very important News for Heroes fans

[selby]

I loved E1 as it was my first convention (I had done signings before) plus it had some amazing guests including one of my favorite characters. E2 was good fun but not on par with E1 guest wise (not saying I didn't enjoy them as I did).

 

I may still come if they pull a guest out of the hat but there are very few that will make me want to come the current lineup doesn't do anything for me as I have met Greg and the other two aren't anything to shout about IMO. I've lost most interest in heroes, i'm going to another event before it and I have already got 4 cons this year and not having much money are all reasons why I probably won't come. This goes for many of my friends as well.

 

I'm interested in a few of your up coming cons (Hallowhedon, Abrams and Bitten) but I learn from mine and others mistakes and I won't be booking nearer the time.

[TommyT]

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.

The thing with producing a DVD is it can be quite a pain in the backside. You have to get clearance from all the guests appearing. Now, you may be able to do that upfront, which saves aggro, and you may be able to get it for only a nominal additional fee, but they will almost certainly want a veto/clearance on it. Which means that you have to send them a copy of it for them to approve their stuff, and make any changes necessary if there's stuff that they want left out. And knocking all the footage into a decent quality DVD that isn't going to provoke cries of "it looks just like some crappy family holiday video" does take quite a bit of effort and skill, which may or may not cost, dependant upon the talents available at SM Towers. Most of those things I've mentioned are fixed costs, as are some of the manufacturing ones, meaning that it can be considerably more expensive per unit for smaller runs. And I don't know how much profit SM are looking to make on each DVD, but I don't see it being a huge moneyspinner. Sure, it makes sense to do it with something like Twilight, where you've got a sellout convention and people (metaphorically) banging on the door to get in. You can probably sell 500 of those, which with the reduced unit costs and volume sold means that the money made will probably be worth the effort. If you've only got two or three hundred people at a convention you'll maybe sell 100-150 if you're lucky, and the money made from that may very well not be worth all the time and hassle involved in the production of the thing.

[Tanith]

I was interested in this Con for quite a while but since I stay in Scotland I wanted to make sure it would be worth the trip and not be a waste of money. I know that this is not the fault of Showmasters but the lack of guests announcements is what put me off. And when guests were finally announced they were not really the guests I would of hoped to of seen. Type of guests some people were hoping for I think were like: Hayden, Kristen, Zachary, Masi etc (More or less any Group A guests from the poll at the start) and were waiting to see if any of them would attend before purchasing a ticket.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Tanith

[Psychosis]

How is Kristen a more important guest superficially than Greg (who's been a regular in every season!) or Ashley (who's been in three times as many episodes as Kristen and has a far more significant role) or Ntare (who's been in as many episodes and arguably again has a more significant role)?

 

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

 

Actually I think most of us are "fussed" who the guests are, we just have different ideas on what makes the best guest. Some of us (those of us who liked E2 the most, mostly) just want guests who are nice, interesting, and entertaining. Being in the biggest number of episodes does not make you nice, interesting, or entertaining. Not that I'm suggesting anybody wasn't nice at E1, lol.

[Peter]

I attended E1, E2, and will be attending E3.

 

I booked for E2 on the Sunday of E1 and there was quite a queue

 

I booked for E3 on the Sunday of E2 and there was four of us.

 

It was plain then that people were not going to book for E3 until they knew the line up, or at least, guests had been announced.

 

Unfortunately, it is a chicken and egg scenario that has been made worse by the current economic situation.

 

I have booked train tickets, paid for my hotel room, and my silver ticket so I am determined to enjoy myself!

 

Hope all my fellow attendees turn up and enjoy themselves as well.

 

And, I can look forward to the breakfasts

[Psychosis]

I attended E1, E2, and will be attending E3.

 

I booked for E2 on the Sunday of E1 and there was quite a queue

 

I booked for E3 on the Sunday of E2 and there was four of us.

 

It was plain then that people were not going to book for E3 until they knew the line up, or at least, guests had been announced.

 

Actually, it was plain then that people were not going to book for E3 immediately because they didn't want to book their ticket without confirming a hotel room and they couldn't do that until they had the money for both... I wouldn't make too many assumptions about what that meant.

[chris_mk]

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

 

Actually I think most of us are "fussed" who the guests are, we just have different ideas on what makes the best guest. Some of us (those of us who liked E2 the most, mostly) just want guests who are nice, interesting, and entertaining. Being in the biggest number of episodes does not make you nice, interesting, or entertaining. Not that I'm suggesting anybody wasn't nice at E1, lol.

 

I understand your point, but it's the 'Headline' guests that draw the punters. You're right, the guests at E2 (and E1) were awesome, really friendly and funny (I admit, I bought Stephen's DVD after the event, because I enjoyed his talks so much), but most people are more interested in meeting the main stars of the show. You can tell this from the ticket sales. Yes, the people who decided not to come missed out, but it doesn't help us to help SM/ME sell the event.

