The Thank You Showmasters post

[vala]

those photos are brilliant, wendy! the nose to nose one with colin is great!

[Mara Jade]

Do you have a link to the site? Can't seem to find it :)

[vala]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1991...oid=34341434454

 

i think that should take you to the first of wabit's pictures :)

[wabit]

those photos are brilliant, wendy! the nose to nose one with colin is great!

 

Thanks but alas I can't take the credit of coming up with that idea. That was Colin all the way, we took one and he said Wait let's do one more nose to nose and then pulled the face. Was very hard to keep a straight face for the photo.

[clloby]

Another great event!

 

The guests were fab and I loved the little breaks in between - I actually mananged to grab a nap once or twice - a thing unheard of at conventions!

 

The bucking bronco was a brilliant idea! Was glad to see that they repeated the casino theme from Eclipse 2 although my feet weren't - 2.5 hours at the blackjack table in 4 inch stilletos do not make for happy feet!

 

Big thanks to the crew who took it all in their stride when I decided to harass them when queing or feeling a little bored waiting for the next thing to happen.....although I could have done without being offically labelled a trouble maker - even if it is true

 

Thanks Too Tall for subsituting the birthday bumps for a birthday hug

 

Ticket for Chevron 7.3 booked! Hotel booked! The countdown has begun.

[thefreckles]

First of all I'd like to extend an enormous thank you (and hug) to Sarah Jane who totally made the Cocktail Party for my friend(s) and myself given that one of our party was disabled. She looked after us amazingly well and went above and beyond the call of duty.

 

I had a great time and Showmasters have yet again shown that they do learn and do listen to what we have to say. I have one or two minor niggles/suggestions but on the whole everyone did an outstanding job and were so accommodating. The guests were marvellous, Too Tall really helpful (thank you so much for getting Joe to add a hug and kiss to his photo in my photobook), we had schedules in our pack, queuing was kept to the minimum on the whole and you all seemed to have big smiles and never seemed frazzled if anyone approached you. All noticed and much appreciated!

 

I was rather disappointed, though, that we had such a very low stage again despite assurances given here that improvements made at The Hub would be carried over. I know I'm not the only one who felt like this or had problems but am just hoping it was the change in venue and that this won't be the case again. If you get stuck behind a tall person and are short, such a low stage poses a real problem, especially if you like taking photographs. My friends and I ended up seat-hopping so we all got a chance at the one seat that wasn't blocked by a tall person in front of us on Saturday. We also found there was some confusion over how the winners of the Guest Encounters would be announced. In the past it was done on stage but this time it was posted on the walls. Confusing for those of us who have been before or for those who asked those who had been before. An announcement at the Opening Ceremony how this would be done would be nice for the future. When we tried to find out more information, the crew didn't seem to know and gave conflicting information (at one stage we were told you would have been told when you went into the hall as they were checking your badge numbers - which nobody was, at least not with a list), this meant my friend missed the first 5-10 minutes of Jason's which she was a little annoyed/upset about. Other than that things seemed to go very well indeed.

 

A couple of suggestions, if you don't mind:

 

1) Yes, a few seats at the Guest Encounters could be raffled as I know many of your attendees are students and/or have saved up hard to come to these. I don't think it would stop people signing up for them as there will always be people that will pay (often a considerable amount of money) to be assured they will see the guest they really want to see. Reasonably priced raffle tickets would probably ensure multiple buys and might encourage others to buy them who wouldn't normally bother with the sheet thing. I'm lucky enough to be in a position where (my credit card) can afford to pay for one if I wanted one (though not the price Joe's first one went for on Sunday!!!), but it does seem unfair that this just seems to be on offer to those 'privileged' few that can afford them.

