Hallowhedon feedback thread

[Ginnean]

trying to eat dinner thats rapidly going cold as i get distracted on here so will post my report later in the meantime i have a couple of comments on things other people have said.

 

Also having all questions asked by the same person because they were the one that people submitted online i find it a bit harsh as only people that go on the forum knows about it and can enjoy it. I mean it s a great idea to have some question prepared (i ve seen many talks when it s awkward because nobody ask questions) but it may be nicer to let the attendees ask some questions on the day too.

 

Not all of the questions asked were from online. I was lucky enough to have a few of my questions asked and all were ones i had submitted at the con itself.

 

The event needed a little extra something for the attendees to do during the day (like maybe screenings of buffy episodes, quizes/ activities of some sort to participate in, in between getting the autographs/ photos).

 

There was supposed to be a quiz. Don't know what happened there. maybe we both missed it?

[fivebyfivefaith]

Had an amazing weekend, but was disappointed with some of the organisation of the event.

 

There certainly could have been a little more input from the ME crew at the parties- they were set up so beautifully, but when we got there, it was pretty much just 'OK- here's your party! Now dance.' There could have been a host, some party games, a quiz (as mentioned before), and just a bit more of an atmosphere. There was a massive stage, there could easily have been a few Buffy party games, with some crummy prizes! There was no sense of the parties being hosted at all, it just felt a bit haphazard.

 

Also, the question and answer sessions were a bit loosely organised- the guy asking the questions could have guided the conversations more, or asked some in depth and engaging questions before opening it to the floor. I think the person asking the questions needs a better knowledge of the actor's work, and can't just simply say 'I didn't write the question'. When you have one of the guests asking 'Who the hell writes this s***?', I think it's fair to say better questions should be selected. And if the attendees aren't coming up with the goods, then ME should have some back up questions. Or you're stuck in the same position as Nick Brendon was- answering the same questions that James was asked by fans 10 mins earlier.

 

I thought James M was a star, Mark and James were intelligent and funny guys, and Mercedes behaved in the same way that anyone would, as the only female guest at the convention, and when faced with 3 massive male egos!

 

And yeah- Thistle was a pit. The toilets were disgusting, overpriced food (I've never eaten so much McD's in my life) Room was OK (if noisy) and staff were unhelpful. Bar was awful too. No coke on draught?

 

I really don't mean to sound overly negative- these were honestly small issues, and I had an amazing weekend overall. I'm definitely coming back for Hallowhedon 2

[Madeleine]

Also, the question and answer sessions were a bit loosely organised- the guy asking the questions could have guided the conversations more, or asked some in depth and engaging questions before opening it to the floor. I think the person asking the questions needs a better knowledge of the actor's work, and can't just simply say 'I didn't write the question'. When you have one of the guests asking 'Who the hell writes this s***?', I think it's fair to say better questions should be selected. And if the attendees aren't coming up with the goods, then ME should have some back up questions. Or you're stuck in the same position as Nick Brendon was- answering the same questions that James was asked by fans 10 mins earlier.

 

I know it's a matter of taste, but I prefer that they don't open it up to the floor. I've been to too many cons where people ask totally inappropriate questions - about underwear, for example; or 'questions' that are barely-disguised monologues about the fan him/herself; or questions that make no sense. Plus, when fans are asking the questions you inevitably get to learn all of their names and where they're from, and with only 45 minutes to listen to the guest I'm happier at events where that particular way of using up time doesn't happen.

 

Also, it doesn't bother me if one guest is asked the same questions as another. They give different enough answers :)

 

I think 'who the hell writes this --' was banter rather than criticism, and the fact that virtualy every question over the weekend led to an interesting answer of some sort seems to me to say that they were okay sorts of questions.

[Elspeth]

Am i the only one who didn't hate the Thistle lol?!?!

Yeah it was a bit expensive for what you got, but I thought it was worth staying there to stop the hassle of walking to and from the other hotels. the food was reasonably priced.....£6.50 for an all you can eat dinner, I wasn't complaining! I'd stay there again...although, they do need to sort out recepetion a bit, took like 15minutes for us to check in (not including the line we had to queue in before!)

