The Hub 3 - Feedback

[morbid_sparks]

And a BIG thank you to the person who handed in my photshoot card on the saturday morning, the chap I was able to collect it from when I asked wasn't able to point you out so I never got to say thank you in person.

 

That may have been me and etmuse - we found one near the far end of the auto room, with just one ticked off, and handed it in - if so, glad you were able to find it!

[Blackbird]

One observation - maybe some of the atendees encountered some hostility from hotel staff and crew because of the way they were speaking to them. I witnessed first hand a few instances where convention attendees were extremly out of line in the way they were adressing crew/staff.

I am unfailingly polite to hotel staff and crew, and can provide witnesses to this effect from many, many events. Nonetheless, I was patronized nastily and repeatedly, and interrupted during short and important questions by the man who checked me in at Reception on Thursday, and huffed at by a woman working at the bar when I asked very politely for extra plates. As I said up-thread, most of the interactions I had with the staff were lovely, but those that weren't did cast a bit of a pall.

 

That said, I'm very sorry to hear of attendees being nasty to the staff. That never helps matters at all.

Edited October 27, 2009 by Blackbird

[forgiveninasong]

I am always polite and friendly to hotel staff, because I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of rude and impolite guests. However, I won't let bad service and rude staff go unrecognised. After I'd sat for 25 minutes in the bar, wanting to order some food, and having asked someone three times to be served, I then went over to the Costa station, where there were at least 4 members of staff, and asked in a stern way "I have been waiting 25 minutes to order some food and no one has come over to me" which is when someone finally shifted and got me some food. I find it horrific that you *had* to resort to stern language and a raised voice to get service.

 

For a FIVE STAR establishment, the service was just not up to scratch.

[Shannen]

I have to say amoung all this negativity about the hotel staff and other non-hub attendees that I had very few problems.

 

All the staff were very lovely, apart from the one occassion where we were left waiting over half an hour for our food and in the end I had to leave before getting mine so I could get to the talks on time. Other than that all staff I spoke to were lovely.

 

As for non-Hub attendees, I found them all friendly, and was stopped a few times so people could ask what was going on but everyone was polite and just interested in what was causing this madness in the hotel. On Saturday night I was dresses as Magenta from Rocky Horror and despite that I had some lovely talks with other people at the bar, the only moment that I had trouble with was when it appeared someone took a photo of me without my knowledge and that kind of freaked me out but otherwise everything was fine. I never encountered any negative behaviour.

 

Also I was very impressed by the breakfast put on by the Hilton as I am an extremely picky eater and at previous Hubs at The Park Inn, I have skipped breakfast due to them not having anything I liked. The Hilton was much better.

 

I have to send out massive a thank you to MassiveEvents and all the crew as everyone was extremely helpful and friendly and happy to help (especially on Saturday when me and my friends were extremely confused by the layout of the hotel).

 

And Surprise Kai was fantastic!!

 

The Talks themselves were brilliant. They were interesting and also extremely funny. The Hub is rather ourageous, I mean this is a TORCHWOOD con, and I love every second of it.

 

I do agree though that people need to be sensible when taking photos. You do not need to create a still by still flickerbook of the talks. Some people were taking photos non-stop and it really ruined my view for the majority of the Saturday talks in particular. Which was a shame as I also couldn't really see the screens from where I was sat.

 

The Parties were great fun and although I did miss the layout of The Park Inn, with the main bar just round the corner, I still enjoyed myself greatly. But I do agree that as someone who sufferes from severe migraines, I couldn't be in the actual party hall for long moments of time due to the strobe lighting. Although that said I do appreciate the warnings that ME had put up around the hotel warning for the strobe lighting. Thank you.

 

I have to say all the guests were an absolute delight and were all extremely friendly. Ben in particular seemed to steal the weekend for me as he was just lovely and genuinely seemed to enjoy himself. Same goes for Rik.

