Discussion about the new venue

[Flibble]

I am surprised that Showmasters have decided to move the event to the MK Dons stadium.

 

I can see their reasons behind it, if the owners of the MK shopping centre want to cut down on the space that they allow them to use etc, and if they want to have bigger name guests that they can guarantee their security etc and introduce guest talks to the event, but like many others have said I like it being held at the shopping centre as there is so much to do between the time it tales the virtual ticket number you have to come round.

 

If the guests are good, I still think people will attend.

[sith lord of the north]

 

 

If the guests are good, I still think people will attend.

 

 

That's the key. I've been to several Collectormania's at The Centre:MK that haven't had a line-up that really appeals to me. Because of the lay-out and free entry that was never a problem - and I always ended up getting a sig or two from some of the guests that I wouldn't have really thought about if I hadn't been there.

 

Good guests will guarantee people go to Franchise FC's stadium, but a run of the mill line-up like C14 will just encourage people to save up for other events like LFACC.

[vala]

*blink*

 

amanda tapping?

 

sweet!

[Wyn]

hmm i'm really dissapointed the thing i loved about collectormania was that it was at the shopping centre now it'll just be the same as all the others.

[dancingman1983]

Generaly People never like change at first, I'll wait and see what actually happens in June and who's attending before making my opinion.

 

from all the previous posts I belive people say its still free entry which is good I have a hard enough time saving for autographs as it is. As people have already said it was nice to walk around the shops and grab a sandwich from boots when there's a long wait between ques.

 

Anyhow before that still got Sunday to make the most out of it all.

[thehappycobbler]

Well after seeing the posters today at CM14 about the move to Franchise FC's stadium for CM15, I have positives and negatives on this issue.

 

It will be a real shame to see it leave the CMK shopping centre, which gives the show character, and with the shops being there it is nice to go off and shop/browse for other stuff. Plus you have the massive range of food outlets, meaning it is easier to get a decent and affordable bite to eat.

 

The shopping centre is all central in Milton Keynes, and it is within easy walk/bus ride from the central station.

 

The move could well harm the traders/dealers, what with the passing trade they get from the ordinary shoppers, who just go for a browse round.

& to see the flip-side It could will also cut exposure for the ordinary people who just have a browse round. I have several friends, workmates, who will go look round the stalls/ look at the stars because it is conveniently in the shopping centre. I do not believe they would drive to the stadium to specifically go to the show.

 

On to the stadium and its surroundings, I have been there once (to see the mighty Cobblers lose to the Franchise ). For those with cars, there is a massive amount of parking right outside. Bletchley Train Station is the closest main rail link which is around 25 minutes walk to the stadium. In terms of shopping - IKEA and Asda, are right next to the stadium. While Tesco's, Boots and several other large retail shops are a short walk away. There is not much in terms of food outlets though.

 

Obviously it won't be the shopping centre, but in terms of size, the venue will be bigger, and hopefully this will lead to bigger stars being booked, and ultimately it will lead to the progression of the event - As previously mentioned in this thread, the guest talks could come back, and there will be more space for the photo shoots. Perhaps there could be also be a viewing area with TV screens, where they screen trailers for Films/TV Shows, perhaps even show sneak preview episodes of new series of TV shows, if this could be arranged? Or a chill-out area, where people can rest there weary limbs after walking about, and chat to fellow conventioneers!

 

To conclude, it will be a shame to see it leave the shopping centre, but things change and need to progress, and until its happened, we will not know if its a hit or a miss. Enjoy the rest of this weekend at CM and then roll on June next year!!

[thesteveyoung]

I'm also off the mind that it is a shame to move collectormania from the shopping centre. There is always stuff to do up there whilst waiting to meet guests.

 

However on the plus side the dons stadium is walking distance from my house.

[Psychosis]

Personally, the only thing that bothers me is the lack of hotel space nearby. I don't have a car. This is going to mean lots of taxis for me. That wouldn't be quite so bad if it was still in a shopping centre - but for example at Manchester and London I usually pop in and out of the event to and from my hotel, and for lack of a better word, I can imagine feeling "stranded" at the new stadium.

 

With that said, I'm happy to wait and see how it goes. If it opens interesting new opportunities I'm sure it'll be more than worth it - it will just mean a few less autographs or photoshoots to cover taxi costs.