 

2) Please re-think the way you handle disabled attendees. I was under the impression that you were going to let these in first for talks and they would then take their place in the appropriate row. This did not happen on Saturday and caused my friend some problems, especially as she was told she could not go in one empty row and had to go back and walk around some distance to get to a seat. This row (directly next to/opposite the one we were seated in) remained inexplicably empty until just after we had settled ourselves down. Very bizarre! Things were handled a little differently on Sunday (for the better, which is to be applauded) but I still think there is more work or thought to be done here. Your initial suggestion of letting them in first (and they should be given enough time to get to their seats) would have been good. More thought could also be done as to how to better manage them during photoshoots bearing in mind many of them don't want to make a fuss and have an existing queue or flow interrupted. It can be difficult enough for them at the best of times without that added stress. Part of my job involves Equal Ops and Health & Safety (hence my thoughts), which also brings me along to the queuing for the photoshoots. I was rather concerned that not only did the queue block off the entire entrance/exit to the hotel at one point but that people were being made to queue on steps/stairs. I understand that there was limited space to work with given the venue's layout and the rooms you had reserved but perhaps you could do either better/stricter crowd control and limit the lobby area to certain groups and/or call smaller numbers? Not a criticism but, hopefully, food for thought! A horribly difficult job though, I do grant you.

 

Anyway, I think you handled things very well over the weekend and deserve credit. I haven't met anyone that didn't have a brilliant time and it was obvious that a lot of hard work went into this event and it certainly paid off.

 

One final note, I am exceedingly disappointed that nobody forced me to smile during Joe's photoshoot! Where were the guns? The threats of torture? The orders to do or die???? You failed me utterly.... Having said that, Malcom did do a stellar job and I am beyond thrilled with all my other photos.

[habitualangel]

Had fab time as usual, guests were great, Colin and Alexis highlight of the weekend for me, would be happy to see them both again

Good fun with the bronco didn't dare go on it due to the amount of wine consumed in the meet and greet and fab time with the casino night - shame it had to stop at midnight but seeing as Jason had broken the bank on the blackjack table it was understandable.

Talks were fab, shame I missed Joe and Jason's on the saturday due to Colins guest encounter but I think I got the better end of the deal there, maybe a suggestion to have them on during the autograph sessions next time.

Booked for next time already and just wanting to shout out DAVID BLUE as a guest please if your after universe guests as you mentioned on stage, he will have a fan base already from ugly betty seeing as we probably wouldn't have seen any universe eps.

Finally shout out to all the crew and people behind the scenes,malcolm for such fab photo's as usual and mark and jason for getting it all organised.

 

See you in November!

 

Just a note re the hotel - it was terrible with stained and ripped seats, dirty toilets and clanging water pipes at the crack of dawn and has made me think as to where I'll be staying at 7.3 - I know northampton is a better hotel but its just put me off the entire hotel chain

Edited February 24, 2009 by habitualangel

[Christoff]

Well the talks were great, though the stage was much too low when I believe it was stated it'd be raised this time, this wouldn't have been too much of a problem if the screens actually had a decent picture, but they didn't.

 

I didn't attend the parties but wish I had now after hearing about the bucking bronco, hope that will be at future events too. The scalextric was a nice addition too.

 

The hotel did spoil the event for me as mentioned in the other topic, bad rooms, bad breakfast (though the evening food was good), and the location of rooms wasn't as convenient as the Northampton hotel where all of the rooms used for the convention were right next to each other and easy to find. As I've been considering going to Better Than Life the hotel will be an issue again due to it being at the same location.

 

The guests you've announced for Chevron 7.3 are great, although I'm concerned about the fact that there will be Universe guests considering we won't really have even had the opportunity to see much/any of it by the time of the event.

Edited February 24, 2009 by Christoff

[nakedwesley]

Thank you so much, Showmasters for putting on an awesome show! I had an amazing time, from start to finish.

 

A special shout out to Too Tall, who assisted me with my mobility issues, and also got me into my guest encounter with Jason. I never could have made it through the weekend without your help. Also, to the fantastic Sarah Jane, who made sure my little group got to meet everyone - especially Joe - at the cocktail party.

