Great atmosphere! aka What everybody liked or disliked about the s

[majorkennedy]

i'm not mocking con songs or music ( i worked in musical theater and tribute acts since i was 6) but they did play a lot of requested music , and both sides were mocked, jason is sorting it out and i know it's a con and you want your songs but sulking when you dont get your way is slightly childish.

 

we are not sulking its simple its a con we are con regulars we expect con music 2 be played at the partys thats the main reason most of my friends go to cons for the partys so we can do all the daft crazy con dances and not get the p*** takeing out of us for likeing it

 

the other con partys i attend the dj there play a wide range of music and and evey one seams very happy with them

 

but as jason stated he will not be dj at the partys now so we will now get a proper dj who is not a twit and playes what is requested and not what i his friends want and who will not make fun of us all

 

jason is sorting it but your never going to please everyone all the time on friday night we requested a load of songs and he wouldn't play them, it does work both ways.

[jvd737]

About the seating issue - I agree - dire...by Sunday, I had resorted to standing at the back...but in retrospect that was fab because I was directly in line with Chris and Michael for their talk and got some great pictures...

 

...how great was Carmen...I soooo want me one of them!!! He was a real highlight for me!!

 

...I know that this was my first convention, but to those people who were bored or didn't feel they got enough 'face' time...aren't these things, to a certain extent, what you make them...I think there has to be an element of people being personally proactive...you need to get out there and talk to the stars and other fans, it can't all come to you...that was the impression I got - please forgive me if I'm wrong as a newbie to all this...but this weekend I met some great people - hey to all the smokers! Spoke to all the stars multiple times around the hotel as well as at signings etc, got hugs and kisses from them, asked questions in the talks and even did a bit of heckling!! What little free time I had, was a nice rest for me...I was knackered by the end of it...with very sore cheeks!!

 

Natalie...my bad...saw the blue backdrop and just presumed...DOH!!

[showmasters]

well i wanted to reply to some of the things said on here

 

Well many conventions have you in queues all day for both days, and this takes up a lot of time up at other events too.

 

We have a better way to get you your autographs and photo shoots where you don't have to spend all day queuing. Yes if we did have another two guests this would have filled up the programme a bit more but at this convention you had more time on your hands to hang out and interact with the other attendees or just chill.

 

Now putting two guests on stage together meant that it gave it a new dynamic which I do think worked well and was a lot of fun. The guests got to interact with each other and gave a totally different Q&A session to what is normally seen.

 

Now some of you have said the convention was crap. Well I'm sorry but I cannot take this comment seriously as the convention did give what we said we would. Everything happened on time and we did more than we said, with the sketch and with guests hanging out at the party, etc. So to say it was just crap is ridiculous and I cannot take your argument seriously. Sorry.

 

We agree that we can improve the convention (and we will) but to be fair I talked to over 70% of the fans last weekend and 99% of them had a great time as the bookings for the next Chevron showed.

 

We will improve the convention and thank you to those of you who trust us and give us the chance to put on some great conventions in the future.

 

thanks

 

Jason

[majorkennedy]

well i wanted to reply to some of the things said on here

 

Well many conventions have you in queues all day for both days, and this takes up a lot of time up at other events too.

 

We have a better way to get you your autographs and photo shoots where you don't have to spend all day queuing. Yes if we did have another two guests this would have filled up the programme a bit more but at this convention you had more time on your hands to hang out and interact with the other attendees or just chill.

 

but even with just the 4 guests haveing 2 on at a time is good its good to see them work of each other but if 2 guests are on give them more than just a hour 90 min or 2 hours by giveing them more time on stage it fills up more of the time if there is less guests

 

 

Now putting two guests on stage together meant that it gave it a new dynamic which I do think worked well and was a lot of fun. The guests got to interact with each other and gave a totally different Q&A session to what is normally seen.

 

it is good when more than one guest is on stage at a time it has been done as a lot of the other events i have attended and espesually when it is ms and cj or teryl and paul is is sooo funny

 

 

Now some of you have said the convention was crap. Well I'm sorry but I cannot take this comment seriously as the convention did give what we said we would. Everything happened on time and we did more than we said, with the sketch and with guests hanging out at the party, etc. So to say it was just crap is ridiculous and I cannot take your argument seriously. Sorry.

