very important News for Heroes fans

[showmasters]

Ok we have some bad news for you all

 

 

This may be the last Eclipse Con

 

we have run 3 events and had hoped to have been able to run many Heroes events and bring lots of the cast to this event but it seems that this is not to be

 

we know there was a lot of fans out there that wanted to go to a Heroes Con but at each event there is less and less fans wanting to attend and by tickets and support the event

 

for this event we have only sold 100 tickets total and this is not enough to pay for the event, and we will be short around £20,000 to run this event and because of this it will probably the last Eclipse con

 

now the event is going ahead for sure and will just eat the losses as we want to still put on a great event but we felt we should just be up front with you on this

 

this is why we ask you to help us from time to time to promote what we do to help keep them going but unless we sell another 100 or so tickets this will be the last one

 

we are still working on one more guest and have held off booking the guest hoping to book another big name and we still can but we do need to sell a lot more tickets so we will see

 

 

well anything you can do to help may change this outcome lets hope so as we love the show and had wanted to keep meeting more of the guests

 

anyway the con will still be great and a lot of fun and intimate so you will get close to the fans which is good but it may be the last

 

i just thought i would keep you all up to date

 

thanks you all for your support

 

yours

 

jason

[mrsclairecarter]

That sucks Jason, Eclipse is our favorite con

[Spotter]

Sad to hear this!

If this event was taking place on a different weekend I would have looked into attending.

[Psychosis]

Wow That's awful. Sorry you're going to run a loss on this. I'm trying to think of what I could do to help.

 

Could you ask Greg Grunberg to post about the con on his twitter account? He has over 158,000 followers.

[DavidB]

Thank you for the update Jason.

 

Clearly the popularity of Heroes has gone down a lot compared to the first season. Everyone knows that the viewing figures are only a fraction of what they were at that point.

 

And it's not just this event that has suffered. We know another had to change because of a lack of ticket sales, so it's certainly not an exclusive thing. Even the popularity of some Heroes guests is fairly down on what they would've been at one time when appearing at signing events.

 

It's always one of those situations that have both sides to it. I suppose it's comparable to many people wanting a Manchester event, and yet them not being successful in the past. You can't just keep doing something that might prove costly in the future, even if you do provide a decent lineup.

 

I'm sure we all wish that every convention could be like Eclipse 1 or Eternal Twilight 1 - a fantastic guest lineup, a full house of enthusiastic fans, and a great success all round. There's nothing quite like it - smooth communication, excellent organisation, great party themes etc. But it doesn't happen every time, and you just have to hope attendance stays at a reasonable level to keep things viable. We all want great guests, but if the ticket sales don't go well then you can't keep splashing out for them. It's a very tricky way of working and I don't envy it at all. I know some people have suggested there should be less events, but even then it doesn't guarantee ticket sales or the availability of good guests.

 

I will be sad if the Eclipse events end. I do believe they have a lot of potential, but everything needs to fall into place for them to be a success, and a one-show convention is always going to present a high risk in terms of getting great guests to attend. And I'd hate for them to end on a downer, with people disappointed like they have been lately - I've made a lot of great friends through this, and if we're gonna be done with Eclipse then I'd like to end on a high.

[chrisrus]

Wow That's awful. Sorry you're going to run a loss on this. I'm trying to think of what I could do to help.

 

Could you ask Greg Grunberg to post about the con on his twitter account? He has over 158,000 followers.

 

hey of topic but whats ur twitter address. I'll follow you

[pez]

no ofence jason but trying to persuade people to come to this one has been hard work, no party themes ages to wait for guest anouncments and changes in hotel policy has had a hell of a knock on effect, i've had a hell of a time getting the people iv talked in to coming to come.

three of the people who wanted to have not got the money to pay for the room up front and have held off buying a ticket as weve been left in the dark.

 

its a shame but if we can only do what we can.

[Psychosis]

Yes, I can see the hotel policy being a problem. I booked months later than I usually would have and really I've been out of pocket for months because of it. I just happen to have a free overdraft that I can pull it from.

[Purple Cheese Monkey]

This is sad news.

 

I really enjoyed the two previous Eclipse events, the 2nd more because it was not as packed, and it was nice to chat to the guests over breakfast and everyone there seemed to be more relaxed overall.

 

I've been looking forward to E3 since last year, and even though this has been a dampener on the whole thing, I'm still going and along with my 2 friends who are also coming, we're still gonna make the most of it and have a blast!

 

I hope things get better for Jason and the rest of the team. This is just a hard time all round - Noone's got any money and Heroes is still on a viewing decline.

[pez]

i wouldnt have been able to do it if snowglobe hadn't booked two rooms and im owing her the money.

 

so far this has worked out the most expensive eclipse.

 

changes in train fair have hit aswel thats part of the reason my mate paul isnt coming it was going to cost £125 in train fair

[SciFiMAD]

Just one thought, is this a fact of there being less people interested in Heroes or too many conventions?!

 

In the currently climate are there simply too many conventions and people are being more picky of the ones they go to and spend money at?

 

Now I love showmasters, been going to there event since C1 so am not knocking there amazing efforts but I do think people are just being far more picky in there choices.

[Sazzzy]

i had a feeling they wudnt be another heroes con after this anyway, :/ and liek pez said, iv bin trying to seel tiockets but with the line ups and then this disapointng party themes...people just arent intrested :/ sorry.

[Purple Cheese Monkey]

I kinda agree.

