Thoughts From Sunday/Reflections on the Weekend

[Persephone1]

I dont think people should take photos from a distance - if you want to meet them and have a photo then pay the money. What really annoyed me on Saturday was the amount of times I was actually meeting the guest and someone behind was taking photos - bit of consideration please!!!

 

While people should always be considerate I do think that as long as someone is taking photos from a distance and not blocking the queue or anyone else's way then they should be allowed for example to try and take a picture of their relative meeting the guest as the gentleman in this thread tried to do while his daughter was meeting John. I can understand banning cameras in the queue for popular guests but shots from a distance that affect noone? I mean I find it hard to believe that John himself was preventing people taking photos of their loved ones meeting him from a distance considering that he's graciously put up with being flash blinded each night for the past 13 weeks at the stage door of La Cage Aux Folles and has never once tried to stop anyone taking photos of him. I just think a degree of common sense needs to be used. The crew have a very hard to job to do and I respect them enormously but I did think at this event more than others people were very much sticking to the letter of the rules but not using their discretion when it would have made more common sense to do so (ie letting the numbers waiting for certain guests dwindle to nothing but still not increasing the numbers called).

 

It does seem that the opportunity to take photos of the guests is being fazed out at these events which is a real shame.

[Psychosis]

I thought some of the crew were being overzealous with the rules too, moreso than I can recall before. Not just that... I posted an incident at the door/organiser's booth that made me want to scream and tear my hair out in frustration.

[Bev]

[ I mean I find it hard to believe that John himself was preventing people taking photos of their loved ones meeting him from a distance considering that he's graciously put up with being flash blinded each night for the past 13 weeks at the stage door of La Cage Aux Folles and has never once tried to stop anyone taking photos of him.

 

It's difficult to enforce a No Photo rule in a public place. However, if John had said "No photographs please", it would have been rude at the very least to have disregarded his request. If it was indeed John who asked for no photos at CM, then we should respect that.

[Flibble]

Everyone was very civilzed when they opened the doors, no-one rushed or ran.

 

 

Heheheheheheheheeeee, my four friends and I ran from the enterance, all the way up the staircase and down to JB's desk for VTs

 

I saw you do that, and I was waiting for Too Tall to shout "DON'T RUN!" but he was no where in sight!

Edited December 1, 2009 by Flibble

[BeatrixKiddo88]

Yeah and my example of John saying 'please dont take photos like that, they end up on certain sites' was from him signing at barriers at the COE preview.

 

That was in daylight, so wasnt the flash, but was just him not wanting rubbish, random, unflattering pictures of himself ending up places, as at those sorts of places you get random people as well as fans who wouldnt do that sort of thing.

 

 

And even if it wasnt John stopping the photographs, maybe it was his agent. Either way, SM always have to honor their guest contracts and agreements.

 

Just because John is ok with pictures some places, dosnt mean he will be all the time, no matter how nice he is. Its no reflection on him and none of us are saying its him being bad, neither is it SM or anyone being mean. Its sometimes just the rules.

Edited December 1, 2009 by BeatrixKiddo88

[nasreen77]

Cynthia Scott, had disappeared for what ending up being roughly 2 hours and her poor helper woman had no idea. She said she had disappeared briefly, but Cynthia hadn't told her where, how long or anything. So after a fair old wait i eventually got her on my Aliens border, frame thing too.

 

Hey There,

 

I was that poor helper woman (although I prefer the term girl as it helps me pretend Im younger than I actually am)..

In fairness to Cynthia (who was lovely), the first time you came round if I remember correctly, she hadnt turned up yet. Some mix up or another delayed her arrival. To compensate for that she had a very short lunch break and stayed with me until we were certain that everyone that had come to see her earlier in the day had returned plus some. Then she went shopping around the stalls.

 

I'd like to just say a quick thank you to everyone for their patience in Cynthias delay on Sunday and also Gareth David Lloyds delayed arrival on Saturday (I was on VT duty), its never nice having to face the public with little or no information so it's nice when you are met with patient and friendly people who don't shout.

 

It would seem that the Delayed Guest Arrival crown was awarded to me this time around.

 

 

On a side note about the whole photo thing... I dont know the reason behind it and I can't say Im particularly bothered by it. I have always taken the opportunity to have an over the table photo where possible (and have taken distant photos), but in the grand scheme of things, if Im not allowed I dont blow a gasket. I mean, there are people all over the world suffering a lot more, so this constant foot stamping that happens for stuff like this gets me a little annoyed at times.

