Unorganised Chaos

[Spider-Man]

Can we stop with the arguments theres already been about 500 posts on it, I agree there were some problems, but what do you expect with 2 a listers. There was problems with the tickets, screenings and some of the helpers but i'm sure showmasters will improve it, it is only there 4th show. Every 1 happy now.

Who were the 'A' listers?

[samwise16]

I LOVED THE EVENT....AND IT IS ONLY NATURAL PEOPLE WILL BE QUEING AT 5-6 LIKE ME! AND THEY GOT THE AUTO'S SO JUST LEARN FROM THIS AND TRY SAVE MONEY TO STAY IN A B&B OR TRAVEL INN. I FINK IT WAS A GREAT CONVENTION AND THE STALLS WERE GOOD. I AM SURE I WUDENT BE SAYING ALL OF THIS IF I NEVER GOT AN AUTO AND I FEEL SORRY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T.....BUT THE COSTUME COMPOTITION WAS A SHAMBLES...I PUT SO MUCH HARD WORK INTO IT AND MONEY LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AND ALL THAT HAPPENED WAS...SALA BAKER CAME ALONG AND CHOSE THE SEXYIEST LADY'S!!!! MUCH DISAGREMENT THERE!!! ... OTHER ThAN THAT..I LOVED IT

 

clementz

 

gandalf the grey

[Martin]

I'm sorry to say this but do those people who complain really lack the simplest of common sense.

 

The lord of the rings is at the peak of popularity at the moment. Any real fan would know this.

 

Surely people who wanted to meet them realised that these guys are huge at the moment and any chance of meeting them would be increased by showing up at an earlier time regardless of what you'd been told.

 

For a start, they didn't have to turn up at all. So the fact that anybody got anything from them is a plus.

 

It also amazes me that people expect to turn up 10 minutes in advance and expect to meet the guests. How many of those people didn't really want to meet the guests but got to and will be selling signed photos on Ebay for ridiculous prices in the next month.

 

People come from all over the country if not the world to these events.

 

Anyone remember C2? Anthony Head was there for 1 day (saturday) and correct me if I'm wrong but I believe only 500 tickets were given out. Plus the ticket idea was introduced

 

The organisation wasn't wrong, it was great. Its the people who don't follow the organsation that ruin it.

I stood with about 50 people in front of me, not even in Elijahs que that had ticket numbers hundreds of places higher than mine. My ticket was within the numbers being called and I couldn't get in there to que up.

People like that slow the whole process down.

 

I do sympathise with those who had to travel and those who missed out and i'm sure showmasters will do there best to get those guests back.

 

There were 1 or 2 things that i believe showmasters could iron out but they are trivial and I believe they were caught out like so many of us. But I will save them them for the appropriate posts.

 

Many, many thanks for a terrific event and roll on C5 (Brad Douriff Yippeeeee)!!!!!

[Mr Ed]

robwaddle rocks

 

Glad someone else recognizes there are other, better films than Lord Of The Rings!

 

Suppose getting Lynch and having a screening of Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive for C5 is a bit too much to ask isnt it?

[KT171]

OK I agree with many of these posts. YES it was a shambles and Sunday was just mayhem-infact i was seriously F***ED off on Sunday. Im not gonna lie , I was extreamly lucky to meet all 4 LOTR guests and they were lovely and very kind to alot of fans but come on the organasation was crap!!!! on Sunday i was told by event helpers that they were finishing singing at 4pm and then I went around a corner and someone said 5pm and then someone told me 6pm!!!! I mean come on brief your helpers and simple facts!

And do you not think 1000 tickets was alittle too much , I met many people who had late tickets on the second books and simply didn't get to meet them. I thought once you had a ticket you could stop being worried about getting to meet them- this just wasn't true! After C3, I came away very happy and over joyed and happy. I got off my train yest2day extreamly saddened and alittle fed up. Don't get me wrong , yeah I got to meet them ( if you can call it that ) but being tense and tempers fraying all weekend ruined it for me.

