Comments about Saturday

[Poppy]

Hiya

 

I went to Collectormania London on Saturday and had a fantastic day.....I really enjoyed the event and loved the venue.

 

However I do have a couple of comments I would like to make....and although I hope this does not offend anyone, as a long term attendee of showmasters events - I would like to air them and also make a few suggestions!

 

1) A while back when posed paid for photo shoots with the guests were annouced as a big new thing. Several members of this forum, myself included became very very concerned that this would stop the photos at the table. However we were repeatedly assured by showmasters that this was not the case, the photo shoots would be a paid for extra. This reassured us and we were safe in the knowledge that if we want a professional photo shoot we could pay for one, but if the guest was not busy then we could continue as normal with photos at the table.

 

However this was obviously not the case on Saturday. Most of the guests had open queues and almost all of the guests had no posed photos signs up!!

Take Bronson Petellier for example. He was just stood there, looking absolutely bored - and when approached by several young fans I heard him say 'He would LOVE to do posed photos with them, but due to photo shoots it would be unfair to people paying and it was not his rule and therefore he could not do photos WITH anyone. However he was happy to pose for cameras if anyone asked him too, he just could not do photos with'

 

Therefore I decided not to get Bronson's autograph.

 

This would seem to indicate that the paid photo sessions are affecting the photos in the queue business that worked so well for many years. To add insult to injury, I watched multiple crew members line up and get a posed photo with Bronson, in front of the young girls that had been refused!!!!

 

I have an idea about this. As there is no pretence and the paid photo shoots are obviously stopping the photos at the table[size=7].....how about this when a guest has an open queue and is not doing anything, how about they charge £1-£2 for a photo with your own camera. This is an alternative to professional photo shoots and a cheaper option and also would be gaining money for a celebrity standing around looking extremely bored. Its something all ages could afford and seems a happy compromise for all involved[/size]

 

 

 

2) Louis Cordice (Blaise Zabini from Harry Potter) was extremely extremely lovely. I went to get Frank Dillane's autograph and had a chat with Louis. He told me that Blaise was taking over Crabbe's role in the Deatlhly Hallows so would be in it a lot more. I decided i would like to get his autograph as a spur of the moment decision due to this - I looked at his photos and there were two options

a) the back of his head in a group shot

a double shot with Robert Knox where he is partially obscured.

 

Both photos were extremely pixalated. I then went round all the photos stores and no one had photos of Louis Cordice. There was absolutely no chance I was getting his autograph on either of those shots that were on offer. So I went without.

 

Surely a photo could have been got from his agent or at a push himself or his family members must have a shot of him in Slytherin Robes!! I was gobsmacked that there was literally no photos of him, so what were we supposed to get signed.

 

Now I know people may say 'they are free' or 'bring your own photos just in case' which is exactly what I did for Shannen but this was a spur of the moment decision and I just did not feel that I wanted those photos signed & therefore had to go without

 

3) No photos at all of Shannen which seemed strange as she had a photo shoot earlier in the day!! Its a shame when you cannot even take a photo with flash off! Also the three crew members that were stood in front of Shannen blocking photos seemed unnecessarily harsh. A man next to me was taking general photos of the hall & got shouted at for taking photos of Shannen but he did not even know who she was!

 

Shannen was absolutely great and it was a pleasure to meet her. The only thing that would have made my meeting better would have been having a photo I had taken to have gone with the autograph for my collection. As Shannen was open queue by mid afternoon, I also did not understand why you could not have had photos with Shannen as she had done a photo shoot.

 

It was almost like get the photo shoot or do not have one single photo of Shannen, which is one extreme to another!

 

 

As I said I had a fantastic day and loved the venue and was pleased with all my meetings - Shannen especially and fRank Dillane. However I thought I would air my concerns. I especially like the idea of maybe paying £1-£2 for photos with busier guests when they have an open queue - this seems like an interesting compromise!!

Edited November 30, 2009 by Poppy

[Daniel]

Regarding the photos, I think it is usually that the guest sometimes doesn't want to do posed photos. Obviously a very busy guest they may not allow, but for quiter guests it is usually the guests choice.

 

That what I think anyway, but correct me if I'm wrong. Great weekend!

[animationmilo]

Regarding the photos, I think it is usually that the guest sometimes doesn't want to do posed photos. Obviously a very busy guest they may not allow, but for quiter guests it is usually the guests choice.

 

That what I think anyway, but correct me if I'm wrong. Great weekend!