 

Actually, it was plain then that people were not going to book for E3 immediately because they didn't want to book their ticket without confirming a hotel room and they couldn't do that until they had the money for both... I wouldn't make too many assumptions about what that meant.

 

I can't agree with you on that point. I was at E2 with a half dozen friends and the reason we didn't buy a ticket for E3 was because there were no guests announced. Most of us had Gold tickets and in truth, regretted it a bit. In hindsight, we'd have still gone to E2, but on a regular or silver ticket. Because of that, we all decided not to get tickets to E3, until we had an idea of the guest list, so we knew which standard of ticket to buy.

 

I seriously think that the low sales at E2 were because of the lack of guests, not because of the hotel (you can always get a hotel later, or stay at the Ibis).

[DavidB]

While the guests we have had were all great, I can certainly understand why a lot of people won't be immediately wowed by them on paper. Once you're there, then you realise how fantastic they are, and you enjoy it. But beforehand, you judge differently.

[chris_mk]

While the guests we have had were all great, I can certainly understand why a lot of people won't be immediately wowed by them on paper. Once you're there, then you realise how fantastic they are, and you enjoy it. But beforehand, you judge differently.

 

For once (!!!) I completely agree with you

[betrayed-deagol]

[DavidB]

Well that's just gonna kill this topic isn't it

[pez]

its certanly confused me

[talie]

awww man i was totally gonna go to a 4th one

[Psychosis]

 

I can't agree with you on that point. I was at E2 with a half dozen friends and the reason we didn't buy a ticket for E3 was because there were no guests announced. Most of us had Gold tickets and in truth, regretted it a bit. In hindsight, we'd have still gone to E2, but on a regular or silver ticket. Because of that, we all decided not to get tickets to E3, until we had an idea of the guest list, so we knew which standard of ticket to buy.

 

I seriously think that the low sales at E2 were because of the lack of guests, not because of the hotel (you can always get a hotel later, or stay at the Ibis).

 

Hmm. I'm on the contrary. I know people (including myself, who previously always bought immediately) who didn't buy because of the hotel situation. I don't know anybody off this board who was put off by the lack of guests, because those who attended the event knew how good E2 was and most enjoyed it more than E1... and therefore would've realised that the guests would be either headliners or interesitng in some way.

 

At best we can say it's a mix then.

[talie]

I've just read this whole thread lol, and the only thing i can say regarding the guest situation is that eternal twilight 2 sold out in 18 days with only one non headline guest announced.

[DavidB]

The popularity of Heroes now compared to Twilight is very different.

 

At the beginning of the Heroes phenomenon, there were so many fans that were willing to just be a part of anything Heroes related, just like the Twilight ones are now.

 

But the show has lost 10 million viewers in the US, and interest is going down. Plus there have been a lot of guests from the show here now already, so it's getting trickier to get new big ones. It's not at a point where many people will just buy a ticket because it's Heroes.

[talie]

I think I'm a bit like wow purely cus i'v only gotten into heroes the last few months and I also thought the third series was the best lol 0_o

[SerbianJanet]

I think that can happen when you watch something all together in a short space of time. I know a lot of big Veronica Mars fans who didn't think S3 was very good in comparison to the first 2, but I didn't get into it til S3, watched the first two seasons all in one go a couple of episodes into S3 and then followed it week-to-week like my friends had been doing for two years. I liked S3 a lot.

[lams9999]

While reading some comments above, I realized that the success of Eclipse 1 was maybe also partly due to the fact that Zachary and Hayden were supposed to be there at the beginning then had to cancel.

 

Also, I wonder what's the goal of those polls with guests we would like to have ? I mean it's pretty obvious that everybody would like to meet the main cast of their favourite shows. But it depends on so many unpredictable parameters such as their work, their availability, if they want to do such an event, the money they cost, etc .... But I see that people were expecting guests like Masi or Ali which are probably not possible to have at such a small convention. I think those polls rise too much people's expectations. Am I the only one thinking that ?

[Twilight_fanatic92]

i adore heroes with a passion,i have followed it since day one and was plannin to go to a 4th one if u held it, coz i can't get the money for this particular one as i am attending 2 conventions this year within a month of each other. *boooo me for not booking this one first!!*

I also think that alot of people aren't booking because u haven't got a "main character" apart from greg grunberg confirmed. getting anyone like milo ventimiglia, hayden pannetierre or zacgary quinto wud probably rake in people, i personally think this is a great lineup as do everyone else who has already booked tickets, its just unfortunate that i cant attend!! but well done showmasters for getting these three awesome guests, because i know how hard it is to get people who are highly sought after to agree to attend these things!

heres hopin sometime in the future eclipses will happen again!