 

The good:

The crew as always, the guests, the guest encounters were great too! Dinner witht the guests on Saturday night was WOW! Loved the halloween ball......by far the best party, and the pumpkin was genius! Pretty much everything

 

 

The 'not so good' (I can't say bad, coz it wasn't!):

Gold drinks reception was a bit to noisey too.....perhaps use the rooms the guest encounters were in (maybe 2 guests to one room then switch them about (might limit the noice a bit)

Like others have said, perhaps put on some episodes of buffy/angel ect during the autograph sessions to limit the number of people taking up the floor space (again in the guest encounter rooms perhaps?)

And yeah, a couple of prizes or someone hosting the parties could be good fun

 

 

So yeah, it as a fantastic weekend and I cannot wait until next Halloween! I'm already booked up with G007

Brilliant work SM it really was a fantastic event! Everyone was really friendly/ enthusiastic and have a great time.....gives yourselves a pat on the back for ther one! BRAVO!

Edited November 2, 2009 by Elspeth

[Daniel]

A number of people have been having a go at the Thistle.

 

I have been to the Thistle loads of times over the years I have found it one of the best hotels to have cons in and I will tell you why.

 

I won't say the names of the hotels, but many others I have been to will not allow parties to go on too late, especially if there is a party Sunday night. We have been at con parties at other hotels and the staff have come in and put the lights on at midnight which didn't please us too much, but the Thistle is very good at allowing parties to go on late. Thats why I like it.

 

That and the runway viewing balcony anyway

[cookies41]

Firstly I'd like to say I had such a great weekend, was my 2nd con of this type and had again a brilliant experience meeting some great people (mention to Sazzy, Kim, Vicky and anyone else i met this weekend).

The Good:

The guests: James Marsters, bless his soul, by the Sunday he was clearly in pain and I so admired and went away with massive respect for the guy for doing this event and staying all weekend and still giving up his time to sign, take photos etc. He could have easily turned down SM but when i thanked him for coming he said that if he agreed to do something he would do it, so major kudos there. The other guests were great as well; Mark was hysterical in the talks and was nice at the signing, James was lovely with his little headache on the Sunday which i kept asking him about and Nick was so lovely, again another little star - coming to both parties, spending time with the guests and making his way around the room talking to everyone and just being a generally nice guy. His guest encounter on Saturday afternoon was so great and well worth the money.

The Crew: As usual an amazing crew working this event, guys at the photoshoot areas and at the collection point who must have been stressed on the Sunday what with Boots' slowness. Also special mention to the girl running James auto queue on the Sunday for finding my auto ticket; saved me from having a slight heart attack.

The Parties: Were generally quite good. The halloween party i didn't really dance at because it was just too packed but from what i heard the music was quite good. There was definitely a good atmosphere what with the kareoke and the bucking pumkn on the nights and i felt more relaxed at them than i did at the Hub chatting to other people.

 

The not so Good:

The Thistle: Ok now thankfully i didn't have a really bad experience but just little things were quite annoying such as the key cards not working after going back to your room once and then having to trawl back to reception to re swipe your card. Hotel staff were slightly rude; when waiting at reception for said key card swipe one member of staff was on the phone so i stood patiently waiting only to then have him say quite loudly "excuse me" wave his hand at me and look at me as if I was quite thick. I also thought the little tuck shop was kinda over priced (a kit kat for a £1? ) However the beds were comfy and the room quite clean which i thought was good.

The Talks: Even though the content of the talks were generally quite interesting, i felt there was quite a delay in getting some of them started. I don't know whether this was because of the guests not being there or something else i just thought they could have started a little sooner espeically as it felt that some of them weren't long enough. Also the fact that the all guest talk on the Sunday was extremely cut short was a little disappointing as it didn't seem very long. I can understand that there was a mistake but it was a little disappointing.

Photos: Boots- that's all i have to say.

