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A message for the complainers


dufresne
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Hi

 

Also, I'm fine with "no posed photos" but what's so life threatening about taking a few shots while they are signing. It's never such an issue at other events - unless of course Showmasters realise that preventing anyone taking any shots will boost the cash taken at the photo-op opportunities

 

Steve

 

What's so life threatening about having several hundred people all trying to take a photo, or flash photos, could you imagine how it would make them feel having flash guns go off?

 

I'm not having a go at you Steve, but would like to see how people commenting about this, could cope with say 7 hours of flash photography going off, I know I'd feel drained, exhausted, and very likely have a bad headache, and sore eyes, with all the flash photography.

 

Then it would have also added time, which meant there'd have been posts complaining about how they did'nt get to meet the Heroes guests!

 

There were too many people lingering in that area, yes admittedly to have 6 big signers in the one section was maybe a little crazy, but I doubt even SM could have anticipated the crowds that turned up on Sunday for LFCC

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if i had a complaint, tbh it would be directed at the bloody vergin trains! i ended up being three hours late for the event thanks to, engeniring on the track, them having to change/remove the desiel engine and then there was sheep on the line. yeah thats right SHEEP! WTF?

Given that both engineering works and track security (i.e preventing wandering livestock getting on the line) are the responsibility of Network Rail, it sounds like two-thirds of your gripe is not with Virgin trains. :D I mean, you wouldn't blame the bus company if your bus was late because the gas company was digging up the road and then there was also a crash causing congestion on the route, would you...?

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I'm not having a go at you Steve, but would like to see how people commenting about this, could cope with say 7 hours of flash photography going off, I know I'd feel drained, exhausted, and very likely have a bad headache, and sore eyes, with all the flash photography.

 

 

Yes, even I was getting tired of the flashes on the saturday, being in costume (and i didn't had to endure a tenth of what the guests did!)... at the end, i didn't had to force myself to look unhappy and mean... My eyes were hurting badly..

 

I can completely understand the "no photos" rule...

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Reasonably priced food of better quality ? - erm no !

I've said it before and I'll say it again; the price of the food at the venue is pretty much completely outside SM's control. The catering outlets there will have their own suppliers and their own profit margins, and changing that will be difficult.

 

If you want the prices reduced, then SM would probably need to

* cover the lost additional profit

* cover the cost of physically repricing items/shelves, and reprogramming tills

* coer the cost of the additional paperwork to record how much is sold at reduced prices so that the caterer's weekly or monthly stocktake is accurate.

Additionally, it's not unknown for at least managers and sometimes other staff to be on an annual bonus based on turnover; if they reduce prices they reduce turnover, so there may also be cost implications for SM there.

Similarly, if SM want the caterers to sell some sort of alternative food of a higher quality of special type, then you're talking about the costs associated with taking on new product and pricing it, maybe altering existing records to hold details of this, plus very possibly an undertaking to pay the full cost (including disposal) of any of this special food that is not sold at the event. There are lots of costs for doing this sort of thing that aren't readily apparent, but which a sharp caterer will pick up on and insist on passing on to SM. SM know signing events, not food sales, so it's unreasonable to expect them to shy away from that. And even if they did, I'm sure we could then expect plenty of people on here moaning about how much better (or cheaper) the show could have been if SM hadn't spent a load of cash subsidising food for people who couldn't be bothered to bring their own.

To be honest, SM can complain about the price of the food, but the only thing that's going to make EC (or any other venue) change their policy is if they don't get the catering trade (and see everybody eating other food). At least with EC there are plenty of food places within a relatively few yards of the venue (unlike the old Wembley) plus a whacking great Tescos five or six hundred yards up the road.

 

 

I agree with pretty much everything else you've said. I'm puzzled by the lighting though; obviously it was bad to be so universally slated, but my memory of EC1 from numerous tradeshows etc was that the upstairs, whilst a little shadowy in places was generally OK, and not some all-pervading stygian gloom - either my memory or their lighting is not what it used to be!

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I'm sorry if I complained about the people who had bought Early Bird tickets in advance, and queued from a very early hour of the morning being allowed in to the event at the same time as those who turned up on the day, but that was my only real whinge about the show.