 

My suggestions are small: I too missed the spontaneity of getting to ask your own questions at the q&a. I understand the reasoning behind the pre-submitted questions, but it would have been nice had those chosen at least been allowed to stand up or something, so the guest knew who'd asked the question. Or, alternatively, if we could have somehow been allowed to ask follow up questions. I like the idea of alternating, and having written ones ready.

 

Also, Joe did not seem too thrilled with the generic 'hypothetical' questions at the end. Again, I see the point of having generic questions anyone could answer, but maybe mix those up a bit as well, or better prepare the guests for what to expect, for those new to your cons. Some of the questions were kind of silly.

 

I thought the schedule worked well. I liked the flexibility of being able to miss an auto and pick it up later, as needed. Thanks for working around Joe's strange schedule, so that everyone got their time with him. I love the guest encounters and hope you keep them in the program.

 

All in all, a terrific weekend!

 

Edited to add: I didnt have any problem with my hotel room. It was cleaned every day and suited my needs, which were basically a place to crash and plug in my laptop. The layout of the hotel for con purposes was exceedingly awkward, but I think you already know that.

Edited February 24, 2009 by nakedwesley

[Queen_Sindel]

2) Please re-think the way you handle disabled attendees. I was under the impression that you were going to let these in first for talks and they would then take their place in the appropriate row. This did not happen on Saturday and caused my friend some problems, especially as she was told she could not go in one empty row and had to go back and walk around some distance to get to a seat.

 

Can you clarify what did not happen on Saturday? I was pretty much in the front on Saturday and disabled people definitely were called first. I agree that there was confusion about where they'd sit though. I think the reason why your friend may have been asked to walk around was the camera in the main aisle? Otherwise what she was told would be really odd.

 

Five different people posted that they had serious complaints about the hotel and I have not spoken to one single person who thought the hotel was a decent standard.

 

Make that six of us - I got home too late to post in the closed topic.

My bathroom problems were not as serious as yours, but there was odd stuff growing in several places in my bathroom too.

[Emmatheancien]

This convention was my first and I really enjoyed it. It was just amazing seeing all the guests, the talks were fantastic, I laughed a lot during them. I just got stars in my eyes since the beginning of the events and I don't think they are going to go away for a very long time ^^

 

Thanks to the organisator and the crew, they were amazing :)

[Millwallant]

Excuse me? Get over it? *DO NOT* speak to me like that. I had such a foul weekend that I cried twice in one day and I *NEVER* cry. You're entitled to your opinion but *NOT* when your opinion is so ridiculously insensitive that your response is "Get over it". As an aside, I actually wish there hadn't been one. I would've been much happier at home, so don't make assumptions about what I think.

 

Issues with the hotel are issues with the hotel and with whoever picked that hotel. They chose to go there for BTL too and now I know people who previously planned to go but might not go now because they hate the hotel so much. Surely that's not the only hotel in the country available.

 

What Psychosis said. I won't do BTL now and if Chevron 7.3 was moved there I wouldn't go there. That is 2 gold passes lost. While I agree hotel complaints have to be brought to the hotel it needs to made clear that Showmasters need to seriously think twice before using that one again as they will certainly lose business over it.

[DavidB]

To be honest, it has made me just want to go to BTL for a day, as I know you wouldn't make a fuss about something that wasn't genuinely a problem. And even then, it isn't just you, so it's not just one individual being oversensitive or anything.

 

I would certainly urge SMs to take these problems into consideration, as if the venue is going to put people off wanting to go to an event, that can't be good. I realise the issues behind the move to this hotel, but if BTL is happening there, and you ever need a different hotel for any other future event (who knows?), this feedback does need to be looked at properly. I know there's little that can be done for the last weekend, but if a situation such as this can be prevented for future events then surely that's a good thing?