 

 

But he clearly wanted to and it was the people around him who told him to say no , why when he was not busy and it was an open que???

[Dellefyne]

I wondered the same thing too about the 'over-the-table photos'... Bronson seemed totally bored at some point on Saturday and on Sunday as well, and he even got in other guests' queues just to talk to fans he saw previously in the day... I'm almost sure he would have have delighted to do photos with fans! But at the same time, I understand that some guests ask to have a 'no posed photos' indication and just don't want to say no to fans directly, so the indication is a good alternative in that case.

 

The same could apply to many guests: Brian Krause and Shannen Doherty seemed quite on their own on Sunday afternoon! But as I have already said, maybe they were the ones who asked for a 'no photo' policy...

 

The idea of a fee to take photos over the table is quite a good one in a certain extent, and I even saw that happen already in some other events. But at the same time I'm a bit concerned that if you began to do that with busy guests, the same would apply to guests who are less busy and are happy to pose for photos even if it is for free. In that case, maybe it would be a solution when people *don't* want to get autographs AND guests aren't busy at that time. The idea could really be great! But I also think it could make things quite complicated...

 

Sorry for this very long answer, but it is quite late and I didn't recover from the week end yet so it might be a bit... Well, you see what I mean =)

 

Edit: Oh, and for Louis Cordice, I would have had the same problem to find a decent photo, but I took my HP7 book with me as it is a special edition, to have it signed by Frank and Louis so I didn't really encounter the same problem but I really see your point here! And Louis is really gorgeous so that's a shame he didn't have any decent photo to sign!

Edited November 30, 2009 by Dellefyne

[erin_sumara]

I like the idea of paying a few quid for a photo at the table if I'm not getting and autograph, at LFCC there were a couple willing to do this but here it was an all round no if you weren't getting and auto and it would have been nice to get a photo over the table for the odd £2 or something as I didn't have enough for their autographs.

 

I did notice the heavy usage of the no photos signs this time around but maybe as Dellefyne said it's just the guests way of politely declining

 

[Poppy]

Yeah I definitely think the pricetag should only apply if you are NOT getting an autograph and only for the busier/more popular guests. I often think it is a guests way of politely declining but it just did not seem to be the case for Bronson Petellier as he was posing for photos, he just would not pose for them with somebody!!

[TommyT]

A while back when posed paid for photo shoots with the guests were annouced as a big new thing. Several members of this forum, myself included became very very concerned that this would stop the photos at the table. However we were repeatedly assured by showmasters that this was not the case, the photo shoots would be a paid for extra. This reassured us and we were safe in the knowledge that if we want a professional photo shoot we could pay for one, but if the guest was not busy then we could continue as normal with photos at the table.

 

However this was obviously not the case on Saturday. Most of the guests had open queues and almost all of the guests had no posed photos signs up!!

Take Bronson Petellier for example. He was just stood there, looking absolutely bored - and when approached by several young fans I heard him say 'He would LOVE to do posed photos with them, but due to photo shoots it would be unfair to people paying and it was not his rule and therefore he could not do photos WITH anyone.

There are of course other possible reasons beyond it just being SM being money-grubbing doodahs...

* the actor involved may genuinely not have wanted to do posed photos at the table, but is willing to blame it on somebody else so he doesn't look the bad guy. (He is an actor, I'd expect him to be able to lie convincingly if he wanted to). This may be the case if the actor feels that such free photos are unfair to those attendees who have paid for a photoshoot.

* the actor's agent (rather than SM) may view free, over-the-table photos as potentially deleterious to earnings from photoshoots, and have instructed his client not to do them.

I think to be fair, SM only said, or gave the impression, that they wouldn't block over-the-table photos for guests with photoshoots. I don't think (and I could be wrong here) that the possibility of guests or their agents blocking it on the grounds I've mentioned above were mooted.

I have an idea about this. As there is no pretence and the paid photo shoots are obviously stopping the photos at the table.....how about this when a guest has an open queue and is not doing anything, how about they charge £1-£2 for a photo with your own camera. This is an alternative to professional photo shoots and a cheaper option and also would be gaining money for a celebrity standing around looking extremely bored. Its something all ages could afford and seems a happy compromise for all involved

It's an interesting compromise, but I can see a couple of potential problems.

* It would be interesting to juggle the price-point. I suspect at the price that you suggest, it might adversely affect the sales of photoshoots, which obviously wouldn't be good for either SM's or the guests' business. (and let's not forget, this isn't designed as a not-for-profit enterprise). I have a feeling that to not adversely affect photoshoot business, you'd be looking at charging maybe £5-£8 for over-the-desk shots - which is pricey. Down at the quid or two level, I think too many people would be tempted away from a pro-shot.

