his hand or whatever .. we don't need to go into that, only that there are often lots of different factors involved in it. I know that when I've worked on queues, the orders have often come from the other end - the guests and the agents etc. But I'm sure the people running the event have to analyse the situation and do what they think is best too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 in the space of time it takes a guest to say hey, how are you, they could write my name and their autograph. simple. for 20 quid, i dont think this is an unreasonable expectation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreakAccident Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Well Sean and John Rhys weren't going to personalize mine till i asked them politely would they mind doing it as proof to my other mates it was signed for me and not bought of a website aka ebay or some crap like that and they both said " sure that's fine " and did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiggerific Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 i have to say that when i found out james wasnt personalising i nearly decided not to meet him but im sooooooooooooooooooo glad that i did because he was so nice and friendly. Im sure if there had been more time and if circumstances had allowed he would have more than happily personalised. Unfortunately you do get occasions when theres no personalisatiosn etc and you may feel cheated but look at it this way, if they had been personalising and hadnt got through seeing as many people and you had missed out on meeting them at all you wouldnt be too happy so the way i look at it is i met them, got the auto and saw them do it so i know its a real one! :D:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinababy Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 I was just glad to get to meet him, as I know so many missed out. Yes, it would have been nice to get personalised or a photo, but the main thing for me was just to say hi to someone that I have admired for so many years. The fact that he chatted to me and was so lovely and that he kissed me were all bonuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennylouise Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 It's always going to be a tough problem. Do you have the guest personalise and take pictures and get through 500 or do you allow neither and get through 1000? I do see both sides of it and I know many people think it's best to even see them for a moment and get an autograph than nothing at all, but as a personal thing I don't tend to go up to them if I can't have personalisation and a photo and even a short chat because I don't like being on a conveyer belt and I like photos better than autos. Saying that however, I did speak to lots of people over the weekend who were just grateful to be able to see James so I'm glad I'm not making the decisions over what guests should do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero_of_Time Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 on the persanalazation debate, id have thought that the guests would have wanted to do it to prevent the ebay vultures from making loads of money from them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike's dream date Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 on the persanalazation debate, id have thought that the guests would have wanted to do it to prevent the ebay vultures from making loads of money from them! I saw one guest with the sign "personalised autographs only" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpheus Posted May 5, 2005 Author Share Posted May 5, 2005 I think that perhaps not being able to see your fave guest because of the size of the virtual queue is something that everyone surely knows could happen anyway - even if you turn up at The Centre at the crack of dawn. However, as grace points out, it takes only a few seconds to hand the guest a piece of paper with "To Will and Grace etc" on it and for them to write it. I think that for £20 a person should be able to have at least a personalised 10x8 for their troubles. If that means that 500 people get a wonderful memento of the day as opposed to 1000 people being herded through like cattle (see Jolene Blalock thread) then I think that's fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpheus Posted May 5, 2005 Author Share Posted May 5, 2005 I hope this doesn't put you off coming along to other Showmasters events I hope you don't think I'm being cheeky for replying, I just thought I would try and clear a few things for you. It can very irratating, I know as its happened to me in the past. Other than the photos and persoanlisations did you have a good weekend? Thank you for your reply. I certainly don't think you are being cheeky and I did have a good time at C7. I'll certainly come to other Collectormanias. I just thought that the 'No P & P' rule seemed more widespread than at previous ones and I worry that eventually it will apply to most, if not all, the guests there. If that happens then it really will be a waste of time for most people. Cheers though. I'm not trying to be too negative. Honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted May 5, 2005 Moderators Share Posted May 5, 2005 I think having 500 people through instead of 1000 is slightly unrealistic. I know ur saying for £20 that you should get a lot more, but no one has any idea of the fees involved in getting the guest, flights, hotels etc. If they need to get 1000 people through, then they have to. Plus there is profit too, and yes it is necessary unfortunately. It'd be nice if they could let everyone meet the guests for as long as they want, and get everything they desire, but the business side of things sadly is important to. Customer service gets you a long way but it isn't entirely gonna help the bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 what i meant in my post was that i can't see that the queue would really begin to move any slower just because the guest personalised. i do completely understand about the no posed pics (annoying as it is!) but to have non personalised ones does seem at bit much. what exactly am i paying for!