How Things Work

[Too Tall]

MOST IMPORTANT: We want you to have so much fun at the event it is unbelievable! In order to make that happen we have a few things that we would like to explain which will ensure the weekend is the best it can be! Please take the time to read through this sheet! :-)

 

Respecting the Guests: Please remember that the guests are people too. There are to be no requests for posed photos or autographs outside of the photo and autograph sessions!

 

At the parties, please don't crowd the guests! Crowding the guests is honestly the quickest way to get them to leave. That doesn't mean you have to avoid them or not talk to them, just be aware of how many people there are around them already, up to 10 is OK, when it gets to 20 or 30, that’s WAY to many. You need to respect their space. If you feel a group of attendees is hogging a guest please talk to a crew member. The parties are not a place for photos with the guests. They are there to chill and have fun with you.

 

Vouchers: Your registration pack will contain vouchers for your autographs (these autograph vouchers maybe on the back of your convention guide book). Your pack will also contain your photo shoot vouchers if you are a Silver or Gold pass holder or have ordered them in advance online. If you think any of your vouchers are missing please let us know immediately. You will be asked for them when you come to claim your autographs or photo shoots. If you forget to bring these vouchers or lose them, you will not be able to claim your autographs or photo shoots. These vouchers are YOUR responsibility, please treat them as if they are CASH. You WILL NOT be able to claim your photo shoots and autographs without these vouchers.

 

Schedules: You will see schedules up on the walls and in your reg packs. To make it as easy for everyone as possible they include an estimate of when your groups will be called for each guests autograph and photo shoot. Please be aware this is ONLY AN ESTIMATE and you maybe called before or after this time depending on how quickly or slowly a specific guests queue is going.

 

Badges: We don't want to have things spoilt by gate crashers so please make sure you have them on and visible at all times. Especially at the parties.

 

Groups: Everyone is in a group based on their ticket number. You are simply split into groups of 30. Your group number will be on your con badge next to your ticket number. Please take note of your group number as when we're calling people over the weekend for autographs and photo shoots we will be calling you by group number. If you find you and a friend are in different groups, then please just let us know and if possible we will sort it out so you can both go in the same group.

 

Child tickets: The child ticket numbers are not important. They do everything based on their parent/guardians ticket number and group.

 

Entering the main hall for talks: We load the hall once each day at the start of the main hall session i.e. Fri @ 7pm, Sat @ 2pm and Sun @ 2pm, NOT for each talk. This is only an estimate of times, please see the show schedule for the specific times that the main hall events will start.

 

Any disabled people and their carers will go in to the hall first. Then we will fill the hall in ticket number order by calling people in groups of 10. Gold passes have a dedicated area at the front and come in first. Then Silver will enter and have a dedicated area behind the gold section, then Standard will enter.

 

If you have a Guest Encounter that starts at the same time as the first talk, please enter the talk hall FIRST and claim your seat for the rest of the day by leaving something on the chair to show that it is taken.

 

There is to be NO HOLDING OF SEATS for someone else. If you see someone obviously holding a seat please let the crew know. It MAYBE legitimate and the person has gone to a Guest Encounter. But if it is not legitimate then BOTH attendees (including the holder) will be moved to the back.

 

People with lower numbers holding seats for friend(s) will stop and is not fair. If you wish to sit with a friend with a higher ticket number please see below...

 

You do NOT have to enter as soon as you are called. If you have a friend with a higher ticket number you can wait for their number to be called and then go in together. You can stay back, but they can not jump forward.

 

Please be aware that with this system it does mean there is no need to arrive hours before the talks start. Getting to the main hall 20 minutes before is quite early enough. Around 15 minutes before the first talk/main hall event we will start letting people in, so as long as you are here when we call your number you will be in the same row as you would have been if you'd sat outside since the beginning of time!