I think what you have to remember is alot of the LOTR fans are extreamly passionate people with a great love for the films, books and the actors and for alot of them LOTR means somthing different for everyone of them. Meeting these actors means something to them and beening rushed through to a point were you didn't even get to say Hi was very poor. Many had very special gifts for them but didn't even get a chance to tell them what it was. My main concern was Daniel Logan ( if thats his name ), I got jabbed and pushed by him ( at one point i thought he was gonna pick me up and chuck me out )and when Dom was actually talking to me, he butted in told me to get out! And i must admit, im 21yrs old and being spoken to like that by a 16yr old was making me more angry by the minute. I felt like saying " get your head out of your own spam mate ". he was arragant and very rude to many fans.

Maybe SM shouldn't of given out so many tickets? it would of made it so much more personal for many people.

I also agree about the helpers taking the photo's, many didn't even take the photo's , i know some very upset people with missing photo's!!

Im in serious thought about whether to go to C5, im don't think i could go through all the tention and heart ache all over again.

 

Katie

 

P.S "Don’t give out raffle tickets – did you know that people bought books from the stationary shops in the Centre and were pulling their own numbers out. "- how poor is that, ok SM couldn't of known but they really should of thought of these sort of problems. This makes me even more angry for all the peole who never got to meet them.

[Davey]

Just have read the whole 7 pages! Doh! and Kris blah blah blah! I have an answer to one of your crticisms!!

 

SELL PRE PAID TICKETS FOT STAR SIGNINGS – nuff said – sell 500 tickets that guarantee an autograph pre event and give 200-300 out on the day first come first served

 

You could sell 500 guarantee tickets but what if the star doesnt turn up at the last min like Kane Hodder did cos he was ILL! You would be just as pissed off then! Yeah you would still get a refund! but you may have turned up still and then find out that they are not coming! Showmasters would never sell you "guarenteed" tickets cos anything could happen! So think before you post!

 

When some of you have said about the people who were just taking photo's of the stars and not paying to go get an autograph did you ever think that some of these people may not be able to afford to go and see the stars! They still could have got up early, get a ticket then go and meet the stars without paying for an autograph, but I found that not many of them did that and just stood back and tried to take photo's, but even if they did get a ticket and went to just say hi that would have resulted in more unhappy people!

 

I think MK is a great venue and im not just saying that cos I live 5 min walk fom the centre! you would need a big space and hotels dont offer a big space! Keeping it free is good! means people can walk around the stalls aswell! My brother just likes to walk around the stalls and he wouldnt be too happy if he had to pay alot just to look round them!!

 

BHPF

[robwaddle]

Hey Mr Ed, that's a great idea. . We could wear Lynchian costumes and squeal a lot .

 

S/Ms can u get Kyle Mclachlan??? or Ray Wise??????

 

Rob

[dufresne]

Right ! I might as well post my thoughts on the weekend too !

 

I was only there for the Sunday, and have never been to a previous Showmasters event, but I have to say that the organisation was generally very good.

 

It would seem that 80% plus of complaints are from people throwing the toys out of the pram, after not getting what they wanted. If you were to bring three out of four Hobbits to ANY event worldwide from now until the end of time, the crowds would just be MENTAL, but to do it 6 weeks before the premiere of the third movie ??? Use your brains people. All SM can do is SPECULATE !! Yes they said get there an hour before, and you SHOULD be ok, but nobody has a crystal ball. Just reading the posts in the forum, it was obvious that demand would be massive. If Dave Prowse, Kenny baker and Anthony Daniels had been at an event a month before the premier of Return of the Jedi, they would get writers cramp to say the least ! And as far as opening the doors early goes, what difference does it make ? If you had arrived at 9.45, you still would have been too far down the queue, whether it was indoors or out. I am just glad the centre let us in out of the cold.

 

I had to rely on public transport, so I got to MK at 6.30am. I had a coffee at the bus station and went straight there about an hour later. I was still number 109 for Elijah !! (Great guy, but the American dealing with his queue needs a customer care course !!)

 

I work for one of the main concert ticket outlets in the UK, and know only too well that you can never accurately predict demand, no matter how massive a specific show is. You know that bands like U2 and Westlife will be in demand, but will it sell out in an hour, or a week ? Will they play five concerts, or ten ? You just can’t ever be sure in advance !

