Saturday Review

[MikeDonovan]

Did not enjoy this one at all. For a couple of reasons I didn't have an advance ticket, so 90 minutes queuing, in order to push my way through the hall and find out I had absolutely no chance of meeting anyone (I wasn't there to meet Karen Gillan).

 

My mental note for next time is to either get a gold pass, or don't bother. No point whatsoever in getting a normal ticket, unless you're of a mind to sleep outside the night before (which I am not).

[scifisteve]

I came, I saw, I got what I wanted, Yes Time with Karen was brief, but I prefer brief to not at all (and she was still engaging for the time she was yours).

 

If I can make a suggestion, no one can blame the Girl for wanting to sit down during her Talk, but how about a stool rather than a chair so that she can be seen by those of less stature (not me I saw fine) kind of funny considering how tall she is. Great legs too

 

Oh and are the Talk Video purchasable

Edited July 10, 2011 by scifisteve

[adrianbsmith@sky.com]

I came, I saw, I got what I wanted, Yes Time with Karen was brief, but I prefer brief to not at all (and she was still engaging for the time she was yours).

 

If I can make a suggestion, no one can blame the Girl for wanting to sit down during her Talk, but how about a stool rather than a chair so that she can be seen by those of less stature (not me I saw fine) kind of funny considering how tall she is. Great legs too

 

Oh and are the Talk Video purchasable

 

Thought it odd that she sat down too.

 

obviously a few gripes expressed in these pages but overall a fantastic event, great to meet so many people. I set a cash budget and stuck to it but could have spent so much more. It was hot in there but I went outside over lunch and got some fresh air which made a big difference. Stunned at the queues, amazing.

 

If I was to make one critcism, it was the lack of personalisation for Karen's autos. This has been covered elsewhere but in my collection all the pics are dedicated except this one. I know there is a trade off between my experience and the need to maximise money and get as many people to meet her but given she asked my son's name and was a very quick signer I dont think it would have made any difference to how long we were with her.

 

As an solution how about charging £25 (or less) for a signature and double for a dedication so that those people really desperate to have this could still be happy, a reward for being so dedicated and getting to the venue 2 hours early in the hope of getting a dedication.

 

Overall brilliant day...but I am worn out so hats off to you guys going back for more today

[plushroom]

Yesterday was great, thanks to the organisers and the crew who kept me organised! (I was the one with the bright pink hair in the polka dot black dress yawning a lot!)

 

Managed to meet:

 

Christopher Lloyd

Corey Feldman

Doug Bradley

Camille Coduri

Shawnee Smith

Sir Derek Jacobi

John Leeeson & K9

Gil Gerrard

Sylvester McCoy

Robert Rankin

 

And get a photo in the Delorean to go with the one from South Australia Car Museum when I was 11 :)

 

Got photoshoots, autographes and enough Pocky to last me at least the next six months and met up with some great online friends.

 

I'd say it's a shame not to be going back today but I'm off to Sonisphere now to finish off my weekend of epic awesomeness :)

 

Thanks for a great time :)

 

Oh and if someone could get one of these ready for me for later I would be most grateful! lol

[Jassie]

Had an amazing time yesterday.

 

It was my 5yr old son and mine second LFCC and hubs and youngest first one! We arrived at about 10.30 and first off took eldest for his second photo with Christopher Lloyd. Mr Lloyd was great as he was in 2008!

 

Took him to get his autograph from Karen Gillan and he was so excited, he had brought his Dr Who 2011 annual and asked her to sign the Amy page, we still picked up a photo as well and she signed that even though the staff member told her it would be a freebie! I am so grateful for that as it means he can have the photo on his wall and keep the annual safe and get more signatures in it with time!

 

Christopher Lloyds autograph was next and he signed my sons Delorean :)

 

We also had my sons photo with Karen and she was great, a bit shocked when he walked up to her in his dalek costume but she was really great with my son :)

 

Unfortunately funds didnt allow for us to get anything else but the other highlight of the day were all the people we met, especially the cosplayers, so many people came up to us to get photos of our son in his dalek costume and our youngest in his Darth Vader costume, if you are reading this and was one of these people I would love to get hold of a copy of your pics with him too!

 

I only had two little gripes, no seating, even just for disabled, I managed to organise avoiding queues by pre-arrangement which helped loads as I had enough walking around to do but sitting on the floor outside to rest and even with max dose spam it almost killed me, just a few chairs in the corner that was empty by the entrance would have been such a relief!

