TerraHawk Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Make it nearly a full day...what about the attendees waiting in the 'signing event' for their autographs and photoshoots? When will they get to see the guest? The rest of the day or on some cases, especially with those flown from the US, the other day. Besides admission to the signing area has never been a guarantee of an autograph. If you wanted to be certain you'd get the convention ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venus78 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I cant say who on here, but im sure a bit of serching online and u would find out. We can't discuss other events on here, sorry. I'm sorry! I thought it was a ME event. I know I can't discuss other events here. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adriangill Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 The rest of the day or on some cases, especially with those flown from the US, the other day. Besides admission to the signing area has never been a guarantee of an autograph. If you wanted to be certain you'd get the convention ticket. I am guessing in this scenario the convention ticket would be cheaper than current prices but it could still be a similar problem for people who can't afford a convention ticket. As for the ones that stick with the signing event side and do miss out, they no doubt voice their displeasure (no autograph guarantee withstanding). We are human - we like to complain I can see what you are trying to achieve. Personally I just don't think it is practical. Also, for me they are two different events, each having a unique atmosphere. I fear that would be lost by mixing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidbrookes Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I'm one of the fortunate ones that like both types of events. Ok, I've only been to one weekend convention for Torchwood, but I really enjoyed it. One of the things that makes me enjoy both types of events, stragely, is how different they are. Signing events, I can go on my own or with a friend that I know from growing up, go round the stalls, get autographs and an occasional photoshoot, go home with the autographs to remember the conversations with the actors by. Weekend conventions, I go on my own, but meet people who I have met on the forum, facebook and twitter. The whole weekend has a different atmosphere with events such as the guest encounters that I just wouldn't enjoy the same if the two type of events were combined. That is just my opinion, but for me when it works, it works brilliantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubleshiny Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I love the weekend conventions because I care about more than the guests for the most part, I want to meet my friends. The Collectotrmania style ones are okay for completists but it's too much like a cattle market for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I do like both events but with the current state with the recesion and me being jobless i cant afford all the masses of cons every event is putting on to try and beat one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted February 7, 2011 Moderators Share Posted February 7, 2011 There's always going to be people that can't afford something though. I certainly can't afford to go to every con I want to, but I don't ever think "oh they should make less events" .. I understand there'll be demand out there, and people who CAN go, so why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcangel Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) I like both signing events and weekend events. I wouldn't like to see them merged though as I think it would lessen the convention experience. There are a lot of events out there, so I doubt anyone can afford to go to them all. Having a choice of conventions and signing events is not necessarily a bad thing as I like to make a choice in how I spend my money,. Normally I would pick a weekend event over a signing event, but it can be guest dependent. Edited February 7, 2011 by jcAngel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_your_angel_of_music Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I like both... but with signing events, you dont get the atmosphere, the parties and the gatherings so much as you would at conventions. Plus you might want to go for one specific thing, and tbh more often that not there will be like 20 ppl your not bothered about and one or two you travel all that way for... so the money you spend to get there, pay out hotel and travel - plus both auto and photos of the people u actually want to see, but you get none of the extras you get with a con....i sometimes cant justify the money i spend at a signing, so i personally would sooner a full weekend con devoted entirely to something i love, with all them added extras! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARATZAT Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I like both... but with signing events, you dont get the atmosphere, the parties and the gatherings so much as you would at conventions. Plus you might want to go for one specific thing, and tbh more often that not there will be like 20 ppl your not bothered about and one or two you travel all that way for... so the money you spend to get there, pay out hotel and travel - plus both auto and photos of the people u actually want to see, but you get none of the extras you get with a con....i sometimes cant justify the money i spend at a signing, so i personally would sooner a full weekend con devoted entirely to something i love, with all them added extras! I agree. I enjoy the day ones cos I can just go that day and home again whilst getting 1 or 2 autos or just meeting some friends. Cons are a whole experience for me, where I do meet friends too but as I dont go out at weekends to pubs etc, it kinda my social life. So i have parties to go for where i get to see some of my best friends. In addition to this is I was to go to a signing event and they had 4 SPN guest, it would cost me £15 to £20 per auto, in addition to that I may need to buy something to get signed so it would cost more, as I dont always get DVD box sets/poster etc. So overall that cost is the same as a con. At a ME con I get a picture with the cost of ticket and get them to sign that. I'm not including hotel cost is this as with the signing events it a