 

This apart, I do agree that the venue is no longer suitable. I am sure a large open area within a shopping centre was fine when the guests were of the calibre of Kenny Baker and Paul Darrow (no disrespect to these random examples, or to Showmasters, but the first few shows did seem to feature “the regulars” of the signing circuit. If C5 and beyond continue to feature such world class guests (at risk of stating the obvious, lets hope they do) then we need a bigger, more suitable, CLOSED OFF venue. With all the guests in the same (approximate) area. After all, The four main LOTR guests were paired off, and could not have been further apart. It’s amazing that anyone got both Elijah and Sean. By the time you got a ticket for one, and FOUND the queue for the other ….

 

Hands up who else felt like swearing at the Sunday shoppers who are obviously so bored with their own little lives, that they need to spend Sundays window shopping and poking fun at “the (insert geek based adjective of choice) people looking for autographs” while getting under our feet, blocking the areas and taking photos of everything that moved without spending money ? At least if the show was at a venue like the NEC you would be rid of this, and the congestion would be helped greatly. I doubt few people would mind paying 10-15 pounds admission for this to happen.

 

Also, I think the show should move to somewhere more accessible for the international market it now attracts. Probably near a major airport, but certainly in a major city (no, sorry MK does not count !). It really has to be London, Birmingham, Manchester (or what’s wrong with Glasgow !!) The forum, and conversations I had over the weekend make it obvious that people are coming from all over Europe, not to mention the USA, Canada and Australia just to get their DVD signed at Collectormania ! These people need an accessible venue that they can get to by public transport, and has enough overnight accommodation for the sort of numbers involved.

 

Please Please Showmasters, keep getting the rarer Bond and Star Wars guests, along with first time UK signers like Peter Weller (I still can’t believe I met Robocop!) and Kristanna Loken, but put the show where we can enjoy it without bottlenecks, gawpers and screaming teenage girls.

 

Also – the virtual queuing is a good theory, but open to abuse. Cloakroom tickets are on sale all over the centre and are hardly foolproof. They also stand up to very little handling, and are small enough to loose easily. At the risk of putting your costs up, would special Collectormania numbered tickets be out of the question ??

 

Also, just to prove a point, I queued successfully for TWO Sean Astin tickets, 2 Dom tickets, and THREE for Serkis !! I just got one, and went straight back into the queue ! now …. A lesser man than me would be touting these tickets for profit – I know there is little can be done, but maybe you need to look into it ?

 

I am sorry for those who didn’t get sorted, but when the Hobbit days were first posted, the forum was swamped with complainers – TOUGH COOKIES !! Similarly, I am sorry that you got up at three in the morning and drove 15,000 miles or whatever, but just because your wife spent 4 years hand making some piece of crap to give Elijah, doesn’t mean you deserve special treatment, sorry. THEY CAN ONLY SIGN SO MANY AUTOGRAPHS IN THE TIME AVAILABLE, get over it ! The organisation was fine, it’s just that the crowds (attendees and otherwise) because of the calibre of guest that made problems. I don’t think anyone, SM included, were FULLY prepared ….

 

Lessons to learn :

 

1. A dedicated venue is needed with enough room and no gawpers

2. This venue must be more accessible internationally

3. The tickets for the queues need to be more foolproof

4. Possibly pre-sell admission to BIG guests ?

5. Good job Showmasters – keep up the excellent work and keep up the calibre of guests !!! To many shows just bring in the same old faces and expect to clear their mortgage !!

[flukeygirl]

Hi. sorry that u were dissapointed with ur day.

 

i know there was a lot of sad faces around. I was lucky. i saw the hobbits. i gave tickets away to people so they could met them. (and did not charge a thing, those who did should be shot!)

But i cant help but feel sorry for the guests. Elijah and Dom looked so very tired by the end of the day i feel almost guilty for wanting to met them.

 

SM did their best for us but they ended up drowned in a mess of their own making. There was simply too many people in a too smaller place.

At the end of the day most guests and even the stars themselves were treated no better than cattle. We didn't MET Elijah or Dom, we qued for hours, we saw them (quickly) and then rushed out of sight and thrown are £20 autograph back at us by showmaster helpers (and i use the word helper lightly! some were just plain rude). No pics, not even a chance to say "Hi nice to met you". I have waited 10 years to met Elijah .... all he could say to me was "I'm so sorry" as he signed my photo. I could have cried for him. He looked tired, fed up and overwelmed.