*a girl can dream*

[MikeDonovan]

Sorry to hear this - I won't lie, I never connected with Heroes - the quality just went south far too quick, and ultimately that's a big factor in the now poor viewing figures. Like The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which is now almost certain to be cancelled), Heroes is an expensive show to produce; the only reason it's been renewed is because of the key 18-35 demographic, and because of it's performance in secondary markets (i.e. DVD - and even that's tailed off recently).

 

Ironically NBC are much happier with Medium right now - it's a self starter (it doesn't take much of a lead-in from Heroes), and it's cheap. Same is true of My Name Is Earl.

 

It's a difficult time for the networks - ad revenue has dropped dramatically due to the recent squeeze on balance sheets and the general trend towards time delayed viewing over the last decade (meaning people just fast forward through the ads). Personally I think Hulu is the way forward - but it's going to be a decade before there's enough penetration of streaming media hardware in American homes.

[luvyourlife]

In these times, people are having to be very careful about what they spend and conventions aren't top of their list of priorities. Heroes is the top of my list, but it won't be the one event that many people decide they can justify. Perhaps the answer is to have only ONE Heroes event per year instead of two, with a guest such as Hayden. Surely more people would be able to afford one event than two and a name like Zachary, Milo etc might grab people right away.

 

Someone suggested getting Greg to mention E3 on Twitter. Fantastic idea, he has what, 160000 followers? Some of those are bound to be UK and not have heard of the event.

 

I for one really have enjoyed these events and it's very sad to think that this might be the last. Signings with actors just aren't the same - 30 seconds of meeting them instead of 3 days worth.

 

I'm really looking forward to E3 and I hope that it sells more tickets and that we all have a great time. I hope it won't be the last.

Edited April 13, 2009 by sarahlilly

[Lenatalia]

I've just read this whole thread lol, and the only thing i can say regarding the guest situation is that eternal twilight 2 sold out in 18 days with only one non headline guest announced.

That's not surprising really:

1) Twilight is based on relatively new novels (first being published only in 2005?).

2) There's a movie out, which reaches a bigger demographic than television shows, and reaches further globally.

3) There's currently a Twilight craze, as there was with Heroes back in its novelty days.

4) One headline guest = major attraction.

[MikeDonovan]

3) There's currently a Twilight craze, as there was with Heroes back in its novelty days.

 

That's the biggest thing IMHO. In five years time Twilight will suddenly be 'uncool', and the followers will have moved over to something else - but right now it's got a rabid fan base.

[StephW]

I'm sorry to hear this. I've really enjoyed E1 and E2, and I'm sure I'll enjoy E3 as well. I'm really happy with Grunny and Ashley as guests, while Ntare is more meh to me, but that's still a good score, lol. I'm really hoping we get another cool guest (or at least get another guest).

 

I booked my hotel room for E3 while I was attending E2, just in case I was gonna be able to come back and to prevent it from being completely sold out. This way I could stay at the Park Inn if I was able to attend E3, but if I had to cancel I wouldn't have to worry about the hotel policy as I was booking it right there and then. I did wait a few months before buying my Silver ticket though, not because I wanted to see which guests would come, but because I had to be sure I would be able to attend and not have any other plans get in the way, as buying a Silver ticket then not going would be kind of a big waste of money for me.

 

For me I haven't really cared who the guests were as long as they had been in Heroes (ok, someone more like Molly or even Janice or Heidi, even if they were smaller roles, but at least somewhat known and thus cared about characters rather than people like Guy W. Bimaste or the guy with the umbrella), but unfortunately a lot of people tend to consider which guests will be attending before committing to such an event. Thus making it difficult to recruit others with no guest announcements or perhaps guests portraying characters they don't really care about. Also, I have to agree with the current prices and only three guest announcements and it being so close to the event, that's a difficult sell. Especially to those who might not even live in the UK. I'm from Norway myself and I'm going because I'm still a big fan of the show (actually, I think S3 is the best one yet), but having to pay for my plane ticket, hotel, taxi or train from London or Birmingham and the Silver ticket and then there's only 3 guests, so far anyway (and by only 3 guests I mean that's few compared to E1 and E2 which had 6 and 5 guests). That's pretty expensive, and luckily I had money saved up for this one as I don't go to Cons usually, we don't have any that I know of here and going to UK for lots of cons would be WAY to expensive.

 

As for the theme parties, I don't really care too much about them compared to the rest, but I would've liked more of a repeat of the Karaoke night with the Sumo wrestling rather than the current ones. I didn't sing nor wrestle, but it was fun watching. I prolly won't be taking part in any of the current parties now. I'll prolly just watch TV or something with my mom instead.

 

We've wanted a DVD since E1 though, shame we didn't get one.

 

There were so many guests left that I wanted to meet through this Heroes con, as I won't go all the way to the UK for just one actor at one con from time to time. This was a good solution for me by having 4-6 guests each time, which again meant money better spent on my behalf. Shame it didn't work out. Thanks for trying though, SM/ME, and thanks for the memories at E1 and E2, and the coming memories at E3.