very important News for Heroes fans

[DavidB]

A lot of people are having to be more cautious about their money at the moment, and can't really afford to throw it around based on faith alone. Plus while I've been doing these for years, and know things can work out in the end, there are a lot of people who haven't been and will only judge on the past event or two.

 

So something like a smaller E2, or the original Red Dwarf con, or the fact that Abrams Inc has nothing .. all these things do add up. Same with the party themes that people have mentioned. It's a bunch of little things alongside the bigger issues. Everything plays a factor in the end.

 

I've said it before numerous times .. it's genuinely a hugely tricky situation. There's so many things that need to fall into place, and it's not always going to happen. But it's worrying how it can affect things when it doesn't .. not just short term but long as well. People do decide not to bother again based on something in the past, whether that's right or not.

 

I don't envy anyone who has to deal with it all. I couldn't find a surefire way to make every event a success, that's for sure.

[gebes]

I had'nt committed to E3 purely because there are guests announced for various events, which I personally have wanted to meet for a lot longer than Heroes has been on the air, and I plan on getting multiple autos from these guests.

 

I now don't get overtime from my work ( any extra time worked is given back as time in lieu ) so yes, I've had to now prioritise the events I attend. As I used to keep the overtime payment specially for events etc, So would agree that the recession / credit crunch has had an affect on me personally.

 

I enjoyed the last 2 Eclipse cons, and E2 was specially good, cause the guests mingled at the parties etc. So whilst a "headliner" guest would be great, I felt the guests at E2 were somewhat better cause you got hang out with them.

 

I'm not sure what I really think about the number of events, as the cost of attending them soon adds up , by the time trains/ hotels etc is added in to the equation. But there again, it's not as if you're being forced to attend every single one of them. It's also about personal preference as well, how much you like said show that a convention has been announced for .

[SciFiMAD]

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

 

 

Jason, I must say you have always looked after the fans that have supported you, and are again with this event. Most other companies would cancel this event with taking a £20k loss but you are carrying on with it. I think some people have forgotten what showmasters has done for the convention scene in the UK, you have made it for the ever day person unlike the exclusive club it used to be. You have always been open to what people have to say, more then any other event that would just blank you out.

 

Even though I am not a Heroes fan I wish you luck with this event. And thank you for what you have done for conventions.

[themasterq8]

Ok whilst i dont agree that the party themes are going to turn people away , i do have to say that their wasnt really any 'headliner' guests at eclipse 2 despite the fact that what we had, were really nice and friendly people, who'd id happily splash out another £135 for.

 

What is bothering me, is that I seem to remember a thread just about when eclipse two was starting stating that there would be 3 full on party themes, this has clearly not happened, what with the dead dog party being a fancy name for what usually happens on a sunday.

 

Add to that the fact that sm also mentioned in that same thread, that they were rescheduling to allow them to get more better, quoting is not accurate but you get my drift. Whilst I undertstand that there may have been a problem with sales. But if i was running the event, as funny as that sounds. Id throw caution to the wind use my own money to get the guest i knew would draw the people. and advertise the hell out of the event. Whilst it would be taking a big risk I think it would be worth it.

[simon_etheridge]

hi thanks for the update jason

 

i consider james kyson lee a headline guest. he been in the show since the first episode and in season 3 he is a major part of the story. the other guests were fantastic as well.

 

can't wait to meet greg(he's my mums favorite ) still hoping for hayden (please god ) but whoever is annouced will be great.

 

simon

[TommyT]

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

I think that the way the program has progressed (if that's the word) through the series is probably quite important. I've never much cared for it (finding it a bit too "lite" and telegraphed), but I have several friends and acquaintances who were certainly big fans of the first series. Most of them have now dropped it completely from their viewing habits, and the two that do still follow it are much less enthusiastic and pretty much watch it out of duty, and a hope that it'll get better, rather than an expectation.

Maybe these folks are abnormal, but if that sort of feeling is generally reflected, then I'd have thought that it means that the number of people who would be generally disposed towards going to a Heroes convention (even if money weren't tight and big stars weren't difficult to obtain) would be substantially reduced. Could it just be that for many people, the clock that's timing Heroes' "fifteen minutes of fame" is showing about 14:38?

[bonniesrg]

This is sad news as the Eclipse cons are my favourite.