 

The photo collection was a nightmare too, it was 4 people deep and I ended up going back 4 times trying to pick up the last pic so we could make our journey home.

 

All in all a fantastic day, it was really special meeting Karen and Chris but what was the most fun was being outside and meeting so many fun and lovely people :)

 

p.s. I have posted our pics link in photo thread x

[TommyT]

950? i walked past roughly around that time and it said about 460, meh if thts the case i wished i stayed longer but oh well.

Well, I'm open to the idea that I was mistaken. Anyone else got a final(ish) tally to report for Karen?

According to this post she got up to VT1399 and then went open queue right at the very end.

[steve67]

We (my young niece and I) attended on Saturday, neither of us have ever been to one of these events. The Karen Gillan photoshoot was the sole reason for our visit, so some comments on that.

 

After a trip to the "Doctor Who Experience" first, which is great BTW, we arrived a bit after 2pm and joined the photo queue (and had a sneaky chuckle at the crew member who told us "Yes, this is the queue for Karen Jillum"). The queue moved along quickly enough, we probably waited no more than half an hour.

 

I noticed signs saying "All items left at owner's risk" alongside a long table of many untagged bags, available to anyone who wanted to walk past and pick one up; my immediate thought was "******** to that!". We both had largish bags with us, mine with a pricey camera in, putting them down in a hall of 20,000 people and then walking away wasn't going to happen! When we reached the front of the queue, I did not offer the bags and no-one asked for them, so scene avoided.

 

Then we turned the corner past the dividing wall and my heart sank a bit as I saw the Tardis - it was not what I would call a good replica. Contrary to some comments I've seen of people wishing more of the Tardis appeared on their photos, I'm very pleased that there is only a small part visible on ours! Yes, it was recognisably a Tardis, but any tall blue box with windows is going to look at least something like a Tardis. Could have been much better.

 

Karen herself was doing well, as an ex-model and "Doctor Who" star I guess she is very experienced at being photographed for hours on end and also at meeting crowds of fans. All credit to her, because it must be very wearing working through that constant stream of people (and there must be at least a few oddballs in there too, I just read about the idiot who pulled a knife on Brent Spiner.)

 

So we then had a couple of hours to kill before the photo would be ready, not too much of a problem with a young girl in a hall full of cute little things to buy! She was delighted with some funky little bracelets (made of tape measures and other odd items) and spent her money there. I would have bought her some more stuff if both cash machines in the hall hadn't been out of action. More of a failing of the venue than the organisers I suppose, but with thousands of people in a hall selling thousands of expensive items, the need to refill cash machines should be anticipated. Who knows how much business the dealers missed out on, or how many extra autographs might have been sold?

 

Peeped into one of the stages for a few minutes as we passed, saw several girls in long blue wigs doing little dance routines. No idea what characters they were playing, but they looked to be having a great time and it was really very sweet.

 

The replica Batmobile was a lovely car, unfortunately the tape barrier was so close to it that a decent photo was impossible.

 

We had to get out of the hall for a bit of a break so went upstairs to grab a coffee, unfortunately their coffee machine had broken down. So just Pepsi and a much needed sit down directly above the long autograph tables, which allowed us to watch the comings and goings on both sides. Brent Spiner looked extremely busy but was taking some time with each person. Things were pretty slow for the "Star Wars" guests, but I guess that's because they've been at this game for thirty years and everyone has already met them!

 

 

We went to collect the photo and to be honest, the arrangement here was completely useless. No way to tell upfront which photos are where on the very long table, because it's completely obscured by a crowd of people in front of you all trying to look over the heads of the people in front of them. So you just pick a spot in the crowd and start edging in; eventually you get through to the front and discover that, as was very likely, your photo isn't right there in front of you - it might be down the other end of the table somewhere though. But you can hardly get away from the table to go and start the whole process again because now the pressing crowd is behind you.

 

The photos were also not carefully handled, I saw some getting absolutely smothered in fingerprints, and that was just the crew laying them out on the table! I heard one woman phoning to her husband and saying there was no way she could get her photo herself, he would have to come and help. Small people, those with children, anyone in a wheelchair, must have had a nightmare there.

 

Would it really be so hard to avoid the whole mess somehow? Maybe numbers given out sequentially to everyone after their photo is taken, with the printed photos then laid out in that order (even approximately), and some signposts visible over people's heads saying where blocks of numbers are, would make collection much more straightforward. (It would also negate the need to write lengthy descriptions in order to have photos posted on later, because you just use the number).