* There's all kinds of scope for aggro too. If somebody is taking the pictures of their friends, there'll always be the temptation to try to sneak a second shot, perhaps by claiming the first was duff. And if somebody is going to ask a show steward to take a picture, what if they're not happy? Sure, that can happen now, but people can get much more emotive where money is involved. I'd be prepared to bet that sooner or later somebody would accuse SM of deliberately telling the stewards to take bad photos to put people off so they go to the pro-shoots instead.

 

That's not to say it's an unworkable idea, and it certainly has merit, but I can see some significant downsides to be considered.

[Dellefyne]

As TommyT said, £1 or £2 wouldn't be enough I guess, but just to give you an example of what happened at the other event I attended, the autograph price was around £20 (it wasn't in £ but this is to give you a rough idea) and the photo alone was around £8 (and you could queue just for a photo if you didn't want an autograph, and that's what I did actually)

 

For the second point that you raised TommyT (about the photos taken twice because the first one was duff), the possible solution would be that a crew member is the one who takes the photos, and he can even take two shots right away to be sure that the photo is decent... That way there would be no problem I think ^^

 

But I'm almost sure that if Showmasters isn't already using this solution, it's for a reason that we may ignore...

[Howie]

I hate photo shoots they are just a way of getting more oney out of us.When I first started attending these events 6 or 7 years ago they were so fan friendly and intimate but these photo shoots and the no posed photo's signs show how much things have changed and not in a good way as many guests have said no to posed photo's and if you want a photo' with me buy a photo' shoot ticket,don't they realise times are hard fiancially and why do you want to line up for a photo shoot pay at least £20 then wait ages for them to be printed when it is easier quicker and a lot cheaper for a fan to just get 1 on their own camera?!

[DavidB]

I hate photo shoots they are just a way of getting more oney out of us.When I first started attending these events 6 or 7 years ago they were so fan friendly and intimate but these photo shoots and the no posed photo's signs show how much things have changed and not in a good way as many guests have said no to posed photo's and if you want a photo' with me buy a photo' shoot ticket,don't they realise times are hard fiancially and why do you want to line up for a photo shoot pay at least £20 then wait ages for them to be printed when it is easier quicker and a lot cheaper for a fan to just get 1 on their own camera?!

Because it's not just financially hard for attendees. I think people realise that organisers have to suffer through these times too.

 

If you see photo shoots as 'just a way of getting more money out of us' then surely you see everything like that, and you just think everything should be free? Which is never going to happen.

 

Personally over the years I've come to love the photo shoots, and they're now my favourite things to get at the events. The quality is always high, and I have absolutely no issues with paying for it. In fact, a lot of the time I'd rather buy them than the autographs. It's always down to personal preference - no one has to get EVERYTHING that's on offer at an event.

 

Yes, it's frustrating when people can't get everything they want for various reasons. But no attendees know the reasons behind 'no photos' etc. As Tommy has already stated, it can be down to many different ones, and as someone who's worked with guests before I can certainly say it's never as clear cut as "Showmasters want more money!" or whatever some people say.

 

As for the shows being more 'fan friendly' 6 or 7 years ago. Yes indeed, that's when I started too, and I remember things being a lot different back then. However, I'm glad the shows have grown substantially since then - I think I'd be worried if they hadn't! The attendance figures have grown, the number of events has grown, and the quality of the guests has too. So yeah, things change, but I still end up getting what I want out of them. Expectations should change as the events do.

[riversidejon]

Most guests when I ve asked have posed for photos over the table. I think its more what the agents want and presumably whats in the contracts, that dictates the no photos rule, but when a queue is quiter or non existant there should be an exception, but in that situation its up to the guest. As far as paying for it I spend enough as it is, no fee please....

 

I like photoshoots, yes they do cost, would like them all to be £10, or even free and but the photographer is great and you pay for quality which we get in the photos. anyprobs with photo, another one taken. The ones I had with on sat came back great. Sometimes I see other peoples and think it would have been good to choose a pose before going in, like an action pose or something, but afraid to ask...

[Dellefyne]

Sometimes I see other peoples and think it would have been good to choose a pose before going in, like an action pose or something, but afraid to ask...

 

Same here, I'd like to ask for poses sometimes but I just can't when I get to the guests, I'm too shy!