 

 

We agree that we can improve the convention (and we will) but to be fair I talked to over 70% of the fans last weekend and 99% of them had a great time as the bookings for the next Chevron showed.

 

at least 80 90 % of the ppl there were new to cons or had not attended many events so did not have much to base it on

 

 

most of the con was ok the autos were well run as were the photo sessions the talks were good and funny

 

all i would suggest is if there is not many guests there have longer talks ,if posable get a screen in place so ppl at the back can see better pos a different lay out of the hall like the curved seating for the opening ceromony it was easyer to see the stage even putting stools on the stage so the guests are higher up so more visable to thouse at the back,

not sure if it would be posable at the park since it is a smaller venue but while there is autos on for the ppl waiting about some eps of shows or music vids could be played in the hall (i know the hall was used for both talks and autos so this was not pos at the past events due to lack of room but if ticket sales for future events go well maybe look into a larger venue with more than one hall )

 

 

 

 

We will improve the convention and thank you to those of you who trust us and give us the chance to put on some great conventions in the future.

 

thanks

 

Jason

Edited June 16, 2008 by majorkennedy

[MadOne]

OK - I should start by saying I was one of the lucky ones up on stage for the auditions - the 'new daniel' - and as such, I loved the event as a whole (damn, that was fun). However, not perfect and some hopefully constructive comments.

 

Firstly the schedule - Always accept that it changes a little over the weekend but would it be possible for there to be a hardcopy on the first day for each of the attendees. A few (too few IMHO) do this and it does make it easier for those of us with crappy memories to see wat time we have to get back. Yes, you would need a large proviso that changes may be made printed on it but remembering the changes you tell us is MUCH easier than remembering the whole thing. And with what felt like a fairly short Q&A time, missing some of it to do photos was irritating...

 

Signatures: This two day event had no one-day tickets. For this situation, there seemed to be too long dedicated to signing on day two. This is an idea that fully accept there may be a reason why not BUT it seems to me that if the photos could be done on day one (as they were) and the signing exclusively on day two (OK, possibly a short session on day one if people notify organisers they can't be there on day two). Would this allow more Q&A time. [i have the suspicion that there is an obvious reason I'm missing but... I'm missing it!]

 

Re the posts on meal time breaks: somehow I've always felt at other conventions that Lunch was a grabbed meal and nice if you can get a break for a proper evening meal. I think that few of us would have minded encroaching onto our lunch hours - but wouldn't want to disrupt theirs so stated preference but not strongly.

 

Being a gold ticket holder, simply didn't notice the seating issues. But can entirely see crippsy_99's point (1): The intro for the guests - If I hadn't gone to the cocktail party, I too would feel not worth attending on day one. If this is going to happen again, I'd think it kinder to non-golds say exactly how long this is anticipated to be. I'd probably feel like I wasted cash on hotel night one.

 

Not really convention issues but hope not too far O/T: Did anyone else find inconsistent drink prices in the hotel. As a non-drinker these days, I stuck entirely to orange juice and was charged 4 different prices!

 

And again, not something that has anything to do with the organisation but more on topic: I felt the convention was blessed with a particularly friendly crowd (totally disagree with crippsy_99 on that). I went alone and had plenty of really great chats and feel I got to know a whole range of really nice people. And for me at least, that is why I prefer the smaller (less than 400 guests) conventions because, for me at least, there the quality of the other attendees is as important. (More people than that and it looses the intimacy of the events that I love. This had it in spades and vastly improved the event [fact, not criticism] - a very wide thank you)

[Christoff]

OK - I should start by saying I was one of the lucky ones up on stage for the auditions - the 'new daniel' - and as such, I loved the event as a whole (damn, that was fun). However, not perfect and some hopefully constructive comments.

 

Just out of curiosity, which Daniel were you, the winning Daniel or one of the other 2?

[MadOne]

Just out of curiosity, which Daniel were you, the winning Daniel or one of the other 2?

The winner - of course!

[Christoff]

Just out of curiosity, which Daniel were you, the winning Daniel or one of the other 2?

The winner - of course!