 

My only real worry was the stampede of people inside to get the VT for the Heroes cast & Patrick Stewart.

 

I'm just learning health & safety stuff at work, and I could see a potential dangerous situation occurring.

 

That said, I don't think it will be that bad at Milton Keynes for the Heroes guests, especially if they sign for a couple of days.

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My only real worry was the stampede of people inside to get the VT for the Heroes cast & Patrick Stewart.

 

I'm just learning health & safety stuff at work, and I could see a potential dangerous situation occurring.

 

Too true - the damn escalator stopped in the morning (too many people running on it) and I was almost trampeled by people pushing through because I had lost balance.

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The photoshoots are JUST that - click, move, click, move, click, move ..... anyone going in expecting chats, hugs or any sort of "quality time" will always be disappointed - and that is PERFECTLY REASONABLE. take a bit of responsibility for your actions people !

 

 

I agree with this completely! I find it very confusing when people expect more. I had photos with all 4 Heroes guests and got nothing more than a 'hi' etc. Milo was possibly the most animated one but I wasn't expecting a chat in there! They were very polite and that's all I ask for.

 

On the other hand I had an Elijah Wood photo shoot that was rubbish, he was a complete robot and didn't even look at me :YAHOO:

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Hi folks

 

Okay, I understand the point that maybe the bigger guests didn't want photographs taken but no-one else apart from the big 6 or 7 stars had a problem with any flashes going off.

 

I really doubt that the big 6 or 7 would all request no photography whatsoever as it's not like everyone was taking photographs at once (I'm sure some would disagree). I'm fairly sure that the no photos signs were to stop delays with any POSED photos, but I'm talking about general photographs during the signings.

 

Also, if some of you are correct and the main 6 or 7 requested no photos - then why on earth were they doing photoshoots?

 

I'm not trying to stir controversy, I'm noticing that with each passing event its getting harder to take a photo of the larger stars (even signing the photo) therefore I need to double my budget for each convention. As a result, I can't afford the Milton Keynes event next month but am going to try G-Mex in November.

 

Steve

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The bigger guests would get their photos taken WAY more than any of the other guests. With the amount of people down by the Heroes area, that amount of constant photography would've been hell.

 

The quieter guests wouldn't have got it half as bad, so it's no wonder they didn't mind so much.

 

And really, there's a difference between putting up with it for an hour or so, and all day.

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You know what, I enjoyed myself, I missed out on all the Heroes cast and Patrick by not going on Sunday and could not be bothered to even meet Dominic on Saturday, they are big names and I will wait till next time when the hysteria has played out a little.

 

And the stress of photos, just don`t go to get treated like cattle, I dont go to the talks either,no point cos I have hearing loss.

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LFCC Sunday was the busiest day since Hobbit C4 , however due to a number of improvements that Showmasters have made, for example proper Virtual Queue Tickets, rather than raffle tickets, plus better queue management meant that they were able to deal with the queue lines better.

 

I can understand your disappointment if you missed out on the Heroes guests because you arrived later in the day and didn't pre purchase an early bird ticket, because I missed out on getting Elijah at C4, and I was pretty gutted, but I bided my time and he appeared again.

 

With the Heroes guest just appearing one day, and with the huge popularity of the show, it was never going to be possible for everyone to come away with everything they wanted, but despite this, the number of photo shoots the guys got through was nothing short of phenomenal, the guests, the cameraman and the crew did an excellent job in what were the biggest photo queues that I have ever seen at an event like this. I genuinely think they got through as many autos and photoshoots as they could have done in the limited time available.

 

Many of the popular guests have come back again at later shows, so even if you did miss out this time, chances are these guys will be back at some time in the future, it may be a couple of years, but I genuinely hope that if you didn't get a chance to meet them this time, you do in the future.

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Peeka, yes, I agree. There was essentially nothing to help those of us who have trouble staying on our feet all day long and can't get up from sitting on the floor-- I was almost in tears from pain by the end of the day and that's why I didn't cosplay for the Sunday. Couldn't take being on those heels with no seating for another day.

