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gobo1979uk
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Putting all the big named guests together in one area was horrendous.

 

 

I completely agree !

It's stupid to put all the big names in the one area that will attract every single person at the con!

Edited by TheAma1
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Milo shoved my wrist as he presumed he believed I was going to touch him (I wasn't).

 

He did that to about 90% of the people that came in for photos regardless of whether they were gonna touch him or not. Some people quickly snuck an arm around him and he swiftly moved away from them and moved their arm down. I guess he just doesn't like being touched. There's not a great deal anyone can do about that.

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I thought the crew were all really helpful on both days and did an extremely good job on the Sunday considering how busy it was especially the people around Patrick, Dom & The Heroes guests. I also want to thank the crew member on the Saturday who helped me when Dominic forgot to personalise my photo (even with a post it on it) and they were kind enough to pop it back to him - it was very appreciated especially as you are only actually paying for the auto. And also to the crew member who helped carry my cast photo out of the Patrick Stewart signing area on Sunday as I didn't have any spare hands - much appreciated. :P

 

I really enjoyed LFCC; the guests were all friendly even on the Sunday when it was manic, there was a good selection of stalls and although the venue was dark (nothing Showmasters could do about that) and not glamourous (the latter didn't bother me really as you soon forgot about it) it did have a lot of toilets which I thought was a plus side especially on the busy Sunday. As mentioned before seating other than in the talks would be great and yes the food was expensive but you kind of expect that at a hall based event (that is why Collectormania is so nice in that respect) and you could always bring your own. Yes putting all the big guests together wasn't the best idea in the world and the queue for virtual tickets on the Sunday was chaos. As mentioned by others before I think either issuing them outside or in the foyer as people enter would be a better idea also it would mean the people who get there the earliest would definately see all the guests. The problem with the current queue system for VTs is even if you queue outside the venue for 2+ hours by the time you get in work out where everyone is, which queue is for what and were the end is. You then have to make a decision as which queue to join first and therefore after you have got the first virtual ticket you will end up with higher numbers for the other guests by the time you have got through their queues thus ending up with a far higher VT number for a particular guest than someone who has been queueing outside for a short time because they went to that guest first which would be avoided if all VT's were issued on entry in one queue.

 

Thought the photo sessions were fairly well organised and it was a good idea having 2 photo booths, it's a shame the photos weren't back in time but that is due to things out of Showmasters control.

 

Overall I enjoyed it as I usually do with Showmasters events - generally a grumpy celebrity has more of a negative affect on me than dark lighting or confusion as to which queue to join. I got to meet Patrick Stewart who I have admired for so long, so I will always be grateful to Showmasters for that and what's more despite how busy he was he spoke to me so no matter what I came out happy! I do feel for people who weren't able to meet him though but hopefully he enjoyed his time at LFCC and may come back for another Showmasters' event and might even do a photo session next time(one can hope!) :wub:

 

PS: I know when you pay your money it's for the signature and there's no guarantee of a personalisation. But is there any chance that if they won't personalise or they stop due to time constraints - it could be written somewhere like with no posed photos - I know you normally do and it prob wasn't done on Sunday due to it being really really busy but it gives people the choice before they pay the money as I only found out Hayden had stopped personalising after I'd paid for her. Hope you don't mind me asking that!

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This was my first ever con, so here are some suggestions from a newbie... a newbie who did thorougly enjoy the experience though! Got to meet everyone I wanted to and bought some nice merchandise and things too :wub:

 

- lights. Yes. Would have been... good XD

- seating! I have rheumatoid arthritis, and all the standing and walking got horrible on my ankles, knees and hips after a while (I was the girl in the pink dress who kept sitting down on the floor in the queue for the Adrian and Milo shoot :chair: I felt really annoying but seriously, I *had* to, I was in so much pain! But it was totally worth it though, don't you worry about me, but a couple more chairs strewn about would have been pleasant :chair:)

- the signs with the VT numbers on it were too low! Because of the crowd you couldnt see them, so if I wanted to see if my numbers were up I had to wrestle up front, and then wrestle back to either join the queue or go wander around again. Seriously, put those signs up, maybe just a foot or so, it would work wonders :D

- seating all the big guests in the same place wasnt smart. It would have been better to put the Heroes together, and then Dom and Patrick on the other side. You could've still handed the VTs out at the same place, it would be hectic for a little while but after that if the guests were further apart it would have been a little easier to navigate (cause now there constantly was this huge mob of people around that area and I could hardly even move through it and more than once I ended up at the wrong queue :chair:)

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I have to say I found all of the staff there very helpful. They were efficient to the extent that they could with everything that they/you had to work with. I think the overall organisation, information and efficiency should have been better, but what all of you did individually was great. The only time I had a problem was when they were handing out the VTs. I got to the front of the queue and a guy (not sure who - a tallish, young black guy) who was giving out the Hayden VTs walked straight past me and started giving them out to people behind me. he was on 150 then and by the time I grabbed his attention, I got 397!