 

Overall this was such a fab weekend and i will definitely book for Hallowhedon 2

[Psychosis]

Daniel: Fair opinion, but I don't like late parties so that wouldn't make me feel better! LOL

 

Yes, I was really impressed with James. What DEDICATION! It would've been so easy for him to pull out. Most people would have, I think. You really know that a man like him appreciates his fans.

[Cider]

 

It's been raised before about more things to do in the morning. We are looking at this.

 

I'm sorry if the the Gold Pass reception did work for you, it is a work in progress, we are trying different things to see what works best.

 

The issue with the sit down idea is...

 

A: The size of the hall you'd need. It would need to be at least 3 times bigger than the one we had and the only other hall that big is the main hall. And we need to have that for the main party and that needs to be set-up whilst the gold drink party is going on. Some of the parties take over an hour to set-up.

 

B: With 150 gold passes, and 8 people a table that's 19 tables. With only an hour that's only 3 mins per table! The guests would only just have time to move from one table to the next. To have a reasonable amount of time on each table 10 minutes (with 2 minutes move time) we'd have to have the gold drinks recepetion on for nearly 4 hours! And even with 6 guests you'd have 20 minute waits between guests.

 

It's not easy and we are re-evaluating it every show to try and get the best solution.

 

Thanks for replying so quickly.

 

I wasn't complaining for myself, it's not even a complaint really, just a suggestion. I had a great time at the meet and greet, I am quite a forward person and manged to speak to each guest for a little time. I then tried to encourage some of the people at the back to come forward, but some of them were maybe a little shy or overwhelmed or whatever and remained at the back and I felt bad for them because they paid the same as everyone else and just because they weren't as forward as some others, they didn't even get to hear what the guests were saying.

 

I have been to other events where there have been more attendees in the meet and greet and it has worked fine. Maybe it's more like 10 - 12 at a table, but the point is, everyone can see and hear what's going on even if they are too shy to speak themselves. I think they tend to use the hall we were in and the one where the dealer's room is put together. And yes, at the ones I have been to the meet and greet has sometimes gone on until midnight, and there is a long waiting time sometimes between having guests, but that's fine because you just get to know the people at your table.

 

I understand it's a juggling act between the time and space that you have amd I appreciate that you do the best that you can and are willing to listen to people's suggestions.

 

Hallowhedon was one of the best organised and most fun conventions I have ever been to and the two suggestions I made were just ways I personally thought that they could be made even better. All the crew did a great job and I had a fantastic time.

 

I cannot even begin to imagine a hotel in Glasgow being easier to get to than a hotel in London... unless you live in Glasgow.

 

I've been to a con in Glasgow, the entrance to the hotel was right in the train station, which is in the centre of Glasgow. I can't think of an easier place to get to - off the train - into your hotel room! And plenty to do outside of the con if you have long waits between stuff.

 

I think the reason so many cons are at Heathrow is that, that's where most of the flights to/from the states go to. So there's no additional travelling for the guests.

 

I actually liked that the questions were moderated, as someone else said it weeds out the inappropriate questions that you inevitably get and it worked quite well. Although I'm not sure that the guests were entirely sure how it worked and thought that the moderator was the person who came up with the questions.

 

I do agree though that the hosts/moderators should know more about the shows represented at the event. I died a little inside every time I heard the words Josh Whedon or Dollshouse. Everyone knows it's Joe Swedon!!!

[nickysgirl77]

Hi all

 

Got back at teatime today, so tired but had a FANTASTIC weekend. I just want to shout out to Laura, Kerry, Sharon, Drusilla & Becki (plus Becki's mum) and thank them all for chatting to me (or should I put me chatting at them!!!)

 

I had an amazing time, never been to a Massive Events con but will definately be going again.

 

I had no negs about the Thistle, my room was in the 500's and was clean and quite modern, the breakfast was fine and I found the staff I spoke to helpful. Must admit I only had a few drinks at the bar as I was a bit poorly so I can't say I noticed the prices.

 

The guests were all great, especially Nick. Although I must say how amazing was James Marsters. We all knew he was obviously in pain yet in his signings and photoshoots he took the time to make eye contact ask you how you were and I would say he was the Man of the Match for me this weekend.