 

Either way, I did have to ask people not to take photos in the Torchwood/Supernatural area on Saturday even from a distance. It was one of my designated tasks. Im not a fan of asking people not to do things when I dont have a solid reason why they shouldnt, however thats what I was asked to do so I did it. I appreciate not all crew members are as chilled out when asking one person for the millionth time not to do something, but in most cases we are only doing as we are told to do and people should respect that, even if at times its not delivered in the most appropriate manner.

 

Thats one of the great things about a forum like this, we can post feedback and hopefully impact how things are run in the future. But please dont think that crew are just power crazy monsters. A good proportion of us have attended these events for a number of years and offered to crew to help things run smoothly in the hope that other people enjoy themselves as much as we have done.

 

Things change though as it all gets more and more popular and we all have to adapt with those changes.

 

Now, everyone go on and be happy.

Life is too freakin' short!

 

 

Nas x x

 

Ps I really didnt mean to make this an essay. Sorry.

[servelan]

I was just there on the Saturday and I really enjoyed myself.

 

I met -

the very lovely Misha Collins, and had a photo shoot, which was great

George Takei, really friendly and a gentleman

Gareth Thomas, again very friendly and tells a great yarn

 

The Supernatural talk was fun too. Misha Collins just talks about waht he wants to talk, and is very funny. Julie McNiven was the 'straight guy' really.

 

I spent a fortune round the stalls.

 

Good time

 

I'd love a Supernatural convention with Misha, pretty please

[kingbantam]

As for John on the other hand, I was quite disappointed. He used to be my favourite Torchwood guy, but this time around he seemed a little off. I had eye contact with him (a rarity) just before we posed at the photo shoot and he had such a serious look on his face when I smiled at him. And when I went to get his auto, he didn't even look at me, or acknowledge anything I said, and in fact turned around to chat with someone behind him as he signed. Made me wish I hadn't bothered to see him

And yes I am now a big Ianto fan ... hey did I say that Gareth was adorable? lol

 

What a shame you had a bad experience with John. I found him to be friendly, chatty and charming both in the photoshoot and at the autograph table, despite obviously being very very tired ( after the last night of La Cage on Sat).

 

Gareth I find can be a bit hit and miss dependent on his mood but I've always had good experiences with both him and Kai too so pleased you enjoyed your yime with them :)

[Scoop1107]

As for John on the other hand, I was quite disappointed. He used to be my favourite Torchwood guy, but this time around he seemed a little off. I had eye contact with him (a rarity) just before we posed at the photo shoot and he had such a serious look on his face when I smiled at him. And when I went to get his auto, he didn't even look at me, or acknowledge anything I said, and in fact turned around to chat with someone behind him as he signed. Made me wish I hadn't bothered to see him

And yes I am now a big Ianto fan ... hey did I say that Gareth was adorable? lol

 

What a shame you had a bad experience with John. I found him to be friendly, chatty and charming both in the photoshoot and at the autograph table, despite obviously being very very tired ( after the last night of La Cage on Sat).

 

Gareth I find can be a bit hit and miss dependent on his mood but I've always had good experiences with both him and Kai too so pleased you enjoyed your yime with them :)

 

It's a shame you had this experience. Although I didn't get much eye contact with him, he did respond to what I was saying and when he signed my Captain Jack drawing he said 'very nice' as he passed it back to me. It must be so hard to be chatty with every single person who goes through your table, and to remember to look at them etc. He must have been absolutely shattered and it's a balance between being chatty with people but also making sure everyone who wants to meet the guest does get to meet them.

 

Having been to a book signing which was even more rushed than this, I was quite glad to get a few more seconds with him than on that occasion.

 

The photo I got with him I absolutley love. He really does take a good photo, and it looks like he's there just for me, if you get what I mean. (Love the glasses as well, wasn't sure to start off with but the more I see them the more I like them).

 

I also know what you mean about Gareth being hit and miss. Last time I got him to sign one my pics he didn't really respond much, but on Sunday he greeted it with a 'Wow', which was nice, then promptly signed it in the wrong place! (John Barrowman did say Gareth always signs in the wrong place which I found amusing, he must be used to signing around Gareth's dodgily placed autographs).

[TorchwoodDoctor]

Everyone was very civilzed when they opened the doors, no-one rushed or ran.

 

 

Heheheheheheheheeeee, my four friends and I ran from the enterance, all the way up the staircase and down to JB's desk for VTs

 

I saw you do that, and I was waiting for Too Tall to shout "DON'T RUN!" but he was no where in sight!