[timelord81r]

Sometimes I see other peoples and think it would have been good to choose a pose before going in, like an action pose or something, but afraid to ask...

 

Same here, I'd like to ask for poses sometimes but I just can't when I get to the guests, I'm too shy!

 

 

Im very shy also :-(

 

I hate photo shoots they are just a way of getting more oney out of us.When I first started attending these events 6 or 7 years ago they were so fan friendly and intimate but these photo shoots and the no posed photo's signs show how much things have changed and not in a good way as many guests have said no to posed photo's and if you want a photo' with me buy a photo' shoot ticket,don't they realise times are hard fiancially and why do you want to line up for a photo shoot pay at least £20 then wait ages for them to be printed when it is easier quicker and a lot cheaper for a fan to just get 1 on their own camera?!

Because it's not just financially hard for attendees. I think people realise that organisers have to suffer through these times too.

 

If you see photo shoots as 'just a way of getting more money out of us' then surely you see everything like that, and you just think everything should be free? Which is never going to happen.

 

Personally over the years I've come to love the photo shoots, and they're now my favourite things to get at the events. The quality is always high, and I have absolutely no issues with paying for it. In fact, a lot of the time I'd rather buy them than the autographs. It's always down to personal preference - no one has to get EVERYTHING that's on offer at an event.

 

Yes, it's frustrating when people can't get everything they want for various reasons. But no attendees know the reasons behind 'no photos' etc. As Tommy has already stated, it can be down to many different ones, and as someone who's worked with guests before I can certainly say it's never as clear cut as "Showmasters want more money!" or whatever some people say.

 

As for the shows being more 'fan friendly' 6 or 7 years ago. Yes indeed, that's when I started too, and I remember things being a lot different back then. However, I'm glad the shows have grown substantially since then - I think I'd be worried if they hadn't! The attendance figures have grown, the number of events has grown, and the quality of the guests has too. So yeah, things change, but I still end up getting what I want out of them. Expectations should change as the events do.

 

photo shoots are the main draw for me also! love the photo shoots! and totaly understand if sometimes there are the no posed pic signs for autos but as im a pic person i always go for the photoshoots anyway, and being shy the photo shoots work well for me in that sense also.

[Dellefyne]

And it's true that the quality is just amazing! You can never have pics that are so gorgeous from your own camera... (Ok I'm kind of a photoshoot girl too... =D)

But I would be glad to be able to take more photos at the tables too! (I remember the high number of photos I got from the tables at LFCC... It was really funny )

[zeitheist]

Sometimes I see other peoples and think it would have been good to choose a pose before going in, like an action pose or something, but afraid to ask...

 

Aw, don't be! I used to be afraid to ask, but now that I'm getting more comfortable with the whole photoshoot thing, I've found that a lot of guests seem to enjoy getting pose requests. I suppose it breaks up the monotony for them. One of my friends actually went into all her photoshoots on the Sunday and asked the guests to pick a pose, and she ended up with some absolutely cracking photographs.

 

(Most redundant comment ever, I'm sorry. I've just woken up!)

[sydney_bristow]

I'm going for the Robert Englund photoshoot next time. Noticed on the photos that he had posed with the glove on...something I dont think I would get or be allowed over the desk (health and safety etc).

Edited December 1, 2009 by sydney_bristow

[dragonsanddaffodils]

I'm going for the Robert Englund photoshoot next time. Noticed on the photos that he had posed with the glove on...something I dont think I would get or be allowed over the desk (health and safety etc).

 

 

He was fantastic! Took loads of care when posing for the shot and did load of different poses, he was fab!

[sydney_bristow]

I heard him outside as I was waiting for the next photoshoot. I am sure I heard him shouting 'Watch the birdie.' Couldnt believe my eyes when I saw the glove in the photos :). I have one with robert over the desk from years ago, and I was very anti photo shoots. But after the great photos I have from this weekend I have been converted. The photographer was brilliant.

[KrazyKid197]

 

3) No photos at all of Shannen which seemed strange as she had a photo shoot earlier in the day!! Its a shame when you cannot even take a photo with flash off! Also the three crew members that were stood in front of Shannen blocking photos seemed unnecessarily harsh.

 

I didn't work in that pit, but the only reason for crew to be doing that would be on request of the guest themselves. It's not showmasters to blame for it.

[hells childe 17]

I didn't go Saturday i went Sunday but i much prefer phoot shoots to getting autographs. I hate having my picture taken but stick me in with a celebrity and i'm well away !! My friends will vouch for me on that

I get nervous at auto tables and usually end up looking stupid in front of the guest !! I don't like asking at the desk for a photo, even if i've paid for an autograph and i've met the guest before.