[daniel.humes]

And a BIG thank you to the person who handed in my photshoot card on the saturday morning, the chap I was able to collect it from when I asked wasn't able to point you out so I never got to say thank you in person.

 

That may have been me and etmuse - we found one near the far end of the auto room, with just one ticked off, and handed it in - if so, glad you were able to find it!

 

Yeah that would have been mine. Thank you so much. I owe you both a drink at Hub 4 x

[daniel.humes]

 

So cheers to all me old mates -special shoutout to Turk and Kris

 

and to all the amazing new people i met -special shout out to roomie Rachel and the scooby gang Brad, Elaine, Lesley, and Dan

 

Everyone else you were all ubber awesome, what an adventure

 

oh and how could i forget the DOC himself (cheers for my picture)

 

Aw thanks Bazz

[Banished_From_Rohan]

 

I do agree though that people need to be sensible when taking photos. You do not need to create a still by still flickerbook of the talks. Some people were taking photos non-stop and it really ruined my view for the majority of the Saturday talks in particular. Which was a shame as I also couldn't really see the screens from where I was sat.

 

 

Just on that point apologies if I slightly overdid the photos at the talk from the side on Saturday but Rik had given me his camera and asked me to get some for him so I did lol. Actually he had a lot of photos taken with that camera through the day, so I hope they are put up somewhere for us all to see.

[Daphne Blake]

 

So cheers to all me old mates -special shoutout to Turk and Kris

 

and to all the amazing new people i met -special shout out to roomie Rachel and the scooby gang Brad, Elaine, Lesley, and Dan

 

Everyone else you were all ubber awesome, what an adventure

 

oh and how could i forget the DOC himself (cheers for my picture)

 

Aw thanks Bazz

 

 

THERE WAS A SCOOBY GANG?!?!

[Spikesbird]

Have been to many cons over the last 20 odd years, but this was my first Hub con.

 

My biggest gripe would have to be the lack of anything to do on Saturday until 3.00 pm. Not all of us want autos or can afford photos, to literally have to kick around doing sweet fa until 3.00 pm was very poor.

 

If you've been doing cons for that long then you should remember that for much of the morning there *isn't* a lot else to do at times.

 

I've been going to them for 10 years, and it's only been my second like that. The others you miss part (sometimes all) of panels queuing for autographs of other panels, it's an accepted thing you can't do everything, and when Gold tickets exist that at least gives you queue priorities.

 

The situation at the James Marsters event last year (and I mention it since the ME were happy to mention that and publicise at it the week before it took place) actually had the autograph queues at the back of the hall, you could still hear the panels whilst queuing.

It's the way ME have chosen to run the events. I was part of that discussion and decision back nearly 2 years ago, when the first ME event was run.

 

We chose to have the photos and autographs in the morning and the talks all in the afternoon. This way people get all of the running about done in the morning and then they can relax in the afternoon, knowing there is nothing they HAVE to go off and do. (We do have the GEs in the afternoon but that's the attendees choice to bid.)

 

I have to say the majority of attendees I've spoken to about it, like it the way we have it.

 

This system usually works pretty well as everyone has autographs included in their ticket package and so at least part of their morning is taken up by autographs (It's very unusual for someone to not want any of their autographs and therefore be completely free in the mornings). The talks usually start at about 2pm.

 

At the Hub 3 due to us having the one day guests and having nearly 700 people to get through autograph queues, this meant the autographs going on further into the afternoon than we'd usually like and the knock on effect was the 3pm start for the talks on Saturday.

 

Saying this I agree that we can look at their being more "other" things on during the morning and I shall discuss this with the office.

 

 

I personally love the schedule the way it is. possible total madness in the morning, sometimes interspersed with little breaks, and hopefully enough time for lunch too

Then a very interesting afternoon of talks, with the chance for a sit down - I think it works extremely well and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I was at the James Marsters event last year (?) and hated the fact that I missed quite a bit of the panels due to being in a queue - the whole of the writer's one in fact which I was reallly looking forward to. Luckily got to see/hear Kai and Eve's one though, phew!