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I'm not the type to normally say this but dufresne, why don't you hold your arrogant, condescending tongue?

 

Things aren't always done "for a reason," thank you very much. Sometimes things are done the way they are because they are poorly thought out, poorly planned and poorly executed. How dare you blame the convention-goers themselves, rather than Showmasters? They paid out their hard-earned money and it's only fair that they have a good experience for it. It's not unreasonable to expect a guest to take the time to look up from signing a photograph when you dish out £25 for it. What? Am I to believe that the guests are there out of the kindness of their hearts? Do they or don't they walk away with a pretty penny from these conventions? As far as I am concerned, these conventions represent a WORK committment to these celebrity guests. They should-and many do-treat it as such, making every effort to please the convention-goers. Too bad Showmasters can't do the same.

 

Well, showmasters? Is it for the fans or is it for the money? 'Cause I'm not so sure anymore.

 

Having a look at the list of cancellations, I can't help but notice that ten of them were headliners...and two of them have pulled out in the past. Looks like another case of hook, 'em, reel 'em in...and the bait disappears. When Bill Nighy was first announced I turned to my husband and said, "It would be nice if it actually happened but, being Showmasters, do you think it will?" Huh. Turns out, I was right. Of course, I've had how many conventions now to base this opinion on? How many times have the headliners pulled out? Too d**n many.

 

If Showmasters wasn't only interested in the money, then surely they would post OUTSIDE the building when celebrities like Patrick Stewart can only appear for LESS THAN 3 hours or when celebrities like Torri Higginson cancel on the day. (And where was Rula Lenksa? None of the crew members could tell me a thing when I asked if she had pulled out.) If they REALLY cared about the fans, they'd tell you before you paid the entry fee. But, no. Seems like once they get your money they don't care. I'm sure they think you'll just find something else to spend your money one once you're suckered into the building.

 

Now, here's something a lot of people haven't mentioned. The lously selection of photos to have signed. Showmasters, you're responsible for these photos, aren't you? I know for a fact that you are because I spoke to both Ralph Brown, William Hoyland and Andee Frizzell about it. Where were the Miami Vice photographs from Lock, Stock? Where were the photographs from Hellboy? These guests could only explain by saying "There was a mix up with Showmasters."

 

And a word or two about the photo shoots. To expect husband and wife to pay TWICE to be in the same photo is completely unreasonable and unfair. Why should we have to pay £30 or £40 just to be in the same photo? We wouldn't recieve two photos with the both of us in it, would we? (No, I KNOW we wouldn't, because I asked.) So we pay twice as much as everyone else just because we choose to appear together in a photograph. How do you justify that?

 

"Wanting the on the day early birds admitted after pre-paid early birds (which you just happen to have) is an unreasonable request." How? Please explain. How is this an unreasonable request? If I have booked my ticket in advance because I have been there, done that, and know what to expect, why shouldn't I be expected to be shown straight into the building while the people outside are still fumbling with their wallets? Not just that but it makes things run smoother.

 

Now, I want to thank all of the geniunely pleasant and helpful crew members. You were life savers. The rest of you-and I'm talking specifically about the crew members between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Pasdar-you were rude, arrogant and pushy. How dare you treat us all like a bunch of naughty school children and how dare you bully us. I was surprised by the number of foul tempered crew members I encountered on the Sunday. Several were downright aggressive. Here's a tip: If you don't want to do the job, don't volunteer for it.

 

Showmasters crew do NOT-I repeat, DO NOT-have the right to manhandle people and that is exactly what they were doing. I was pushed here and there and shoved from behind as people surged forward in response to the crew members shouting orders at them. If one of my very expensive-just awaiting the autograph of Patrick Stewart-autographs had been damaged because I was shoved into the person in front of me thanks to a bossy showmasters crew member, I would have done more than "toss my toys out of the pram." One crew member had the audacity to say to me, "If you can breath, you're not close enough." I beg your pardon?

 

Lucky for Showmasters my 6ft, no-nonsense husband was not waiting in these queues because, if someone had pushed him around the way they pushed ME around, I don't doubt that he would have lost his temper, responding to this assault-and, yes, crewmembers, laying hands on someone the way you did is legally classified as assault-with assault.