...and if I remember correctly you're also the one who wore the unforgettable 60's costume? Or am I confusing you with someone else? lol

[MadOne]

Umm - err - no - I'm sure that was someone else entirely (the costume / evidence will be burned on 5 November...)

 

Back on thread for a moment - another request - any chance of party themes a little earlier. Only had time to do one cozzie properly. OK - that would have happened anyway as I booked late but still feel earlier would have been nice if possible.

Edited June 17, 2008 by MadOne

[showmasters]

ok lets see here

 

hi 'crippsy_99' lets answer some of this

 

 

"1) Fridays opening ceremony - Guests were on stage for like 1-2mins each and then that was it. Ok I know it was going to be short, but at less than 10 mins long, it was almost pointless even going on the friday..could have just been done in the morning before the first talk!"

 

"response"

well they have to be there on friday for drinks so getting the opening ceremony out the way on the friday clears the main hall for Sat for what ever we want to start with hope you can see the logic

 

 

"2) Ok I wasnt at the gold pass cocktail party thing, but spoke to several people who were, and I was told they only saw TWO of the four guests!! Apparently they took ages going around the tables, then just left without seeing everyone. I dont blame the guests for this, but someone must have said "right, you've been here long enough, we're off now!" or something similar. Considering that was about the only extra activity gold pass holders got, it must have sucked to be them!"

 

 

"response"

if you were not at the wine reception how can you comment on how bad it was ?, i am sorry on this you just come across as just having a dig with out knowing the facts,

 

just to point out some things you are very wrong on 1 "there were no tables" every one that wanted to meet a guest could wait for the guest to come around to them or just join in were a guest was holding a conversation, the wine reception ran for much longer that was planed and every one i talked to said they were having a great time i was there as was all the organisors of the event to make shore every one got what they needed and we had helpers going around with the guests and after 10 minutes they would sagest that the guest would moving on to the next group, so i do think your comments are very wrong sorry

 

 

 

"3) Fridays party - Average, but better than saturdays at least! Was at least a wider range of music, and more people I thought attended. This one I actually dont see much wrong with, just more of an annoyance that it could have been better."

 

 

"Saturday morning started fine. Good first talk, gary photos were called during the talk but we were taken out, through the photo, and back into the talk in no time whatsoever and hardly missed a thing. One talk however, I cant remember which, was only 45 mins long because it started late, but was made to finish on time. Oh, there was one thing. For the opening ceremony, the chairs were arranged in a curve, which I thought was and excellent idea as many more people could see, but

4) By saturday morning, they were back in lines, and if you were any more than about 5 rows back, most people I spoke too couldnt see a thing on stage when the guests sat down! All my friend trying to take photos got was peoples heads in most of the screen as shes only small. Why not have a screen on the side next time so everyone can see the stage?

 

5 Second talk/photoshoot - Great talk again, but just over halfway through, carmen photos were called, so I left with everyone else assuming we'd be through and back in again within maybe 10-15 mins. Wrong! We qued up as before, then presumably due to Carmen arriving back late from wherever he was, it took ages before there was any kind of movement! Eventually the gold passes started moving..

When there was about 3-4 gold pass people left in the que, the talk ended! But it got worse as pretty much all the gold pass holders that had stayed in the hall then joined the que for photos seeing as they had them free, which meant the standards had to wait all over again!!! Was stood there for 40-45 mins in the end before I got through for my photo, and I was only about halfway through the standard que! If id have known, I could have stayed in the hall listening to precious talk time but instead missed half of it because I felt the standards were pulled out way too early."

 

 

"response"

OK on Sat morning we put out the chairs in a curve we picked this up from Lockdown and add it to how we run shows but when the hotel set up the hall they put the chairs out wrong and we did not pick up on this till lat on Sunday This will not happen again

 

as to talks we felt that instead of only having them for say 30 or 45 minutes we could have them run longer for those that are not having photo ops we thought this was good but on the day people held back to what the the end of the Q & A which meant the photo ops took longer and the gold pass people joined the Q late so it did not work and we will not be doing this next time

 

 

 

"At that point dispersed for lunch and went back to the hotel to kill some time. Went down a little later, and was through the auto session in 15-20 mins roughly? After that, absolutly nothing to do!! No 'strangers' seemed interested in chatting, everyone had formed their own sort of groups amongst themselves, and my other friends that were there were so bored they went up the town to kill some time!"