 

My highlight was the Guest Encounter, I was probably the happiest (and most nervous) I had ever been in my entire life, especially as I won the encounter by raffle. Nick was awesome, he was really chatty and the group I was in (2.15pm Sunday Encounter) were all friendly too. I loved Nick's injuries story and I still can't believe I sat next to him for and whole hour!!!

 

Finally I thought the whole organisation was great and that the crew were all very helpful, thanks you guys rock!!!

 

I will definately be booking my ticket next week for next's year Hallowhedon and next year I will make sure I bring more money

 

Thanks everyone

 

Erin

xxxxx

[buffy2k]

Thanks to all for a great weekend. waited for a buffy con for so long and it didnt disappoint. Party especially on saturday were amazing and i love how the halls are always decorated too. SM staff very helpful and special thanks to Too Tall and Nickys security person (sorry dont know your name)who helped me with the sword being signed this weekend. Malcolm and Danielle for great photos and sorting them all out. everything ran smoothly with autos and photos and staff are always so accommodating and friendly.

 

Guests fantastic, friendly and great fun. James what a trooper, i dont think i have seen a more inventive way to do autos either. Nicky what a great sport all weekend being out every night till late with mark and Jimmy. Mercedes really sweet as well. Nice to meet up with the guys in the pub too.

 

Thistle, it is a great con hotel though you wouldnt be able to get away with late parties etc anywhere else or be allowed to hover around till the early hours. we always bring own food and drink and then top up with trips to the pub and mcdonalds as many did this weekend. The staff never get it right all the time,but its a con home and convenient for most people. at least here you can also get away with walking around in costumes without being looked at or talked about like at other hotels been to recently as well and they are well used to conventions here.

 

Only things for the future i can think of are regular updates on the forum about guests etc . Also would be nice to maybe do something in the mornings as people have said when not doing photos/autos maybe a quiz or karaoke to once more with feeling or something.

 

Bring on halloween 2 cant wait and have already booked our gold tickets.

 

Thanks to everyone for a great weekend my best con in years.

 

[adriangill]

Good: The whole event in general. Suprised at how many people attended. The guests were all excellent. If there were every any doubters of James Marsters after his unfortunate cancellation at The Hub3 then his dedication to his fans was left in no doubt this weekend. The first time I have felt guilty for getting an autograph from anyone.

 

I've read a couple of things said about Mercedies, and I have to say I used to think didn't like to chat much but then went to her Guest Encounter on Saturday and she seemed a bit more at ease there. I don't know if anyone here can back me up, it was the 3pm one on the Saturday. She said she finds things like this quite scary in general so thats probably why she wasn't too chatty on stage, but she was happy answering any of my questions with less people around and I think I feel differently about her now.

I found Mercedes lovely to chat to when getting her auto (as she was last time I met her). I wouldn't blame her if she was daunted by the talks. Some take to that aspect eaiser than others

 

The crew were outstanding

 

Also special mention to the girl running James auto queue on the Sunday for finding my auto ticket; saved me from having a slight heart attack.

I was going to mention possibly the same person. She was very chatty and entertaining whilst queuing up. Also to Mara (I think) who moved people from James Learys auto queue to get other autos when he got called away briefly Sunday morning and then let us rejoin JL's queue in the same place after

 

Bad: No Firefly guests ...where was Jewel Staite . My only complaint about the venue (I slept at home ) is that I found the hall too small and it was a bit cramped during the talks. Ironically probably due to the good point above - the number of people who attended!

 

Enjoyed it so much I decided to upgrade from silver to gold for the next one

 

Regarding the questions I do not think enough questions were submitted and poor Paul had to resort to the "only open in an emergency" questions for the last panel. They appeared to be the very generic questions I have heard at previous ME cons. Whilst the guests made the best they could with them I do think they were cringing slightly. It really is up to 'us' to get more questions submitted prior to the talks. The only suggestion I have if the same happens in future is that maybe some of the most interesting questions can be held back from other talks and be used soley in the final panel with all of the guests. There is a slight risk of not getting through everyones questions but surely that is better than running out of questions and having to use the emergency pack?