 

Having someone grab your newly signed autograph from you and whisk it away down the queue is not just unwise, it's ridiculous. Let me explain why: 1. I saw the way that the items were being handled and I'm surprised that many of them weren't smudged. If they had been, would Showmasters have assumed any responsibility? Would the poor convention-goer been taken straight to the front of the queue, apologised to and gotten another autograph for free? I doubt it, 2. Anyone could have grabbed the item and been gone with it before you got down the queue to retrieve it-Just thinking about fully signed cast photos and posters...

 

Can I ask why the lighting was so poor, or is that too being unreasonable? And why were so many vendors stuck in the darkest reaches where it was difficult to see their wares? How much, I wonder, did they pay for that little treat? Years ago LFACC was laid out beautifully with the dealers in one hall and the celebrities in a single file in the next. Perfect. Why can't that be done again? Why continue to squeeze us into too-small halls with the queues so poorly done?

 

Don't you dare tell me that I'm being unreasonable or that I'm throwing my toys out of the pram because I'm not happy with the SHAMBLES that is and has been the London Film and Comicon. I work d**n hard for my money and I choose to spend it on autographs at conventions. That means that I work d**n hard for a positive, happy experience at the London Film and Comicon and I have not had one in the past few years. Poor show, Showmasters.

 

I daresay I will have a hundred smarmy response from the Showmasters brown-nosers like dufresne but let's be honest, the number of unhappy convention-goers far outnumber them. If they didn't this thread would not have been started at all.

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As far as I am concerned, these conventions represent a WORK committment to these celebrity guests. They should-and many do-treat it as such, making every effort to please the convention-goers. Too bad Showmasters can't do the same.

 

The guests, well how would you feel after 6-7 hours or more near CONSTANT signing over and over, with just a single break most of the time for about half an hour. You'd be exausted, and perhaps even in pain. I know my hand/wrist is rather painful after 10-15 mins of constant writing these days so what do you think about them after several hours. And then theres the constant looking up and down, and doing the same thing over and over which again is exausting. But they still do it for the fans, so you cant blame them if they dont respond to you how you want by the end of the day. You should go see them at the beginning, and if your not willing enough to get there early enough for decent VT's, its your own fault. Showmasters do try to please people, but its IMPOSSIBLE to please everyone.

 

Having a look at the list of cancellations, I can't help but notice that ten of them were headliners...and two of them have pulled out in the past.

 

I see EIGHT id class as headliners, the rest are only smaller people IN MY OPINION..I capatalise that because everyones different and some may consider less headliners, and some such as yourself, ten.

 

Now, here's something a lot of people haven't mentioned. The lously selection of photos to have signed.

Im going to take a guess that your new to these events here. Rarely do guests have that many photos available, usually only for the main things their known for, like Patrick Stewart only had Star Trek and Xmen from his long career. If theres something specific you want signed, then either bring something yourself, or look around the dealers stalls and find something. You should never assume automatically that something you want signing will be there.

Rene Auberjonois didnt have stargate photos on his table when I went to see him on the friday of collectormania 11, which I asked about. He thought he had, but there wern't any out, so on saturday I went back with something of my own to get signed. As it happened, he DID have SG photos that day, they'd been left at his hotel the day before, so I got two autographs from him as I wanted to pay for my own item signed too.

 

Now, I want to thank all of the geniunely pleasant and helpful crew members. You were life savers. The rest of you-and I'm talking specifically about the crew members between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Pasdar-you were rude, arrogant and pushy. How dare you treat us all like a bunch of naughty school children and how dare you bully us. I was surprised by the number of foul tempered crew members I encountered on the Sunday.

 

And you wonder why when theres arrogant, whiny and rude people like YOU causing problems all day?! I personally never had a problem with any of them, even by 5pm on sunday, but even if any of them did seem a bit off, put yourself in their shoes..your doing a job which frankly is pretty thankless and trying to help people, but when people dont listen do you and are constantly causing probs, or not doing as their told, and moaning and thinking pretty much that their above everyone else and can do what they want, then their patience is going to be tested.