 

An even simpler way could be a queue which files past the table to let people spot their photos - it would get everyone through much quicker than a mob laying siege to a table! The whole rest of the venue was full of queues so why the principle went out of the window here is beyond me. And before anyone makes an excuse about Karen Gillan being so popular - that's no excuse! All her photos were pre-sold, so the volume to be dealt with was known well in advance.

 

 

The photo itself looks fine, and that's the main thing of course, so overall a successful outcome to the day. Having just the one objective meant achieving it could be my sole focus, I would not like to have had a shopping list of photos and autographs to get through!

[steeleagle]

What can i say but Saturday was a blur for me. Meeting 19 stars and getting 29 autographs and 1 photo shot with Tom Sizemore in one day is mad , thank god for the gold pass.

Hey Linusbinus i do remember you as i was just behhind you in the queue for Morgen Sheppard.

Karen Gillian was a star and a half .

[davidbrookes]

was a bit disapointed with a couple of my autos off her, im not sure if it was the pens or she writes lightly but the auto is faded as it where on 2 off mine..

I'm afraid I think it's the pens which also disappointed me. I got 5 from her, 4 in black and 1 in silver. The silver one came out fine, the black ones came out faded.

[Draco Malfoy]

Found it a tad bit unorganised at times and caused more stress than would have been necessary, also too many attendees in my opinion, the tickets should have been capped at a certain number. The crew was very helpful and did the best they could but it wasn't easy on them either at times, I don't know how some of them coped on that day to be honest as I know I couldn't have kept my cool and friendliness as they did.

 

The bag areas weren't really in good spots and I was scared of my bag a few times especially noticing the Crew NOT paying attention to them at all after they dumped them... the tables were facing the CROWD and anyone could have just picked a bag up and walked off and NO ONE had noticed. NOT good! I "only" had my autographs in it and my camera ain't worth anything, but others may have an expensive cameras and a few more autographs in there or items they bought.

 

Attendees: ANNOYING when they stand in the middle of the way when there is hardly any space anyway, pushing and just being rude. I had to rush through a lot myself but always tried to find gaps and said "excuse me can I please pass" when there were people and I had to "squeeze" through.

 

The photos should all be in MATT for the autographs as they fade or even smudge off on glossy photos!

 

I appreciate Showmasters needs a lot of attendees for income etc but there were too many people and to have photoshoots and autographs as rushed as it was is not fair if you spend such a good amount of money especially when you pay like £25 or even £35 for ONE autograph then get told you can't have it personalised anymore... what is the point in meeting the guest at a convention like that paying so much money and can't have a personalisation? Already mean they didn't allow Christopher Lloyd quotes... it's not really a nice thing and appears as a "rip off" to many, sorry to say.

 

Also having someone play music very loud during talks is not a great idea either, Corey wasn't too happy it happened at his talk and neither were we as it made it very difficult to hear what he said and what was asked!

 

 

Loads of things could have been easier and less hectic for crew and attendees if it had been organised better and the layout of the whole event been just a little bit different. Oh well it was a great time anyway even my feet are pure blisters and I am exhausted it was worth it. It was great to see some lovely people again and to meet new friends such as the lovely twins and "Ginny" :-D

 

Edited July 10, 2011 by Draco Malfoy

[cookies41]

I only went on the Saturday and I hadnt attended LFCC since 2009 so was very much looking forward to it and I had a lot to get through with the day and even though I was extremely tired at the end of the day I had a brilliant experience yet again.

 

Got there at about half 8 - I would have arrived a lot sooner but was coming up on the day and this was the earliest i could get in to London. The queue was HUGE! I've truly never seen it that big before (maybe this is because I'm already half way up the queue I don't know) but I thought it was handled well, even though as others have said there was opportunities for people to queue jump.

 

Immediately ran in to get VT's for everyone - got VT 546 for Karen so was very happy that i would probably get to see her. All the guests I met very really lovely, not a bad word about any one of them. The queues were managed pretty well and I had no major gripes about things although did not know that Natalia Tena had a VT system in place until about 5pm but by this point they were only about 20 tickets between what I was given and what they were up to.

The crew were mostly great although most looked very tired. Special thanks to the people at photo shoot A that got me through quickly at the Karen photoshoot so I could get to Mark's.

 

There wasnt a lot of point for the fre talk tickets because they werent checked when I went in to them. As far as Karen's talk goes it was far better organised and run than the others that I went to although I do think that seeing as it was paid there needs to be better provision to make sure no one else can listen to it for free even though Too Tall did a good job of getting rid of people that were hanging round at the back. Another thing - the numbered seating was badly organised - even though it had tape on the end of the rows what numbers they ranged from no one was in the right order and it was a bit of a muddle to get seated -although I appreciate the seats that myself and about 7 others got thanks to the crew.