 

 

Hahaha! Really?

Hehe, oops! We didn't know about the no running rule (which in hindsight is obvious), but we were careful not to run into or infront of anybody, and ran up the stairs not the escalator

[talie]

I had an amazing weekend what with only ever doing weekend cons before I didn't know how I'd find a signing event especially on top of crewing for the first time, however it was fabulous I have nothing but good words to say.

[cookies41]

Sunday was more of an action packed day for me considering John Barrowman was there, I had to make sure I got an earlier VT. Turned up at around 8am picked up under ticket 100 which I was extrmely pleased about. Went round picked up some more VT's and bought some more photoshoots and was surpirsed to see a lot of the guests that were busier the day before to be quieter.

Shannen Doherty: Wasn't gonna meet her til later on in the day but went up anyway and she was lovely, smiley, seemed quite chirpy for in the morning. Had a small chat but kinda rambled at her, wished I had stood there longer and chatted some more because there was no one behind me but had babbled long enough and ran away. Went back for a 2nd photoshoot because had heard someone got a hug from her and couldn't resist-happy to say it's a great photo.

Neil Roberts: Lovely man, kept walking about a lot and never once did I see him not smiling. Greeted me with a hug and kiss made sure that the photo we got at the desk was good and had a small chat with him. Lovely guest great guy.

John Rhys Davies: Met him for the photoshoot were he was tickling everyone to get them to smile - really jolly there. Went for my auto and he asked me how old I was etc. told him I was a student and he asked me what I was studying, and he seemed genuinely interested in you as a person.I asked him what he did and he told me he was dwarf Advised me to write 3 pages every day and wrote so on my auto. Lovely man, very chatty and just a pure legend, kissed my hand on the way out of the auto queue and just a gem of a guest.

Bronson - by the time I saw him I think the hangover had started to settle in but none the less he was sweet and answered my questions even though they weren't very well structured by me lol.

John Barrowman - The highlight of my day probably had waited so long to meet him and he didn't disappoint: his photoshoot was mad but he managed to get through everyone, giving everyone hugs and smiling like a trooper. Managed to get to him when he was still personalising which I was so grateful of and he signed all my things and managed a little chat with me- told him how great I though La Cage was and how much a pleasure it was to meet him and that I loved him- I had planned a spiel, but mind kinda went blank and thought I wouldn't hold up the queue. He answered with a smile and said he appreciated it. He also called me hun as well which made me feel all happy have an even more added appreciation for him after this weekend

Brian Krause: Still looks like he did from Charmed and still goregeous. Went for his photoshoot and asked for a hug, where he jokingly replied no, he did the same thing when I asked for another hug when I went to get his auto. He was lovely, charming, goregeous and such a smiley guy. Loved meeting him and he had a such an infectious quality about him I couldn't help but smile

Gareth- met Gareth again, I can find him to be a bit quiet but genuinely think he is lovely, just more shy than he is in the talks. Was happy to pose for a photo over the desk and enjoyed meeting him again.

All in all a fantastic weekend yet again! Roll on next time!

[simon_etheridge]

i went just for day on sunday i had about 15 autos to get and 12 photoshoots so knew in for busy day. arrived late due to my dad not getting up earlier. had dump me out the car kniightrider style. found there were steps into venue so had to be taken through fire exit as my powerchair was to big for lift. just made it to julies photoshoot.

 

being in a powerchair made it harder to get around the whole event but i did get in first for auto/photos so can't complain to much

 

my top 3 guests were

kai owen

robert englund

george takei

 

my biggest suprise judging by most the comments on here were shannon she was lovely. i was expexting to buy 10x8 hand to crew they hand it to her she sign it then crew hand it back to me. but she was happy to chat and my photo with her was really nice. also at the end when some of the guest were quiet the went home. she was there still even though no one was queing.

 

my only bad moment was i was told by a crew member john was only going to be 10 mins he toot 30+ mins while i was waiting i could see other people i needed autos off empty when i suggested coming back at the end to make sure i don't miss anybody i was told he was on his way.

 

 

i managed to get everything it was a good mad day

 

simon

[craigisnutter]

Cynthia Scott, had disappeared for what ending up being roughly 2 hours and her poor helper woman had no idea. She said she had disappeared briefly, but Cynthia hadn't told her where, how long or anything. So after a fair old wait i eventually got her on my Aliens border, frame thing too.

 

Hey There,

 

I was that poor helper woman (although I prefer the term girl as it helps me pretend Im younger than I actually am)..