I work in customer service and you probably have no idea how frustrating it is when people ignore every word you say thinking they know better, then when things go wrong or they get nowhere they turn on the assistant for a slagging match even though they were the ones at fault. I crew at smaller conventions, but would never dare do a big one like lfcc or collectormania because I know it would stress me out too much.

 

Showmasters crew do NOT-I repeat, DO NOT-have the right to manhandle people and that is exactly what they were doing. I was pushed here and there and shoved from behind as people surged forward in response to the crew members shouting orders at them.

 

So, the crew are doing their job telling people what to do, the ATTENDEES are pushing and shoving you around to get wherever or do what their told, but you go ahead and blame the crew anyway and not the person who prob just elbowed you in the ribs because their out for themselves and will step on anyone in their way?

 

One crew member had the audacity to say to me, "If you can breath, you're not close enough." I beg your pardon?

I believe thats whats called 'joking', unless they were scowling at you with blood red eyes and rage in their voice or had weapons in which case maybe not..

 

Lucky for Showmasters my 6ft, no-nonsense husband was not waiting in these queues because, if someone had pushed him around the way they pushed ME around, I don't doubt that he would have lost his temper, responding to this assault-and, yes, crewmembers, laying hands on someone the way you did is legally classified as assault-with assault.

So your saying pretty much here that because you were having a bad time, your husband would have resorted to attacking the crew for doing their jobs and because you couldnt follow instructions? At least you wouldnt have had to worry about any more SM events if that had happened, and wouldnt have been able to get any other autos from the local police station!

 

Can I ask why the lighting was so poor, or is that too being unreasonable? And why were so many vendors stuck in the darkest reaches where it was difficult to see their wares? Why continue to squeeze us into too-small halls with the queues so poorly done?

Lighting: Venue's fault, not showmasters. It may have escaped your attention but there were no other lights up there, they were all on, so that was the best they were going to get. Earls court 1 is usually used as a concert venue remember where bright lights arent needed!

The vendors..did you see anywhere else to put them?! The only well lit area was the talk area, and the obvious reason for that being there was people wanted to see the guests on stage!

 

Don't you dare tell me that I'm being unreasonable or that I'm throwing my toys out of the pram because I'm not happy with the SHAMBLES that is and has been the London Film and Comicon.

I'll say it..you ARE being unreasonable and you ARE throwing your toys out of the pram simply because YOU wernt happy and it wasnt like you expected.

 

And just for the record, im not a SM lacky or brown noser, im just another attendee whos been doing these events for many years and know while all events have their down sides, most cant be helped.

 

Oh and the "the number of unhappy convention-goers far outnumber them." comment..can you personally speak for the several thousand of attendees who went? The regular event goer's I know all seem happy enough with it, the vast majority of people complaining are either new to events, or have been to very few of this size.

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Now, I want to thank all of the geniunely pleasant and helpful crew members. You were life savers. The rest of you-and I'm talking specifically about the crew members between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Pasdar-you were rude, arrogant and pushy. How dare you treat us all like a bunch of naughty school children and how dare you bully us. I was surprised by the number of foul tempered crew members I encountered on the Sunday. Several were downright aggressive. Here's a tip: If you don't want to do the job, don't volunteer for it.

 

Showmasters crew do NOT-I repeat, DO NOT-have the right to manhandle people and that is exactly what they were doing. I was pushed here and there and shoved from behind as people surged forward in response to the crew members shouting orders at them. If one of my very expensive-just awaiting the autograph of Patrick Stewart-autographs had been damaged because I was shoved into the person in front of me thanks to a bossy showmasters crew member, I would have done more than "toss my toys out of the pram." One crew member had the audacity to say to me, "If you can breath, you're not close enough." I beg your pardon?

 

Lucky for Showmasters my 6ft, no-nonsense husband was not waiting in these queues because, if someone had pushed him around the way they pushed ME around, I don't doubt that he would have lost his temper, responding to this assault-and, yes, crewmembers, laying hands on someone the way you did is legally classified as assault-with assault.

