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I give up


elullatook
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I understand your point. I just didn't agree with it being made specifically about the Supernatural con when lots of other cons have been announced too.

 

I agree that this con definitely needs a strong promotional push, but again that can cost money which ME may not be willing to put out at the moment. Obviously there are ways that could've been done (like previous suggestions of promotion at signing events) but they haven't been.

Edited by DavidB
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To some extent, I think 'people power' is as or more effective in advertising events like this than flyers or print ads. I'm assuming at least some of the attendees who already have tickets for this have a fair number of friends in BH fandom - convince them of how good it will be if they come along!

 

My first con ever was Hub2 - at the point I was buying my ticket, I rarely bought any of the sorts of magazines SM was advertising it in. All of the 'advertising' that was done to me was from friends in the fandom.

 

Once I'd been to one... well, that was me well and truly into the 'SM/ME' fanbase...

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To some extent, I think 'people power' is as or more effective in advertising events like this than flyers or print ads. I'm assuming at least some of the attendees who already have tickets for this have a fair number of friends in BH fandom - convince them of how good it will be if they come along!

 

My first con ever was Hub2 - at the point I was buying my ticket, I rarely bought any of the sorts of magazines SM was advertising it in. All of the 'advertising' that was done to me was from friends in the fandom.

 

Once I'd been to one... well, that was me well and truly into the 'SM/ME' fanbase...

 

Yes, I think word of mouth is a significant factor, but then if you tell your mates about SM/ME events, there's a chance they'll come on here and see something they'd rather go to than a BH event. There comes a point as well, where all of your friends are already aware of the events and a lot of new friends you make, are made THROUGH the events! SFX magazine has a circulation of 37000-39000 people, making it a great place to advertise. Facebook however, is used by millions and has a cheap advertising structure that specifically targets people with interests specified by the person raising the advert. I still don't think the Twitter account is being used in a very productive way (sorry David) and there are people who are capable (either having a media or advertising background) and want to help, that aren't being utilised.

Edited by chris_mk
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in that the sheer number of events is diluting a static fanbase*.

 

I have a 2010 events calendar plotted out at home, and counting other organisers as well, there's over 26 already in the UK alone. Several double bookings. 2013 is gonna be a nightmare for a Dr Who fan.

 

Housebroken is still on the list in the email newsletter mentioning the latest event, you should be more concerned if it wasn't. But I fail to see how the event can be run without making a loss.

Edited by TerraHawk
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Yes, I think word of mouth is a significant factor, but then if you tell your mates about SM/ME events, there's a chance they'll come on here and see something they'd rather go to than a BH event. There comes a point as well, where all of your friends are already aware of the events and a lot of new friends you make, are made THROUGH the events! SFX magazine has a circulation of 37000-39000 people, making it a great place to advertise. Facebook however, is used by millions and has a cheap advertising structure that specifically targets people with interests specified by the person raising the advert. I still don't think the Twitter account is being used in a very productive way (sorry David) and there are people who are capable (either having a media or advertising background) and want to help, that aren't being utilised.

 

I agree completely about the Facebook stuff - I've already posted about it extensively in another thread though so I'm going to link rather than going through it again.

 

Just as a thought though - 737 people have clicked that they 'like this post' this post about the season 2 poster on Facebook. That's 737 people that might be interested in booking a ticket, that care enough about the show to follow news about it and click to endorse it. With the best will the world while some of those people could be us, or people we know a lot of them aren't, and they're ripe for targeting - but by Showmasters rather than us.

 

Personally, I love SM events and have been to loads of them, but I agree with Chris that marketing/media savviness is something that the company doesn't have such a close grip on as the other aspects of running such a successful company - although admittedly, that's in part because of the fact that it being run by a small and dedicated circle of people. It's frustrating though, as whether you like it or not media coverage is something that provides people a shop window into the brilliance that is these events - and right now so far as I can see (and admittedly I'm seeing it from the viewpoint of a small fish in a big pond) it's not being taken advantage of.