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampwillow Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 I think having 500 people through instead of 1000 is slightly unrealistic. I know ur saying for £20 that you should get a lot more, but no one has any idea of the fees involved in getting the guest, flights, hotels etc. If they need to get 1000 people through, then they have to. Plus there is profit too, and yes it is necessary unfortunately. It'd be nice if they could let everyone meet the guests for as long as they want, and get everything they desire, but the business side of things sadly is important to. Customer service gets you a long way but it isn't entirely gonna help the bank account. rumours circulate so i think every-one understands it costs a fortune to put on an event like this. it's just a shame there cant be a compromise, if its a time issue maybe a post it with your name on b4 u get to the desk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 i had a post-it with my name on to meet nic brenden last year, so have a personalised one from him, even though i spent less time with him than i did with ASH and james marsters (i know he has his own reasons). I blame JCB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dufresne Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Customer service gets you a long way but it isn't entirely gonna help the bank account. It bl8dy helps David !! If you went to HMV and the service was crap, you would go to Virgin next time ! Even if they were a pound dearer, and further away ! The guy behind me in Sean's queue was MOOING as we were QUEUING !! And he was right ! You forget in the months between shows just how much of a shoving session Collectormania is, both around the dealers, and in the guest queues. The pressure on the crew is unreasonable at times too. JCB (what appropriate initials !) has to realise that the crew answer to SMs and not her ! I know she has secured them some of their best guests, but she seemed to spend most of saturday marching up to the head of each queue and chastising crew and paying customers, and in some cases, the very guests themselves !!! about how they were and weren't allowed to do this, that and the other ! And then she wonders why Sean and JRD had open queues for most of the afternoon ! Like someone said above - by the time ASH had explained why he couldn't dedicate a sig, he could have actually dedicated two or three !! How many times do you have an awkward silence while a guest is physically signing your item ? Asking for a dedication breaks this, and also serves as an introduction. The rules of a company are typically made by management - ie. people who don't use the system, and therefore don't know what would improve it or take away from it. Do you think the managing director of BT has any idea how frustrating it is spending 20 minutes pressing numbers to get through to the right person ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzy Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 (edited) I think that perhaps not being able to see your fave guest because of the size of the virtual queue is something that everyone surely knows could happen anyway - even if you turn up at The Centre at the crack of dawn. However, as grace points out, it takes only a few seconds to hand the guest a piece of paper with "To Will and Grace etc" on it and for them to write it. I think that for £20 a person should be able to have at least a personalised 10x8 for their troubles. If that means that 500 people get a wonderful memento of the day as opposed to 1000 people being herded through like cattle (see Jolene Blalock thread) then I think that's fair enough. I completely agree with everything there. It takes no time at all to just put "To So-and-So.." before they sign an autograph - all you have to do is write out your name clearly on a piece of paper or a post it and it's as good as done. To some extent I can take being herded past like cattle if a guest is incredibly busy (see Elijah at C4, luckily I got a personalised auto and a pic but would have been pleased just to have met him). However, I don't appreciate my friends and myself being treated that way when there's no need. Sean Astin had an open queue at the end of either Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which day) and my two friends went to get an autograph. A crew member told them that there was no personalisation and no photos, even though THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES IN THE QUEUE! The reasoning behind the restrictions on Sean was that he was so busy, so why the rules had to be enforced when he wasn't I have no idea. (And yes, Sean immediately asked if they wanted their autos personalised and posed for a picture before they could even ask he was happy to do it) Edited May 5, 2005 by Dezzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bell123321 Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 I persoanlly think in my opionion that the photo is worth more to the fan then the autograph its self because its personal. And for them not to be allowed to even write their name on it you might as well have brought it off a desk or something. if it said "no personalisation unless name written on paper to save time" then that could be understandable and more fair but they dont even give that an option. :-( i know however they want to get thru many people as possible and i know pictures etc can hold it up so understand no posed photos tho pics while he or she is signing should be allowed. and if it later turns into an open que maybe the people who have already brought an autograph shud be able to get photos taken ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dufresne Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 I went to a book signing a while ago in Belfast, by George Best (his home town). They were queuing for HOURS before hand, and by the time they started, it was obvious that he wasn't going to get through everyone. Out came the post-it notes, and some wee member of staff headed off down the line, asking about dedications and filling in the post-its and putting them inside each copy of the book. When it's properly mechanised, personalisations do NOT slow things down ! And at up to £25 a pop, I make no apology for expecting a personalisation. I'd rather have a personalised auto than 15 seconds of meaningless chat anyway ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bell123321 Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 Something personlisied means much more to me then a chat, its hard for them to say remember you from just a chat considering the amount of people they talk to. Tho something personilised will be there with you for the rest of your life. (i have nothing against chat) tho it can take up time when there isn't enough time. A name takes max 5 seconds to write. not a lot of time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danni009 Posted May 5, 2005 Share Posted May 5, 2005 (edited) what i meant in my post was that i can't see that the queue would really begin to move any slower just because the guest personalised. i do completely understand about the no posed pics (annoying as it is!) but to have non personalised ones does seem at bit much. what exactly am i paying for!? I would have to agree with you there. I also understand that posed pictures would slow a queue down but putting 'to blah' at the top wouldn't have a great effect. When someone is paying £20 just a signature and a rushed hello doesn't seem fair at all. I've been put off meeting guests because they had a 'P&P' rule. I also don't believe that it's the 'guests' who decide if they're going to sign people's names or not. Maybe that's the case with some guests but certainly not all. Craig Charles had 'no posed photos' written on his sign when I went to see him. Maybe someone should have told Craig because he was standing up and posing for everyone. I've also heard of guests apologising for not being-able to personalise autographs saying that they've been told not to. What's going on? Edited May 5, 2005 by danni009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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