 

The event was the busiest I've seen it for a good while - may even beat how busy it was the year the Heroes lot were here. The idea that 30,000 got through the doors, and the fact that ppl were stil queing to get in at about half 1 is insane! Its great for Showmasters but then does make things difficult at the same time.

 

The bag situation was a little worrying -frankly I'm one of those people that likes to think the best in people but unfortunately you cant be too careful, and I liked how it had been done before where the bags were not right next to the crowd. The photo collections were also extremely hectic and I think SM need to look at rejigging the layout just a little bit for next time - the idea of giving people numbers to collect photos is a good one, although I love seeing other peoples pictures on the table as well as finding mine.

 

Oh and another quick thing - I found it extremely annoying and rude that people would either use other people's queue's or just stand in the middle of people's queues if they were open queue to take pictures of the guests. It just got in people's way and was I thought a little rude

 

I think making the event bigger works well for showmasters in terms of revenue and bigger guests etc. but this year is a good learning curve logistics wise. Overall I had a brilliant day, just a few minor gripes but nothing major -roll on the next time

Edited July 10, 2011 by cookies41

[Spock]

Some grumbles including Missing Walter and Karens talks due to photoshoot clashes and the Brent and Walter p/shoots being delayed. As I shelled out quite a bit for Karens talk that was a downer. Also worst I've known you guys for not having pix ready in double quick time - perhaps another photo booth would be a good idea for the LFCC events. Overall though have to say really enjoyed it, and we have to remember that without you guys we wouldn't get the opportunity meet all these great guests.

[the Architect]

Karen was stellar all day (but the TARDIS at the photoshoot was mediochre at best).

 

Sir Derek Jacobi was exceptional (even though I scared him a little; I was a little enthusiastic).

 

Sylvester McCoy was happily chatting away to me about his recent filming on 'The Hobbit'; a top chap.

 

Sophie Aldred was 5 seconds away from putting on her 'Dennis the Menace' voice on.

 

Morgan Sheppard was really engaging - regailing fans with stories from "the old days".

 

Friday night was brilliant - at one point when Brent Spiner arrived I got to be part of a conversation between him, and Morgan and Mark Sheppard (only for 30 seconds, but they were the best 30 seconds of my day).

 

My one complaint - what was the frak up with the gates opening at 0700? West Brompton was opened after Earl's Court; does nobody at Earl's Court own a watch?

[MinkyKnights]

My one complaint - what was the frak up with the gates opening at 0700? West Brompton was opened after Earl's Court; does nobody at Earl's Court own a watch?

Yup. See thread here.

[TerraHawk]

was a bit disapointed with a couple of my autos off her, im not sure if it was the pens or she writes lightly but the auto is faded as it where on 2 off mine..

I'm afraid I think it's the pens which also disappointed me. I got 5 from her, 4 in black and 1 in silver. The silver one came out fine, the black ones came out faded.

 

Opposite problem for me 4 in silver. only one that really looks presentable.

[Icaria]

Had a good day,really just wandering around.

Bought a couple of items, sat in on a few talks. It was great.

 

Liked the girls in the 'Sucker Punch' costumes.

 

Big up from Rocket, was you one of the lovely people asking politely for photos? Myself, Madame Gorski and our lovely tagalong Babydoll didn't stop all day when it came to being photographed.

 

Nice to see we made people happy

[Grazer]

950? i walked past roughly around that time and it said about 460, meh if thts the case i wished i stayed longer but oh well.

Well, I'm open to the idea that I was mistaken. Anyone else got a final(ish) tally to report for Karen?

According to this post she got up to VT1399 and then went open queue right at the very end.

That was how it ended up. Everyone who was there til the end got an autograph

[horta]

I went on Friday night and Saturday. Friday was a great idea and I got my ticket for Saturday and a number of autographs out of the way. Saturday I arrived just before ten and couldn't believe that Christopher Lloyd VT was already in the 700s ! Still I did get to him just before six. I found all of the guests I met to be exceptionally freindly and chatty. In particular Mark Sheppard was excellent and Peter Jurassik was wonderful ! I thought it was pretty busy and then realised it was still before 11 ! I couldn't believe the size of the queue outside at midday ! All in all, an excellent weekend, thanks to everyone involved.