 

Having someone grab your newly signed autograph from you and whisk it away down the queue is not just unwise, it's ridiculous. Let me explain why: 1. I saw the way that the items were being handled and I'm surprised that many of them weren't smudged. If they had been, would Showmasters have assumed any responsibility? Would the poor convention-goer been taken straight to the front of the queue, apologised to and gotten another autograph for free? I doubt it, 2. Anyone could have grabbed the item and been gone with it before you got down the queue to retrieve it-Just thinking about fully signed cast photos and posters...

 

 

Apologies for picking out only a small segment of your post, the rest takes some reading which I have and although I won't comment on it I can only say it's a shame you obviously didn't have such a great experience, the anger and hostility in your post is overwhelming.

 

The thing I will say is that I would respectfully ask you to not make blanket statements as highlighted above about the crew in that area. If you had a bad experience with one or two members then that's very sad and surprising.....however speaking for myself as one of those aforementioned people working between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Pasdar, 'rude, arrogant, pushy, foul tempered or aggressive' doesn't figure in my vocabulary and never will. Let alone 'man-handling'....I can also safely say that about the crew that I was aware of working around me. It boggles the mind that anyone would want to crew with those traits in mind, the whole idea is to do the best you can to make sure everyone has a good time. The people in that area worked extremely hard all day with that goal in mind against some very large odds....if there was an inappropriate comment made or a general problem with a crew member, then it would be more appropriate to confine the issue to the specifics/person involved and addressed properly, which would then give it a chance of being resolved; instead of vilifying a lot of people whom you possibly never met.

 

Either way I'm sorry you didn't have a good day, it's not something anyone wants to see.

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And a word or two about the photo shoots. To expect husband and wife to pay TWICE to be in the same photo is completely unreasonable and unfair. Why should we have to pay £30 or £40 just to be in the same photo? We wouldn't recieve two photos with the both of us in it, would we? (No, I KNOW we wouldn't, because I asked.) So we pay twice as much as everyone else just because we choose to appear together in a photograph. How do you justify that?

 

If you were indeed told that you would not receive two photos, you were given wrong information by whoever you asked. You will get two pictures. This is stated in the FAQ as well, and I have seen Malcolm taking two pictures of a couple with Jack Coleman myself.

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£15 every couple of seconds for signing a piece of paper? I wish MY job was that easy. And, yes, I WAS there early, I DID see the guests first thing and YES, certain guests were still completely disinterested.

 

I consider headline guests as the guests that were first announced, guests that the convention was sold on.

 

No, I am NOT new to these conventions. Between my husband and myself we have been doing this since 1982 and we do 6-10 conventions a year. I know what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that there should be pictures there from every film that a person has every done, I'm saying that you should have a better selection than two or three pictures from ONE movie or TV series like some of the guests had.

 

Yes, I DO work in customer services and yes, I DO have a thankless job so you can stop making pressumptions right there. And what makes you think I was causing trouble? I hassled no one, I never shouted, I never shoved. You think that just because I'm unhappy I must have been causing trouble? More pressumptions.

 

No, it was not just the attendees pushing me. I was pushed and shoved by several crew members or I would not have said it. And I never said my husband would have attacked anyone because I was having a bad time. I specifically used the word assault, if you can read.

 

If the lights were the venue's fault and not Showmasters then Showmasters should have selected a better venue. It is up to them where it's held, isn't it? Or would you like to put that blame on someonen else as well?

 

I AM a regular SM convention goer and I have spoken to MANY others, both on the day and otherwise who have had similiar views.

 

I have backed up everything I have said. It's only you making blank accusations, crippsy_99.

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If the lights were the venue's fault and not Showmasters then Showmasters should have selected a better venue. It is up to them where it's held, isn't it? Or would you like to put that blame on someonen else as well?

 

I AM a regular SM convention goer and I have spoken to MANY others, both on the day and otherwise who have had similiar views.

 

I have backed up everything I have said. It's only you making blank accusations, crippsy_99.

 

They did chose a better venue. The venue double booked them and they got shunted up to there.