[chuckie101]

I think it will be a shame to move from the centre because, as others have mentioned, it is handy to have a browse in the shops once you've browsed the stalls and are waiting for VT numbers to come up etc.

Having said that the return of free talks as the new venue allows for this is great news, and will surely fill in some of the free time we're now left with.

Also, I don't think the decision to move was entirely down to the organisers (if it was their decision at all...) - have had my ear to the ground today, and apparently the centre are building a big store in the hall where we descend twice a year.

[Queen_Sindel]

Personally, the only thing that bothers me is the lack of hotel space nearby. I don't have a car. This is going to mean lots of taxis for me. That wouldn't be quite so bad if it was still in a shopping centre - but for example at Manchester and London I usually pop in and out of the event to and from my hotel, and for lack of a better word, I can imagine feeling "stranded" at the new stadium.

 

There was a bus service organised by Showmasters mentioned in other posts, probably same way they are doing things at Midlands.

[Psychosis]

Personally, the only thing that bothers me is the lack of hotel space nearby. I don't have a car. This is going to mean lots of taxis for me. That wouldn't be quite so bad if it was still in a shopping centre - but for example at Manchester and London I usually pop in and out of the event to and from my hotel, and for lack of a better word, I can imagine feeling "stranded" at the new stadium.

 

There was a bus service organised by Showmasters mentioned in other posts, probably same way they are doing things at Midlands.

 

Yeah but that's to/from the train station at Midlands, no? I'd be in a hotel.

[Queen_Sindel]

The Travelodge in Milton Keynes is just across the road from the train station where the bus service would be running from if I remember the post right. That would be closer than let's say the Travel Inn is to the Centre.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Queen_Sindel

[TommyT]

The Travelodge in Milton Keynes is just across the road from the train station where the bus service would be running from if I remember the post right. That would be closer than let's say the Travel Inn is to the Centre.

True, but a three and a half mile busride, half of which is through town, is going to take ten minutes. Allowing for making sure you are at the bus stop in time not to miss it, that really means 15 minutes. So, "popping back to you hotel" and back again takes half an hour, plus you are constrained by when you can go by the bus timetable. If you just want to pop back to dump off a load of stuff and maybe grab something else or quickly freshen up, it could be that you have to wait half an hour or an hour for the bus back to the venue, meaning that it'll take 60 or 90 minutes out of your time at the show. Somewhat different from a hotel 5 minutes walk away where you can pop out and back and be back in the show in 10 or 15 minutes. Certainly it's likely that you'll need a taxi one way at least, and even then you're still losing about half an hour.

Not the end of the world, I'll grant you, and not something insuperable, but it's difficult to see it as anything except a disadvantage to those who do this sort of thing.

 

All of which becomes a bit irrelevant if the situation was/is that they can no longer really have the shows in the shopping centre. If the centre management (and indeed health and safety) are suggesting that the show is making certain areas too congested and they wanted to place restrictions, then there's not much option is there?

[tiggerific]

One question no one has asked yet.....

Where are SM going to get the photo's developed?

Will wait until I've been to the new venue before making judgment, but do like the shopping center as you can browse around and you have a bigger choice for food.

[Rockstar6662]

Also, I don't think the decision to move was entirely down to the organisers (if it was their decision at all...) - have had my ear to the ground today, and apparently the centre are building a big store in the hall where we descend twice a year.

 

really? after all these years they're going to fill that spece in? but they use it for so many different things over the year surely they would have done that before now?

 

Talks are ok, some are good but don't forget that if they're during the day they do take away from the signing time and people already complain enough about certain guests not being there for long enough. I used to like the evening sessions at earlier collectormanias although again, at the shopping center you had places to hang out while waiting.

 

I did suspect there was possibly some underlying reason why it needed to be moved. I don't think the security argument on it's own would have been enough as that could easily be dealt with by putting the bigger guests down the side aisles of John Lewis where the causal passers-by don't really go. Plenty of space for queues without getting in the way of the shoppers and causing huge blockages etc around the main area.

 

I'll wait and see what the new arrangement will be like but I do think a lot of what makes this such a unique and fun event will be lost in the process and it'll just become like any other and it's clear a lot of people on here, including some of the regulars, are already being put off by this change which is a real pity.

