GUEST CANCELLATION SYLVESTER MCCOY

[showmasters]

you coming to an event jason

 

i'm shocked and appalled by this sort of behavior

 

next you'll be telling us you'll be wearing a bright shirt so every one can find you easily

 

 

yes i will be there i am looking forward to it in fact the events are still a lot more fun

 

see you there

 

my shirts are not bright its your shirts that are dull

 

take care mate

 

jason

[TommyT]

sorry just felt a bit silly and like having a bit of fun TommyT thanks mate

No offence taken, squire

[barni]

i just looked up "Perpetual" and his old posts and he is the wast of time that was "HazaRaza7" that created issues for us on here for the last event

 

And he did not event tern up to the last show so he's just here to upset people

 

just thought i would let you know

 

jason

 

What a tosspot. There's nothing I detest more than sh@tstirrers who do it for no other reason than to cause upset. There's nothing constructive about it.

[gahab13]

For a small event with 11 guests its a decently varied lineup of guests. consider that midlands had almost 40 guests and what happened there I think we will find glasgow to be a success once again.

 

having been to london/mk/manchester/coventry i just want question whether glasgow will ever grow to the size of these other events. i'd be very happy to go to 3 or 4 glasgow shows a year and save a lot of money.

 

does sm actually plan to let the glasgow show grow? personally there has always been guests worth travelling to glasgow for, but for regulars of other shows they probably look at glasgow guests and think 'oh, i met them like 3 times already' and thats why they wont come.

 

I'd like to see a spring/summer event at glasgow next year, any chances?

 

on the sylvester and warwick cancellations, i know its not sm's fault but i said this about dwight (who waited 8 months and then cancelled to do another convention) but i dont think warwick should be invited back to glasgow. yes i know i'm probably alone in that, but hes cancelled twice in a row and i feel its a waste of everyones time when sm could be announcing guests who actually want to be there. the fact that were losing guests to pantomime says something. even craig is doing panto, in fact i'm surprised he will be there as he is doing panto that weekend, sunday must be his day off.

 

anyways, just my opinion. its pretty simple for me, if theres guests i want to meet and i have the money then i'll go, if theres no guests i want to meet then i wont go.

 

roll on saturday!

Edited November 30, 2008 by gahab13

[barni]

Look at it this way - Glasgow isn't just a Glasgow event - it's the only SCOTTISH event. How many does England have? I think the 'Glasgow' event deserves a little more respect from those who keep saying it will never be as big as London or whatever. Why not? I take it as an insult when people regard the Glasgow event as a small event. I reiterate it's the ONLY event in Scotland.

[snedders]

Look at it this way - Glasgow isn't just a Glasgow event - it's the only SCOTTISH event. How many does England have? I think the 'Glasgow' event deserves a little more respect from those who keep saying it will never be as big as London or whatever. Why not? I take it as an insult when people regard the Glasgow event as a small event. I reiterate it's the ONLY event in Scotland.

 

 

WELL SAID, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH ALL YOUR COMMENTS

[yesindeed]

FREEDOM!

[Lizzy]

Look at it this way - Glasgow isn't just a Glasgow event - it's the only SCOTTISH event. How many does England have? I think the 'Glasgow' event deserves a little more respect from those who keep saying it will never be as big as London or whatever. Why not? I take it as an insult when people regard the Glasgow event as a small event. I reiterate it's the ONLY event in Scotland.

 

 

Ok, thats what I was trying to say in my other post lol... Just kinda more long winded n stuff and obv it didn't make as much sense as it did in my head

[Reverend Scapegoat]

I agree with Barni - It's still early days for Collectormania Glasgow, and whilst it's true that there have been teething troubles, in my opinion none of them are insurmountable and they all give us lessons to learn for next time.

 

So long as Showmasters continue to listen to the public, and to take on board the suggestions and offers of assistance from those of us "on the ground" - the grunts, as it were, who have the local knowledge and passion for the scene to make sure that the CM events are as big as they can be, we can all work together to grow Collectormania Glasgow into something amazing.

 

It IS the only event of its kind in Scotland and I have no doubt that Showmasters want it to be as big a success as we all do.