Edited by nkb
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Yes, I think word of mouth is a significant factor, but then if you tell your mates about SM/ME events, there's a chance they'll come on here and see something they'd rather go to than a BH event. There comes a point as well, where all of your friends are already aware of the events and a lot of new friends you make, are made THROUGH the events! SFX magazine has a circulation of 37000-39000 people, making it a great place to advertise. Facebook however, is used by millions and has a cheap advertising structure that specifically targets people with interests specified by the person raising the advert. I still don't think the Twitter account is being used in a very productive way (sorry David) and there are people who are capable (either having a media or advertising background) and want to help, that aren't being utilised.

Nothing to apologise for - if you have suggestions then I'm happy to hear them. I've not been told anything from SMs regarding anything different they want, so do feel free to email me directly. I don't have a lot of time on my hands at the moment to discuss anything in-depth (work gets in the way!) but if you're happy to give me a few pointers then that'd be great.

 

I know it's useful to a lot of people in terms of quick information, but regarding the advertising/marketing approach there isn't anything going on.

 

Anyway, apparently this doesn't count as work, so I'll disappear.

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Housebroken is still on the list in the email newsletter mentioning the latest event, you should be more concerned if it wasn't. But I fail to see how the event can be run without making a loss.

 

I agree that the event (if it goes ahead) will surely make a loss, but in SM/ME defence, they have run events in the past at a loss, so as to not let the attendees down. I don't think the issue in this case is about breaking even, it's just not feasable to run some events with such low numbers (I remember the LoTR and original Red Dwarf events were cancelled, because they had less than 50 attendees, though I hope BH has more than that!)

 

Nothing to apologise for - if you have suggestions then I'm happy to hear them. I've not been told anything from SMs regarding anything different they want, so do feel free to email me directly. I don't have a lot of time on my hands at the moment to discuss anything in-depth (work gets in the way!) but if you're happy to give me a few pointers then that'd be great.

 

I know it's useful to a lot of people in terms of quick information, but regarding the advertising/marketing approach there isn't anything going on.

 

Anyway, apparently this doesn't count as work, so I'll disappear.

 

Firstly, the tags aren't right. There is no point taging something with #cult as I've seen, as frankly, the only people who do a search on the word 'cult' in Twitter, are more likely to be fanatical nutters, than people seeking an event. Secondly, the tags tend to be too cluttered, making it look ugly.

What is also needed, is more variety in the posts, some relevant news or info NOT about events, might entice more people to follow it (and also might encourage some of the Twitter stars to give it a mention!)

I would like to see updates on the day of events, not just passing out info, but passing on experiences and even pictures. These are things that will gain more followers and raise aweness of SM/ME events. I'm sure nkb has other thoughts on using Twitter for advertising (after all, it's part of what she does for a living!)

 

++edit++

 

For example

 

Start a weekly countdown via Twitter until series 2 of Being Human airs (using just #Being Human)

Tweet whenever the BBC Blog is updated (using the same tag)

Tweet whenever one of the stars is appearing in something else (I hear Russell was on Buzzcocks recently?)

Link to the forum after the first new episode airs, to encourage debate (rather than just trying to sell the event)

Edited by chris_mk
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Start a weekly countdown via Twitter until series 2 of Being Human airs (using just #Being Human)

Tweet whenever the BBC Blog is updated (using the same tag)

Tweet whenever one of the stars is appearing in something else (I hear Russell was on Buzzcocks recently?)

Link to the forum after the first new episode airs, to encourage debate (rather than just trying to sell the event)

 

All good stuff, although technically the hashtag would need to be #beinghuman (oh yes, pedantry in action!)

 

Following the other BH communities on Twitter (there's three fairly decent ones) and retweeting anything they have that might be of interest is a good thing too, plus Aidan is allegedly on there (it's an unverified account and I'm awaiting confirmation that it's actually him) so you could follow him too - you need to add value to your tweets. While people will put up with some marketing from a company and undoubtedly in this case are following you in part for the new guest announcements etc, they'll tune out your messages if every one is just plugging the latest guest. Agree about the #cult thing - although the idea that suddenly the events are being brought to a whole new audience of people in funny coloured robes amuses me a bit.

 

Oh and David, please don't think this is negative - a lot of what you're doing is ace, I just think there's some wiggle room for it to be a little more human. It's 'social' networking after all - while I understand you're running it on behalf of SM and need to keep the differentiation, letting a little bit more of your character flow through and interacting a bit more isn't going to cause any harm.