[wiccawise21]

i do accept that there was a problem with the hotel. in fact i agree with you on that point. (even though my room was fine) but SM have addressed the issue and have said that they dont plan on using the bedford hotel like they do northampton. All im saying is that i dont think its fair to keep banging on about it.

 

im sure there is going to be some last word comment but from me, hotel aside, the convention ran great. *nods*

 

=x=

[Psychosis]

To be honest, it has made me just want to go to BTL for a day,

 

LMAO. You can replace millwallant or christoff's lost business!

[Asgard Wannabe]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to say thanks to SM/ME's for a great weekend!!!! THANK YOU

 

Was amazing to meet everyone... Stars, Crew and other fans and had a really great time!

The Photo's from the shoots look amazing (and kind of agree with being dubbed "the grinning guy" now lol )

 

Also the way the whole event was organised was amazing! Wasn't no real standing around & twiddling of thumbs, was able to get from one "event" to the next straight away and got everything with no fuss or hasel!

 

(and the cheesy music at the Parties was AWESOME lol! if night clubs were like that id be out every night!!! lol)

 

So all in all, Had an amazing experience and cant wait for 7.3

 

Thanks!

[Psychosis]

n/m

Edited February 24, 2009 by Psychosis

[girlingray]

Hiya

I just wanted to say thanks to all for a great event.

I also had problems with the hotel (both with the condition of my room, and the user-friendliness of the venue generally for this type of event) - and I would not stay there again. But thankfully it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the weekend.

The crew were great, and so patient - I'm sure they were answering the same queries from different people constantly, but they were all friendly, polite, extremely helpful - and always cheerful!

I liked the system of ticket numbers being in groups. Knowing I didn't need to hover for ages outside the hall before the talks was really useful. Also I found the group system meant that I knew where I was supposed to be and when (not that I found Chevron 7 disorganised! I just think this was a better system). As with Chevron 7, the length of time queuing for things didn't seem too long at all - and, as before, it was a great opportunity to chat with other convention-goers! (HELLO to all the other group 7's out there!!)

 

The guests were great!!! And I love my photos with them. Thanks to the photographer!!

Also - a plus point for the hotel - the row of mirrors on the way to the photograph room - excellent!!

It was a really good mix of guests - they all seemed very relaxed and happy to meet us all - which is always gratifying!

The guest talks were loads of fun. I liked having the moderator for the questions - as I feel that we are able to get more questions asked, and have more time with the guests talking (rather than us) this way. But I agree with the comments about the height of the stage. Although it was great to have the screens this time, and I'd love that to continue, a higher stage would have been really useful - as nothing beats seeing the guests in the flesh!!

I didn't do any of the guest encounters (having them scheduled against things other than the guest talks would be good next time if at all possible) but would like to in the future. I like the guest encounter raffle idea, and I'm glad ME are thinking about adopting this.

 

I dragged my sister along to this event for company. It was her first convention and she's not really a Stargate fan - but, like me, she had a great weekend - and that's mostly due to all of you - so thanks to all the guests, organisers, crew, and other fans!

[sheepyie]

This was my first Showmaster Event and I really had a great time! Everything was well organized even when things happened that crashed the schedule *thumb up*

All the crew was very nice and tried to help when something was a little bit unclear.

And the photographer was fantastic! Normally I hate myself on photos but these are so good, thanks for that!

 

The party things were very funny! What do you call it? ‘Bucking bronco’? This thing made me just laugh. And the casino was cool, too.

 

Yeah, I loved also the creative paintings of KrazyKid *gg*

 

I was contented with my room, but I think I was lucky to have a good one.

 

Too sad that I will not make it in November but I try my best to come to the Abrams Con in August *keep fingers crossed*

[Vecturist]

Just wanted to say thanks for a great con - it was definitely worth the time and expense of getting there from the States. Getting the gold pass was definitely worth and it and the guests all seemed very comfortable (I can't tell you how many times I bumped into Colin in the halls and such and it was great to see most of the guests at the casino night). I liked that seating was fairly organized by groups versus strict assigning of seats or the craziness of queuing for extended periods of time. I was sorry to have missed one set of talks due to autograph signings, but I think things ran fairly on schedule for my group which is pretty amazing given the number of people you were moving through.