bit different for me as they are accessible. Some of the actual conventions are accessible to me but I chose to go to a hotel as it part of my weekend experience. Yes there is a recession on as someone keeps mentioning, but most people i know are aware of this and save up for a con you just have to choose which events and cons mean more to u to go to as it pretty much impossible to go to all unless you are lucky enough to have a well paid job and you can take any time off and dont work weekends either. I wanted to go to 2 other cons but I cant afford to and not because there a recession because I am not rich, and I work every other weekend too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i_am_your_angel_of_music Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I agree. I enjoy the day ones cos I can just go that day and home again whilst getting 1 or 2 autos or just meeting some friends. Cons are a whole experience for me, where I do meet friends too but as I dont go out at weekends to pubs etc, it kinda my social life. So i have parties to go for where i get to see some of my best friends. In addition to this is I was to go to a signing event and they had 4 SPN guest, it would cost me £15 to £20 per auto, in addition to that I may need to buy something to get signed so it would cost more, as I dont always get DVD box sets/poster etc. So overall that cost is the same as a con. At a ME con I get a picture with the cost of ticket and get them to sign that. I'm not including hotel cost is this as with the signing events it a bit different for me as they are accessible. Some of the actual conventions are accessible to me but I chose to go to a hotel as it part of my weekend experience. Yes there is a recession on as someone keeps mentioning, but most people i know are aware of this and save up for a con you just have to choose which events and cons mean more to u to go to as it pretty much impossible to go to all unless you are lucky enough to have a well paid job and you can take any time off and dont work weekends either. I wanted to go to 2 other cons but I cant afford to and not because there a recession because I am not rich, and I work every other weekend too. and i completely agree with all that very well put!...i'd like add i'm also jobless at the moment, but like Aratzat said, if you want to really go somewhere - you pick and choose which cons you really want to do and save up - which is currently what i'm having to do, because there is a couple i really want to go to, so i know if i save up - anythings possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicAvatar Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I love both signing events and weekend conventions too. The flavour of each is completely different, and I don't think they'd mix very easily, for reasons already well explained. For those who don't want to go to cons, though, I find SM/ME do try to get actors who've only been at cons over to signing events afterwards (having broken them in gently with a smaller gathering, so to speak), so the people who didn't want to/couldn't go to the con will get a chance to see them. And vice versa, so the eventers can experience the quieter con experience. Best of both worlds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Who Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I only really go to conventions, I prefer them, think they're much more personal than signing events Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemma85 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 (edited) We appreciate all the hard work the goes into these cons, we really do BUT in this particular instance, the lack of ANY kind of update is starting to become a bit of a joke & quite frankly, could be seen as nothing but blatant disregard for attendees who either already have bought a ticket or are awaiting to. Clearly SM/ME have been on the forums and surely would have seen people's concerns... couple that with the fact we were given a time frame thats has long since elapsed, it seems to us that the decent & respectful thing to do, would be to at least come on and give an idea of whats going on one way or another. At this point, people aren't even pressuring or worrying about big guests, they just want to know whether the con itself is going ahead. We were told that we would have some kind of answer within ten days... that was a week ago, so in total we have had to wait over two & a half weeks and we are still just as clueless now as we were then. So many people, like ourselves were excited about the potential of this event & ready to part with hard earned cash even in these restrictive times, so some sort of acknowledgement however big or small, would be greatfully received and given the magnitude of the issue, its the least that could be done, surely?! When all is said and done this is a business therefore, a bit of customer care wouldn't go a miss. Once again, we love attending these events but its starting to reach the point of enough is enough now. This post isnt meant to offend anyone or cause bad feeling but equally there is no point in beating around the bush either. Edited February 8, 2011 by gemma85 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyT Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Couldn't agree more; if you're going to give people a delivery period, then it's only common courtesy to come along at the end of that period, if only to say "sorry, things are still up in the air/taking shape/being finalised/whatever, it will another five days/five to ten days/whatever." To give an indication of an end date and then to just blithely leave people hanging is at best unprofessional, and quite possible to be interpreted as disrespectful or downright rude. Would you accept that sort of service from anybody else that you do business with? (And admissions of "we're all huge fans too" apart, let's be quite clear that this is a business). Even if you're going to give yourself a degree of flexibility by using vague and non-specific terms such as "soon" (and I appreciate there can be perfectly good reasons for doing so), you still need to keep an eye on the clock/calendar and figure out when you're getting to the end of (or way past) what most people might reasonably consider "soon" and issue another statement. I appreciate that SM/ME have had a number of individual problems of late, for which they have my sympathy and best