 

There do seem to be alot more single show orientated events now, which to me is great (but I can only afford one... which I will always choose as Eclipse) but in the current climate fans can't really afford these events (I'm talking from my own POV and that of friends I go to cons with) and they are most probably waiting for the larger mixed conventions like CM or LFACC which is just an entry fee and can only be a day out.

[DavidB]

While I understand the disappointment about the party themes and stuff that is under ME's control, at the same time I don't think those were things that were ever going to sell more tickets. The lineup has to really, and along with the pre-pay hotel, it's just not something that people can afford to risk their money on early anymore.

[Purple Cheese Monkey]

I also have to agree a little with the party themes.

 

I know that alot of planning goes into the party themes and getting them ready in time for the show, although they seem fun, they seem kind of past the convention line-up.

Micah's Birthday would have been great for E1, and the Mexican Night would have been great for E2.

 

But at the end of the day, a party's a party...!

[pez]

ive had three friends pull out when it got to a month before there was no party themes and it felt like it was being ingnored and woudnt go on

[paul]

I think between the tightness of money, the decline in interest in Heroes and the lack of top quailty guests willing to commit, this event has suffered. I think this was the case for E2 as well but SM managed to pull a great one out of the bag! If only 100 tickets have been sold...its really sad... but I think SM should start thinking about cancelling and refunding... and I dont say that lightly because everyone who booked was looking forward to a great event. But if SM are coming out and saying this then maybe it time to pack up our tents?

[Purple Cheese Monkey]

I don't know about packing up my tent as I really want to see The Grunny on a Q&A!

[pez]

its all well and good you saying pack up tents but some of us have paid for train fairs that we cant get back

[lams9999]

Well, probably the main reason for this is simply the quality of the show which has gone down a lot after season 1. Season 2 was really bad. I had my hopes for season 3 and started watching it every week on BBC2 but just stopped after 5-6 episodes as it was just boring for me. Instead of constantly adding new characters, they should have developed more the one that were already existing.

 

On another hand, I still think that there are too many events and that people have to make some choices. So yes there might still be Heroes fans but those are maybe the same as Stargate fans or as Torchwood fans or other shows that are covered by other organizers. I know you don't agree with me on that one Jason but even though it might not be the main reason, I still think it's an important one.

 

Anyway, good luck with the event and I'm sure people there will have a lot of fun. I met Greg before and he's a really really nice guy.

[paul]

Someone is going to get stung! And its seems its going to be Showmasters!

And we're going to have an EXTREMELY intimate event... we might as well get everything done, autographs and photos on the Friday night and be done with it!

[showmasters]

we know we can put on great events we have so many things we want to do all we need is the fans to support us and get behind the event if this happens then we have the money to book good guests and put on a fun event .

 

I feel that with Eclipse one of the things is the fans have a wait and see approach they what to see who's coming and book near to the time , the issues with this is we sell less and less tickets to each event and we have to hold of booking some guest to see how many tickets we sell and then book the guests , so in the end its a self fulfilling prophecy in the end, with us if the fans support us then we will put on a good event

 

all i can say if you love a Tv show or film and you want to go to an event for that show then get behind it and this will help make it happen and you will have helped to do that

 

 

anyway the event will still be a good event

 

see you there

 

jason

[pez]

also i think its far to close to the last event it would have been better to have this event later in the year.

[chris_mk]

I think I agree with what everyone else has said. Whilst Heroes has had a dip in popularity, I think there are bigger reasons why this event has sold so badly.

 

1. Credit crunch/recession - People have less disposable income, less job security and are therefore less likely to take a chance on an event

2. The hotel policy of advance charging is the worst thing they could do for the event and for themselves

3. Too many events - Sorry guys, but the event calendar is just monumentally full, with too many events competiting for the same customers

4. Late announcement of guests - There was no 'Headline' guest announced at the time the event was announced. By the time Greg was announced, it was under two months to the event, which frankly isn't enough time for a lot of customers to book for the event or get time off

5. Eclipse 2 - Whilst I had a lot of fun and the guests were great, they weren't the headline guests that people were hoping for when they booked it. This fact alone put me off booking a ticket (yet) for Eclipse 3. After E2, I personally decided that I wasn't going to book ANY event (by SM/ME or any other organiser) early. In the case of E3, I wanted to see the final guest list before I decided what type of ticket to buy (I wasn't happy being Gold for E2). I realise this doesn't help the organiser, but I'm afraid it's the way I think customers are going when it comes to events. There have been too many cancellations/changes in the last year (which I realise is completely out of the hands of the organiser).

6. Party Themes - Have to admit that whilst I'm not fussed about the themes, the lack of them for this event suggested (probably incorrectly) a lack of confidence in the event on the part of the organisers. Whilst I have no doubt that you had your reasons for leaving this very late, from a customer perspective, it didn't look good or inspire confidence in the event.

7. Exclusivity - If I go to Eclipse 3 (which I probably will on a standard ticket), it will mainly be to see Greg, who I think will be awesome. That said, he has been to quite a few events in the last few years, which again, is likely to make him less of a draw than some of the other potential 'Headline' guests.

 

These are just my thoughts, but I'd be happy to discuss them in greater depth if you're interested.

[Scruffy]

Still people say "too many events", but choice is what life is all about and SM should be applauded for trying to offer this, unlike other organisers who stay safe .

I do not believe for one minute that the majority of con goers have a liking to every event on the go at the moment, so having a choice is a good thing.

Unfortunately Heroes does not attract the same hype now as when it first came on to our TV screens, and thats been the downfall of this event.