 

I have to say I'm confused....no-one of that description gave out Hayden VQ tickets of that number at that time in the morning? I was the girl in the hat handing out Hayden's tickets, and at one point I had help from my pit bosses, none of whom match that description.

 

I have no idea, I was confused. I saw you and I was heading for you, then I got knocekd aside by a bunch of tall guys, then the guy I mentioned came along with the postits for Hayden (they were definitely Hayden - I saw the name and numbers, and eventually I got one which I was later let through with) and started walking through the crowd. Perhaps (with all due respect - I respect and thank you for your work) the fact that you don't even know about this highlights how chaotic it was for us.

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Cons:

 

But no, the staff inside that I spoke to (not all of them) were not at all helpful or considerate. When we went to get tickets for myself and my friend for Milo Ventimiglia I was told I could only get one for myself - not for my friend, who is in a wheelchair. I cannot walk properly and found it very difficult to queue, so in the end I only got a vq ticket for Milo and Adrian. I wouldnt have minded if I hadn't been told on the forum before hand that my carer would be able to get me a Virtual Queue ticket.

 

 

I was the person giving out tickets for Milo. If you told me that your friend was in a wheelchair clearly then I'm very sorry but I didn't hear you say so in all the general mayhem and I do apologise for that. We are told that it is one VT ticket per person and that's what I did for everyone in that rush - no exceptions. Lots of people try it on (I'm not suggesting you did by the way) by asking if they can have one "for their friend who's in the next queue" or for "their brother who's just over there" or for "their cat who doesn't want to get squashed" (that last one is a joke btw) and you have to be pretty thick skinned and basically ignore it all, especially with the number there trying to get tickets. I'm sure that if you'd come along with your friend in the wheelchair when it was your turn to go and see Milo you would have both got in with no problem, especially if you explained the situation then. It wasn't that I was being unhelpful or inconsiderate, because I'm really neither of those things as anyone who knows me will testify, but if that is your impression of me then once again I do sincerely apologise.

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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 time

 

Having 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???

Edited by Ironside
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Cons:

 

But no, the staff inside that I spoke to (not all of them) were not at all helpful or considerate. When we went to get tickets for myself and my friend for Milo Ventimiglia I was told I could only get one for myself - not for my friend, who is in a wheelchair. I cannot walk properly and found it very difficult to queue, so in the end I only got a vq ticket for Milo and Adrian. I wouldnt have minded if I hadn't been told on the forum before hand that my carer would be able to get me a Virtual Queue ticket.

 

 

I was the person giving out tickets for Milo. If you told me that your friend was in a wheelchair clearly then I'm very sorry but I didn't hear you say so in all the general mayhem and I do apologise for that. We are told that it is one VT ticket per person and that's what I did for everyone in that rush - no exceptions. Lots of people try it on (I'm not suggesting you did by the way) by asking if they can have one "for their friend who's in the next queue" or for "their brother who's just over there" or for "their cat who doesn't want to get squashed" (that last one is a joke btw) and you have to be pretty thick skinned and basically ignore it all, especially with the number there trying to get tickets. I'm sure that if you'd come along with your friend in the wheelchair when it was your turn to go and see Milo you would have both got in with no problem, especially if you explained the situation then. It wasn't that I was being unhelpful or inconsiderate, because I'm really neither of those things as anyone who knows me will testify, but if that is your impression of me then once again I do sincerely apologise.

 

Just a thought, but at the LFaCC this time, there was a seperate entrance for those with disabilities. Would it be possible next time, to walk down this queue of people and hand out special badges to the people assisting them? This could then be used to identify someone helping a handicapped person to allow crew to give them more than one VQ ticket, without there being any awkward questions, or people trying it on? I realise this wouldn;t work at CMK, but somewhere where there is a pay entrance would be possible.

 

 

 

 

* 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.

 

* 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!!!)