 

I do think that a guest-less Friday is a mistake, unless there's been some huge discount blagged by SM for hall hire the cash would logically have been better spent on the Saturday and Sunday, but we'll find out if that's the case or not in a few days - Worst case is no Friday next August, right?

Since Jason's already confirmed CM:G:4, we take all the lessons learned at 1 2 and 3 and top them all with Episode IV - Which always was better than I II and III

[Lizzy]

I do think that a guest-less Friday is a mistake,

 

Dirk and Blakes 7 lady I think will be there on Fri...

[Reverend Scapegoat]

I do think that a guest-less Friday is a mistake,

 

Dirk and Blakes 7 lady I think will be there on Fri...

 

 

My bad, never noticed "All Days". Sorry.

 

I still can't see the Friday being too busy, and reckon resources would have been better put into Sat and Sun.

[yesindeed]

i don't think the friday will be too busy

 

i'll be there at the A1 stand(s)

 

come say hi, i'll be the younger one

[Reverend Scapegoat]

i don't think the friday will be too busy

 

i'll be there at the A1 stand(s)

 

come say hi, i'll be the younger one

 

 

No way!

Any time I go near David I start figuring I'd be as well just giving him my bank card an PIN to save time!

[yesindeed]

i don't think the friday will be too busy

 

i'll be there at the A1 stand(s)

 

come say hi, i'll be the younger one

 

 

No way!

Any time I go near David I start figuring I'd be as well just giving him my bank card an PIN to save time!

 

i'm the same mate, i worked last show and ended up payin him £90 for it

 

will prob be worse this time

[MikeDonovan]

Jason has a point about the fact that since those quotes were posted, things have changed somewhat. The banking industry has taken a larger hit than at any time since 1929, and despite what you read in the Daily Mail (or the Daily Record for that matter) it's not just the "fat cats" who are feeling the pinch. This will, and is starting to, reverberate throughout the entire economy. The banks may have been recapitalized, but there's no way they're going to start lending again while the FSA puts such unrealistic controls on their tier 1 capital ratios, and the government makes unreasonable demands such as "no dividends" (i.e. "FIs will not buy your shares"). This is one of the many reasons why Barclays Capital chose to take "Arabian" money at 14% rather than UK Government money at 11%. And if the banks cut off credit lines, or make them too expensive, then businesses start to fail.

 

Like many Woolworths has a lot of nostalgia for me, but they've been a "zombie" firm for several years, held up by their entertainment distribution business and irresponsible bank lending. They're not the only ones to start feeling the pinch now that money is "more expensive" - more and more firms are going to fail (some would argue maybe they should), and John Q. Public is going to reign in his spending and start to deleverage (in layman's terms this means start paying off his credit). That means lower till receipts combined with a lack of easy short term funding, and those two together mean failed companies and redundancies. This together with household deleveraging means that the market for these shows are going to drop, no question. On top of all of this, cable (the GBP/USD FX rate) is not what it was 12 months ago, so American guests are more expensive in real terms.

 

So, all in all it's probably prudent to think about running a tight, small scale event rather than going mental and taking huge risks. One thing I will say is this - the banks have pretty much sorted themselves out now, believe me - for them, the worst of it is over, or at least is known. The only possible exception is Hedge Funds attempting to take advantage of the volatility to move markets (i.e. what happened with VW), but frankly, that's their problem. I'd be surprised if 20% of the Hedge Funds around in 2008 will survive into 2010, and in some respects that may be no bad thing.

 

The real issue now, and this always the case, is the effect that this is going to have on the wider economy. 2009 is going to be a lean year in many respects - it'll be 2010 before the economy as a whole starts dusting itself off.

[yesindeed]

Jason has a point about the fact that since those quotes were posted, things have changed somewhat. The banking industry has taken a larger hit than at any time since 1929, and despite what you read in the Daily Mail (or the Daily Record for that matter) it's not just the "fat cats" who are feeling the pinch. This will, and is starting to, reverberate throughout the entire economy. The banks may have been recapitalized, but there's no way they're going to start lending again while the FSA puts such unrealistic controls on their tier 1 capital ratios, and the government makes unreasonable demands such as "no dividends" (i.e. "FIs will not buy your shares"). This is one of the many reasons why Barclays Capital chose to take "Arabian" money at 14% rather than UK Government money at 11%. And if the banks cut off credit lines, or make them too expensive, then businesses start to fail.