 

if SM want to think big.... they are going to have to get bigger and quicker and more organized with more help and support for guests (thats the poor guys that sign for hours!) and us fans (the ones that can from time to time get dissapointed).

 

Showmasters tried but they failed a lot of people. i was lucky. i am sorry u (and a lot of other people) were not.

 

 

 

 

[Colonel Jack O'Neill]

If I dont get a photo with the guest I dont see the point, you can get the autographs from any of the dealers for about the same price so if you are only there to get an autograph, buy it, meeting the guest and having a photo is why I go so if they just did autographs I dont think I would attend and im sure alot of other fans would agree.

[KT171]

I totally agreee with you. As I said LOTR has such a cult following and for many of them Lotr is not just a film/book its somthing very special to each one of us. Meeting these actors means somthing cause we can get the chance to say thankyou for all the joy they have given us. What happened on Sunday could never be counted as a meeting. Im just just hoping a praying that one day someone will do a huge LOTR convention over here, where we can spend quality time with the guests.

Word of advice to SM--don't even think of getting Orlando, you couldn't cope with Elijah, you aint gonna cope with Orli's fans

[krisg]

You could sell 500 guarantee tickets but what if the star doesnt turn up at the last min like Kane Hodder did cos he was ILL! You would be just as pissed off then! Yeah you would still get a refund! but you may have turned up still and then find out that they are not coming! Showmasters would never sell you "guarenteed" tickets cos anything could happen! So think before you post!

You are joking aren't you - you can't give that as a reason for not selling pre-paid tickets!!!!!

 

Doesn't matter if you sell pre-paid tickets or not - if the guest doesn't turn - people are always going to turn up and be disappointed.

 

The reason for pre-paid tickets is that if the guest does turn up (95% of them do) - at least you don't disappoint people who do attend as they know they are going to get a signature - the other people who chance it know that that they may not get one.

 

It would also bring a little more order to the day and stop the forgers who were ripping numbers from their own books and flogging them to people - or perhaps you think that this is a good idea.

 

How about using a little logic before YOU post!

 

As for keeping the event in the shopping centre - are you sure it has nothing to do with you living just 5 minutes away. I am pretty confident that this will be the last CM in Milton Keynes - judging by the amount of complaints from shopholders and stall owners who felt that the huge crowds kept people away from buying. They need a dedicated hall to run this - NEC has my vote - looks like you are going to have to travel next time

[Cushy]

YOu know whatever; I don't think SM's could look into the future and see the rudeness and mass hysteria from fans on the Sunday; you can't always predict what is going to happen.

 

Yes somethings happen, and I travelled a lot more than 140miles, but I made sure that I was there for the full weekend so I could get to see everyone I wanted to; I also was up before three am on the Monday so I could get tickets to see Dom - and I am sorry but if I was swept in there and swept back out I would be very pissed as that guy has been an infulence on me and I wanted time to tell him that.

 

Over all I was happy with the way things were run; it's just Elijah is such a big star you can't possibly prepare for what might happen.

 

The younger fans need to realise that these people are there to sign photos have a quick chat and not to be run after as they leave for a well earned break. the people who were running around like idiots with no reguard for shoppers (including one lady in a wheelchair), need to find some f***ing manners. It wasn't SM or any of the helpers that pissed me off over the weekend, it was the lack of respect that a lot of fans were showing.

 

Yes there are things that could be done to make things run more smoothly; and no I don't think limiting one autograph per ticket is the way to go, I think stopping people from taking a lot in is the way to go. You know it's not like SM's were living it up with the stars every night or anything, I know for one thing Mark and possibly Jason were still sorting things out at one point up until 2am before they could go and try and find food, then they went to take a look at the people camping out before heading back to get some sleep.

 

Everyone worked their backside off, and they know there were a few problems along the way, but what show doesn't go without problems; it is inevitable that people will be disappointed, you can't always please everyone, but they do their bloody hardest.

 

And as for the comment about one of their monthers posting on their behalf; do you really believe that they asked them to post for them? Get real; their mother had seen the way they had been treated and felt the need to speak out.

 

Give them a damn break.