 

Seating in the main hall: There is to be no moving seats! Once you have taken your seat in the main hall, that will be your seat for the rest of the afternoon. You can come and go as you please, but do leave something on the chair to show that it is taken. Please help your fellow attendees by helping us police this. If someone gets up and someone new comes and sits next to you, please do explain that the seat is taken, and that moving seats is not allowed.

 

Opening ceremony: The organisers will appear on stage and explain what’s happening over the weekend and welcome you to the event. The guests will come on stage for just a few minutes to say a quick hello.

 

Gold Pass drinks reception: For gold pass holders only. There will be 10 tables set out, there will be approx 15 people per table. Once you have gotten your drink please go to a table. Every other table will then have a guest brought to that table. The guest will be at that table for 5 minutes. The guest should have time to speak to everyone in your group. If you find you’re being missed, please do talk to a crew member. Your current guest will then move on to the next table, and you will get a new guest in 5 minutes. Please stay at your table as you will then get to meet each guest as they come around to your table.

 

Talk questions: We have an MC that asks the guests questions and runs the talks. If you want to ask a question at one of the guest talks and have not already submitted your question online then you can fill in a question slip from your reg pack. You can ask for extra slips if you need them. The box to put them in and the extra slips will be at the reg desk.

 

Photos in talks: For the comfort of our guests we only allow flash photography for the first few minutes of the talks. Only non-flash photography will be allowed after these first few minutes.

 

Recording of talks: No filming or sound recordings of the talks are allowed. If you see someone doing so please alert the nearest crew member. Although it may not appear to be hurting anyone, having this uncontrolled material out there and sometimes loaded on to the web can jeopardise these events being allowed to continue. So please do not do it and do report anyone you see doing it. Thank you.

 

Photo shoots and Autographs: You are called for each guest separately in your groups. When your group is actually called the crew will call out your group number. Also the big sheets at the end of the autograph queues, outside the main hall and outside the photo shoots will be updated to let you know your group has been called.

 

Don’t worry, with both photo shoots and autographs you can never miss your turn. Once your group has been called for a guest you can join that guest’s queue any time after that, even wait until Sunday if necessary. But please don't miss the end of the session on Sunday!

 

We've done our best to sort out the schedule so you don't get called to be in two places at once, but ultimately it is impossible to get it 100% right due to different guests going at different speeds. So if you do find yourself being called for both an autograph and a photo shoot at the same time, go to the photo shoot first. If you find yourself being called for 2 photo shoots at the same time, please let the crew in the photo shoots know. They can then make sure the photographer and guest in your second shoot know you are still to come through.

 

Multiple people in a photo shoot: If you want two or more of you in a single shot you must let the photo session crew know in advance. You will likely be asked to wait until the end of the shoot. Please be aware that it is ONE PERSON ONE TICKET. So if you want two of you in a shot you will need TWO tickets. You will receive two photos though.

 

Extra autographs: When your group is called to come down an autograph queue for the first time there is a limit of your one free autograph and two extra autographs. If you require more than 3 autographs from a single guest or buy an extra one autograph after having been down that guests queue, you must wait until the queue is open (i.e. all the groups have been called), before joining the queue a second time to get these extras.

 

Guest Encounters: These are a 45 minute chat (with coffee/tea/biscuits) with 12 attendees and one guest and can be won in one of two ways:

 

If you have a Guest Encounter that starts at the same time as the first talk, please enter the talk hall FIRST and claim your seat for the rest of the day by leaving something on the chair to show that it is taken.

 

1: Raffle tickets: 2 places in each Guest Encounter will be raffled off. Tickets can be bought at the reg desk. The winners will be announced at the same time as the auction winners. There is no limit to the number of tickets you can buy or the number of Encounters or places you can win.

 

2: Auction sheets: 10 places in each Guest Encounter will the auctioned. This will work by bidding sheets being put up on the wall at the event. One sheet for each guest encounter. There is no limit to the number of Encounters you can win. If you have a winning bid on 2 sheets you will win both.