 

Like many Woolworths has a lot of nostalgia for me, but they've been a "zombie" firm for several years, held up by their entertainment distribution business and irresponsible bank lending. They're not the only ones to start feeling the pinch now that money is "more expensive" - more and more firms are going to fail (some would argue maybe they should), and John Q. Public is going to reign in his spending and start to deleverage (in layman's terms this means start paying off his credit). That means lower till receipts combined with a lack of easy short term funding, and those two together mean failed companies and redundancies. This together with household deleveraging means that the market for these shows are going to drop, no question. On top of all of this, cable (the GBP/USD FX rate) is not what it was 12 months ago, so American guests are more expensive in real terms.

 

So, all in all it's probably prudent to think about running a tight, small scale event rather than going mental and taking huge risks. One thing I will say is this - the banks have pretty much sorted themselves out now, believe me - for them, the worst of it is over, or at least is known. The only possible exception is Hedge Funds attempting to take advantage of the volatility to move markets (i.e. what happened with VW), but frankly, that's their problem. I'd be surprised if 20% of the Hedge Funds around in 2008 will survive into 2010, and in some respects that may be no bad thing.

 

The real issue now, and this always the case, is the effect that this is going to have on the wider economy. 2009 is going to be a lean year in many respects - it'll be 2010 before the economy as a whole starts dusting itself off.

 

no offense mate, but if you had seen Braehead Shopping Center yesterday and today you'ld never belive there was a credit crunch

 

it will be even busier next week i can guarantee that, and thats not even with the event on

[showmasters]

Look at it this way - Glasgow isn't just a Glasgow event - it's the only SCOTTISH event. How many does England have? I think the 'Glasgow' event deserves a little more respect from those who keep saying it will never be as big as London or whatever. Why not? I take it as an insult when people regard the Glasgow event as a small event. I reiterate it's the ONLY event in Scotland.

 

 

WELL SAID, I TOTALLY AGREE WITH ALL YOUR COMMENTS

 

 

yes well people do not see the bigger seen when we started the 1st collectormaina it was small with less guests and traders than the 1st Glasgow event , we know we can grow this event but we need to do it slowly and thats just what we are doing

 

in the end the people that want to just have a go will just go but the event will get bigger and better in time

 

so do not bight it only feed people

 

now on with the show

 

see you there

 

jason

[MikeDonovan]

no offense mate, but if you had seen Braehead Shopping Center yesterday and today you'ld never belive there was a credit crunch

 

it will be even busier next week i can guarantee that, and thats not even with the event on

 

Well if that's true that will help this event to be a success. I was down the West End today (London), and it was looking pretty busy - plenty of punters - which is all good. What concerns me is a) how much they were actually *buying*, and b ) what the stores had to do to get them through the door. Some of the tactics being used are not sustainable - i.e. insane price cuts. We'll see how it pans out. The truth is, what we need right now is for people to throw prudence out of the window and spend like maniacs. Alistair Darling's current love of John Maynard Keynes certainly suggests he thinks they will. I hope he's right.

Edited December 1, 2008 by MikeDonovan

[TommyT]

Couldn't agree with Mike Donovan's two posts more. And the thing to remember is this is the end of November, three and a half weeks to Christmas and all that malarkey. By right, the shopping centres would be full anyway. The fact that the stores are chucking round 20%,30%, 40% and even 50% off to get punters in at a time when they would normally be swarming in anyway has to be a worry, (1) in that you need to have such deals at this time of the year and (2) the fact that in many cases this isn't a sustainable financial model for the retailers. And as Mike says, there's a heck of a difference between people going to the shops, and people buying as much at the shops as they did last year.

[barni]

woolworths

 

Woolworths

 

To Be Honest..... meh!

 

Woolworths Schoolworths. What have Woolworths got to do with a convention?