I think SM/ME plan things brilliantly.

 

Max

[showmasters]

hi all

 

i have read though all the posts and have taken it all on board

 

i see some of the points raised and we will keep working to improve

 

i will say that when we go to a new hotel its a learning curve for all the guest the fans and us , all i know is the hotel management want to make it work for the fans and are working to improve the fans experience at the hotel , so your points have been listened to and we will work with the hotel to fix them for the next time we use it .

 

i must say having more room in the hotel made it much more easy to get around and get what you need to get done, and if we get more of the Bigger names from the show we will need a big hotel so we will get it right .

 

we look to make the events better each time and never rest and we want to make the event even better for everyone next time .

 

i just want to say thank you all for your input on the event and we will fix the valid issues you have brought to us

 

thank you

 

Jason

[Doctor Who]

hi all

i have read though al the post and have taken it all on board

Jason

Thank you for taking your time to read the whole thread. With 11 guests, I can only imagine that it must have been hard to organise it all but you did a fantastic job, especially with keeping Kai a secret. It was my first weekend convention and it certainly won't be my last, I'm all booked up for The Hub 4 now with a Silver ticket and room at the hotel.

[Spikesbird]

i just want to say thank you all for your input on the event and we will fix the valid issues you have brought to us

 

thank you

 

Jason

 

 

No, Thank You guys!!

That's why we keep coming back for more cons.

[sistercarrion]

hi all

 

i have read though all the posts and have taken it all on board

 

i see some of the points raised and we will keep working to improve

 

i will say that when we go to a new hotel its a learning curve for all the guest the fans and us , all i know is the hotel management want to make it work for the fans and are working to improve the fans experience at the hotel , so your points have been listened to and we will work with the hotel to fix them for the next time we use it .

 

i must say having more room in the hotel made it much more easy to get around and get what you need to get done, and if we get more of the Bigger names from the show we will need a big hotel so we will get it right .

 

we look to make the events better each time and never rest and we want to make the event even better for everyone next time .

 

i just want to say thank you all for your input on the event and we will fix the valid issues you have brought to us

 

thank you

 

Jason

 

Hi there!

Thank you so much!

You helped this goth's first con an amazing experience. Every question made to yourself or your team was taken on board and responded to quickly and professionally. I was slightly anxious about travelling and getting around. I have mobility/memory and anxiety issues, but everyone was just lovely. It really makes the difference when you know everything's sorted as far as it can be, and that potential issues are dealt with quickly. No question to your team was too far, and despite the fact that you must have been majorly harrassed with questions all weekend, you always seemed to have a smile for attendees.

 

So yes, a huge thank you from me!

Gaynor (the fat goff with torquoise hair who was walking with sticks)

[lorelei_chase]

My only criticisms are to do with the hotel itself, pretty much what other people have brought up. I do stay in a lot of hotels with work and certain aspects of this particular one were disappointing.

 

But this was far outweighed by the amazing effort put in by SM. I got chatting to some really lovely crew members, everyone I had contact with was brilliant. Seemed to get through all the queues quickly, the photos were all fantastic and I had a fab time. Loved the parties. I must admit, guests being or not being at parties isn't really an issue for me because I'm usually prancing around on the dancefloor like a lunatic with my friends. But Kai coming out and giving us a karaoke special was quite a treat. Top bloke!

 

Though DJ, what happened to Muse on the Saturday night?? We were waiting for it and you never played it! hehe.

 

Ooh PS. To the crew girl I was talking to about the corsets I was wearing during the day, I didn't get your name but hello, was lovely to chat to you! *waves*

[BeatrixKiddo88]

Yeah sorry DJ but I have to disagree, there was a lot of repetition as my friends will attest to, as they kept trying to drag me up to dance on saturday only to have me refuse with a 'but he played this already'.