[gemma85]

This was mine and my sis's first con ever and as a whole was frickin amazing!!!!! We still cant believe we met James M and Nick at our first con. We also got two guest encounters with both James M and Nick and I got Nicks chair in the auction which was soooo cool!!!!!

 

Great points:1) James M for being there. He was is soo much pain all weekend and during the guest encounter he was on his knees as he couldnt sit, was clearly uncomftable but still did it. Just made love him even more( if thats possible) Was so obliging in the photoshoots and even though we were told dont touch & dont ask for poses, he still went ahead and did it anyway, Also always made eye contact with us, held hands throughtout, whispered into my ear about my tatts and even singled us out at the gold reception as he was moving groups to apologise, rubbed my sis's arm and saidt hankyou to us for going.

2) Nick, OMG, how down to earth and funny was he!!!! Was such a sweetie in photoshoots always responded if you said something, gave me a massive hug in my photo but I wasnt sure what to do so he looked at me and said it was alright to touch him and he just pulled me in tight, I thought I was gunna faint!!! Was so amazing in the guest encounter, he told us he was just as nervous as us when it it came to Intimate encounters as he called and you could see he was, but was so chatty & friendly. He went round and spoke to all of us individually talking about a fave holiday destinations, his play, architecture, got out his passport to show us and talking about our fave movies.

3) James Leary even though was either drunk or hungover. We had an ongoing thing about my tatts since the gold reception that spilled into saturday even though he didnt remember what he actually said.

4) Crew was awesome, everything ran either on time or in nicks case with signing, early which was so cool, went in about 30 mins before our alotted time. Always helpful and polite and if they didnt know something or was unsure told us who to go to who did know.

 

Bad Points 1) Gold reception. Even though we are not particularly forward but we are not wallflowers either. The reason we barely got to see anything at all was because the of all the crowding. We were shoved to the back the whole time because the same group of people would literally push in front to make sure they got to the guest. There was one lady in particular who was very rude & abrasive who knocked my sis flying to barge her way through to get to nick and then when James M came along she may aswell have been sitting on him she was that close. I must point out that Nicks and James L's crew member were so amazing, saw that we were being pushed out and got Nick & James to come to us, shake our hands, say hello just so we got something. James M saw we were there but pushed away, so when he moved groups he came up to us and apologised for not getting the chance to talk, thanked us for being there. I understand that times constraints and room sizes are an issue when it comes to the reception but something really needs to change because we have all paid the same money and because of a few selfish individuals, alot of us lost out, we didnt even get to hear what was being said because it was so loud. I feel that the crew could have been alittle more on top of controlling the groups and making sure that everyone at least got a hand shake & hello, so they got something just like Nicks and James L'S did.

Also, I noticed that attendees was moving from group to group to follow particular guests. I felt that was incredibly unfair as I thought it stated in the rules that you were to stay in your groups and the guests would come to you. Nobody seemed to be taking this on board and was moving freely around the room, making large groups even larger and making it more difficult for the people at the back to get a look in.

 

Had a slight hiccup when it came to pre ordered auto tickets. They werent given to us in our reg packs, we got photo tix instead, being our first con we didnt realise the mistake until sunday which is when our signings were, went to sort it out at the ticket desk and eventually got it sorted.

 

Thankyou ME for everything, it was amazing.

 

Also big shout out to the awesome couple that is Natalie and Thomas, you guys rock!!!! Also to Nichola, hope your forehead is alittle better now lol.

[Nixster]

Also big shout out to the awesome couple that is Natalie and Thomas, you guys rock!!!! Also to Nichola, hope your forehead is alittle better now lol.

 

I hope that's me you're on about. lol. I have no skin left but the shinyness is going down!

 

Weekend was awesome! made some new con-buddies (i'll e-mail you later )

Got home realised i had no food in the house and i didn't want to get up, but went well at least i had a great weekend. Spotted a few pics of me on peoples facebook, I was like where am I, i know i got some taken - oh there I am!