 

 

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

 

 

jason

The Resession I agree would have a part on this, but even though the shows tv viewing ratings have gone down that online viewing is still very high [whether it's watched legally or illegally ].

 

I'm not bothered about a 'headliner' guest being booked, some of the lesser parts are played by fantastic actors who I'd want to meet.

 

And yes party themes aren't always a big deal for buying tickets, but I think for Eclipse 3 where you have very long waits between guest announcements or other announcements, a party theme earlier on would have been a nice distraction to plan for while waiting for more information. Especially in the resession so we could plan and buy outfits early and not scramble to get money together for them last minute.

Yes a party theme tailored to an attending guest is nice, but really I would have enjoyed any Heroes themed party.

 

If Eclipse cons can't go on I'm hoping that you can still get the guests for the other events, even though I will have to get over my phobia of travelling to places I don't know [i get very panicked about getting lost and not being able to find my way home ]

 

Gotta say I loved the packed E1 atmosphere as much as E2's less crowded event, you always throw a good event.

Edited April 13, 2009 by bonniesrg

[Matze 3:16]

some more german heroes fans would be there, if it´s not the same date as the another show. Bad timing for Showmasters.

 

Greg is my favorite heroes act, but another show means a little bit more to us.

[Spotter]

If you are not going to run anymore Heroes events, the how about a Superheroes event?

You could have a combination of Heroes and Smallville guests with the odd guest from Superhero movies.

[lams9999]

OK, then instead of trying to list all the possible reasons why this event did not sell, I will simply give you mine :

 

- first of all, I'm going to another event in Germany. OK, this one is of course totally out of your control.

- I have less and less interest in Heroes. Again, out of your control

- Like Chris, I was disappointed by the line-up at E2, not because it was not a good line-up but because it was not what was promised at E1 when the price of the gold tickets increased. At the end, we had less guests than at E1 and no main cast, so it did not justify the price increase. With a standard week-end ticket, my view would have been totally different of course. That's why I don't want to buy any gold ticket anymore. Week-end or silver for me

- You have added 2 Torchwood conventions, Hub 2 was fantastic and I'm really looking forward to Hub 3. But this means at least doing one less ME event in 2009 so no Eclipse for me. Also you have already announced Bitten which will most probably interest me so I keep some money to buy a ticket for this one later in the year. I also keep an eye on that Abrams Inc although I have my doubts for this one as well.

- You have only 3 guests so far, of course I understand why but then again with so many good events in UK, number of guests has become a criterium to choose. I also cancelled another event in UK lately because they had only 2 guests and I could not justify the extra-expenses (plane, hotel, others) for just 2 guests.

- Because of all these points above, I did not even think about the problem with paying the hotel upfront but this would probably have been a serious issue for me as well. Although in this case, the solution was certainly to go to another hotel nearby but then if it would have been a solution for me, it would have been a problem for you if the hotel does not sell rooms. This is certainly an important issue for you to solve and fortunately there is not such problem at the Birmingham Hilton for The Hub 3 (although they have their own problems).

 

Once again, the reasons listed above are just mine but as Chris stated, I know many friends who come to conventions are in the same position for at least a couple of those reasons. Also, I agree that you can attract new attendees at those cons, especially with new shows. But I've been doing a lot of conventions in the UK for 5-6 years now and I have seen many new faces at events, they come for 1, 2, sometimes 3 events and then you never see them again. Although these attendees are important to make these events a success, I think the die-hard fans are also very important because they are the ones who usually book early for most of the events.

 

Good luck with the event anyway and as I said, I keep an eye on Abrams Inc but in my opinion, you'd better do something really quick with this event if you don't want to have the same problems as you have now with Eclipse 3.

[Psychosis]

A more general Heroes event could work... there's always popular shows with heroes of some kind!

[gem-sanders]

I really enjoyed E1 and E2 was good but there was no main cast for E2, which was why I didn't rush to buy a ticket for E3. Although Greg is main cast he has been in the country twice already within the last year or so. This is probably why myself and my boyfriend are not rushing out to buy tickets. If there was an introduction of a main cast 1st time signer to be announced I'm pretty sure that would most definitely change.

 

Could I make a sugeestion could you not focus on one or two main guest such as Ali and Zachary, or Hayden and Milo, Masi and James for an event I would be pretty sure that you would sell alot of tickets on something like this. Even if this was only a trial.