[gazznewbie]

New venue, personally about time

 

I hate Milton Keynes venue on a saturday and sometimes Sunday Mornings with all the crowds and people getting in the way

 

I was at Milton Keynes myself yesterday, yes several of the stall holders were moaning about moving

 

loosing out on passing trade etc

 

do passing trade actually buy anything ? or get in the way of us who are ?

 

these events work in London etc and the stall holders keep coming every year

so they can't be doing to bad can they !

 

as far as getting autographs I think new venue should be a lot better

 

its not fun lining up for autographs with all the people doing their saturday shopping gawping and taking photos of you on their mobiles as you meet the guests

 

genuine visitors should be given as pleasant a time as possible with their heroes

 

its a very expensive hobby and usually such a brief experience so the fans who are paying should get the best experience possible with their heroes

 

s** the saturday shoppers wishes

 

if you want to get on the bus buy a ticket

 

a few fans appear to have mixed feelings about the move

 

have they ever been to a london one ? they are so much better and not held in a shopping centre

 

>>>>

 

On the new map of stadium venue for next event I noticed there are "A Guest" locations

 

is that a good idea

 

I hope A guests dont get even more up on themselves and refuse photos etc etc as a basic thing because they are A's

 

some are bad enough without encouraging them

 

all guests are guests not a good idea to categorise them as better because they have been in more films/series

 

and all guests are A's or No interest to different people depending on their likes and dislikes

 

personally my experiences with people who I would presume as A Guests

 

havent been that great, they hardly speak or look at you

 

no photos, no character names etc etc

 

yet want higher fee

 

perhaps all A Guests should be downgraded till they up their performance

 

and A Guests can only be nominated as A's by the fans who see them

 

A Fan grading perhaps rather than Organisers licking up to some of them

 

so to start of based on my visit yesterday then

 

A Guests - Amber Benson, Mercedes Mcnab

Happy Cheerfull and chatty and happily posed for pics at the table

Amber even put her arm round me and I have actually seen her before in London

and she was just as nice then

 

B Guests - Denise Crosby and Morena Baccarin

I would really have liked to put both above, both were chatty and nice

but neither allowed Pics at the table although allowed pics of them

I was told I could get posed photo at weekend which as we know involves more money

thus for prely this reason I have make them B's

Sorry Denise and Morena but had to do it

 

and from previous events ive been to

 

C guests Carrie Fisher, Patrick Stewart they did speak but no photos or character names allowed

 

D Guests (lowest level) William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy, John De Lancie

 

and any new guests on their first events classed as Trainees / Apprentices or something

 

Ive seen loads of others over the last few years since being a newbie

but just wanted to put a few in each category

 

>>>>

 

Amanda Tapping First Guest for new venue is she actually likey to come this time ?

 

you heard it here first Amanda Tapping cancels due to other commitments

 

saves hearing it in June a few days before the event !

 

>>>>

 

Over to the rest of you

[TommyT]

Also, I don't think the decision to move was entirely down to the organisers (if it was their decision at all...) - have had my ear to the ground today, and apparently the centre are building a big store in the hall where we descend twice a year.

really? after all these years they're going to fill that spece in? but they use it for so many different things over the year surely they would have done that before now?

Continued demand for additional retail space that can't be met simply by turnover of existing units? Change in planning laws or local planning policy that previously prevented building there? expiry of some clause in the original lease which provided for a certain amount of open space for a number of years? change of centre ownership or management philosophy leading to a shift in emphasis from perhaps a more "pleasant" open-space approach to a maximisation of revenue-earning retail space? Could be any number of reasons. Is there another shopping development nearby (even within 30 miles)? Sometimes new competition, or threatened new competition makes existing establishments renew or refresh themselves in a bid to maintain their market share. If it's a sizeable store they're building there, it may have been done to stop the intended new tenants of that store developing elsewhere - "don't go and build a big new store on the edge of town and stick a load of other stores there with you, it'll only split the trade between us; you can have this big new flagship premises we're developing smack in the middle of our existing centre, with a proven and near-guaranteed footfall".

[Manbeast]

One question no one has asked yet.....