 

SM's; Andrea, Mark, Kenny, Jason and David, Houdi and all the people who were helping out over the weekend; THANK YOU, I had no problems what so ever over the weekend and I really enjoyed it, don't let the negative comments dampen what really was a fantastic weekend. It's not possible to please everyone, but I am sure more than the majority of people went home happy!

 

Thanks again guys.

[Rickman101]

Well said Cushy!!! I couldn't agree more. The guests really Worked their socks off to see as many of their fans as was humanly possible and the Staff couldn't have worked harder if they had tried and I can't tell you how much I appreciate everyones efforts.

[Davey]

You could sell 500 guarantee tickets but what if the star doesnt turn up at the last min like Kane Hodder did cos he was ILL! You would be just as pissed off then! Yeah you would still get a refund! but you may have turned up still and then find out that they are not coming! Showmasters would never sell you "guarenteed" tickets cos anything could happen! So think before you post!

You are joking aren't you - you can't give that as a reason for not selling pre-paid tickets!!!!!

 

Doesn't matter if you sell pre-paid tickets or not - if the guest doesn't turn - people are always going to turn up and be disappointed.

 

The reason for pre-paid tickets is that if the guest does turn up (95% of them do) - at least you don't disappoint people who do attend as they know they are going to get a signature - the other people who chance it know that that they may not get one.

 

It would also bring a little more order to the day and stop the forgers who were ripping numbers from their own books and flogging them to people - or perhaps you think that this is a good idea.

 

How about using a little logic before YOU post!

 

As for keeping the event in the shopping centre - are you sure it has nothing to do with you living just 5 minutes away. I am pretty confident that this will be the last CM in Milton Keynes - judging by the amount of complaints from shopholders and stall owners who felt that the huge crowds kept people away from buying. They need a dedicated hall to run this - NEC has my vote - looks like you are going to have to travel next time

You obviously dont have a clue! So why dont you just leave it at that! Some people!!

[maduncledai]

Lets face it S/M cocked up !

I arrived at about 9:30 (due to traveling) for the 10am kick off I knew that I may not have been able to get tickets to see the Hobbits but I thought that I may have stood a chance of at least getting one or two but to be told that they had all gone ummm excuse me all gone before the offical start time ? I think they gave the tickets out to early which ment every one including myself who didnt camp out the nite before didnt stand a chance in hell of getting anyone.

How ever I was very very very lucky that I met up with a couple of friends who had camped out the nite before and had a couple of spare tickets for Frodo so at least I was able to meet him. How ever whilst I was waiting for my ticket to come up I bumped into another mate who had a spare Sam ticket so I was lucky there and as for Merry I had to ask someone in the que to get me a signed photo which suprisinly they agreed.

So in the end I got photo of all 3 but I would have been very very P**sed if I didn't.

The bottom line is S/M shouldnt have given out the tickets so early and I feel for every one who didnt get tickets.

 

Maduncledai

 

Ps Besides someones MUM has S/M apologised for all the disapointment ?

[rainbow]

Just wanted to say Thankyou to Cushy for being the first person to appear to understand why I said what I said on Sunday - because yes, I am THAT mother !!!!!!!! I didn't realise I needed to be so careful about what I said, judging by some of the snide remarks that have been aimed in my direction.

I just spoke from the heart - but I suppose you have to have a heart to understand that !!!! mentioning no names of course !

For the record, there is NO WAY that I was asked to write what I did by Mark or anyone else . And they were too busy for me to ask their opinion. In fact I still haven't been able to talk to Mark properly about anything because he still hasn't stopped working !! So I don't know whether I did the right thing and certainly didn't want to embarrass anyone.

And, hey, I just want it to be known that I'm not some little grey haired old lady sitting at home waving my umrella in the air - as I've found out from my daughter, who sat with Elijah each day, that he thinks I'm a COOL mum !!! - it's obviously official ! - not for speaking out on the forum (will I ever live it down ??!!) but because my kids were brought up having to listen to The Cure and Prince - AND I have branches hanging from my ceilings !!!!! You see, it takes all sorts !! And maybe explains a lot - sorry kids !!

 

Anyway, I'd better shut up before I get into anymore trouble, except just to say a very big Thankyou to all the lovely people who have been supporting Showmasters - and for any constructive criticism. It will all be taken on board I'm sure. it's just that there are ways and means of saying it, aren't there ?