[DavidB]

Could I make a sugeestion could you not focus on one or two main guest such as Ali and Zachary, or Hayden and Milo, Masi and James for an event I would be pretty sure that you would sell alot of tickets on something like this. Even if this was only a trial.

That would of course work on the assumption that they haven't tried to get them, which we don't know. For all we know, they could've been aiming for a couple of big ones, but they just didn't work out. Plus with the ticket sales as they are, I doubt getting someone like Zachary would be viable - why get him for a 100 people event when he'd absolutely kill at a LFACC etc? That's where you get into problems with running cons. Especially when I'd imagine the bigger guests are far trickier to schedule.

 

In an ideal world they'd love to get big first time signers, but it's risky to just aim for those.

[Psychosis]

James came to the last one...?

[Lestat]

I agree with each of the reasons already stated and believe it is down to individual preference between guests & party themes for attendance, although increasing costs do not help in the present times. I know Showmasters are looking at the dvd option with twilight however I think we should encourage this as much as possible. If a dvd was available I would buy it, this would give showmasters more options not being 100% dependent on ticket sales. I would also have to agree that sometimes it is a choice for some between events, I go to Collectormania, LFCC each time and after these I can only afford another 2 or 3 so it can be difficult to choose.

[jael001]

I loved Eclipse 1, I thought it was fantastic. I bought a Gold Ticket for Eclipse 2 there but by the time the event came around the combination of the show going majorly downhill in my opinion and the guest announcements meant that I didnt attend. For season 3 of Heroes I stopped watching after the first few episodes, I absolutely hated where they were going with it and I gave up. That is why I'm not going to Eclipse 3. If the show had been better and had kept my interest I might well have gone as I've not met Greg before, but unfortunately for SM/ME they've put their money on a show that just didnt live up to it's first Season.

[bobd_uk]

I came to E1 and E2 and enjoyed them both.

 

The reason I am not doing E3 is not because of the con, or ME. It's because the tv show is now rubbish. I think that this is probably the biggest issue with E3 and it's sadly something that ME are not going to be able to affect.

[swan]

Eclipse 1 was one of the best convention I have ever been to.

 

I bought a silver for Eclipse 2, but couldn't make because of personal reasons.

 

Eclipse 3 is on over a bank holiday weekend which is a bad move... alot of people go away for bank holiday weekends. So I couldn't make that either.

 

Thanks for Eclipse 1... I'll never forget it!

 

(Oh, and the hotel policy sucks... a major put off)

 

Swan

Edited April 13, 2009 by swan

[natfrog5]

This is sad news =(

 

I agree that there's probably loads of different factors that have effected this event and it's a damn shame.

 

It's hard when fans wont buy tix until the guests are announced and SM/ME wont book guests until the tix are bought...catch 22!! I'm like that with Abraams Inc atm.

 

Maybe booking a "headliner" as the first guest would be the best thing to help the event. I understand this cant always be possible but look at The Hub - JB announced and the event is nearly sold out! And at E1 we had Zach, Hayden, Greg and Sendhil all announced relatively quickly although obv not all of them came in the end.

 

IMO I had more fun at E2 than E1 and Lockdown was a great weekend even though it was a small event. You got to know the guests so well and it was much more personal.

 

I've always bought my tix for Eclipse on the basis that I'm a massive fan and I dont care what guests are there - if they're in the show then I want to meet them! Regardless if they're "headline" or not.

 

I mean, there's only Masi, Ali and Zach of the "headliners" that I need to meet so I'd be very lucky to get any of them!

 

For me, the weekend cons are not just about the guests, it's a chance to have such a laugh with friends so I'm gutted that this means one less weekend of fun.

 

But as long as SM keep getting Heroes guests at LFCC etc then I can cope!

 

Pleeeassee dont stop trying to get Heroes ppl for other events!!

 

xxxx

[Lenatalia]

I think it's a difficult really. The organisers to need have enough ticket sales to pay for more guests, but at the same time many attendees won't purchase tickets until they see a good line up. So I don't think many more tickets will be sold before another guest is announced.

 

I don't know how contracts and all that works out, but perhaps in future you coudl hold a convention with Heroes guests and those from similar shows. There's loads of sci-fi shows at the moment and many focusing on the supernatual/mutant phenomenon/super heroes.

 

I doubted there would be an E4 and wouldn't have bought my ticket as quickly as usual if there was. Which again, would go back to organisers not having enough ticket sales to pay for guests because attendees are waiting for guests.