[Rockstar6662]

The bag situation was a little worrying -frankly I'm one of those people that likes to think the best in people but unfortunately you cant be too careful, and I liked how it had been done before where the bags were not right next to the crowd.

 

This did worry me a little as I had some expensive gear in mine. No-one seemed to really be paying attention to keeping an eye on the table or who was picking up which bag, but without tagging them there's no way of knowing who's is who's anyway.

 

Not sure what a good solution would be given the way things are laid out but I'd recommend this be looked into.

 

It was much better at MK as the bag tables were inside the photoshoot area so at least restricted to just the people coming and going, and in the right order.

 

It's a little rich saying bags are left at your own risk and left facing the main hall when there's no other option available to you. Obviously if you're with someone else not in the shoot you can leave it with them but I didn't have that option. Luckily everything is fine but it was a concern.

[Quinzel]

I just have to say how much I enjoyed Robert Knepper's talk. I'm a fan, but it was just an 'I wouldn't be gutted if I missed it' thing...and ended up being the highlight of the day for me :). He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. Didn't realise he'd been to so few conventions. A bit gutted that I didn't meet him now, because it could be a while before he returns .

 

I loved the Nintendo area too. I was expecting it to be so much busier than it was but I managed to get to play a demo I've been anxious to try for ages (the staff in this section were also nice...then again all staff I spoke to that day were nice).

 

The only guest I met was Mark Sheppard, who was great; seemed really down to earth. Sadly, I didn't get there in time for tickets for his talk, but overheard a little of it anyway as I was queuing for the Harry Potter talk :).

[SMASTER]

Good Points:

 

Karen Gillan Photoshoot was awesome, loved it!

Banter with a stormtrooper in the pay on the day queue

Got lots of great deals at the auction

Mela Lee autograph- wasn't going to get it, but im glad i did as she was lovely and very interesting

 

Bad Points/Constructive Criticism

 

Auction was late by 30-40 mins, meant lots of waiting which is very frustrating

Couldn't hear Corey Feldman talk very well due to loud music

Very busy, but I understand its good for SM if tons of people are there

 

All in all an awesome day, just quite busy!

[CelticRob]

...

Edited December 28, 2022 by CelticRob

[xlorix]

The bag situation was a little worrying -frankly I'm one of those people that likes to think the best in people but unfortunately you cant be too careful, and I liked how it had been done before where the bags were not right next to the crowd.

 

This did worry me a little as I had some expensive gear in mine. No-one seemed to really be paying attention to keeping an eye on the table or who was picking up which bag, but without tagging them there's no way of knowing who's is who's anyway.

 

Not sure what a good solution would be given the way things are laid out but I'd recommend this be looked into.

 

It was much better at MK as the bag tables were inside the photoshoot area so at least restricted to just the people coming and going, and in the right order.

 

It's a little rich saying bags are left at your own risk and left facing the main hall when there's no other option available to you. Obviously if you're with someone else not in the shoot you can leave it with them but I didn't have that option. Luckily everything is fine but it was a concern.

 

I'm only quoting your post as it's the most recent one discussing the bag situation, I've seen this mentioned a few times.

 

There was a cloakroom provided by Earls Court, through the main entrance and to the right, for a very small fee, so there was other options available to people!

 

There's also no way that SM's insurance could cover lost and stolen bags, imagine the amount of "claims" that would come up! Although I do agree with people saying that maybe the layout could of been better, I also liked the bags being in the room at CM17, but I guess space didn't allow for that here.

[etmuse]

Just wanted to say how great Morgan Sheppard was. Whilst we were waiting he was talking to the guys in front of us about Gettysburg. He told a couple of stories about his time on set and was really enthusiastic about the whole thing. Then when I strolled up and handed him my copy of Wild At Heart he groaned and laughed. Wasn't sure if that was good or bad to begin with, but it turns out that Mr Reindeer was one of his favourite roles, and just as before, he reeled out a couple of very entertaining stories about his time on set and working with the legendary David Lynch. He seemed genuinely pleased to be doing the whole thing and came across as a pretty decent bloke.

I had the luck to be sitting with Morgan on Saturday - he had some of the most wonderful stories about so many of his roles, and was an absolutely lovely guy to chat to in the spaces when his queue went quiet. He was very tired (working on little sleep) but I doubt anyone who came to see him that day could tell; he was an absolute trooper.

[The_Wookie69]

 

Thanks to all the crew. All were very helpful. A Big thanks to Luke C at the Christopher Lambert queue. Cheers fella.

 

 

No problem! Always happy to help the fans :)