 

I agree with what was said as far as raffling off a few of the guest encounter spots - I was fortunate to be able to afford to pay to see Joe, but I'll also add that there should have been some policy/ enforcement of not allowing someone to bid on two guest encounters with the same guest if they'd already won one with one of the bigger guests or if more than 12 (or the number of slots available) bids were posted. May I also suggest that part of the proceeds from the guest encounter goes to the guest's choice of charities?

 

Yes, my hotel room was pretty scary, but I was hardly there and the hotel staff seemed to handle the number of guests well and were quite friendly and competent. It was also nice having a con with plenty of food options nearby.

[jenab103]

We had a fab time, thanks! Having Gold instead of Standard (which we had at Chevron 7) made a big difference, and we didn't stop all weekend. Yeah, hotel room was the worst we've ever stayed in, but we were only in there to sleep, so it was survivable, and it certainly didn't detract from the rest of the weekend.

 

Anyway, just wanted to say a huge thank you to the all the crew and organisers.

 

See you at 7.3!

[pixiequeen10thk]

2) Please re-think the way you handle disabled attendees. I was under the impression that you were going to let these in first for talks and they would then take their place in the appropriate row. This did not happen on Saturday and caused my friend some problems, especially as she was told she could not go in one empty row and had to go back and walk around some distance to get to a seat.

 

Can you clarify what did not happen on Saturday? I was pretty much in the front on Saturday and disabled people definitely were called first. I agree that there was confusion about where they'd sit though. I think the reason why your friend may have been asked to walk around was the camera in the main aisle? Otherwise what she was told would be really odd.

Huh? I never heard them calling disabled people first. I must be both disabled and deaf

Thankfully my disability's generally not too bad.

 

I really hope they were better at cleaning the floors than the rooms as I tended to shuffle along on the floor at the auto queues

 

It would have also been handy to clearly mark out the appropriate gold and silver rows as it was impossible to know where one was allowed to seat hop to.

[Queen_Sindel]

Huh? I never heard them calling disabled people first. I must be both disabled and deaf

Thankfully my disability's generally not too bad.

 

TooTall yelled and asked disabled people to come forward.

 

Did you have a Standard Ticket by chance? Maybe that info wasn't passed on downstairs by mistake.

If I got that correctly the info that the main hall was not open didn't get to the people waiting downstairs right away on Friday night either.

[pixiequeen10thk]

Huh? I never heard them calling disabled people first. I must be both disabled and deaf

Thankfully my disability's generally not too bad.

 

TooTall yelled and asked disabled people to come forward.

 

Did you have a Standard Ticket by chance? Maybe that info wasn't passed on downstairs by mistake.

If I got that correctly the info that the main hall was not open didn't get to the people waiting downstairs right away on Friday night either.

Yeah I was. It is also possible I missed announcements from not paying enough attention though

[thefreckles]

Huh? I never heard them calling disabled people first. I must be both disabled and deaf

Thankfully my disability's generally not too bad.

 

TooTall yelled and asked disabled people to come forward...

 

 

Actually, he yelled for the people he had spoken to about "special seating" to come forward only. There were 3 of them and I know why they were called forward and it wasn't really to do with disability (although one of the party did have mobility problems). No real problems with that! There was no call for disabled people to go in first at all on the Saturday.

 

When my friend spoke to TT on Friday about being 'registered' as disabled, he said he would be calling people in groups of ten and there should be no problem. It obviosuly didn't work and on Sunday they were allowed in first away from the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to get in. I think a little longer might have been given to get them all settled down but Sunday did seem to work much better from that perspective and kudos to TT for changing it when approached.