 

I heard thriller at least once per night for example, and it was the same with most artists, only got one or two of their songs played but a few times over the weekend.

 

I know certain songs will get a big crowd on the floor, but as the parties went on that number got smaller and smaller untill sunday night where not only did I leave the dance hall pre-midnight to find something more interesting to do, but the dance floor was only populated by the group that had danced to everything all weekend anyway.

 

As I have said, friday was great, I danced myself half to death thanks to the playlist (especially jump around) but then saturday and sunday was basically the same playlist with a few different songs spread about.

 

I would say it was about 8 repeats for every new song that we hadnt heard yet that weekend.

[BloodRedRoses1]

One thing I would suggest is that the groups be small in number if possible. Say 12-15 people per group at the very most, 8-10 would be much better. The bigger the group the easier it is for the shy people to lost in the back of the crowd.

 

Morgan

[mjocovers]

I'd like to answer a couple of the issues here.

 

The group drinks reception:

 

It's clear that this isn't working and so at Hub 4 I will look at implementing the same system we used at ET2. Where we have everyone stand in their groups, and we'll bring the guests to each group, that way each group will get to see all of the guests.

 

just a question, would the groups be set by ticket/group number as set out in the ET2 rules or would you still be allowed to form your own groups provided you stayed in the same one for the party?

 

it seems a shame since it means you miss out on the chance to meet other attendees in the meantime (ie: in between meeting the guests), particularly if it's on the Friday, but guess there aren't many other options

I'm afraid it would have to be the groups as per the ticket numbers.

 

People form groups now but we end up with 15+ groups and then 40+ people in couples etc, it's just not possible to get the guests to all of these groups, this is the issue at the moment.

 

I understand it not great and it makes it a bit artificial but it's the only way to make sure everyone gets to see the guests. And at the end of the day that's the reason for the recepcition, to met the guests, meeting other attendees it an added bonus, but not the main point of it.

 

 

Seems like a sensible idea even though it will loose some of the atmosphere. On a purely personal note though, if the new system is implemented, I'd hate to be out of the room when a guest was brought to my group, so I assume something will be arranged about that.

 

I must say as far as the overall organization of the Con is concerned I think Hub 3 was an improvemnet on the last one. And I really appreciate it that ME seem to listen to what people say.

 

And, Too Tall, again big thanks to you for everything you do.

[Doctor Who]

One thing I would suggest is that the groups be small in number if possible. Say 12-15 people per group at the very most, 8-10 would be much better. The bigger the group the easier it is for the shy people to lost in the back of the crowd.

Morgan

While I can see the positives about that and there are many, I can imagine that it would make scheduling a much more difficult job and calling people's groups a bit harder. If they weren't a problem though, that would be quite cool.

Edited October 27, 2009 by Doctor Who

[sistercarrion]

Okay to address the whole thing more generally

 

The Hotel itself:

I had absolutely no problem with. The room itself was gorgeous (a twin deluxe for the record). Fast internet connection. Plenty of room for me to stumble around with my sticks. Lots of lovely lighting. Prompt answers via room phone. Good telly reception. My do not disturb notice for Thurs/Fri/Sat was well.. noticed *g* Even to the extent that when I saw a member of cleaning staff in the hall, she enquired whether another time would be more convienient!

 

Food:

Well, the Hotel food was always going to be expensive. But! The breakfasts were amazing, and utililised properly *ahem* provided snacks for later. A large free breakfast became more like a brunch, with cereal, fruit, cooked breakfast, yoghurts, breads, jams, pastries, cheeses and meats.. nom nom nom..

 

Otherwise, foodwise, I got the courtesy bus to and from the Int'l train station, and get Subway sarnies and snacks from the shops there. One day I got the free monorail further out to the airport where there was a wide variety of food places. Apparentely there was also a Subway in the NEC, but I didn't use this.