 

Attendees bid by putting their badge number and their bid on the sheet. At a specific time, which will be stated on the sheet (say 1pm), the sheets come down and the highest 10 bids win. But everyone pays the value of the 10th winning bid. All bids are visible to people bidding later. You can come back and up your bid if you want. But if you want to up your bid you have to add a new one to the bottom of the list, DO NOT change or cross out your previous bid. That way we know the order that the bids were placed.

 

So let's say 11 people bid with some people changing their bids, the sheet could look like this…

 

NUMBER - BID

G10----£200

G19----£5 – IGNORED AS REBID BELOW

ST301-£10

G59----£10

S1------£7 – IGNORED AS REBID BELOW

G19----£7 – IGNORED AS REBID BELOW

G19----£10

ST23---£17

ST162-£9 – IGNORED AS REBID BELOW

S75----£31

ST197-£8 – IGNORED AS REBID BELOW

S96----£27

S97----£35

ST162-£20

ST197-£20

S1-----£20

 

So once sorted into bid order (And ignoring previous bids from the same person) they look like this...

 

£200, £35, £31, £27, £20, £20, £20, £17, £10, £10, £10.

 

As the 10th highest bid is £10, all 8 people with a bid higher than £10 win, but only pay £10. Even the person that bid £200. As you will see 3 people have bid £10. But there are only 2 places left. So the first 2 people to bid £10 win. In this case ST301 and G59. This is the reason for re-adding your bid at the bottom and not just changing it. If G19 had just changed their bid on line 5 to £10 it would have appeared they were the first person to have bid £10 (i.e. before both ST301 and G59), where as in fact they were the last person to bid £10.

[Too Tall]

Something new as it has been requested a number of times.

 

Silver pass holders will now have a RESERVED priority seating area in the talks behind the gold section. This will mean only silver pass holders can sit in this area.

[timelord81r]

does all this apply to time quest 2 also?

[Too Tall]

does all this apply to time quest 2 also?

As Time Quest 2 is primeraly run as a Tenth Planet event I'm not 100% sure. I don't have the same level of involvement with those events. That's why there isn't one of these in that section.

[couch_potato]

i like the idea of the tables for the gold pass reception, afew of us were discussing something like this last time, no disrespect to what the crew do but it didn't always work before, which put me off gold - but now......

[Too Tall]

We used it at ET3 a couple of weeks ago and it worked really well. It gave each group a focal point to be at, and so it made it a lot easier for us to get the guests around and to see everyone.

[kmonline]

What is the guest encounter? Haven't come across that on the site

[etmuse]

What is the guest encounter? Haven't come across that on the site

 

From the top post,

 

Guest Encounters: These are a 45 minute chat (with coffee/tea/biscuits) with 12 attendees and one guest

[adriangill]

Something new as it has been requested a number of times.

 

Silver pass holders will now have a RESERVED priority seating area in the talks behind the gold section. This will mean only silver pass holders can sit in this area.

Thanks

[dragonsanddaffodils]

i like the idea of the tables for the gold pass reception, afew of us were discussing something like this last time, no disrespect to what the crew do but it didn't always work before, which put me off gold - but now......

 

 

It was really nice and relaxed actually, much better than standing at groups, and you got to share sweets with the guests

[shanks313]

I just want to verify a few things with children attending.

 

My 2 girls will be attending part of the con...they will be 3 and 2.

 

1)The con is free for them? and they dont need a ticket

 

2) Photo shoots-Do I need to pay for extra tickets for them? Never have done before at other cons and they will be having pictures with me as they wont do it alone.

 

The photos will be probably be one of the only parts they attend as they wont sit still or quiet in the talks and they wont be getting any autos.

 

Thanks

[Too Tall]

As per the >>WEBSITE<< children under 7 are free.

 

And no a child as young as 3 will not require a ticket to be in a photo shoot with yourself.

[Space]

Hi there Too Tall,

I know this may seem dense of me, I read your reply in regards to children under 7, which is fine, I already knew that, but can you just verify for me that my daughter who will b e 6 by then can be in on the photo shoot's with me on her free pass / shared thing with me on my silver tkt?