 

And I agree with what Chris says about event days - let's get people who can't come to an event excited and a bit jealous at everything going on - a Twitpic of the queues to get in, or the UK Garrison having a chat with Warwick Davies - or a retweet of something he or Tom Felton posted during the day (I seem to recall seeing them both tweet recently from an SM event) or a little nugget of info about one of the guests - 'Jason Mewes has just told us all that he loves Merlin and Robin Hood. Is this cool or a bit frightening? You decide...' - all of which gives a flavour of the show and what's going on and and is a bit different to the usual tweets but actually helps market the shows albeit in a slightly different way.

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I dont get all this "getting shot down by other fanbases" - stuff like this is the reason that people like me never got into the sci fi stuff (until BH kinda converted me and now I watch torchwood too!) its like the mafia lol at the end of the day its just a tv show - a very good one - but im not gonna not like someone just because they dont like it lol or they like a rival show - thats nuts!

 

I read these fan forums and stuff and sometimes cant help think...its just tv you know? Yeah ive met the cast and they're lovely and very patient with people who are completely mad on it and turn up in sodding costumes and stuff (no joke a few people actually did that!!) but at the end of the day they know its just a program - they're the ones who are actually in it, who's career depends on people liking it and even they dont take it as serious as some of the fans lol.

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I dont get all this "getting shot down by other fanbases" - stuff like this is the reason that people like me never got into the sci fi stuff (until BH kinda converted me and now I watch torchwood too!) its like the mafia lol at the end of the day its just a tv show - a very good one - but im not gonna not like someone just because they dont like it lol or they like a rival show - thats nuts!

 

I read these fan forums and stuff and sometimes cant help think...its just tv you know? Yeah ive met the cast and they're lovely and very patient with people who are completely mad on it and turn up in sodding costumes and stuff (no joke a few people actually did that!!) but at the end of the day they know its just a program - they're the ones who are actually in it, who's career depends on people liking it and even they dont take it as serious as some of the fans lol.

 

I think the thing that differentiates Sci Fi fans from fans of any other genre film or TV show, is the passion. We are the most passionate fans around! You don't really get forums of Coronation Street fans bitching about how rubbish Eastenders is and vica versa! Whilst that can be good, there is also a negative aspect that you touched upon. That said, it rarely leads to bloodshed! :D

 

I have seen LOTS of people dressed up as characters, literally hundreds if not thousands at the events I've been to. I actually have an admiration for them, not only are they brave enough to wear stuff in public, but they're also often very creative and the costumes are cool! (You should have a look around this forum to the past events pages and have a look at some of the pictures of the costumes!)

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I just wanted to add Being Human and Supernatural are probably my 2 favourite shows, and I am not put off coming to this because an SPN con has been announced (I am not interested in going to them anymore really unless Jeffrey Dean Morgan gets announced as i've met everyone else I loved from the show). Being Human is such a new show and its homegrown talent so it's really awesome to see we have a con.

I think its a number of other factors that are putting people off as stated in another thread.

 

 

I do agree that IMO there seem to be too many events these days (especially for those of you who like to go to everything), but I can't complain too much if it means little shows like BH get their own con as a result.

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I'm meaning, that SMs efforts will now be ploughed into the Supernatural con. It's only a matter of time before they announce this one is cancelled, which is a shame because once the second season is out I bet it becomes the hit of the year.

 

Thing is, i could have put my £195 into a savings fund and earned 7 months worth of interest and then bought my ticket. So much for putting in 100% support early!

 

 

i am sorry Swan you are being silly here and you are not helping anyone with your posts please do not try to hurt others just because things you like are not working out

 

also you are turning on us the people that are trying to run the events you want to attend ?? very odd attitued

 

one thing you forget is when we have to cancel an event we louse a lot of money doing so , so its never in our interest to put on events that are not going to happen we try and we do more than most to get new events of the ground , so i do feel you should think about this before attacking us and other fans that are just like you that just love a show or film , its not anyone foult if an event dose not go ahead we all have tried .