 

Lastly, I'm SO happy for all the people who had their dreams come true - and I still understand the disappointment of others who were not so lucky - maybe another time ?

 

Peace, love and all that !!

 

Carole.x

[inos]

I think you don't have to be sooo hard on showmasters, krisq. 'cause I really think they did their best, no one was rude to me and my friend (I think all English ppl are very very nice ) and we at least get to meet Sean and Andy. Yes, I am upset and disappointed that I didn't meet Dom or lij, and I'm very jealous at the ppl who did. But I think you're right at one point. I too travelled a long distance,(Belgium) and I turned up at 9.30 on Sunday and I saw that I was to late to get tickets to meet Dom and lij. But I tougt the centre was going to open at 10??? And that I think is NOT fair! But hey,look at the bright site, I met Sean and Andy and so did you!

You have to think about that, all memories you had with them *sigh* I still can't believe it's already over!

 

think about it!

 

Love Ine.

[ptenbob]

Did you go to the Fellowship screening on saturday night? there were two Belgian girls without tickets...

[Dum dumdum Dum]

I have to agree with KT!!!! I was lucky (or well organized enough) to get to see everyone I wanted to see but I would not necessarily call what I did with Elijah "meeting". I really couldn't give a flying hoot about a signature on a picture if it isn't personalized and if I am not even allowed to ask the guest for it myself. Most of the people I spoke to (including The Serkis himself) agreed that what people want and what makes the true fans happy is the minute or two of contact with the so-called "star" and the possibility of a picture with the person in question. What is the autograph? An excuse and a memento of those 2 minutes of personal chat. If I wanted an autograph I could buy it on E-bay for probably less than the money SM were asking........it really isn't that that we are paying for.

 

With all this in mind to pay £20 for an SM person to take our picture and put it in front of Lij or Dom for them to sign their name on, to pretty much not get a "hi" out of the person and then to not be allowed a pic with them - that is kinda dissapointing to say the least. Luckily for me it didn't happen that way and both Elijah and Dom took time for me and my friends.

 

I do have one question though that someone could maybe answer. In Elijah's line some guy told us that Elijah and Dom made the decision to (I quote) "make 1000 people relatively happy rather than make 500 people very happy". This pretty much totally contradicts the actual way Elijah, and later Dom, were with us. Despite being called naughty by SM staff Elijah did personalize our pictures for us and it took a whole heck less time than it does for the SM people to explain that it isn't allowed and it makes us happy! Both Elijah and Dom were total gems for the way they handled it all and I would love to know if they were actually happy about it all or if they were as upset and mad as they looked.

 

As for the actual organization, I really don't want to go into it other than to mention a couple of very specific things.

 

Firstly rudeness......... I am sorry but if you are going to volunteer to work at an event like this then you had damn well better plaster that happy happy joy joy smile on your face and swallow any irritation that the fans (yes that is the people actually paying all the money) may cause to well up in you. It isn't easy and at times you just want to tell people were to get off but you can't. I am not talking about the main SM people - Mark, Jason, David, Sarah, Jumbo you guys were great and there were a lot of the helpers and stewerds who were fantastic but unfortunately there were a few people that ruined all the good work you guys were doing. In situations like this is is those few people who are rude that people remember and they can totally change an overall opinion of a weekend. I don't know the names of the people who were very rude to me but their faces and words are unfortunately in my mind and probably will be whenever I think back to my brief 30 seconds with Dom, Elijah or Andy. KT, by the end of Monday my friends and I were pretty much ready to bop Daniel in the nose too!

 

One other point that could possibly be changed by C5 is the E-bay people. When we were in line for Dom the guy taking our money told us that he had had a guy through earlier who bought 32 autographs - now he might have just had a VERY VERY large family but I somehow doubt it..... This kind of signing takes up huge amounts of time and meens that an actual fan will miss out. Would it be possible to limit the number of autographs per person? Or better yet - make all autographs personalized!!!!LOL

 

Funnily enough I am in two minds as to whether I enjoyed it or not......... yes I got pretty much what I wanted (with the exception of a pic with Elijah) and am therefore a LOT better off than many others but at the end of the day was it a good experience? Nope I have come back to work equally if not more stressed than when I left.