The Thisle was very annoying - manily the staff - after the first night before I enven went to my room i got my card reactivated as I knew it wouldn't work

But the parties were great

Guests were Awesome and

M/E were top Banana as per usual!

[Ellewood]

Before the event I was very dubious and rather disappointed that there were only five guests BUT WOW it worked - the organisation was fabulous, everything was timed to perfection, even with the glitches of James' back problem and the other James slight hangover on Sunday everything went to plan. The talks and the Guest Encounters were excellent, the parties were super especially with some of the guests wandering about freely and the fans were all so friendly. I bought my ticket for next year already and can't wait to see what Jason and Mark come up to move it 'to the next level'. Yay thanks guys it was great.

[June]

We had an amazing time, so awesome!

 

Good: As said so many times before, hats off to James Marsters for being there! You could see he was in pain, but he was still so sweet and tried to take his time to have a chat with you, he's an amazing guy! Great that he sticked with us :)

 

The ME crew. They were all so nice and really helped you when you needed it, and they made sure everything went smoothly. You guys are all amazing!

 

The fans! You were all lovely and we were amazed how well behaved everyone was (especially during the parties, with the guests being there and totally not crowding them or whatever). You're all great and it's amazing we can keep the shows alive like this!

 

All the guests, they were amazing and I loved meeting all of them. Too bad Beery Leary got in a bit of a huff on the Sunday, making us wait for our autographs, but that was solved well in the end :)

 

Sooo much more, but I don't have a brain left right now, still too tired and buzzing...

 

Bad: The restaurant as mentioned in the other topic, with the menu/buffet thing. Really annoying.

 

There must've been more bad stuff, but I forgot them all as the good outweighed the bad by so many!

 

Thank you everyone for an amazing weekend and I can't wait to be back next year!

[Cider]

Something I forgot to mention. The goody bags for the Gold pass holders. Awesome. Especially the Joss is Boss mugs. I real nice touch. Although it was a shame that there were only sizes above large left in the t-shirts by the time we got to reg. Maybe people's sizes could be asked in future to ensure everyone can get a t-shirt in their size.

[lessuzerables]

She said she finds things like this quite scary in general so thats probably why she wasn't too chatty on stage, but she was happy answering any of my questions with less people around and I think I feel differently about her now.

 

During the opening ceremony and guest talk with Mercedes and Nicholas, it became very clear to me that Mercedes found it quite scary and thus was a little shy.

Luckily she did say some things at the signing to both me and my friend. So it's all fine.

Just bear with her a little and keep in mind not everyone is as outgoing as Nicholas or funny as Mark.

At least she wasn't rude like some of the staff members of the Thistle hotel

 

Edit: totally forgot to say that I really respect James for coming to this convention despite his injuries. He's been lovely!

The SM/ME crew were great! Very friendly and ready to help with whatever problem we had.

Having a standard ticket meant we had to sit at the back during the guest talks. Being quite small, meant I couldn't see much of the guests. Especially not when

Mark and James L weren't shown on the bigger screen. So that was a little frustrating.

Edited November 3, 2009 by LesSuzerables

[loyden]

The good: Well most things actually!

 

I had a great time. I was on there my own and I wasn't sure how that would go, but I met some amazing people at the meet up and in the queues.

 

During the day everything flowed nicely and having a gold ticket I was busy most of the time. Special thanks to Debbie (crew) who really went out of her way to make sure I was ok.

 

The first two parties were great especially Saturday night when everyone made such an effort with their costumes. Amazing fun on the dancefloor too

 

Great guests too!

 

The bad: not much!

 

The drinks reception was ... awkward. I got there a few minutes late so I didn't really know the rules. I didn't want to squeeze to the front but that meant not having a chance of meeting anyone.

 

The convention area on the Sunday evening. We really felt the Thistle wanted us to clear out :) It was cold and the lighting was too bright for ages and did I mention it was cold. Also it was clear the the event was over seeing as all the crew had gone :)

 

The thistle staff generally sucked. Ok they were better at breakfast but otherwise not very helpful. Too few so you always had to queue and never very friendly. The actual hotel was roughly what I expected.