 

i hope you see this post for what it is a way to show you we do try and care but you do need to chill :YAHOO:

 

jason :blink:

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I know late adding my reply but wanted to say I'm not giving on thinking this event will happen! I has every faith that come february i shall be pulling my hair out trying to figure out trains to get to Bedford! LOL! I'm keeping everything crossed and i won't give up on SM! XD

 

Although the flyers you send out, has SM ever thought of sending them to local video stores? I work in one and often get asked for random/obscure/etc films/tvshows! Just a thought! XD

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I dont get all this "getting shot down by other fanbases" - stuff like this is the reason that people like me never got into the sci fi stuff (until BH kinda converted me and now I watch torchwood too!) its like the mafia lol at the end of the day its just a tv show - a very good one - but im not gonna not like someone just because they dont like it lol or they like a rival show - thats nuts!

 

I read these fan forums and stuff and sometimes cant help think...its just tv you know? Yeah ive met the cast and they're lovely and very patient with people who are completely mad on it and turn up in sodding costumes and stuff (no joke a few people actually did that!!) but at the end of the day they know its just a program - they're the ones who are actually in it, who's career depends on people liking it and even they dont take it as serious as some of the fans lol.

 

I think the thing that differentiates Sci Fi fans from fans of any other genre film or TV show, is the passion. We are the most passionate fans around! You don't really get forums of Coronation Street fans bitching about how rubbish Eastenders is and vica versa! Whilst that can be good, there is also a negative aspect that you touched upon. That said, it rarely leads to bloodshed! ;)

 

I have seen LOTS of people dressed up as characters, literally hundreds if not thousands at the events I've been to. I actually have an admiration for them, not only are they brave enough to wear stuff in public, but they're also often very creative and the costumes are cool! (You should have a look around this forum to the past events pages and have a look at some of the pictures of the costumes!)

 

 

Oops sorry didnt realise you guys did that...didnt mean to offend anyone :-S sorry...I'm just gonna try and dig myself out of this hole I'm in now...

:D

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I dont get all this "getting shot down by other fanbases" - stuff like this is the reason that people like me never got into the sci fi stuff (until BH kinda converted me and now I watch torchwood too!) its like the mafia lol at the end of the day its just a tv show - a very good one - but im not gonna not like someone just because they dont like it lol or they like a rival show - thats nuts!

 

I read these fan forums and stuff and sometimes cant help think...its just tv you know? Yeah ive met the cast and they're lovely and very patient with people who are completely mad on it and turn up in sodding costumes and stuff (no joke a few people actually did that!!) but at the end of the day they know its just a program - they're the ones who are actually in it, who's career depends on people liking it and even they dont take it as serious as some of the fans lol.

 

I think the thing that differentiates Sci Fi fans from fans of any other genre film or TV show, is the passion. We are the most passionate fans around! You don't really get forums of Coronation Street fans bitching about how rubbish Eastenders is and vica versa! Whilst that can be good, there is also a negative aspect that you touched upon. That said, it rarely leads to bloodshed! ;)

 

I have seen LOTS of people dressed up as characters, literally hundreds if not thousands at the events I've been to. I actually have an admiration for them, not only are they brave enough to wear stuff in public, but they're also often very creative and the costumes are cool! (You should have a look around this forum to the past events pages and have a look at some of the pictures of the costumes!)

 

 

Oops sorry didnt realise you guys did that...didnt mean to offend anyone :-S sorry...I'm just gonna try and dig myself out of this hole I'm in now...

:(

 

It's ok, the first time you see Cosplayers (which is a generic term used for people who dress up - although I'm sure I'm going to get told off for using the term incorrectly), it can be a little over whelming! The effort that goes into some of the costumes though is incredible, I'm fascinated by it (although I personally don't participate).

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It's ok, the first time you see Cosplayers (which is a generic term used for people who dress up - although I'm sure I'm going to get told off for using the term incorrectly), it can be a little over whelming! The effort that goes into some of the costumes though is incredible, I'm fascinated by it (although I personally don't participate).

 

Except for the werewolf outfit. Or do you consider that an 'at home' only sort of thing? :(

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It's ok, the first time you see Cosplayers (which is a generic term used for people who dress up - although I'm sure I'm going to get told off for using the term incorrectly), it can be a little over whelming! The effort that goes into some of the costumes though is incredible, I'm fascinated by it (although I personally don't participate).

 

Except for the werewolf outfit. Or do you consider that an 'at home' only sort of thing? :chair:

 

This.... coming from 'the Nun'..... :YAHOO:

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