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Now, I want to thank all of the geniunely pleasant and helpful crew members. You were life savers. The rest of you-and I'm talking specifically about the crew members between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Pasdar-you were rude, arrogant and pushy. How dare you treat us all like a bunch of naughty school children and how dare you bully us. I was surprised by the number of foul tempered crew members I encountered on the Sunday. Several were downright aggressive. Here's a tip: If you don't want to do the job, don't volunteer for it.

 

Showmasters crew do NOT-I repeat, DO NOT-have the right to manhandle people and that is exactly what they were doing. I was pushed here and there and shoved from behind as people surged forward in response to the crew members shouting orders at them. If one of my very expensive-just awaiting the autograph of Patrick Stewart-autographs had been damaged because I was shoved into the person in front of me thanks to a bossy showmasters crew member, I would have done more than "toss my toys out of the pram." One crew member had the audacity to say to me, "If you can breath, you're not close enough." I beg your pardon?

 

Lucky for Showmasters my 6ft, no-nonsense husband was not waiting in these queues because, if someone had pushed him around the way they pushed ME around, I don't doubt that he would have lost his temper, responding to this assault-and, yes, crewmembers, laying hands on someone the way you did is legally classified as assault-with assault.

 

Having someone grab your newly signed autograph from you and whisk it away down the queue is not just unwise, it's ridiculous. Let me explain why: 1. I saw the way that the items were being handled and I'm surprised that many of them weren't smudged. If they had been, would Showmasters have assumed any responsibility? Would the poor convention-goer been taken straight to the front of the queue, apologised to and gotten another autograph for free? I doubt it, 2. Anyone could have grabbed the item and been gone with it before you got down the queue to retrieve it-Just thinking about fully signed cast photos and posters...

 

 

Apologies for picking out only a small segment of your post, the rest takes some reading which I have and although I won't comment on it I can only say it's a shame you obviously didn't have such a great experience, the anger and hostility in your post is overwhelming.

 

The thing I will say is that I would respectfully ask you to not make blanket statements as highlighted above about the crew in that area. If you had a bad experience with one or two members then that's very sad and surprising.....however speaking for myself as one of those aforementioned people working between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Pasdar, 'rude, arrogant, pushy, foul tempered or aggressive' doesn't figure in my vocabulary and never will. Let alone 'man-handling'....I can also safely say that about the crew that I was aware of working around me. It boggles the mind that anyone would want to crew with those traits in mind, the whole idea is to do the best you can to make sure everyone has a good time. The people in that area worked extremely hard all day with that goal in mind against some very large odds....if there was an inappropriate comment made or a general problem with a crew member, then it would be more appropriate to confine the issue to the specifics/person involved and addressed properly, which would then give it a chance of being resolved; instead of vilifying a lot of people whom you possibly never met.

 

Either way I'm sorry you didn't have a good day, it's not something anyone wants to see.

 

Thank you for your reply. I do apologise if I have personally insulted you but I'm speaking from my experience and opinion and I found many of the crew members in that area disagreable. There were one or two people who were delightful, including a very cheerful girl at the front of Adrian Pasdar's line, but the majority of the people I had interactions with were as I described above.

 

There are many members of the Showmasters crew that we see regularly and find good to speak to. It is not these people and those occasions that I speak of, I hope you understand that.

 

I would also like to meniton that I have read other posts where people have had similar problems with being manhandled and even having the f word used at them so clearly I am not alone.

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£15 every couple of seconds for signing a piece of paper? I wish MY job was that easy. And, yes, I WAS there early, I DID see the guests first thing and YES, certain guests were still completely disinterested.

 

You say you are a regular convention goer. Has this never happened to you before that a guest was disinterested? And I somehow fail to see the organiser's fault here. They can't really make everyone sign a contract to smile the whole 10 hours for two days, can't they? ;) Everybody has a bad day occasionally, or maybe it's even just a simply bad half hour when that dreaded break just won't come.

 

No, I am NOT new to these conventions. Between my husband and myself we have been doing this since 1982 and we do 6-10 conventions a year. I know what I'm talking about. I'm not saying that there should be pictures there from every film that a person has every done, I'm saying that you should have a better selection than two or three pictures from ONE movie or TV series like some of the guests had.