 

 

I was at the show on both days and there WERE Heroes posters on Saturday (my friend bought one), but they sold pretty quickly. This is in part, down to the limited merchandise available. However, I've heard that UK posters will be available through retailers such as HMV, in time for the next CMK event.

 

Alarmingly enough, I'm pretty sure there WAS a tannoy system!! It just wasn't up loud enough to be heard clearly.

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Milo shoved my wrist as he presumed he believed I was going to touch him (I wasn't).

 

Yes he did that to me as well. I went to put my arm around him - which is my usual pose for the photos and he grabbed my arm hard enough to leave an imprint! Hell I'm only tiny - it wasn't like I was going to try and molest him in the 10 seconds I was stood next to them both. I was quite taken aback to be honest - heaven knows what my photo looks like. Perhaps he should have made it clear that he didn't want any physical contact at all and people in the queue could have been told that. OK it would have made him seem slightly silly but it would have been much wiser than yanking on girl's arms for the better part of an hour. He's quite lucky that no feisty lass reacted badly to being manhandled.

 

As far as my feedback goes it's pretty much what everyone else had already said. The venue was just frankly awful. Dreadful lighting (it was clearly a storage area), filthy floor and absolutely no seating. Its teh seating that really does need to be sorted at these events even if Showmasters do need to go out and hire some for the weekend. My feet were killing me by the end of the day and I'm young, fit and healthy. I could see a lot of people with disabilities, a lot of people with very young children and I was cringing at them having to sit on that filthy floor.

 

As for the Heroes guests - I expected madness and it was. I thought the staff performed wonderfully under extraordinarily difficult circumstances - people simply won't listen. No photos means no photos - not keep your camera in your hand and try and take photos every other minute in the hope that noone will notice you. The sense of entitlement that a lot of people had was astounding. And I nearly got crushed in the fight to get Hayden VQ tickets - it really was mob mentality and I thought a lot of the attendees acted appallingly. I was so scared for poor Roxy with people pushing and shoving to get the Hayden VQ tickets from her.

Edited by Persephone1
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As for the Heroes guests - I expected madness and it was. I thought the staff performed wonderfully under extraordinarily difficult circumstances - people simply won't listen. No photos means no photos - not keep your camera in your hand and try and take photos every other minute in the hope that noone will notice you. The sense of entitlement that a lot of people had was astounding. And I nearly got crushed in the fight to get Hayden VQ tickets - it really was mob mentality and I thought a lot of the attendees acted appallingly. I was so scared for poor Roxy with people pushing and shoving to get the Hayden VQ tickets from her.
I wasn't at LFCC so can't really say I agree though I trust everyone when they say it was manic. I fear that situations like these will be one of the reasons in the future why we wont get so many big A list star guests sadly.

 

And yes, the general public can be a pain - I used to work with TV audiences and enforcing a "no photos" policy is easier said than done but the way people see it, this is their only chance to get a photo ect and they'll do anything to get it including risk being told off.

Edited by nicky
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I have to say I found all of the staff there very helpful. They were efficient to the extent that they could with everything that they/you had to work with. I think the overall organisation, information and efficiency should have been better, but what all of you did individually was great. The only time I had a problem was when they were handing out the VTs. I got to the front of the queue and a guy (not sure who - a tallish, young black guy) who was giving out the Hayden VTs walked straight past me and started giving them out to people behind me. he was on 150 then and by the time I grabbed his attention, I got 397!

 

I have to say I'm confused....no-one of that description gave out Hayden VQ tickets of that number at that time in the morning? I was the girl in the hat handing out Hayden's tickets, and at one point I had help from my pit bosses, none of whom match that description.

 

I have no idea, I was confused. I saw you and I was heading for you, then I got knocekd aside by a bunch of tall guys, then the guy I mentioned came along with the postits for Hayden (they were definitely Hayden - I saw the name and numbers, and eventually I got one which I was later let through with) and started walking through the crowd. Perhaps (with all due respect - I respect and thank you for your work) the fact that you don't even know about this highlights how chaotic it was for us.

 

I was one of those Pit Bosses helping to hand out the VQ tickets for Hayden and I can honestly say that the male crew member you were referring to DID NOT help in issuing those tickets. He was helping with the Jack Coleman ones.

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saying so-and-so loved the event because they got Hayden's autograph is not representative.

 

Neither is claiming without proof that the vast majority of the attendees went away "disappointed", just because feel that you did !

 

Well the majority of people I spoke to (and there were a lot as I was a stall holder, so it wasn't just a groupl of friends), attendees and other dealers were really not impressed. And yes Showmasters are the best at what they do and usually they get it right but for some reason this time it just didn't work.

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It was scary.... I was crushed, squashed and squished. One of the crew in my area was kicked in the ankle when asking someone to move along...... but we did the best we could.

 

I don't think anyone at all expected it to be quite as busy as it was, and even though we can usually get it right and as streamlined as we can, the sheer crowds and volume of bodies made it difficult this time around.

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I have to say I'm confused....no-one of that description gave out Hayden VQ tickets of that number at that time in the morning? I was the girl in the hat handing out Hayden's tickets, and at one point I had help from my pit bosses, none of whom match that description.

 

I have no idea, I was confused. I saw you and I was heading for you, then I got knocekd aside by a bunch of tall guys, then the guy I mentioned came along with the postits for Hayden (they were definitely Hayden - I saw the name and numbers, and eventually I got one which I was later let through with) and started walking through the crowd. Perhaps (with all due respect - I respect and thank you for your work) the fact that you don't even know about this highlights how chaotic it was for us.

 

I was one of those Pit Bosses helping to hand out the VQ tickets for Hayden and I can honestly say that the male crew member you were referring to DID NOT help in issuing those tickets. He was helping with the Jack Coleman ones.

 

As Jola has said Psychosis but thanks for the thanks, it's much appreciated.... and confusion's very understandable as there was so much going on at that time :thumbup:

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It was scary.... I was crushed, squashed and squished. One of the crew in my area was kicked in the ankle when asking someone to move along...... but we did the best we could.

 

I don't think anyone at all expected it to be quite as busy as it was, and even though we can usually get it right and as streamlined as we can, the sheer crowds and volume of bodies made it difficult this time around.

 

I could practically see you getting abused :thumbup: It was the same for the crowd though. I'm only small, so I was getting shoved around and practically trampled on cause I guess I was an easy target (mostly for men, actually - the women were a lot fairer), and people were grabbing tickets over my head and all sorts. At least you guys know for next time you have Heroes guests!

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I could practically see you getting abused :thumbup: It was the same for the crowd though. I'm only small, so I was getting shoved around and practically trampled on cause I guess I was an easy target (mostly for men, actually - the women were a lot fairer), and people were grabbing tickets over my head and all sorts. At least you guys know for next time you have Heroes guests!

 

LOL - yeah instead of standard issue crew t-shirts, we'll make sure we have full battle armour :D

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This was my first london comic con and i have to say i had a great day i met who i wanted dominic monaghan and william mapother even though there was alot of waiting i manged to meet william mapother twice which was really cool. Theres not alot to moan about except like everyone the weird lighting and i wish there were more stalls to look around as well. But apart from that it was a wicked day thanks!

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As for the Heroes guests - I expected madness and it was. I thought the staff performed wonderfully under extraordinarily difficult circumstances - people simply won't listen. No photos means no photos - not keep your camera in your hand and try and take photos every other minute in the hope that noone will notice you. The sense of entitlement that a lot of people had was astounding. And I nearly got crushed in the fight to get Hayden VQ tickets - it really was mob mentality and I thought a lot of the attendees acted appallingly. I was so scared for poor Roxy with people pushing and shoving to get the Hayden VQ tickets from her.

 

 

Bless you Persephone1 :( the aim was to keep a clear head and give everyone the tickets they wanted in a fair fashion!

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It was scary.... I was crushed, squashed and squished. One of the crew in my area was kicked in the ankle when asking someone to move along...... but we did the best we could.

 

I don't think anyone at all expected it to be quite as busy as it was, and even though we can usually get it right and as streamlined as we can, the sheer crowds and volume of bodies made it difficult this time around.

 

i can't remember her name but one girl was actually picked up and carried by the crowd since there were so many.

 

I actually expected the show on the sunday to be as busy as it was, i was chatting to pooks on the way back and apparently it had been compaired to C4 when you had the hobbits over...i've never worked in that situation before and even though i survived i'm suffering major RSI today lol.

 

 

 

Beautiful red haired girl on the showmasters crew :-)

 

 

there were a few red heads lol, can you be more specific....who were they with when you saw them, length of hair etc...

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Beautiful red haired girl on the showmasters crew :-)

 

 

there were a few red heads lol, can you be more specific....who were they with when you saw them, length of hair etc...

 

:blink: and I wonder why you wanna know who it was ^_^

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