wishes, but if somebody issues a statement under the company name saying "ten days", then it behoves at least somebody else within the company to issue a timely update, if only to say "no news but we hope to have something concrete in ten more days" or something. SM/ME do a lot of things well; unfortunately, managing customer expectations isn't one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicAvatar Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I'm afraid I have to agree. Managing customers' expectations was something that was drummed into me when I first started in a customer service role, and having been on the other end, I really do appreciate it when I know what's going on too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcangel Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I agree with what you are all saying. Just an update please, that's all we are asking for. To be left hanging after being given a timeframe is extremely frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyC Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Couldn't agree more; if you're going to give people a delivery period, then it's only common courtesy to come along at the end of that period, if only to say "sorry, things are still up in the air/taking shape/being finalised/whatever, it will another five days/five to ten days/whatever." To give an indication of an end date and then to just blithely leave people hanging is at best unprofessional, and quite possible to be interpreted as disrespectful or downright rude. Would you accept that sort of service from anybody else that you do business with? (And admissions of "we're all huge fans too" apart, let's be quite clear that this is a business). Even if you're going to give yourself a degree of flexibility by using vague and non-specific terms such as "soon" (and I appreciate there can be perfectly good reasons for doing so), you still need to keep an eye on the clock/calendar and figure out when you're getting to the end of (or way past) what most people might reasonably consider "soon" and issue another statement. I appreciate that SM/ME have had a number of individual problems of late, for which they have my sympathy and best wishes, but if somebody issues a statement under the company name saying "ten days", then it behoves at least somebody else within the company to issue a timely update, if only to say "no news but we hope to have something concrete in ten more days" or something. SM/ME do a lot of things well; unfortunately, managing customer expectations isn't one of them. I'm afraid I have to agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted February 8, 2011 Moderators Share Posted February 8, 2011 I know it can be frustrating but even a "soon" comment, as seen in the ET section, often causes problems so I could understand any hesitation to do that. Sometimes they can't win either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicAvatar Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I know it can be frustrating but even a "soon" comment, as seen in the ET section, often causes problems so I could understand any hesitation to do that. Sometimes they can't win either way. I understand that side of things too and am usually happy to wait when that kind of non-specific post comes, but "soon" is not the same as "10 days". Once you've committed to a specific timescale, you need to stick to it, even if it's just to say that you're hoping for a further update in x days. And at least ET is going ahead - we don't know if we even have a con! I appreciate you/SM/ME have a tough job to do with us all chomping at the bit for information, but I feel the two situations described don't really compare. Hope you see where I'm coming from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanggirl Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Yes there is a recession on as someone keeps mentioning LOL! I may have just laughed so hard that the diet coke I'm drinking came disasterously close to being spluttered all over my keyboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted February 8, 2011 Moderators Share Posted February 8, 2011 I know it can be frustrating but even a "soon" comment, as seen in the ET section, often causes problems so I could understand any hesitation to do that. Sometimes they can't win either way. I understand that side of things too and am usually happy to wait when that kind of non-specific post comes, but "soon" is not the same as "10 days". Once you've committed to a specific timescale, you need to stick to it, even if it's just to say that you're hoping for a further update in x days. And at least ET is going ahead - we don't know if we even have a con! I appreciate you/SM/ME have a tough job to do with us all chomping at the bit for information, but I feel the two situations described don't really compare. Hope you see where I'm coming from. Of course I can, and completely respect the frustrations of you and others. I certainly keep an eye on this event as I was very excited about it when it was first announced, and very hopeful that it'd be a success. Unfortunately time scales can change, and I guess the natural thing to assume now that's passed is that they're still working on finalising one way or the other. Not sure whether saying "soon" or "within X days" is going to work either. Both ways seem to have their bad points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elullatook Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 From the lack of responses on this thread i think folks have given up. Do not blame them to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanggirl Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 well despite having paid for a non-refundable hotel, I've been looking at alternative fun things to do that weekend.... Shame really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Ragamuffin Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 well despite having paid for a non-refundable hotel, I've been looking at alternative fun things to do that weekend.... Shame really! this sucks cuz it was the con I was looking forward to the most but what can you do a part of me still wants to see this happen but its getting so close now I've lost all hope and as you said alternative fun things will be amazing that weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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