Where are SM going to get the photo's developed?

Will wait until I've been to the new venue before making judgment, but do like the shopping center as you can browse around and you have a bigger choice for food.

 

I don't think Costco is too far away by car, and they are brilliant and developing. Asda also has a photo-lab.

[Queen_Sindel]

True, but a three and a half mile busride, half of which is through town, is going to take ten minutes. Allowing for making sure you are at the bus stop in time not to miss it, that really means 15 minutes. So, "popping back to you hotel" and back again takes half an hour, plus you are constrained by when you can go by the bus timetable. If you just want to pop back to dump off a load of stuff and maybe grab something else or quickly freshen up, it could be that you have to wait half an hour or an hour for the bus back to the venue, meaning that it'll take 60 or 90 minutes out of your time at the show. Somewhat different from a hotel 5 minutes walk away where you can pop out and back and be back in the show in 10 or 15 minutes. Certainly it's likely that you'll need a taxi one way at least, and even then you're still losing about half an hour.

Not the end of the world, I'll grant you, and not something insuperable, but it's difficult to see it as anything except a disadvantage to those who do this sort of thing.

 

Of course you're right with that. Probably I don't feel this is too much of a problem because the same thing would happen to you if you made a decision to attend too late and couldn't get a hotel room near the Centre anymore.

 

Especially for the Travel Inn it was a big problem if you didn't reserve a room right away for the following event when you left the current one. With the Ramada and the Jurys Inn opening the situation got much better, but before it was pretty extreme.

 

EDITED to add: I've changed the topic title for now as the discussion is mainly about the new venue now and has shifted from the original question about guests.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Queen_Sindel

[BN7]

I'm disappointed that Collectormania MK is moving to the Dons stadium. I was there on day one in Centre MK (or Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre as it was at the time) and I'll be there tomorrow for its last day. I've also been to Collectormania Midlands, Manchester and Glasgow, LFCC in its different locations and even go to "that one at the NEC". MK always had a nice different feeling about it.

 

Milton Keynes always appealed as it had something nice to offer because it was different. Entry fee was never a factor for me, it was the fact there is so much opportunity to do other things in between that made MK in my opinon the best of the Collectormanias. Costa and John Lewis were easy access, and if you didn't mind a short walk then pretty much every other kind of food was in reach.

 

At the Dons, you have got an Asda and an Ikea over the road, though they're not immediately accessible on foot and it'll be miserable if its raining. What I'll miss is the ability to make an impulse decision or cross shop between food shops if say one fancys a Burger King and the other a KFC or some chips and a hot dog from the market. Football stadium catering is usually overpriced and poor quality. Tesco is in Bletchley itself which isn't easy to walk to or find if you don't know the area, and yes the guys who are saying Bletchley train station is closest are right. Again though, not an easy walk around MKs roundabouts, subways and dual carriageways to get to.

 

I'm deliberately avoiding talking about who's decision it was, or how it came about because that isn't really what bothers me. I just think we've come to the end of an era, and that makes me sad.

[rainbowsparkle]

Well, sadly, I don't think I'll be going any more. The whole appeal for me was being able to nip back to my hotel to rest (I have an illness that can make me very tired sometimes) and also being able to save money on transport because everything was in walking distance. I also liked being able to browse the shops if the guest areas got too crowded and the fact that I could find something suitable to eat within the shopping centre (I have allergies). I'd have to carry food around with me to make sure I had something appropriate if I went to the new venue and that raises a whole new set of pains in the a**e.

 

Anyhoo...

[gobo1979uk]

YAY! I might actually go to a collectormania again then if the venue changes. MK Centre has never worked as well as other venues that showmasters used.

[redArrow]

If the move means we can have Q&A sessions, then I think it's a good thing. Especially if we get Michael Rosenbaum

[Doctor Who]

Any news on next summer's Collectormania Manchester? By the way, I hope you've all had great days there on Friday and today and I hope all who go enjoy their time there tomorrow.

Edited September 27, 2008 by Doctor Who

[jayjedi]

its free to get in, free parking ( spent £5 today) and its next to ikea and other shopping parks. ikea have the cheapest food ( £ 2 for hotdog and chips and as many refils of drink as you want plus if you want to go shopping and come back as its free. cant wait