[sheepyie]

So if this may be the last Heroes Con, I'm very happy to be a part of it :)

 

I've tried to make a little promtion on some Germans Heroes boards, but without any responds

 

@ Matze 3:16

How many Germans will come to this event? I only know two others besides of me

[Lenatalia]

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.

How is James Kyson Lee not a headline guest? Prior to Eclispe 2 he had been in most episodes from season 1 and 2, and his popularity is rapidly increasing, thus strengthening the value of the fact you've met him. Right now I think Ando is a better character than Hiro.

 

The atmosphere wasn't just better because of less attendees. SM put on much more entertainment, like the casino night, karaoke and the quizzes with guests taking part - we didn't get that at E1.

 

I'd have be happy to have 4-6 guests who weren't of this so-called 'headline' title. Excluding random things like the priest in episode 21 or whatever, healiners or not make up the Heroes universe. I consider all 5 guests at E2 to be integral to the show.

 

I haven't been excited about E3 as much as I was about the previous 2. This is primarily because of the guests, but to dismiss the importance of other aspects such as themes is wrong. I always get excited about planning outfits and dressing up for themes, but the wait we had and the disappointing themes mean even this has dampened my excitement and I'm more than likely not wearing fancy dress at all.

 

Despite all this, I'm still expecting to enjoy E3 and the guests we do have are all great.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Lenatalia

[Psychosis]

So if this may be the last Heroes Con, I'm very happy to be a part of it :)

 

I've tried to make a little promtion on some Germans Heroes boards, but without any responds

 

@ Matze 3:16

How many Germans will come to this event? I only know two others besides of me

 

Hi! My best friend is German (her name on here is Haunted). She's coming, she'll fly from Frankfurt to Birmingham because I live near Birmingham.

 

We're going to London to see a musical the night before. It'll be a great weekend.

 

Lenatalia, I agree with almost everything you said, except I'm excited for the guests at this one. Ashley and Greg are on my dream guest list!

 

I hope the guests are agreeable to random interactive fun! They seem like cool people.

[Lenatalia]

Ooh, sorry, the wording on that may have sounded bad. I am definitely happy and looking forward to meeting the guests we do have for E3. I'm just sad that we could only get 3 for the event.

 

*cough*SArmy photoshoots*cough* =P

Edited April 13, 2009 by Lenatalia

[chris_mk]

How is James Kyson Lee not a headline guest? Prior to Eclispe 2 he had been in most episodes from season 1 and 2, and his popularity is rapidly increasing, thus strengthening the value of the fact you've met him. Right now I think Ando is a better character than Hiro.

 

The atmosphere wasn't just better because of less attendees. SM put on much more entertainment, like the casino night, karaoke and the quizzes with guests taking part - we didn't get that at E1.

 

I'd have be happy to have 4-6 guests who weren't of this so-called 'headline' title. Excluding random things like the priest in episode 21 or whatever, healiners or not make up the Heroes universe. I consider all 5 guests at E2 to be integral to the show.

 

I haven't been excited about E3 as much as I was about the previous 2. This is primarily because of the guests, but to dismiss the importance of other aspects such as themes is wrong. I always get excited about planning outfits and dressing up for themes, but the wait we had and the disappointing themes mean even this has dampened my excitement and I'm more than likely not wearing fancy dress at all.

 

Despite all this, I'm still expecting to enjoy E3 and the guests we do have are all great.

 

As I explained to Jason, I was referring to the post made by SM/ME asking which guests we'd like to see, putting potential guests in three categories. Jason was in the second group, the top group is what I would describe as 'Headliners'. This is not intended to show any disrespect to Jason, who was an awesome guest, who participated with the attendees and was a lot of fun. You only have to look at the ticket sales to see that a LOT of (potential) attendees agreed that the line-up did not match E1, otherwise, it would have sold out as well.

 

I don't agree that there was more entertainment at E2, it may just have been that it was more to your taste. E1 had the Michael jackson impersonator (ok, so I didn't like him/her much), it had a live band and it had Christine Rose IN CHARACTER delivering a speach. Not only was that an example of the guests getting involved at the party, but it's one of my all time favourite con moments. E1 also had the superb Timeline Room.

 

It's great that you're not so fussed who the guests were, but the ticket sales showed that you were in the minority.