 

 

"response"

so your complant is that you got you auto session in 15 to 20 mins ? what instead of a day at most events well sorry we are at but this will happen again as i think this is a good thing

 

 

 

"Came back for the party then, had the potential to be good, and loved the cocktails, however

6) The choice of music was just dire!!! If the purpose was to drive people to buy more alcohol to drown out the noise, it worked as I was drinking the cocktails by the jug load, but to no avail. The 60's music lasted about half hour, then a couple of normal songs, then the rest of the night was awful rubbish the dj was playing for a few of his friends or himself even. Kept asking people to request songs but at least out of my group of 10-11 people he refused to play anything we requested. Even gave him a cd with con music on and he flatly refused to play it, then later on in the evening when most people had given up on the party, he started MOCKING us and making fun of my friends!! A few stormed out in a rage then, and rest of us followed. I heard there was like 6-7 people left in there after that.."

 

"response"

have responded to this

 

"By sunday, expectations had fallen dramatically, friends were still fuming, and we wondered what the day had in store for us! Didnt take long for something to happen.

7) A friends friend, who has 2 very young children, couldnt get away that early on sunday for Micheals autograph in the morning. They only arrived late sat, so missed that session. The revised schedual said he was signing till 11, so they came down at 10:30, only to be told that he had now stopped signing and had gone, so there was nothing that could be done and he'd missed out. We DID speak to Jason and mark about this later on though and it was dealt with so no need to dwell on that too much."

 

"response"

no lets "dwell" on this, it upsets me we get it in the neck when thing go wrong but when we shine you just pass it of as nothing you can not have it both ways

 

i am sorry you put this forward as a thing we did wrong ? wen in fact you say your self we fixed it as soon as we knew now let me tell you something Gorge Bush landed at the air port and this meant all flight would be delayed Micheal HAD to get to the US on time end of story as soon as he got though all the autograph he needed to do we felt we could help him and let him go a little early TO HELP HIM OUT this we started to do but as soon as we found out someone did not get there autographs we got him to do this so they got what they should they did have to days to get there autographs but we still went out of owe way to make this happen for them as we also did for some people that on Sunday arived for there photo ops we set up the photo shoot again and got the guests in to a shoot just for them we did not have to but we were there to try to give every one what they wanted so i do think we did a good job on this

 

 

 

"Good talks again, abit short but then we did get the gary jones standup as an extra activity and he as great as usual, however I felt it was very short and could have gone on at least another 20 mins, as wasnt like much else was going on in the afternoon to eat into! Then another round of boredom, before the final 'talk'..

8) Structured seating had apparently ended and we were told it was a free for all, sit where we liked! Que lots of people pushing and fighting to get down the front. I took a seat, got the camera out ready, when the crew started coming around telling everyone no cameras and to put them all away! When things started fair enough we could see why, but I wasnt told why no cameras at first and just figured we were being robbed of photo time for the last talk as apparently some people had been filming and the hall staff were threatening to ban cameras outright.

 

"response"

well i think you can see we did not stop any one taking photos over the weekend but the guests did not want this going on you tube as it was not rehurst and anything could have been said

 

sorry if you want to see stuff like this then you have to go with the rules or they will just not take part in this

as every one there seemed to be a lot of fun and i think it was the hight point of the weekend its funny you did not seem to like it to much

 

as to your comment "figured we were being robbed of photo time" i think that sums up what you think of us every thing you have said is very negative and not balanced at all

 

 

"9) Then things started, and we didnt even have a final q&a, just the auditions thing with JCB doing most of the talking and the attendee's doing acting "

 

"response"

this was very funny and JCB was great like her or not she was very nice over the weekend and she made a lot of thing happen

 

 

"Pretty much everyone I know personally had left after the final talk, and if im brutally honest, they didnt miss much really did they!

 

10) Sundays dead dog party was just as I predicted..dead!! We went over to the hotel about 9pm, saw just ONe group of people there who looked like mostly crew, but either way no-one either of us felt comfortable sitting with in awkward silence, so my friend and I turned straight around again and headed to the bar next to the ibis instead!"

 

"response"

well its a dead dog party but i think you missed the hole point of it i think, i was there talking to everyone there i went to most tables and talked to people to work out what they think worked and what did not, i got lots of great feedback, this will help me for the next event , i sat with people face to face to understand were they were coming from and explan what we were trying to do,so if you did spend some time there with us then maybe you may not feel the way you do now

 

"So overall, good points were hilarious talks, what little of them there were.

Bad points, pretty much everything else!

Thats my rant/opinion done for the night!"

 

"response"

well i had to respond to you post and maybe you should be a little less negative and work with us to make it better for every one, we work very hard to make it right for every one this is hard but we will get it right in the end

 

one last thing every one here puts a lot into the events and we only ever do owe best

 

thanks for reading

 

jason

[vala]

OK - I should start by saying I was one of the lucky ones up on stage for the auditions - the 'new daniel' - and as such, I loved the event as a whole (damn, that was fun). However, not perfect and some hopefully constructive comments.

 

bravo to you, sir, you had me crying with laughter on sunday afternoon!

[Emma_Adams]

plenty to do were u at the same con i was there was hours with not a thing to do ive never spent more time at a con in the hotel room bored out my brain than i did this weekend at other cons im lucky if im in the room for 4 hours in 24 :uhoh:

 

Rather than staying in your room, you could have gone out around the town? And if youve got 'hours' to spare, why not catch a movie, or go shopping? *i know of a great shop in the grosvenor center that sells stargate dvds for 2 quid XD*

[vala]

"response"

this was very funny and JCB was great like her or not she was very nice over the weekend and she made a lot of thing happen

 

ooh i thought she was great! is there any chance she'd be back over in future with other guests, perhaps?

[Queen_Sindel]

Just out of curiosity, which Daniel were you, the winning Daniel or one of the other 2?

The winner - of course!

 

Oh cool, now I can put a face to your name! I was Sam in your team.

 

And your performance was simply hilarious. *claps applause again*

 

9) Then things started, and we didnt even have a final q&a, just the auditions thing with JCB doing most of the talking and the attendee's doing acting

 

You seriously would have swapped one of the most funny things I have ever seen at an event for another Q&A session?

 

 

And making a positive comment for a change.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sorting out the stage lights on Friday. The normal stage one without additions are a photographer's nightmare.

Edited June 17, 2008 by Queen_Sindel

[chris_mk]

At that point dispersed for lunch and went back to the hotel to kill some time. Went down a little later, and was through the auto session in 15-20 mins roughly? After that, absolutly nothing to do!! No 'strangers' seemed interested in chatting, everyone had formed their own sort of groups amongst themselves, and my other friends that were there were so bored they went up the town to kill some time!

 

Interesting post Crippsy (I read it all and wish to claim my cookies!) I was not at this event (was at an event run by a different organiser), but I did both Eclipse and Lockdown and just wanted to respond to this point. You've mentioned that at other events, there is a lot less downtime than at an ME event. I'm inclined to agree with you, but I think that it's largely down to the fact that Showmasters know how to run an auto queue. I spent over 90 minutes in an auto queue on Saturday at the other event and there was onyl 150 attendees doing autos on that day!

 

Also, at LEAST two other organisers have running jokes about their 'con time', which generally means that although the schedule is full, you end up spending hours sat in the hall waiting for things to happen, because the timescales are unworkable.

 

I do completely agree with your point that not enough time is set aside for guest talks at ME events, I noticed this at Lockdown and even more at Eclipse (Where I could have sat and listened to Christine Rose and David Anders talk for hours!!)

[isandhlwana]

All in all it was an enjoyable weekend and my first convention. However, I have to rate it by two aspects – Enjoyment and Value for Money. I spent over £800 on myself and my son. With 2 or 3 more guests I would have rated it “value for money†but not as it stood. Before I get any more “don’t be negative†garbage, please remember a forum is to express your OWN views. I fully respect other peoples – please respect mine.

 

To show my commitment I have already booked 2 x Gold for Chevron 7.2 in the hope that by including Atlantis there will be more scope to ensure more guests.

 

Good bits and not so good bits.

The drinks party on the Friday night was very good but needed to have been a longer. It was a struggle to get to speak to the guests as some people were hogging them for an inordinate amount of time. Next year 6 guests or more would need 2 hours and a much bigger (cooler) room.

 

Photo shoots were very good, with the guests entering into the spirit of things. However, I missed the Gary Jones photo shoot as it was on at the same time as a stage appearance. (My fault entirely as I assumed there would be more than one)! There was loads of spare time so I think such overlaps would be unnecessary for next year.

 

Signings were good and more relaxed as there were 3 guests there at the same time.

 

As a general point, there was a lot queuing for one thing or another. I noticed at least half a dozen people, if not more, with crutches or walking sticks. I would have thought that queuing for them would be very uncomfortable and you can’t drag a chair around with you. For next year the queuing system would be eased if attendees were given specific attendance times by range of registration number. Gold 1-20, 21-40 etc. (Just a thought).

 

Guests on stage. Don’t know what to say really. Everyone has his or her own views and preferences. The only time that I really felt I was at a STARGATE convention was when chatting to the guests during the Friday evening one hour party and when the Stargate music was played prior to a stage appearance. At those times I got the Stargate buzz, the surge of excitement inside that made your whole being come alive.

Some of the question and answer sessions were ok but some of the more outlandish exhibitions left me cold and I don’t want to even think about the final role playing – shudder. Absolutely appalling.

 

The Friday and Saturday parties were excellent. (Didn’t stay for Sunday) Can’t say much more. Good themes, well attended. DJ hopeless. Oh yes, would have liked more notice of the Themes to enable more time for costume making.

 

THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT – It was a STARGATE Convention. I would have liked it to have been more Daniel Jackson and Teal’c orientated rather than Michael Shanks and Chris Judge etc. Just imagine the reception if they had bounded up onto the stage dressed in their SG1 fatigues rather than baseball cap and hair band!!! The photo shoots with them wearing their gear – WOW! How about employing a presentation expert. A massive screen behind them with the Stargate on, Stargate trailers, the space battle - come on you guys be a bit more enterprising. In business I've done many and they are not difficult.

 

Last little bit – I have to rate Carmen Argenziano as the top guy. If he will excuse me – a real English Gentleman (rare these days), polite, knowledgeable and with a prodigious memory for names. Introduced on Friday – 300 introductions later he remembered it on Sunday. Made my son and I feel very special. Michael looked overworked and tired out. I got the feeling he had pushed himself to attend and I thank him very much for that. Chris was very laid back and jokey – all good fun but not once did we see Teal’c. It was a Stargate Convention after all!! Lastly, Gary Jones………Pass. Rather full of himself for my taste.

 

The above was meant as friendly, positive, constructive criticism which was meant to contribute to making 7.2 even better than 7. Also, well done to the crew for working so hard and so long.

 

P.S. £6,000 for a Chinese – impressive. I take my hat off to the ladies. I can’t see that being topped for many years to come. I hoped they realised they couldn’t take Michael and Chris home afterwards!!!

[jvd737]

"response"

this was very funny and JCB was great like her or not she was very nice over the weekend and she made a lot of thing happen

 

ooh i thought she was great! is there any chance she'd be back over in future with other guests, perhaps?

 

i agree...i love the fact she was willing to do that audition thing at the end...lots of fun

[1.618]

*i know of a great shop in the grosvenor center that sells stargate dvds for 2 quid XD*

[/quote

 

Which shop is that?

[Millwallant]

"response"

this was very funny and JCB was great like her or not she was very nice over the weekend and she made a lot of thing happen

 

ooh i thought she was great! is there any chance she'd be back over in future with other guests, perhaps?

 

i agree...i love the fact she was willing to do that audition thing at the end...lots of fun

 

Also agree. Clearly a very important part of the con and made it so much fun on Sunday. She was also very friendly despite being clearly very busy.

[whiterose27]

Enjoying reading the reports everyone, thank you. I'm a long time convention attendee (around 25 years) but unfortunately financial circumstances at the moment meant I couldn't afford to go to this one, much as I dearly wanted to, being a big fan of MS. I've met 3 of the 4 guests in the past (Gary Jones is the only one I've never seen) and found them all charming.

 

Interesting to see how it compares to other events. One comment I'd like to make, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Convention organisers these days seem to think all people want to do on a night is party, party, party!! Well I mainly stay just on Fri & Sat nights now, cos I'm just not a party person and therefore do spend quite a bit of time in my room as has been pointed out here, I wish there was some kind of alternative programme for those who just don't like parties & loud music where you can't hear yourselves talk anyway.

 

Does anyone have any tips for someone like me, how to make new friends? I'm a bit shy these days and find it very hard to go up to a person or group of people and start talking - what to talk about??? In the past, I've made my best friends waiting in line in autograph queues (which used to last 2-3 hours, never mind the 40 minutes or so people are talking about here) or waiting in line to go watch a video! Sadly those days are past, and one of the things which did put me off going to Northampton was I had no one to go with, these things are just not fun on your own. As a start, is there anyone from my home area (West Yorks) in the same boat who'd maybe like to meet up to travel to future events? Any advice appreciated.

[Psychosis]

Well, I do tend to get friendly with someone while standing in autograph or photo queues Had quite a good chat with people in some of them at the weekend. Even met Nikster

[Dragon Home]

I have to admit I'm not a party person these days - and didn't get to see much of the event (stuck on Reg desk both days ) but I enjoyed myself at the event.

 

I got to see the Guests as they walked through each day and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 

Got positive vibes from all attendees that spoke to me. Even had someone ask if I went to a ROS Convention (2 years ago)!

 

I have however been going to events too long, it now takes me 3 trips from the car to get everything into my room.

 

We had the Laptop (with DVDs for Saturday night - if we didn't go to the party), the Fridge (I have to have "proper" milk in my Tea) and of course the normal bags with clothes, sharpies, chocolate etc.

 

This was a "quiet" event compared with some I have been to but please remember it's only their (Massive Events) 3rd weekend convention Jason and Mark have said they are addressing things that went wrong. I helped run events for 11 years and we listened to attendees as well. We still got comments after the 11th one about things that went wrong.

 

A

[TerraHawk]

You've mentioned that at other events, there is a lot less downtime than at an ME event. I'm inclined to agree with you, but I think that it's largely down to the fact that Showmasters know how to run an auto queue. I spent over 90 minutes in an auto queue on Saturday at the other event and there was onyl 150 attendees doing autos on that day!

 

Ah but did you enjoy the other event? I spend most of the time queuing at another event (12 guests, 1 day)and missed most of the panels (which I will catch up on via DVD) but I expect that really. If you want autographs you miss out on panels. If you want panels you're either lucky with the autograph queues or miss them completely. Not everyone wants autos, photos, panels & partys.

 

I'm seriously doubting there's enough for me to do at the Torchwood con (I'd rather spend a months wages on autographs than attend a single party), I'd rather do the B7 one (which at least has a lot of guests) but can't get a hotel room.

[vala]

 

 

I have however been going to events too long, it now takes me 3 trips from the car to get everything into my room.

 

 

i'm only one con in, and i've already realised i'll be needing a suitcase on wheels for all my stuff for the next one!

[DavidB]

THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT – It was a STARGATE Convention. I would have liked it to have been more Daniel Jackson and Teal’c orientated rather than Michael Shanks and Chris Judge etc. Just imagine the reception if they had bounded up onto the stage dressed in their SG1 fatigues rather than baseball cap and hair band!!! The photo shoots with them wearing their gear – WOW!

 

Chris was very laid back and jokey – all good fun but not once did we see Teal’c. It was a Stargate Convention after all!!

I must admit I feel this is a little unfair.

 

For a start, to have to act in character, or dress as characters all weekend would be such a hard task for the guests.

 

In the end, you go to meet the actors not the characters, as the characters aren't real!

 

(Sorry if that's a shocking revelation for anyone. I won't mention Santa.)

 

All joking aside, it would be a lot of effort to go to those extremes. I know of a few cons in the past that have had make up demonstrations etc, but again that's very time consuming and uncomfortable.

 

Sometimes it can be easy to slip on something costume-related, but in the end the guests have to have a comfortable weekend too.