[iavas]

Good points:

 

The guests: I usually go to conventions because I enjoy the atmosphere, I’m not much of an autograph/photograph fan, but I enjoy guest talks. I saw a few talks and the guests were very relaxed, friendly and funny.

 

The people at the convention: The atmosphere was calm and open, and I really liked how people started getting in touch especially during the Halloween party, complementing each others costumes and taking pictures.

 

Bad points:

 

When I paid my (standard) ticket, I thought I bought a ticket to a Joss Whedon convention. It turned out that I didn’t. It was a Buffy/Angel convention. The MCs even said so during the event. And that really bothered me, because I’m not a huge Buffy/Angel fan, but I love Firefly/Serenity and Dr. Horrible (a masterpiece that was not even mentioned anywhere). I have had no chance to see Dollhouse yet but I’m sure the Dollhouse fans were as disappointed as I was that the whole convention was all about Buffy/Angel.

 

Sure, it would have been nice to have some guests from other shows. I understand that it’s hard to get actors if they are in the middle of shooting other movies/shows. But even if the convention team had no chance to get actors from other shows, they could at least have put a little effort in representing the other fandoms.

There could have been trivia games, or sing-alongs (I mean...it’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog! Or a Sing-Along of the Buffy Musical episode would have been a good idea as well).

There could have been a costume contest, or a video contest.

There’s a role-playing game called „Serenity“, based on the Firefly universe. I know RPGs are a very special hobby, but I’m sure some fans would have appreciated trying it out.

There wasn’t even a lot of merchandise from other shows in the dealer’s room (but lots of Twilight merch instead...no comment).

 

I came down all the way from Germany and paid quite a lot of money for a convention weekend only to find out that it did not cover my fandom, which was pretty disappointing. I am glad that the atmosphere at the convention was that good, or the weekend would have been a complete disaster for me. Sorry to say so.

All I can say is that: IF you plan to do a Buffy convention, please tell everybody straight ahead, and don’t pretend it’s a Joss Whedon convention.

[ChrisR]

A newbie's feedback on Hallowhedon.

 

Firstly, I must say that we had a great time at Hallowhedon and it was a real trip meeting lots of people off my favourite telly programme. The staff were very helpful and the photo/autograph sessions were well organised and efficient. I thought the guests were brilliant, particularly James Marsters, who was obviously in so much pain. Mark Lutz and James Leary were also good value even though they weren't A list stars.

 

There are lots of ways to make Hallowhedon even better, though. Here are my top five suggestions for improvements:

 

1) Change the format of some of the panel discussions. The fans' question and answer format is fine, but to do the same format for 9 hours over two days just got stale and boring. It worked well on the first day, but by the end of Sunday you could see the guests were fed up with being asked what their favourite food was and other inane stuff like that - they were taking the mickey out of it in the final session and looked like they couldn't wait for the end. Also it would have been better if they were more Buffy-related questions that went deeper into their experiences, not a constant stream of questions on random topics.

How about next time having just one day given over to fans' questions (eg Sunday) and on Saturday having a proper chaired panel discussion, with a competent chairperson on stage, interviewing the guests about their life, work, Buffy/Angel experiences, etc etc. This could be done individually, in pairs or with all the guests. This would mean a professional interviewer would be able to really get deeper into the guests' experiences and lives, and more importantly guide the discussion, instead of random questions all the time.

 

2) The Gold Reception didn't work very well as there were too many people around each guest and due to the size of the room and general noise, if you weren't standing right next to a guest, you couldn't hear what they were saying. Some people talked to guests for ages and others just stood next to them all the time, and you couldn't really push people out of the way, which is what you'd have had to do to say hello. When guests swapped over, their minders always led them to the same spot so the same people saw each guest. Many people (particularly the less pushy ones) simply gave up and stopped trying, which was a shame. I think everyone should get an opportunity to shake the guests' hands and say a few words, which doesn't happen with the current format. Other people have suggested sit-down tables, which would work well. Or have the minders take the guests round all the people and introduce them individually - at that stage of the convention, all you want to do is say hello and get that 'wow, I've just met Spike/Xander/etc' buzz.