I wouldnt have to go buy her a voucher or anything so that she can be in the photo with me?

 

I know it seems silly.. but I needed to put my mind at ease and hopefully use that extra money for other things!

 

Kind regards

 

Space x

[Queen_Sindel]

I've checked on this for you.

 

Generally children over 5 will need a photo shoot ticket of their own.

 

But check at the show with TooTall (or if you can call the office at 01908 671138). If there's special circumstances exceptions can be possibly made.

[malty]

Something new as it has been requested a number of times.

 

Silver pass holders will now have a RESERVED priority seating area in the talks behind the gold section. This will mean only silver pass holders can sit in this area.

 

Yes! thank you! No more sitting at the back for me.

[Space]

I've checked on this for you.

 

Generally children over 5 will need a photo shoot ticket of their own.

 

But check at the show with TooTall (or if you can call the office at 01908 671138). If there's special circumstances exceptions can be possibly made.

 

Thanks for that, I will call them tomorrow as my silver ticket states that children under 7 go free so I would have presumed that , that meant the photo shoot too, as kids over 7 need their own ticket for the con at £29 per child so I read on the site, and my daughter will cry heaven and earth if she cant be in on the photo, as she will only have just turned 6 by a week or so and the only reason I am taking her is because it's a birthday treat or she would have stayed with her nana. If there is a charge.. will it be at a reduced concession for children? Gosh , so many questions, but I need to make sure I balance my funds or lack of!

I'll see if I can get through to them tomorrow, only i didnt see anywhere that chidren over 5 and under 7 need to have a photo shoot voucher purchased for them. As It's alot of money for me as it is to save for the fares aswell as the hotel and the con tickets too and for the food too.. *sigh* I hope it's ok though..

*hopes*

Edited September 1, 2010 by Space

[Queen_Sindel]

Sorry I didn't have better news, Space.

 

What I posted above came directly from Mark. If you ring the office you best ask for him too. I'm not sure who'll be in if you try today. Roadhouse starts tomorrow, so it may be better if you try next week. You could also try e-mailing info@showmastersonline.com, and then ring as a follow up.

[habitualangel]

The children's ticket doesn't include any auto's or photos though - I have to buy them seperately for my daughter - last time I got her a standard so she had the auto's and just bought her a photo shoot for David Hewlett, however she wasn't fussed by anyone else so this time I have got her the childrens ticket and will buy her auto & photo for michael and auto for teryl - again she isn't fussed about the rest that are coming.

 

Not sure if you were thinking the childrens ticket had everything included - when it says goes free for under 7's or in my case childrens ticket £29 - it means they do everything based upon your ticket - hence if your silver - they sit in the silver section with you in the talks, when your group is called for auto's or photo's they go with you - however they will need there own photo or auto ticket - although I understand that they allow small children in the photos for free but unsure at what age this stops QS will know more than what I do and I would take her advice to get in touch with them next week after Roadhouse.

[Space]

Morning everyonne!

 

I just phoned Mark, and we chatted so all is okay now and sorted out.

 

Thanks for the help, it really is appreicated!

 

We shall see you all in nov! Cant wait!

 

Keep an eye out for us, My daughter will be the bright blonde haired one with no front teeth! and she has yet another tooth coming loose. and another visit from the tooth fairy I guess..

[habitualangel]

Glad you got it all sorted out - see you there!

[Queen_Sindel]

I am glad to hear all has been sorted too.

[Dankriss]

Just want to check but you do have a card machine don't you?...so people can pay for things via their credit cards.

 

Kriss :)

[DavidB]

Cards are usually fine for autos/photos/auction/tickets. Only issue might be with dealers

[Dankriss]

Thank you!

 

Kriss :)

[frith_]

Hi, does anyone know what time the closing ceremony is likely to be? I have to leave on Sunday afternoon/evening, and need to know which coach to get, so if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated!