Manchester Collectormania rescheduled to next summer

[pez]

summer is filming down time for a lot of people so i cant see two big shows in the sumer being a problem.

 

im a little anoyed that its been cancled ( as its the easyest one to get to from newcastle aswel) but i can see why you would do it, there is way to much on in that small window that it would normaly take place and it was getting a little neglected, so why not give yourself more time to make it better.

 

if i want to do ANY of the shows i have to travel so im used to it now. it's tought if your to young to do anythig travel wise to go to lfcc ect, but if you know you really want to do thigs you can budget, mk is one train ride away on the train, its not that far only two hours.

 

i'm not rich im paying of a huge student loan and stupid dept and but i've managed.

 

but i'd rather have a good show then two rubish ones and then get it comp canceled

[Avengers7]

I attended gmex 1, 2 and 3 and enjoyed them all. Am hoping it will be in August as I'm normally getting signing withdrawel symptoms by then.

[Beth]

Manchester is the closest place to me aswell,so it could be difficult for me to go to Milton Keynes or London.There are certain trains you can get though that can get you to either Milton Keynes or London within a couple of hours,but you would probably have to save up some money,or stop overnight.Or if you leave early enough,you may be able to go there and back in one day..I would need quite abit of notice before i went to either a Milton Keynes or London convention.I've only beeen to one convention so far,and that was in London.I had time to arrange it though from when i found out that they guests i met were going to be there.

 

I have noticed that the Milton keynes and London conventions seem to get the best guests,well they've had all the guests i've wanted to see anyway so far,which isnt fair really,as there are some people from up north that may not be able to go there at all.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Beth

[pez]

lfcc and mk are probably easyer for guests to get to even if just for the one day thats why they will be more acssesible to bigger guests.

 

and yeah theres a direct train from manchester to mk centeral it takes just over 2 hours, thats the way i go from newcastle, for the simple fact that i don't do the underground by myself not ever! that thing scares me.

 

manchester to york then london would be fast, but im sure there is a direct lime from london to manchester.

 

 

mk is going to cost me 65 to get to but thats just cause i have gotten an open return. you can get it really cheep if you book online cause you get 10% disc

[petrorabbit]

I am quite upset by this, i live in Manchester and can not make any others.

We have been messed around enough already, i hope this is the last time.

One big problem i have is why they have so much unused space. there is so much room fore more stalls, and a wider range of stalls. (more comic stalls would be nice).

surely there are enough sellers to fill out the space. the 1st mcr con was the only one to truly utilise the space. and the amount of stalls was fantastic.

it also had the best guests. surely with this much notice they can book some great people.

The shatner would be a dream.

[DavidB]

It's up to the dealers to want to attend really. So unless they think it's worth going, i.e. if it's profitable or not, then they won't go. And to be honest, if the organisers of the event struggle to make it a success, then I doubt the dealers are doing much better.

 

And it's not necessarily about notice in terms of guests - in the end, whether it's months ahead, or just a few weeks, they can only work with who's available and what work people have etc. There's a lot that isn't under their control, and a LOT can change between now and the event.

 

I'm sure they'll do the best they can, but if Manchester isn't as much of a success as other events then it's just a sensible business decision to shift things around ..

[stavrosbel]

Personally, I'm rather shocked that it's not been the Glasgow event that hasn't been left at once annually, despite it's strong first year it seems to have taken quite a hit in terms of quality and quantity of guests even before it's second event, something that Manchester seemed to struggle with yes, but alot further on in it's life.

 

Ok, so it might be a case of bad timing to secure anyone more, but what was the reasoning behind the Manchester cancelation?

Edited August 11, 2008 by stavrosb

[petrorabbit]

Im afraid i do not agree David B. that may be how it is, but it is not how it should be.

It should be showmasters job to "sell" the event to stall holders, convince them it will be worth their while. For me the stalls are as important a selling point as the actors.

 

As for notice to guests, surely if you book an actor say 1 year before an event (as is likely now for mcr) then you have more chance of them being availiable than if you were to try and book them with only a few weeks notice. its simple logic really. if they did this they would have "bigger guests" they could then use them as pulling power to get more guests and stall holders.

[Queen_Sindel]

As for notice to guests, surely if you book an actor say 1 year before an event (as is likely now for mcr) then you have more chance of them being availiable than if you were to try and book them with only a few weeks notice. its simple logic really.

 

There's still the chance that an actor may cancel because he gets other projects meanwhile if a guest announcement is made that much in advance. The bigger the guest, the bigger the risk is for that to happen.

[DavidB]

Personally, I'm rather shocked that it's not been the Glasgow event that hasn't been left at once annually, despite it's strong first year it seems to have taken quite a hit in terms of quality and quantity of guests even before it's second event, something that Manchester seemed to struggle with yes, but alot further on in it's life.

 

Ok, so it might be a case of bad timing to secure anyone more, but what was the reasoning behind the Manchester cancelation?

I'm not entirely sure that Glasgow is 'struggling' with guests - rather than Showmasters choose not to have a huge amount of guests, nor overly expensive ones at this moment. Especially after the huge support placed behind LFACC recently. Whether this strategy will work as well as it did the first Glasgow event remains to be seen.

 

The expansion of Glasgow would suggest that SMs see it as a more viable enterprise compared to Manchester, which as far as I know has never been hugely successful (compared to say MK/London) and so they have to do what is best in a business sense for them. Yes, it's bound to annoy people that had Manchester as their local event, but in the end it makes no sense to continue running an event that often if it isn't successful enough.

 

Im afraid i do not agree David B. that may be how it is, but it is not how it should be.

It should be showmasters job to "sell" the event to stall holders, convince them it will be worth their while. For me the stalls are as important a selling point as the actors.

 

As for notice to guests, surely if you book an actor say 1 year before an event (as is likely now for mcr) then you have more chance of them being availiable than if you were to try and book them with only a few weeks notice. its simple logic really. if they did this they would have "bigger guests" they could then use them as pulling power to get more guests and stall holders.

Well in the end, if Showmasters struggle to make the event as successful as they need it to be, then they're going to struggle to convince dealers to come along etc. It's tricky. Whether it's the location, or its place in the calendar alongside other events etc, I have no idea. But I think they're trying to be sensible with it - they clearly want to run Manchester, but just not too often that they run it into the ground and they have to stop it completely.

 

It's not necessarily 'logic' that if you book them earlier, there's more chance of them being available. In fact, surely there's reverse logic in that the later you book them, the less time there is for something to change before the event? But you know, in the end there's always that risk.

 

When they book guests early, and people book based on them, you can get them cancelling and then you get people moaning "you never had them! you just made them up to pull people in!" etc. Or you get people not bothering to come anyway. As far as I'm concerned, there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches to booking/announcing.

[Guest Manga Cosplayer]

With Manchester never having taken off, and other organiser events north of Milton Keynes rarely being successful, there seems not to be enough public interest outside of the South-East. I can't see Manchester surviving in the long run. It was too big too soon, and too far away for many people who would've attended to go.

 

Keeping Collectormania Glasgow small seems to reasonable. Smaller events with lower costs may well be the route events start to take.

[stavrosbel]

With Manchester never having taken off, and other organiser events north of Milton Keynes rarely being successful, there seems not to be enough public interest outside of the South-East. I can't see Manchester surviving in the long run. It was too big too soon, and too far away for many people who would've attended to go.

 

Keeping Collectormania Glasgow small seems to reasonable. Smaller events with lower costs may well be the route events start to take.

 

 

I don't think distance is an issue, if SM get the guests then people come to the event, regardless of their location within the country, sometimes even outside of it - simple.

 

If the turnout for an event is poor, it's not the public's fault. Therefore it isn't on to "pass the buck" as to why the event has slumped.