 

For some guests it is simply not possible to get better pictures or a wider selection. Especially for those guys with smaller roles in Dr. Who or Star Wars. I tried finding something for Katie Bell myself and came up empty.

 

Besides that it costs money to produce the pictures, too - so it kind of makes sense for Showmasters to concentrate on shots from shows or movies that they know will be used, otherwise they're pretty much wasting money. With 70+ guests even small amounts add up.

 

No, it was not just the attendees pushing me. I was pushed and shoved by several crew members or I would not have said it. And I never said my husband would have attacked anyone because I was having a bad time. I specifically used the word assault, if you can read.

 

Sorry, but if this did happen you really should have complained on the day. I say "if" because I did not have one single bad experience with a crew member during the week end myself.

 

There's not much that can be done about it now. I understand you had your reasons for not saying something. But if you had said something to a Pit Boss or at the information booth something would have been done about that crew member in question.

 

If you still remember their names, I can only suggest e-mailing Showmasters. I am sure they will take this info onto account for further crewing if necessary. ^_^

 

roxy has already asked you not to make such blanket statements, and I can only repeat what she said. Even if you say that you "backed everything up" I still see only very general and vague statements. If you really felt you were assaulted and would have told someone in charge, all this could have been prevented.

 

If the lights were the venue's fault and not Showmasters then Showmasters should have selected a better venue. It is up to them where it's held, isn't it? Or would you like to put that blame on someonen else as well?

 

There is only a limited number of venues capable of dealing with such an event, in London it's only two that I am aware off, and one of them probably has a standing contract with another organiser most likely.

 

After the mishap with the date change it was either Earls Court 1 or completely cancelling the whole event in my opinion. Showmasters decided to work with what they had.

 

I AM a regular SM convention goer and I have spoken to MANY others, both on the day and otherwise who have had similiar views.

 

Regular convention goer here as well - and so is crippsy by the way.

 

Of course you are entitled to your opinion - I daresay you rather would have cancelled the event than doing it the way it was done? Nobody here has said the show went perfect.

 

But you could have done something yourself against certain issues, especially about volunteers being rude and abusive. And you decided not to. That's hardly Showmasters' fault.

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Wow !!

 

Never have i come across such hostility and nastiness from a few forum members in my life.

 

Sorry you had a rather horrid time witchybelle, but may I also respectfully remind you that although you claim to have been pushed around physically by the crew (of which i was part of all weekend, but not that section of the hall, so i cannot and will not defend those involved), quite a few of the masses that decended on that area when the doors open, not only showed blatant disregard for their own safety by running, they also put the saftey of our crew in danger.

 

In fact several of them were nothing short of pushed, pulled, flung aside and even bulldozed by the public.

I know of at least 2 crew who were hurt in the process because of it.. and further more, one was punched and kicked by another member of public, when asked to clear a small space.

 

Now tell me this.. what right do the public have to put their hands on US ?

 

Do NOT defend the actions of your fellow convention-goers please, they are not totally blameless in all of this.

 

If you feel you are being man-handled in anyway, then may i suggest in future you take that persons name from their crew badge (which is there to identify them anyway) and take a pitboss to one side to voice your troubles. I assure you it will be dealt with by them.

 

I truly hope this hasn't put you off any further Showmasters events, and that we shall see you and your husband next month at Collectormania 12.

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I personally thought the crew were fantastic. They had one hell of a hard days work and i didnt see a single one not smiling. The crew were chatty and kept the lines calm and did stop a majority of the barging. I would say a big thank you to them especially the guy who was on milos line at about 4:00 o'clock. He was a right laugh and kept saying how proud he was that his line was the straightist! Brilliant, thanks to all who worked thier nuts off.

 

Oh and if the guests blank you, its probably because you aren't smling and look like your gonna sell your autograph on e-bay. And concidering you are about to meet someone youve been queueing hours for you really should at least try to be happy. I mean, would you talk to someone that was p***** off just because you decided to meet your fans.

 

No

Edited by Fate42
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