In fairness to Cynthia (who was lovely), the first time you came round if I remember correctly, she hadnt turned up yet. Some mix up or another delayed her arrival. To compensate for that she had a very short lunch break and stayed with me until we were certain that everyone that had come to see her earlier in the day had returned plus some. Then she went shopping around the stalls.

 

 

 

Apologies, it wasn't meant to come accross as a bitch or a moan. If anything it gave me some wandering about time, i probably wouldn't have done otherwise. I just felt sorry for you and your shocking young self (have i redeemed myself?) more than anything. Must have been a pain with people asking and not really having an answer to give them. Cynthia was lovely, as was everyone i met. Don't have a bad thing to say about anyone at CML.

[nasreen77]

Cynthia Scott, had disappeared for what ending up being roughly 2 hours and her poor helper woman had no idea. She said she had disappeared briefly, but Cynthia hadn't told her where, how long or anything. So after a fair old wait i eventually got her on my Aliens border, frame thing too.

 

Hey There,

 

I was that poor helper woman (although I prefer the term girl as it helps me pretend Im younger than I actually am)..

In fairness to Cynthia (who was lovely), the first time you came round if I remember correctly, she hadnt turned up yet. Some mix up or another delayed her arrival. To compensate for that she had a very short lunch break and stayed with me until we were certain that everyone that had come to see her earlier in the day had returned plus some. Then she went shopping around the stalls.

 

 

 

Apologies, it wasn't meant to come accross as a bitch or a moan. If anything it gave me some wandering about time, i probably wouldn't have done otherwise. I just felt sorry for you and your shocking young self (have i redeemed myself?) more than anything. Must have been a pain with people asking and not really having an answer to give them. Cynthia was lovely, as was everyone i met. Don't have a bad thing to say about anyone at CML.

 

oh dont worry I didnt take it as you moaning... feel free to continue with the shocking young comments though.. possibly for the next few years.

 

I got pretty good at telling people "i know nuthin" by the end of the weekend.

Im hoping it will work at work...

[marianne lawson]

I only met the Torchwood guys (Gareth, Kai and John) at the event, and my favourite one of them all this time has to be the lovely Gareth. Not only was he completely adorable but we also shared a joke when he couldn't hear me mumble my name. lol Had an enjoyable huggy picture with him at the photoshoot (which I'm still recovering from) and when I met Gareth again the next day, he wrote something really hilarious on my torchwood talk photo before calling me a sweetie. Also had another pic taken at his table & he's just so cute and brilliant with his fans! lol I thought Kai was funny and a little strange. It was the 1st time I had met him for an auto and he pretended that he weren't going to sign for me for like over 5 mins, before writing something funny on my photo in mocking response to what Gareth had written. He did agree to pose for a photo though, so I'll forgive him for swigging from his can of booze. lol As for John on the other hand, I was quite disappointed. He used to be my favourite Torchwood guy, but this time around he seemed a little off. I had eye contact with him (a rarity) just before we posed at the photo shoot and he had such a serious look on his face when I smiled at him. And when I went to get his auto, he didn't even look at me, or acknowledge anything I said, and in fact turned around to chat with someone behind him as he signed. Made me wish I hadn't bothered to see him The only other moans were the layout of Sunday's Torchwood talk. I was sat behind a tall person so couldn't see the stage and I think the whole design of the talks should change. I would of had better view standing outside looking in & think the stage area should be higher. Also wasn't happy with the lack of places to sit at the venue, but apart from that I really enjoyed the event, and thought everyone (crew & fans etc) were very friendly, which is good.

 

 

i really only went for the torchwood guys to but did get a few more autographs and pics of other but my fav had to be all the torchwood guys

 

Gareth was brilliant he recognised me from the hub 3 and knew i was a huge fan so spent time chatting to me as i got his autogpragh i then asked if i could have a photo and he said ok he tryed to lean acroos the desk but as i'm in a wheel chair it didn't work so he got up and came around to were i was and put his arm around me he was my highlight at the hub 3 event and he didn't disapoint this time either also got gareth to sign my free talk picture i wonder if he put on yours what he put on my as it was funny but rude

 

kia was ace got to speak to him and asked him so sign a pic of him had had a pro photo taken with him which was good

 

and then for the man himself john barrowman well he was lovely i'd gone to the last night of la cage and had gotten his autograh there so when i went up he remember me smile and signed my name and asked if i hadn't gotten to wet and i said it was worth it and later i had my photo taken with him at the shoot everyone has said it a lovely photo who've seen it so far

 

so it was just an ace day and i'm one happy gareth/john fan

[jenzo66]