[pez]

out of everyone that knows of me going to these things almost all of them said that if teh event was closer they would go, regardless of guests, i know at least three people that i work with who would love to have done mk13 or lfcc because f specific guests but know from me that booking on one guest is stupid.

 

smaller local ones makes more sence and expands the posibilitys... owrd gets out and people start to come to them more.

 

there is nothing ( other than a few dr who events) in the area that i live, something small like glasgow would be welcomed and could easaly be grown upon,

manchester is better known now so one a year with good ( or better) guests is a logical step.

[Guest Manga Cosplayer]

With Manchester never having taken off, and other organiser events north of Milton Keynes rarely being successful, there seems not to be enough public interest outside of the South-East. I can't see Manchester surviving in the long run. It was too big too soon, and too far away for many people who would've attended to go.

 

Keeping Collectormania Glasgow small seems to reasonable. Smaller events with lower costs may well be the route events start to take.

 

 

I don't think distance is an issue, if SM get the guests then people come to the event, regardless of their location within the country, sometimes even outside of it - simple.

 

If the turnout for an event is poor, it's not the public's fault. Therefore it isn't on to "pass the buck" as to why the event has slumped.

 

Your first sentence is a huge sweeping statement. Malcolm McDowell was at Manchester last November and turnout was poor. The accuracy of "if SM get the guests then people come to the event" depends on people's perception of those guests. If you're statement was true, then you have to assume most of SM's audience didn't consider Malcolm to be a "big guest". That would be a very sad thing indeed.

 

If the turnout for an event is poor, it's not the public's fault. Therefore it isn't on to "pass the buck" as to why the event has slumped.

 

Would you rather no one took responsibility for finding out why the event has slumped?

 

If Showmasters can't make Collectormania successful in a huge metropolis like Manchester, there are clearly issues somewhere whether they be economic, geographic or demographic.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Manga Cosplayer

[TurkFox]

I have to travel 2 hours to the nearest event anyway. So this is ultra annoying because 2.5hours has become an ultra-expensive 6 OR a fair bit of travelling followed by a flight. So I won't be at the December one, just like I won't be at the one in next week, because it's too far.

 

And putting Manchester and LFCC in the same space of time? Again, not likely to happen financially.

 

I understand why Showmasters have done it, it's just really disappointing for me.

[nosfer2]

Your first sentence is a huge sweeping statement. Malcolm McDowell was at Manchester last November and turnout was poor. The accuracy of "if SM get the guests then people come to the event" depends on people's perception of those guests. If you're statement was true, then you have to assume most of SM's audience didn't consider Malcolm to be a "big guest". That would be a very sad thing indeed.

 

I consider Malcolm McDowell to be a big guest, and wanted to go to the event but thought that he'd be so busy that I'd have a wasted journey (the earliest train I could get would have got me into Manchester just before midday). Now I regret not going, particularly since he cancelled for LFACC.

[ThisCorrosion]

Advertising would have helped a great deal I reckon. I was living in Manchester a year before I even realised thet Collectormania existed and I would have certainly gone to previous events had I known about them.

[vintageSW77]

Im looking at pics of the Glasgow event over the web and if you look at whats going on in the background it seems like there wasnt a lot going on there really.

Maybe it was the the fact that most of the guests appearing there are pretty much regulars at the shows nowadays and is there really anyone out there without Martina Sirtis autograph? ...ive seen her in person more than ive seen my own mother this year.

 

Manchester wasnt exactly buzzing last time but i do think the wrong city got the bums rush.

Edited August 24, 2008 by vintageSW77

[pez]

glasgow wasn't crazy busy and it died off a bit at the end but i can see why they have decided to do another in december, the dealers did well there was a lot of through traffic in the center and the guests went down well all weekend. maybe after december the call will be made that gets glasgow only once a year who knows.

