very important News for Heroes fans

[lams9999]

Chris, I think it's a brilliant summary, I agree with nearly all of your points if not all.

[DavidB]

The problem is that ideally they'd announce guests early if they could, but a lot of that side of things is beyond their control.

 

This would also be a problem for the event regardless of how many other events there were. Even if this was the only event, and they had all the money in the world to spend on it, it still wouldn't guarantee that guests wanted to come, or could come, or were affordable etc.

 

There's unfortunately so many factors involved in making a show like this a success, and while I absolutely understand how some of the factors raised are an issue for a lot of people, I also see how they wouldn't be a quick fix either. It's something that's not just a problem for the attendees but for the organisers themselves.

[showmasters]

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.

 

 

well we like to put party themes around the guests we have so we held off but i do not think people did not book just because of no party themes

 

as to guest it did not help that someone else tried to put on another Heroes event and booked the 2 guest we were working on for our event , then put them into a contract were they could not do any other events in the Uk for 3 months and then last month just canceled the event and i do not think the event was ever going to take place i think it was just put on to damage our event and that it did

 

one other thing about the hotel they had to change the policy as we agreed to book all the rooms over the weekend and any that have not sold out we pay for at the first two events we ran someone booked 15 rooms in 3 different names and then canceled them on the friday which meant fans could not stay at this hotel which is not fair and also we had to pay out for the rooms meaning the money could not be spent on the con its self

 

this was well out of order and i do not know who this person is as they used other people to book the rooms but this is wrong and the only way we could stop this from happening it what the hotel have worked out

 

i hope this helps you to see why things changed

 

i do think Heroes fandom is srinking but all this stuff did not help it at all

 

but i cannot prove who is resposable so we just move on and do the best we can

 

jason

[chris_mk]

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

 

Yeah, I think it's fair to say many of us have taken that approach. But then you have to admit that whilst Eclipse 1 was awesome (best event of 2008, if not any year), I think it's fair to say that both Lockdown and Eclipse 2 probably failed to meet your hopes in terms of guests. Combine that with the number of events being run and something has got to give. Sadly, it looks like that 'thing' is Eclipse/Lockdown.

 

It's not about loving a TV Show or film. It's about spending large amounts of money, in a time of recession, when you don't know who you're going to meet. I realise this is of little use to you as an organiser, but I suspect that this is likely to become more common with events (ok, so the Hub and Twighlight events seem immune at the moment, but then I'd have said the same of Eclipse after the first event - it only takes one line-up to be perceived as 'weak' by your customers and then you're fighting an uphill battle.)

[paul]

Thanks Jason,

 

I think this is the problem with these things. People want to see to see the 'goods' before they purchase.... but you need the capital to attract the 'goods' interest (given availability etc). Modern fandom, generally, doesnt allow for that! People always want to see main casters and thats not always possible! We've had a couple of great Eclipses (some main and some fantastic supporting roles) and thats been really really amazing! I was at both and had a great time!

 

Its a great shame that E3 will be the last but I can completely understand the decision based on the current climate, both financially and fandomally (new word?)

 

Thanks for all your efforts!

 

Paul

[Purple Cheese Monkey]

Although choice is good when it comes to events, and I know I'm generalising here, but many fans are fans of everything, so when there are many events for shows they like and they have very little cash they're gonna have to choose maybe just one to go to. This may lead to fans being spread out too thinly - not just E3, but others too???

[pez]

no but at the end of the days things that are in showmasters control could have been organised better , themes for partys ect.. if we had them anounced it may have inproved things and improved the faith in the event.

[chris_mk]

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.

 

If you go to a variety of events, you tend to see a lot of the same people at all of them. There is a core pool of people who can maybe attend 1-5 events a year. If you offer them more choice, by giving them a wider variety of events, then odds are that you will get less attendees per event (which is what we're seeing.) The only way to avoid this, is to find a way to appeal to new attendees (like has been done succesfully with the Twiglight event).

[DavidB]

I agree that people want better communication in regards to things like that, but I do think there are far bigger issues at hand than party themes in the grand scheme of things. It'd be a baby step towards success compared to other things.

[Scruffy]

I'm sorry to disagree with a few here, but party themes are surely not what makes people go to events???

[showmasters]

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!

 

 

yes we will be left with the bill but you will not get it all done in a day we have lots planed and lots of people have said that the events with less fans are the best events we run so i think we will show you all a good time

 

and one last thing we are NOT going to cancel the event

 

that was not the reason for putting this up on here it was to try to halp get the word out there if people still care to keep this going after this event

 

jason

[pez]

yeah but if things were set in place like that it would make people see the event as a whole.

[chris_mk]

The problem is that ideally they'd announce guests early if they could, but a lot of that side of things is beyond their control.

 

This would also be a problem for the event regardless of how many other events there were. Even if this was the only event, and they had all the money in the world to spend on it, it still wouldn't guarantee that guests wanted to come, or could come, or were affordable etc.

