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  • Showmasters Admin

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.

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I'm hoping that there will almost definatly be time to join the que once it is open? Or is there a big chance that there wont be time for an open que for getting extra autographs?

 

Will we be refunded our extra autograph tickets if there isnt?

Edited by Ella
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Firstly - as far as I am aware, yes you would get a refund for autograph tickets that you were unable to use because it was still a closed queue.

 

It is rare that a queue is not 'open' near the end of the second morning singing session though. It can happen and there is not a 100% guarantee that you would be able to get extra autographs in addition to the initial ones. It is all dependant on the number of attendees and how fast/slow the guest signs.

Edited by 1of2
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  • Showmasters Admin

Just to clarify, you can get up to 3 on your first time down the queue. Your one free auto and 2 extras. This will only be an issue if you want more than 3 autographs from a single guest.

 

And as others have said it's usually fine. I can only think of 2 or 3 times since we started that we've had to stop selling extra autographs.

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  • 7 months later...
Promote what, exactly? When first announced, I was thinking it would be a CM type show with lots of guests..
This is a Massive Events convention. It is not a Showmasters signing event like Collectormania/LFCC/EMS.

 

The format will be similar to that of the various Hubs, Chevrons, Hallowhedons, etc. It is designed to be a 3 day event so there will be no single day tickets. There are normally with 4-6 guests (that can vary). The number of attendees vary but it won't be more than 1000 as this is designed to be a small event. Autograph and photo shoot sessions take place in the morning. Stage activties (talks, a quiz, auction, etc) in the afternoon. Guest encounters also take place in the afternoon. Themed parties for each evening. There are normally a few dealers as well.

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Ok, so its not a SM show..

 

Can't see any reason so far to promote this to Tolkienites. Buffyites, Twiglettes, maybe, but for an event supposed to attract Tolkienites and fans of the books/films.. square root of zip..

Fair enough if it doesn't appeal to you.

 

Promotion will enable people, who may have been unaware of the event, to decide for themselves if they wish to attend.

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I think the point 'yahweh70' is making, is the general feelings about this event on here is that there is extremely little interest in it as the event stands at the moment to big Tolkien/LOTR fans, which is what I believe as well. If we are being asked to promote the event to others, it's difficult if we ourselves are not attending or excited about it, so it's pretty unlikely(as word of mouth is what they're relying on) that our word of mouth is going to lead to more sales.

 

I know you're a moderator, but you have to admit it's not exactly an incredible looking event that hundreds of people would pay hundreds of pounds to go to as it stands right now.

 

Everyone knows the various 'activities' run throughout the day, and parties etc, but guests sell tickets, and the guest list isn't enough.

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My point was about the promotion aspect. If I know somebody who may have an interest in something that has an upcoming event and I am aware of, but they are not, I would still tell them about it even if I had no interest in it. Granted it is not a huge promotion but it is promotion.

 

Unless I misunderstood you, from your earlier comments it appears that you will not promote the event (like in my example) at all, purely because you have no interest in it yourself. It is that which baffles me.

 

Regarding the appointed seats, you are not allocated a specific seat. You can select any free seat within a section based on ticket type - Gold in the front section, followed by Silver, and then Standard. It seems fair that as one of the advantages of purchasing a more expensive ticket you can benefit from a better seating position. That is no different to a sporting event/concert/etc. The 'keep the same seat' rule is to help stop instances of people going out for a toilet break/etc and returning to find that somebody else had taken their seat. I don't see that as being a bad rule.

 

If you book at the venue hotel then that would be refunded if the event is cancelled.

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  • 1 year later...

I understand that events like this are geared up to the whole weekend but if you can only make one day, or only wanted to for that matter, would you be able to meet all the guests on say the Sunday? I would accept you wouldn't get as much from the weekend but given the choice of meeting a guest or not I know which I would prefer. I've only started going to cons recently so only have Empire Day and LFCC as a point of reference. Sorry if this wasn't the right place to ask this question or if it has been asked previously - I did try to look before posting.

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