I had a great weekend, met a J F Hasslebank(I couldn't understand why i was so nervous speaking to him lol he's a nice bloke) He posed for a photo with me which i awesome. I met Chipo Chung who also posed with me for a photo. I was even happier to see Derek Martin ( I have to be honest i didn't know him for doctor who, I knew him for Eastenders so when i met him i was a bit surprised as to why he was there lol) Shame about his lack of queue because he is a really nice guy. Got a very good photo with him because he let me come behind the desk for it. Then on Sunday i met Johnny Virgo who was a laugh and kept recognising me when i occasionally came past his desk a few times( I wasn't stalking just, walking around the dealers stalls and kind of waiting for the JB signing to get to my number

I had my photoshoot with John and although i couldn't really get eye contact, I appreciate you can't expect a lot from a man who is nackered lol poor guy doesn't rest (bit like Jack lol) But he did smile really well in the photo which came out brilliantly and I will treasure it forever. I was happy to get Gareth David Lloyd's sigi again and he signed the my drawing of the SUV which i also got JB to sign so it's looking good. If i have any regrets it's that i didn't say some of the things to the guests i had wanted to...spose thats nervs and all. But I did email JB on his website. I doubt he read it personally but Carole replied back to me which was nice. I just had to let him know how much i appreciated him of all people coming because he has been doing sooo much.

 

In regards to the running of the event, i was happy with how well they got through the signitures because i had to go at 4 o clock on the dot so i needed my JB one before the torchwood talk. Didn't look like it was going to happen but i think after telling the guy in charge my problem, he solved it by making about 100 people get signitures every 10 minutes. i didn't need it personalised so i was happy with that. Only criticism for me is that the torchwood talk was delayed due to the auction previous, i very nearly could have missed my train home and not been able to get back to uni for important lectures on Monday.

[Mrs Cullen]

I was having a great time Sunday until a very rude & ignorant crew members had a go at me for something another crew member said. He was a complete pig & didnt even appologise when it was pointed out to him that he was wrongly jumping on me.

[marianne lawson]

hi simon

 

i think you and i were sat together for a few of the photo's waiting to get in i was in a normal chair and was really happy to get who i got and you were right shannon was lovely as was john b

[owlpost1992]

Gareth and Kai, as always. I wanted to wait until Gareth's queue was empty to give him his JD on Saturday morning but as it was an open queue, I went up and he greeted me with 'And here's the whisky' seems like he'd been waiting since I dropped off Kai's beer. I didn't think he'd notice but he doesn't miss a trick =) and during the free talk (can't say how happy I was that it had been moved and wouldn't clash with Gareth's photos) both Gareth and Kai's order well I got most of it, I just wouldn't deliver pepperoni pizza. Heck I don't know the number for Dominoes pizza in London! Cardiff would be a right doddle.

[bigcat]

Quick day for me today as I only wanted Autographs from two people; Dave MacKay and Bruce Grobbelaar. It was good to meet both of them, Dave Mckay still has a real hard man glint in his eye!

 

I don't know if it was just me but there seemed a bit more buzz about the show today, maybe it was because Barrowman was due to be there. I was thinking today was going to be manic with him being there but it all seemed to be very well controlled.

 

Although both days were relatively brief for me this seemed like a really good weekend show, the venue was good and location wise for me was quite easy to get to. Look forward to the show next year!

agree on the 'buzz' effect at the convention, the venue seemed to create a better atmosphere on two levels.made it more enjoyable with more room .A thumbs up for showmasters on this one. (apart from the 'no posed or no photos' signs for too many of the guests).haha,i allways think of billy bremner face when i see Dave mackay around. That will be lost on non-football fans.

 

I have to give a BIG shout out to John Rhys Davies, even though I didn't meet him!

 

My friend is a big fan so went up to meet John Rhys Davies and as Mr Davies was signing the photo he asked my friend what he did for a living. My friend replied that he works with kids who have been excluded from school, helping them read and write. Upon hearing this, Mr Davies grabbed another Gimli photo off the table, asked the name of the place my mate worked and promptly wrote on the photo "I went to [the name of the place my mate works] and now I can reed and right [sic] and KILL ORCS!", then signed it and gave it to my mate absolutely free of charge. :-)

 

Absolutely marvellous of him, complete and utter respect to him. My mate's already planning on getting it framed and putting it up in his classroom. :-)

 

John Rhys Davies = very nice guy. Fact.

brilliant, what a good experiance, what a nice guy,wish i'd met him now!