 

There's unfortunately so many factors involved in making a show like this a success, and while I absolutely understand how some of the factors raised are an issue for a lot of people, I also see how they wouldn't be a quick fix either. It's something that's not just a problem for the attendees but for the organisers themselves.

 

I completely understand that the guest list is largely out of their control. The global financial crisis is hitting Hollywood as much as anywhere else, which I suspect means that actors and actresses are less able to commit to stuff as early, because they don't want to rock the boat and they don't know where their next regular (as opposed to event) paycheck is coming from. Unfortunately, customers are not accepting this and are voting with their wallets.

 

Yes, all events suffer from this and having fewer events would make little difference, that's why I listed them as separate points.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know an answer to this, or any of the other issues, but I welcome the discussion about them.

[Purple Cheese Monkey]

No, parties arent the main thing, but they are part of something to look foward too.

 

You can say to a friend that you're going to a heroes signing event, which of itself is cool, but add to that a heroes themed party that (may) have the guests attending, makes it even cooler. Everyone likes a party.

 

People go for a Christmas work meal - which is yummy. But talking about the Crimbo party after the meal is where the extra fun comes from!

 

My idea to help E3... Eggnog at all the parties! Woo-Hoo!

[Sazzzy]

actually a friend of mine was considering goign till she saw how bad the aprty themes where, i mean if there isnt guests least the party themes give us utmhing to have fun about and these didnt so yeh a party theme can effect a con.

[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!

 

 

yes we will be left with the bill but you will not get it all done in a day we have lots planed and lots of people have said that the events with less fans are the best events we run so i think we will show you all a good time

 

and one last thing we are NOT going to cancel the event

 

that was not the reason for putting this up on here it was to try to halp get the word out there if people still care to keep this going after this event

 

jason

 

I will be coming to lend my support and have great time anyway! Its good to hear you are still behind the event! But, I suppose its not just you having to foot the bill, its also those who have spent money on silver and gold tickets! But im sure we'll have a great time anyway! It will be one of the most expensive weekends of ALL of our lives!

[chris_mk]

I'm sorry to disagree with a few here, but party themes are surely not what makes people go to events???

 

No, I agree, the party theme's don't make people go to events. But the lack of themes could be perceived by some customers (especially those newer to SM/ME) as a lack of confidence in the event on teh part of the organiser.

 

I know Jason has explained the reason why the themes were not published until late.... and I understand what they were trying to achieve (Christine Rose at the Eclipse 1 Inaugeration Party was awesome, one of my all-time favourite con memories), but maybe on this occasion, the SM/ME attention to detail has worked again them?

[Psychosis]

I did think E2 was better than E1, by far actually. The guests were incredible.

 

It's going to be a little weird with the place so empty, but I think this is a greaet opportunity for SM/Me to slip in some random extras to fill up time... not paid extras that're going to dimish their funds further, but random fun. I think we were talking about giant twister? Haha.

 

My dissertation is due the week before the event :) I'm looking forward to this as my reward, so to speak.

Edited April 12, 2009 by Psychosis

[paul]

I have to say I never go to cons for themes.... They're great fun for those who like that kind of thing but its not really me.

 

Oh and I have to agree that E2 as WAAAAAYYY better than E1, the guests were more amazing and the atmosphere was much better! x

Edited April 12, 2009 by paul

[showmasters]

i am sorry our party's are some of the best at any event in the UK what themes they are is hardly going to stop people booking a ticket

 

if so i will just run a party con and forget the guests it would be much cheeper

 

 

 

as it there being to many events i do not agree and the same people con on here and say the same thing all the time

 

if this is the case how can we start up a new event company Massive Events and run 8 different cons and all work apart from 2 events ??

 

2 out of 9 events if you inclued Lost that means people went to them and had a great time they paid for them selfs , so this works we have had issues with this event and lost this happens all the time with events they work and keep going or they do not and die off.

 

the fact that when i go up on stage and ask things like have you done another of our events before and 80% of the hand DONOT go up shows we are getting fans that are only interested in this show and that if there were 3 events a year of 200 it would not matter as they are only interested in this show

 

i must day there is more likely to be people on here that feel this way as they found this site from going to collectormaina events and you are more likely to attend mixed shows and may want to go to mane of the events we now run

 

also this year we have less signing event no manchester this year which is two dates

 

one other thing if we did not put on event and a show was big do you think others would not put them on ? of corse they would so in the end there is going to be new events coming on the market what ever happens

 

we just try to run good fun events and i would also say the price for the events we run are the lowest out there and we keep it this way

 

jason

[chris_mk]

Oh and I have to agree that E2 as WAAAAAYYY better than E1, the guests were more amazing and the atmosphere was much better! x

 

The guests at E2 were really fun and interesting, but in truth, they weren't really the 'Headline' guests that people wanted to see (hence the ticket sales were lower).

 

The atmosphere might have been better because there was less attendees, so it was less mental (also, E1 had a mental morning, due to a steep learning curve - which SM/ME managed admirably to learn from in a remarkably short space of time) - obviously this is a bittersweet thing, less attendees = better atmosphere, but also less money for 'Headline' guests.