 

I echo the thought that please don't try and get Orlando unless there are major changes because I am not joking when I say that safety would be a problem and someone just might get badly hurt.

 

 

To end on a positive note I would like to thank all the guests who signed over the weekend (since I know some of you read here) it must have been a tough time with the crowds (not to mention the squuuueeeeeeeing which was doing my head in) and you were all terrific. The same goes to the main SM people - good luck with C5!

[inos]

Did you go to the Fellowship screening on saturday night? there were two Belgian girls without tickets...

nope, that wasn't me, I didn't went to a screening.

[ptenbob]

Ok sorry

[Cushy]

Just wanted to say Thankyou to Cushy for being the first person to appear to understand why I said what I said on Sunday - because yes, I am THAT mother !!!!!!!! I didn't realise I needed to be so careful about what I said, judging by some of the snide remarks that have been aimed in my direction.

I just spoke from the heart - but I suppose you have to have a heart to understand that !!!! mentioning no names of course !

For the record, there is NO WAY that I was asked to write what I did by Mark or anyone else . And they were too busy for me to ask their opinion. In fact I still haven't been able to talk to Mark properly about anything because he still hasn't stopped working !! So I don't know whether I did the right thing and certainly didn't want to embarrass anyone.

And, hey, I just want it to be known that I'm not some little grey haired old lady sitting at home waving my umrella in the air - as I've found out from my daughter, who sat with Elijah each day, that he thinks I'm a COOL mum !!! - it's obviously official ! - not for speaking out on the forum (will I ever live it down ??!!) but because my kids were brought up having to listen to The Cure and Prince - AND I have branches hanging from my ceilings !!!!! You see, it takes all sorts !! And maybe explains a lot - sorry kids !!

 

Anyway, I'd better shut up before I get into anymore trouble, except just to say a very big Thankyou to all the lovely people who have been supporting Showmasters - and for any constructive criticism. It will all be taken on board I'm sure. it's just that there are ways and means of saying it, aren't there ?

 

Lastly, I'm SO happy for all the people who had their dreams come true - and I still understand the disappointment of others who were not so lucky - maybe another time ?

 

Peace, love and all that !!

 

Carole.x

No problem Carole; I am trying to see it from both sides, I wasn't working for the C4 crew (although I would have loved to, I love that kind of buzz) but the attitude of some of the fans was really worrying me; I have never been to something like that where there has been such a negative feel. By the way your daughter was very pretty, I wondered who the girls were with the boys.

 

Yes people are disappointed that they didn't get tickets to see the stars they wanted; but lets look at this; SM's never guaranteed that you would see them; that was in your own hands; like I say I got up before 3am so I could meet the actor I really wanted to; that's how much I wanted to meet him.

 

And I know people were getting rushed through; and I did something I probably shouldn't have at the time when I went up to Dom, I kept hold of the item I wanted him to sign until I spoke to him.

 

There was a lot of misunderstanding between workers there, but that is bound to happen as they were all over the place. And the signing times? Well from what I could tell each actor decided what time they would be signing to, so depending on what they were feeling depended on when they would stop signing so you can't really blame the people if they didn't have the right details on time.

 

This kind of business is not something that they can personally guarantee you will meet everyone you want to. This is the first time Elijah has been to something like this in the UK as far as I am aware so you should have known it was going to be busy. I didn't even attempt to get a ticket for him as I he would be one of the busiest; luckily he joined in on mine and Dom's conversation, so I did get to meet him in a round about way.

 

It's a credit to SM's that they were able to get that many LOTR actors at one show; it was inevitable it was going to be busy, and there is always someone going to be disappointed, but SM's worked their butts off doing this, not once did I see one of them sitting on their backside doing something other than C4 related.

[Sblomie]

I came all the way from York and I had to get up at five in the morning. I heard a lot of swearing and very loud cursing adn people blaming the guests themselves. HOwever we knew that people were going to be disappionted so we got there as early as we could bear to make sure that we didn't and we got everyone that we wanted I had a great day ,..though it could have been organised better. I don't see any reason for public outrage though, I hope c5 goes better for everyone

[Dum dumdum Dum]

adn people blaming the guests themselves

 

This was something that bothered me a lot, and we heard it A LOT!!!!!!