 

Ok Jason, I'm aware that you're only using woolworths as an example of the negative effects of the credit crunch. Sorry if I sound sceptical here but, if the credit crunch is to blame, since an announcement was made that the guests would be bigger and better in December, a similar updated announcement explaining that the credit crunch would now affect the event could have been made before now. I know you don't like to announce that an event which promised 'big' names would now NOT be able to do so, but I'm sure the majority of people would respect the honesty and would perhaps even make a point of supporting the event under the circumstances, after all the credit crunch is a national crisis that affects everyone so I doubt anyone would blame you for holding/cutting back.

 

In my opinion I don't think the guests are that bad actually, just not as big as we had anticipated. As I said earlier, as a loyal member of the forum I personally will still support the event as will many lurkers who don't post on the forum. but equally there are many lurkers and regular posters who won't come, simply because Glasgow seems to be regarded as a low priority event and promises of big guests aren't being delivered despite previous announcements. To some people this sort of thing has the danger of looking like a marketing ploy and a desperate attempt to sell advance tickets and the general public don't like being duped. Not my own opinion but evidently the opinion of some fellow loyal members of the forum. One must remember that every member of this forum is a potential paying customer and their feedback whether positive or negative should be acknowledged and respected.

 

I would hate for the Glasgow event to be a failure and hope the organisers will recognise that that might be down to the lack of major celebs rather than due to lack of interest for 'conventions' persay.

 

I will shut up now 'cos I don't want to put anyone off coming, on the contrary, I hope my fellow scots and fans of these events will come along and support the event even if to ensure and show the organisers that we want this event to work and in the process will prove that we in Scotland are just as worthy of A listers like Richard Dreyfuss and Ernest Borgnine too. I hope my comments are seen as respectful and honest constructive criticism and not regarded as insults or sh*tstirring and shot down as anti showmasters comments because that is not the case.

 

do not bight it only feed people

 

I really hope you weren't referring to me just because the batman agreed with my comment. Discrediting my dismay at the current service isn't the answer to the problem so please don't tar us all with the same brush. If your comment wasn't directed at me I apologise but it looks that way from where I'm sitting as the only comment the batman made in this thread was in response to what I said earlier. Not everyone who makes negative comments are doing so just to make showmasters look bad. As a regular member of your forum and longtime supporter of your events ( Like many others I too was a longtime lurker before posting) I would like to think you recognise my comments as 'constructive' and 'mature' rather than 'offensive'. I'd much raher be sayimg this in a private message or email but going on previous experience this is the only way to ensure that you will hear my voice and opinion.

 

Help us to help you Jason. A good start would be to have someone with some sort of clout man your email and telephone correspondance. Someone who can answer our queries rather than make false promises to us that someone will be in touch. That's simply bad business. Sorry to highlight this on the forum but it's clearly not just me who's wasted their time and been left looking like a fool because of poor communication. I may be classed as 'just a forum member' but as I've said in several emails and phone calls to your office since before the Glasgow event in August, being a professional in the business I could have helped provide you with affordable and popular guests for this event without the hassle of agency/management fees and with no personal gain to me other than the satisfaction of knowing I had done something to help support the event. If I were a professional representative of these people I'd have given up with you months ago due to your lack of correspondance. First impressions count and all that. In my case, my emails and calls were never even acknowledged let alone addressed.

 

Sorry to convey my feelings in such a public way but since you don't respond to emails or calls this seems to be the only sure way of conveying our honest feelings to you. I hope I've made it clear that my objective is not to put people off coming but to give you honest feedback from many people on this forum who feel the same way but are too frightended to speak up for fear of causing offence and having their heads bitten off for speaking up as happens all the time here.

 

I may be opinionated but I'm only trying to be brutally honest. I do have the utmost respect for the work and committment the crew put into the showmasters events and I agree that you can't please everybody all the time which is soul destrying at times and I hope we can finally meet up for a chat at the Glasgow event Jason. I'm a decent guy and loyal supporter of your events - not a trouble maker or representative of a rival company out to destroy your reputation. Just ask yesindeed.. he's met me. Hell I even like Lizzy now and that's saying something.

 

PS

 

will you be wearing THAT green shirt again?