 

So, creativity was the key!

 

Hotel staff:

Were pretty much brilliant throughout, cleaning staff even helping me with my bags when I struggled in a corridor on the way in, and notably the funny and helpful front desk staff on the last night who gave me a refund on an internet charge when I'd fudged it up by mistake. Bar staff in the main lounge were a little on the slow side, but I couldn't fault beer quality when I had it :)

 

Con staff:

Were a lovely bunch. I walk aided with sticks, and the amount of help and reassurance I received throughout the weekend was just fantastic. Whether it be ensuring I got a suitable seat, making sure I didn't have to stand for long, or assisting with my constant questioning, the response was always friendly and helpful. Special kudos goes to Too Tall, the lady on the registration desk who helped me loads, and Jason, for rockin' harder than a hard thing (steady!)

 

Talks, Autos etc:

I liked the way these were organised, and honestly, given guest commitments, and amount of attendees I thought this was dealt with as effectively as possible. Some big notices up on the Sun regarding where Kai was going to be and when would've been useful, but I still got to everything I needed to.

 

Dodgy bits:

The music. Seriously. The DJ was good quality, but the repetition was awful. Virtually the same setlist over the three nights got a bit much. But I've said all about that already. Maybe add some quizzes, giveaways?

 

Some of the attendees feelings of umm.. entitlement, shall we say. If there was a little more understanding that guests had limited time in their schedules, and were actually human too maybe?

 

The lack of crew presence at the Sunday night party. I get that you guys had probably had had enough of us by then, but just a token show would've been nice. Or something that felt less like a damp squib rather than a rousing send off. With the theme, the result felt more like a shabby school disco than a proper party.

 

There's bound to be more that comes to mind, but mostly, as mr B himself would say:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

[angelkitty]

Yeah sorry DJ but I have to disagree, there was a lot of repetition as my friends will attest to, as they kept trying to drag me up to dance on saturday only to have me refuse with a 'but he played this already'.

 

I heard thriller at least once per night for example, and it was the same with most artists, only got one or two of their songs played but a few times over the weekend.

 

I know certain songs will get a big crowd on the floor, but as the parties went on that number got smaller and smaller untill sunday night where not only did I leave the dance hall pre-midnight to find something more interesting to do, but the dance floor was only populated by the group that had danced to everything all weekend anyway.

 

As I have said, friday was great, I danced myself half to death thanks to the playlist (especially jump around) but then saturday and sunday was basically the same playlist with a few different songs spread about.

 

I would say it was about 8 repeats for every new song that we hadnt heard yet that weekend.

 

I'm afraid I have to agree. At one point on Sat (probably just after midnight) The Time Warp was played, then there was either a 1 or 2 songs gap and it was played again!

 

Friday was excellent, I danced like a loon to Jump Around (and yes, I did jump in those heels) and All the Small Things, and Dance Magic Dance, and The Cult, and Prince Charming etc etc. Sat was pretty much identical to Friday.

 

I know that there are songs that will always be floor fillers, and that the job of a dj is to keep people dancing, but I don't think that playing favourite songs over and over again is the way to do it. I'm also aware that you are limited by the fact that the disco is all ages, therefore songs that contain random swearing (remember kids, it's big and clever ), or overly sexual themes are a bit of a no no, which does limit the choice somewhat.

 

It's a difficult balancing act, truely, and without asking my brother (who is a dj), my thoughts would simply be to space the con songs throughout the night, only play them once, and then start to 'age up' the music as it gets later. Either that or play 80s music, or dance, or rock

[morbid_sparks]

 

Yeah that would have been mine. Thank you so much. I owe you both a drink at Hub 4 x

 

Lol, we'll take you up on that

[hells childe 17]

Schedule....spot on, glad of the break on the Sunday !!

 

Photo's, Malcom and Danielle did a great job as per.