 

3) Get a decent DJ. The music was pretty dire all weekend - anyone who dares to follow the Buffy theme with Startrekkin' should really start looking for alternative employment. The dance floor had just filled up and was full of energy, and then everyone wandered off again. A proper club DJ (rather than someone who does wedding parties and barmitzvahs) would help enormously, and a half-hour segment of Buffy songs would also have gone down well, but never happened.

 

4) Use the stage during the parties. It seemed a shame that we didn't get any of the 'fantastic Las Vegas style entertainment' that was promised in the brochure in addition to the gaming tables, we were expecting some sort of stage show that never materialised. If you're not planning to do something, then don't promise it in the brochure. As other people have mentioned, quizzes were also promised but didn't happen. (on a similar note, as the event was billed as including Firefly/Serenity and Dollhouse, it was rather disappointing that there was nothing whatsoever on these shows during the whole weekend).

 

5) Spend a bit of money getting some Buffy/Angel themed backdrops for the photos. The stars were great during the photo sessions, but all the photos are against these really ugly backdrops. The graphics/video clips for the event itself were great, so it wouldn't take much imagination to get the people who did those to come up with a couple of themed backdrops.

 

Thanks again for a great weekend, and I hope these suggestions were helpful.

[deadrobot]

I do agree though that the hosts/moderators should know more about the shows represented at the event. I died a little inside every time I heard the words Josh Whedon or Dollshouse. Everyone knows it's Joe Swedon!!!

 

Oh my god, me too! Did he really say Josh Whedon? I thought I imagined it!

[vampiric_kitten]

I've been to a con in Glasgow, the entrance to the hotel was right in the train station, which is in the centre of Glasgow. I can't think of an easier place to get to - off the train - into your hotel room! And plenty to do outside of the con if you have long waits between stuff.

That hotel's shut down now though lol

 

 

I actually prefer having them further away if it was in Glasgow I couldn't justify not staying at home and I don't think you get the full experience unless you're staying and mingling with other convention goers.

Edited November 3, 2009 by vampiric_kitten

[Cider]

All I can say is that: IF you plan to do a Buffy convention, please tell everybody straight ahead, and don’t pretend it’s a Joss Whedon convention.

 

I too was disappointed that there weren't any guests from outside of the Buffyverse. But to be fair to SM/ME I don't think they ever intended it to be a Buffy/Angel only convention, it just comes down to who is available.

 

Dollhouse is difficult because the show is currently still filming, and most of the Firefly/Serenity and Dr. Horrible actors are also working, so it's harder to get them. Also there was 7 years of Buffy and 5 of Angel, so a lot more scope to get guests from those shows than the 1 season of Firefly and 2 of Dollhouse.

[DavidB]

I too was disappointed that there weren't any guests from outside of the Buffyverse. But to be fair to SM/ME I don't think they ever intended it to be a Buffy/Angel only convention, it just comes down to who is available.

Absolutely.

 

Plus, being picky, it was never guaranteed that there would be a guest from each show. Yes, they had advertised the con as covering multiple Whedon shows, but it was never stated that every single show would have a guest from it appearing.

 

It would've been nice if it had worked out that way, but at the same time you get fans that would want multiple ones from the same show to attend etc. Can't please everyone really.

[Purple]

Think my highlight was a lovely lady teaching me and Sarah the correct dance moves to the Dr Who song, so thank you for that!

 

Laughed so hard dressed as a zombie dancing to Star Treking too, think thats going on my spotify list now!

 

 

If the lady in question was short, darkish blonde, roughly spherical and wearing a black suit, then it was me, my name's Jay, and you're very welcome! Most of the con dances look harder than they actually are (although I'm still trying to figure out Swamp Thing...)

 

See you next time!

Edited November 3, 2009 by Purple