[showmasters]

Oh and I have to agree that E2 as WAAAAAYYY better than E1, the guests were more amazing and the atmosphere was much better! x

 

The guests at E2 were really fun and interesting, but in truth, they weren't really the 'Headline' guests that people wanted to see (hence the ticket sales were lower).

 

The atmosphere might have been better because there was less attendees, so it was less mental (also, E1 had a mental morning, due to a steep learning curve - which SM/ME managed admirably to learn from in a remarkably short space of time) - obviously this is a bittersweet thing, less attendees = better atmosphere, but also less money for 'Headline' guests.

 

 

sorry chris i do not agree there were head liners at E2 but its just down to your taste of guests and as to the event itself it was not down to there being less people there it was down to us lerning what people want and we proved this at the hub and twilight both were very busy and both went very well and people had a lot of fun and got every thing that we told them they would get so we get better with every event we run so far

 

i think this is mostley done to the show not doing so well and reseshion

 

 

 

jason

[paul]

Oh and I have to agree that E2 as WAAAAAYYY better than E1, the guests were more amazing and the atmosphere was much better! x

 

The guests at E2 were really fun and interesting, but in truth, they weren't really the 'Headline' guests that people wanted to see (hence the ticket sales were lower).

 

The atmosphere might have been better because there was less attendees, so it was less mental (also, E1 had a mental morning, due to a steep learning curve - which SM/ME managed admirably to learn from in a remarkably short space of time) - obviously this is a bittersweet thing, less attendees = better atmosphere, but also less money for 'Headline' guests.

 

Yes, I agree. Ive never had any great desire for headline guests.. Id LIKE them but thats not why I booked. I'll be there at E3 and im looking forward to it! I love Ashley and that other bloke that I cant remember how to spell!

[chris_mk]

as it there being to many events i do not agree and the same people con on here and say the same thing all the time

 

Yeah, sorry, I'm one of them!! I would love to attend ALL the SM/ME events (well ok, maybe aside from the Twighlight ones), but I can't afford to, so I have to pick and chose. When deciding what events I go to, I have a mental list of criteria. This includes many factors such as how much trust I have in the organiser, the cost, the venue, but the first (and most important) factor is the identity of the guests. I think I'm far from unique in this matter.

 

if this is the case how can we start up a new event company Massive Events and run 8 different cons and all work apart from 2 events ??

 

2 out of 9 events if you inclued Lost that means people went to them and had a great time they paid for them selfs , so this works we have had issues with this event and lost this happens all the time with events they work and keep going or they do not and die off.

 

I could be wrong, but my recolection is that ME ran 6 events last year (not including the aborted Red Dwarf convention or the 10th Planet events). In 2009, you already have 10 events run or scheduled (again, not including 10th Planet events). I feel the market is already at saturation/breaking point and I fear that average attendances are going to go down.

 

the fact that when i go up on stage and ask things like have you done another of our events before and 80% of the hand DONOT go up shows we are getting fans that are only interested in this show and that if there were 3 events a year of 200 it would not matter as they are only interested in this show

 

Yeah, I agree, was great to see a huge number of new attendees at Eclipse 1 and I gather there were a lot of 1st timers at other events. But again, this number is going to diminish, as the number of repeat attendees increases (which it should do if the event goes well). Sadly, this means that you take a hit everytime you have a problem event (for whatever reason). Also, we're in a recession, your customers have less disposable income for eventing.

 

one other thing if we did not put on event and a show was big do you think others would not put them on ? of corse they would so in the end there is going to be new events coming on the market what ever happens

 

Yeah, I agree, but then I don't think you're the only organiser seeing falling average attendances.

 

we just try to run good fun events and i would also say the price for the events we run are the lowest out there and we keep it this way

 

You do run great events and given the choice, I would much rather be at an ME Heroes event than one ran by someone else... but having paid for a Gold Ticket at E2, I don't agree that your events are ALWAYS good value for money (though in fairness, I do believe I got good value for money on my E1 Gold Ticket).

[chris_mk]

sorry chris i do not agree there were head liners at E2 but its just down to your taste of guests and as to the event itself it was not down to there being less people there it was down to us lerning what people want and we proved this at the hub and twilight both were very busy and both went very well and people had a lot of fun and got every thing that we told them they would get so we get better with every event we run so far

 

i think this is mostley done to the show not doing so well and reseshion

 

jason

 

I'm not sure how you would define 'Headliner', but to me, it would imply one of the main cast and a guest who would really draw the customers. Sadly, you didn't sell as many tickets for E2 ans ou did for E1, which suggests that it's not just down to my taste. In the thread where you asked who people wanted to see, you broke down the list into three groups. The first group were those that I would describe as 'Headliners' and in the end, no one from that group was able to attend.

 

I'm really glad the Hub and Twighlight events went well, because I respect the amount of effort you guys put into these events, but both of these events had a number of 'Headline' guests (much like I'm sure the next Hub even will sell hugely, down to JB).

 

I think you're right, I think the recession is probably the biggest individual factor.