One gripe, well not so much as it worked in our favour ! By the time we found out that Kai and Daniella's photo shoots were about to the start the q's were so long we went back to the hall and got the rest of our auto's (2 of which clashed) as they'd opened the q's up! We got everything we wanted.

 

Stewards, more than awesome.

 

Autos. One gripe ! For extra autos and pics you had to wait untill the last group is called, which is no problem, until you see someone in the q next to yours getting extra before the end of the groups are called. Especially knowing full well they had there's already as they were in front of you the day before !! BTW i waited till the last of the groups were called to get my last GDL auto. Kudos to TT as per Rik can talk the hind legs off a donkey ! lol ! I gave him some sweets, (Emmerdale related thing !) and he got out his chair, came around the table and gave me a hug ! No wonder he was behind if he did that with all the attendees, not that i'm complaining !!

 

Parties, everyone made a lot of effort to dress up, outfits were fab. Sunday was ok to start with but got a bit boring, i think i was to tired to enjoy it. As for the guests being at the parties, if they keep getting harrassed they won't stay and i don't blame them ! They all should be allowed to enjoy themselves too.

 

Hotel, sorry far to big, you make the wrong turn and your lost !! I know we need bigger venues for bigger guests, but i think it was probably booked on the basis of JB and JM going. Home to the Park Inn Northampton

 

Hotel staff, as i wasn't staying there didn't have a problem, but the bar staff were incredibly slow and couldn't care whether you got served or not ! I personally think it was serve the hotel guests first then the con goers ! Which is a bit rude, consisdering the con goers are guests too.

 

Talks, funny as ever, Rik gave as good as Gareth. A bit overwhelming for the newbies but they got there and held there own.

 

Thanks again for a great convention, bring on Hub 4

[Tiggerboing]

[quote name='hells childe 17' date='Oct 27 2009, 09:15 PM' post=

 

Autos. One gripe ! For extra autos and pics you had to wait untill the last group is called, which is no problem, until you see someone in the q next to yours getting extra before the end of the groups are called. Especially knowing full well they had there's already as they were in front of you the day before !! BTW i waited till the last of the groups were called to get my last GDL auto.

 

 

Much as I agree that you do have to wait until all the groups have gone through before getting extras. I had a situation which I explained to Too Tall where we had photos with kai & daniela plus autographs with I think it was liz may brice all in the schedule of 12-1. But also wanted an extra auto from Gareth who in the schedule was also due to end at 1pm. Too Tall advised us to go down and get Gareths before all the groups had been. So I do understand what ur saying but sometimes there are other factors as to why this happens.

[Octarina]

I seem to be the only one who has had enough of Gareth!

 

Don't know if it was because I'd never done one of these before, and become he was essentially the main attraction as it where, because of the unfortunate circumstances regarding James + John, but he seemed to be everywhere....

 

so much that I full on walked into him coming out of a lift at one point!

[bexy]

The lack of crew presence at the Sunday night party. I get that you guys had probably had had enough of us by then, but just a token show would've been nice. Or something that felt less like a damp squib rather than a rousing send off. With the theme, the result felt more like a shabby school disco than a proper party.

 

There definitely were crew at the Sunday night party. I was talking to a couple of them outside afterwards.

 

Thanks SM for taking everything we say on board. It really is good to know that any problems are listened too and dealt with wherever possible.

 

As I think I said I had a fantastic weekend and the only problems I had at all with the event came from the hotel staff and had were obviously out of your control so I certainly don't blame you for them.

While I did like the extra space in the hotel I can't wait to go 'home' to Northampton, the hotel is just so much more friendly!

 

There was repetition at the parties with the music but I kind of expected that since most of the same songs get requested over and over. Was great to have all the extra stuff at the parties, even if I am still bruised from that sheep!

 

Thanks especially to the photo crew for all your help this weekend and to all the random people I jumped on on Saturday night to get to pose for photos! You were all fantastic