Edited December 1, 2008 by Barni

[gahab13]

wow, i didnt think mcoys cancellation would start a debate on the foibles of capitalism. i still shop in woolies often as they have cheap dvds and stuff, so it will be sad to see it go, like it was john menzies.

 

this show has been hit worse by the pantomime season more than the current economic climate. most us geeks live outside the realms of high street capitalism and if i want to buy a new buffy figure then i dont need to check the F.T. to see if I can afford it, I just go to the cash machine.

 

we'll find out next december at glasgow if the 'great depression' has cast its shadow over the country, untill then i'll by jumping for joy at all the bargains i've been finding recently.

 

credit crunch schmedit crunch.

 

more to the point of topic, mccoy knew he was doing panto at least as early as september and it doesnt even start till the 10th Dec.

Edited December 1, 2008 by gahab13

[TommyT]

this show has been hit worse by the pantomime season more than the current economic climate. most us geeks live outside the realms of high street capitalism and if i want to buy a new buffy figure then i dont need to check the F.T. to see if I can afford it, I just go to the cash machine.

Speak for yourself kemo sabe. If it wasn't for the reference to a cash machine, I'd have assumed you were some sort of hunter-gatherer who participates in a primitive barter system, if you are so insulated from the realms of high street capitalism. The staff of Woolworths and MFI alone number tens of thousands - so nobody here is employed by them or dependent upon them? There are over one thousand non-food retailing companies that have gone bust this year - so none of them employed any geeks? There's a hell of a lot more retailers who are still in business (some only just) who have laid people off. There are also a heck of a lot of other companies who are shedding employees. None of them geeks? Every working day for the last fortnight I've had a different person I know contact me to say they had been let go.

I congratulate you on the fact that you have been completely unaffected by this. I just find your being so smug about it a tad offensive.

[barni]

wow, i didnt think mcoys cancellation would start a debate on the foibles of capitalism.

 

my comment has nothing to do with capitalism.

[MikeDonovan]

Woolworths Schoolworths. What have Woolworths got to do with a convention?

 

most us geeks live outside the realms of high street capitalism and if i want to buy a new buffy figure then i dont need to check the F.T. to see if I can afford it, I just go to the cash machine.

 

we'll find out next december at glasgow if the 'great depression' has cast its shadow over the country, untill then i'll by jumping for joy at all the bargains i've been finding recently.

 

credit crunch schmedit crunch.

 

Without wanting to sound patronizing, you two really need to be more aware of what's going on in the world around you.

[gahab13]

well when I said 'cash machine' I meant the rock under which I hide my shiny things. and when i said 'geeks like us' i meant 'geeks like us, not like the ones that work(ed) at woolies'

my point is that in the pyramid of capitalism obviously there are more people at the bottom and these are the people who will suffer in such times as these, thats not being smug, its called reality. if you wish to close your eyes and spend your life propping up this system then you have no reason to whinge when it falls and crushes you.

yes buisnesses are closing and people losing their jobs and it will be lean xmas for little timmy, the poor people who have been working to support their ever growing families might wish they invested in some contraception instead of an xbox.

did you notice that you said "non-food retailers" such as woolies and mfi are the ones closing down? pubs have been closing down steadily since the smoking ban too. so what does all this mean? well, theres only so much crap people can buy before even the dumbest realise that they dont need any more crap or they simply dont have any more money to buy more crapola because they worked in a now defunct establishment. people will still eat and now maybe they will appreciate going for a simple walk in the park instead of fretting over their lack of funds for the latest ringtone.

 

oh and I'm unemployed at the moment but I didnt run out and buy the latest i-pod or blueberry so that i could show it off down the pub. nobodies ever called me smug before, so congrats on that one, so if my smugness offended you then i cant really apologise because i wasnt being smug.

 

but seriously, who cares if you think i'm talking crap?, it might not even be my real opinion, maybe its fun watching the same fish jump at the bait.

99% of 'certain' peoples posts are just trying to gain brownie points by bashing others. fact.

 

I'm quite aware of whats going on in the world, and you might want to be aware that not everyone cares for your condescending tuppence, as much as not anyone cares of my opinion.

Edited December 1, 2008 by gahab13