That's why i paid for 7 photo's !

I know its cheap enough to print off a photo but both the photographers are brilliant, with each taking the time to make sure the photo is perfect. I'm not afraid to ask the guest for poses either, altho at the JB one i asked him to chose the last pose and i got the biggest hug And they came back very quickly.

I'd hate to think the photo shoots will stop, because then if the auto table is busy you don't get a photo at all. And whether its to do with money or not some guests don't like over the table pics.

[Bev]

I'd just like to pitch in with a comment about the quality of the photos. In the past I've had photos that have been "landscape" format, with the guest and me rather small in the frame, and a lot of background colour either side. This time the photos were "portrait" format and the guest and I are practically filling the frame. They are very clear, and I ended up with an extra image from one shoot because Malcolm wasn't happy with one, so thanks for that. On top of it all, they were returned from processing extremely quickly, and I am totally thrilled with them. They are maybe a touch on the expensive side, but overall they are a great way to remember the events.

[Dum dumdum Dum]

I didn't work in that pit, but the only reason for crew to be doing that would be on request of the guest themselves. It's not showmasters to blame for it.

 

Guest or agent/entourage.............. we all say it is down to the guest but I think in fact it's fairer to say it's down to either themselves and/or their management. Many times guests just do what they're told!!!!!

[crippsy_99]

There are of course other possible reasons beyond it just being SM being money-grubbing doodahs...

* the actor involved may genuinely not have wanted to do posed photos at the table, but is willing to blame it on somebody else so he doesn't look the bad guy. (He is an actor, I'd expect him to be able to lie convincingly if he wanted to). This may be the case if the actor feels that such free photos are unfair to those attendees who have paid for a photoshoot.

* the actor's agent (rather than SM) may view free, over-the-table photos as potentially deleterious to earnings from photoshoots, and have instructed his client not to do them.

I think to be fair, SM only said, or gave the impression, that they wouldn't block over-the-table photos for guests with photoshoots. I don't think (and I could be wrong here) that the possibility of guests or their agents blocking it on the grounds I've mentioned above were mooted.

 

Id be inclined to go with the bolded comment above, as I hear most of the 'no posed photos' guests were all JCB's guests, and its her guests who usually do that, to drive up photo sales.

 

I think the whole posed photos/photoshoot thing is getting a bit draconian now, but theres not much we the public can do about it.

I like to have my photo taken with the majority of guests I meet, but if im already spending £200-300 at an event and their all no posed photos, I cant really afford another £100+ sometimes to get photoshoots, which is why over the table photos are so good. I will still get some photoshoots, but not all.

This weekend I had 2 photoshoots and 4 over the table posed photos, and while the photoshoots are good, I do sometimes think the over the table photos are better still, especially since photoshoots lose quality when being digitized or whatever, and most of the time I have better camera equipment than the photographers are using (better lens' usually), and the photoshoots just have the better lighting. Also the photoshoots really show up height differences so sometimes you get just a head of someone in, whereas over the table photos are usually more even. So yes, both methods have their flaws.

 

Chase was charging £5 for an over the table photo, but it was a reasonable price and for charity so I was happy to pay, but I wouldnt have paid £15 for a photoshoot (if she did one?)

 

The blanket ban on photos full stop for guests who dont even have a 'no photos' sign is what really annoys me. Forgot to mention in the other thread about photos, before my friend and I met Shannen, there was a guy in front of us trying for about 3-4 mins to take a photo of her at the table, but his flash wouldnt work, so he gave up and said he'd try after she'd seen us. Hmm...

[showmasters]

we will not allow a blanket ban on photos over the table at all , we want this to still happen and also fight your corner on this point all the time , we just want everyone to know we are on your side on this all the way

 

the only time we ever stop photos over the table is when a guest is looking like he or she will not get to meet all the fans that have come to meet them, only then do we start to look at what we can do to help the fans that are going to miss out on meeting them

 

we do listen and do care about you all and keep trying to get this in the contracts with the guest for you

 

jason

[chris_mk]

That's not to say it's an unworkable idea, and it certainly has merit, but I can see some significant downsides to be considered.

 

I think the other factors that need to be taken into consideration are the fact that table top photos take time. Whilst that's not an issue if the guest isn't busy, it will cause problems for the more popualr guests. The other issue is that jumping up and down for photos every minute is going to wear out the guests quite quickly!