 

but the whole point is they have to try diffrent things at diftent times of year to find out what works well where.

 

if once a year doesnt work for manchester maybe they will go to two again.

 

but in the early days of shows its always going to be testing the water.

[DavidB]

Plus they have to weigh up the costs etc. We don't know how much the Glasgow place costs to hire compared to Manchester, and they seem to be able to get away with a smaller (and presumably far cheaper) guest list up there than they had at Manchester events.

 

So while on the surface it may not seem as busy, it could easily work out more successful based on less expenses, and happier dealers etc .. if that is the case of course. It's purely speculative, but it does show that there's a lot that needs to be considered in such a decision.

[killerinc1234]

as much as it doesnt look busy in glasgow by 1pm you couldnt move through the stall areas without pushing and just about all the talks the seats were full granted it took a while to build up on the sunday but even sm said it was a success again which is why they will be back in dec with bigger guests, maybe manchester is too expensive for them or simply lack of interest from the HOME crowd(not always due to guests) but at the end of the day its what works best for sm

[petrorabbit]

I have a great dislike for any guests who agree to appear at a con and then cancel for something else. Usualy its an acting gig.

We are the fans, the audience. without us, they would have no job.

I totally understand why certain actors never do cons, but the ones who do have a responsibility to appear when they agree to. There is a large amount planning that many of us go to to attend these cons on the basis of a single name. Acting may be their first job, but once you agree to do something, you should do it. If something else, barring,comes up you should refuse because you have prior arrangements. Its simple politeness.

[chrisrus]

I have a great dislike for any guests who agree to appear at a con and then cancel for something else. Usualy its an acting gig.

We are the fans, the audience. without us, they would have no job.

I totally understand why certain actors never do cons, but the ones who do have a responsibility to appear when they agree to. There is a large amount planning that many of us go to to attend these cons on the basis of a single name. Acting may be their first job, but once you agree to do something, you should do it. If something else, barring,comes up you should refuse because you have prior arrangements. Its simple politeness.

 

 

I dont agree with this if an actor ends up getting a acting job this should come first. Basically if an actor has agreed to come and they get offered job like say in the new james bond film they should turn it down cause they have a con to go to. i dont think so.

[nosfer2]

I have a great dislike for any guests who agree to appear at a con and then cancel for something else. Usualy its an acting gig.

We are the fans, the audience. without us, they would have no job.

I totally understand why certain actors never do cons, but the ones who do have a responsibility to appear when they agree to. There is a large amount planning that many of us go to to attend these cons on the basis of a single name. Acting may be their first job, but once you agree to do something, you should do it. If something else, barring,comes up you should refuse because you have prior arrangements. Its simple politeness.

 

There's a clue in the job title: 'actor'. Not 'convention guest'. Acting should always be their priority, otherwise they risk losing their acting career.

[vintageSW77]

There's a clue in the job title: 'actor'. Not 'convention guest'. Acting should always be their priority, otherwise they risk losing their acting career.

 

 

Most of the attendees have had their time in the limelight and all they have left is memories of past glories...hey maybe im wrong maybe there is big bucks in small time theatre,panto and minor parts in straight to dvd corkers with titles such as FIRE SERPENT,TWISTERS and the like .

I dunno what choice id make if i was an actor who hadnt had a decent job since say for example Buffy finished

- do some straight to dvd crap that nobody will watch for a bit of cash

or

- spend a day with fans who are mostly pleasant,exciteable and interested in you ....for a bit of cash

sure not all these fans have great social skills and some have SERIOUS hygiene issues but they are your fans and they whilst not having a hold on you they are partly responsible for the glory days of yesteryear

e.g those ratings that got you a second or if lucky third,fourth and highly unlikely 6th "season"

 

I can understand say if the likes of John Hurt pulled out of a con but the rest?

Blockbuster is full of straight to DVD crap....do they really need more of that on their CV?

Edited September 28, 2008 by vintageSW77