bad experiences

[giuseppe1969]

Regarding Lisa Marie (or others), I wouldn't worry much about the fact that they sometimes allow posed photos and sometimes don't as this happens everytime due to different reasons. I sometimes get lucky to get a posed photo or even a personalisation when these are not allowed and sometimes I get unlucky as they are allowed but, for whatever reason, when it's my turn are not allowed anymore.

 

We need to get over it as this kind of guest/crew/organiser/pr/bodyguard decision may happen and, anyway, let's not forget that the vast majority of the guests usually allow posed photos and personalisation. On Saturday morning the chap before me got a posed photo on the table with Sylvia Anderson so I thought she allowed it but when my turn came, after chatting for nearly 5 minutes about Space: 1999, when I was about to ask for a posed photo the crew member girl told us not to in a sort of funny way (as if we did she got into trouble - or so I understood). That was fine, I respected the decision and moved on. I enjoyed meeting Sylvia anyway.

 

On the other hand, I don't really appreciate when certain guests (Lisa Marie or others) treat us as if we didn't exist; this is far more serious to me than agreeing randomly or not to posed photos. I understand that we usually don't talk badly about guests as they might read the forum, they might refuse to come to future events and all that but SM need to know who makes us happy and who does not.

 

And yes, the photo distribution was a bit hectic and one of my pictures was missing but reappeared the following day. I think SM did not expect the massive turnout there was this time but I think they did great in the end.

[adamthemusicfan]

it was my first time so I dont have anything to really moan about but I think the space wasn't used well. Obviously the hall is bigger than what was shown on the map so why not use it. I was stood in Camille Coduri's queue and everyone just wanted to walk through it instead of walking in the big gap behind the queue.

Maybe everything from the signing area could be moved back more or have the signing tables running down the walls on either side of the hall.

 

I walked past the Harry Potter props twice before I noticed that they were there and didnt even notice the deloren until late on (but I wasn't really looking for that)

 

I didn't get an auto off Lisa Marie but I did see her doing the posed photo but that person was the only one in her queue at the time.

I was the only one in her queue as well but maybe she preferred that guy than everyone else who she met. If I'm not mistaken, he was a bald guy right?

 

 

im pretty sure it was a girl but could be mistaken because I wasn't really paying much attention I was looking around for my friend and the queue was moving.

hmm, you wouldn't say that I was being discriminated though because the PR wouldn't let me get a photo with Lisa Marie. Lisa Marie was actually nice with me and smiled a bit whilst I asked her about which roles she enjoyed the most when playing in Ed Wood, Mars Attacks and Sleepy Hollow, but it wasn't till her PR said no photos, that got me down.

[cookiemonster]

Chairs!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where were they?!

 

Apart from the few in the cafe areas there was no where to sit down in the event (unless you were attending a talk). Many people were sitting on the floor and I noticed a few sitting in the 2rd stage talk area well after the last talk there had finished today. We were even moved away from a set of tables and chairs for the Calligraphy - I can appreciate they are there for a reason but at the time no one was touching the Calligraphy.

 

SM must be able to hire some more as us poor guests need to rest and can't walk around at the same stalls all day to pass the time. Please can this be addressed at future events.

 

 

There was the usual posing for photos issue. On the Friday Brent Spiner was posing with fans, then got told not to so posed on his own and then when i got to the table I asked and he said (with backing vocals from the crew member) that he wasn't allowed to at all! Saying that though, photos are a bonus at the table and i only tend to ask judging on how other people are getting on.

 

I was disappointed with the Walter Koenig talk on the Saturday. Crew members holding the microphones seemed in no hurry to get the mikes to audience members and were not looking around for people putting their hands up. I sat behind them and they are hardly looked around. Some people had to try and ask questions without a mike. A different crew did the Karen Gillan talk and this was done in a better more professional manner.

 

Further to the comments re. photo collection, a large sheet of paper was put up on the Saturday saying which photos were at an alternative table - this was a great idea although was not kept up to date and as a result we were looking for a photo that wasn't where we thought it was. Also the melee this evening was a bit crazy, crew were giving vague "they should be here soon" comments and clearly didn't know where they were and no real information was given until a chap got up on a chair and made an announcement. The crew seems to be really good using walkie talkies during the day for communication re. location of guests, why can't a similar thing be used for the final photo collections? Either that or ring whoever is collecting them from the printers?

 

Sorry for the length, waffled a bit longer than planned...

Edited July 10, 2011 by cookiemonster

[hobbitfanatic]

I didn't see it as badly organised event at all. I have been to a lot more badly organised events by other companies and showmasters beat them all on organistion and most of the showmasters ones have more guests and more attendees as well.

I do think some things need to be looked at e.g photo collection and music downing out talks is out of order.

Also found a lot of the blue t-shirt crew maybe needed a bit more information/training. As many time I saw them being asked information that they should have know only for them to have to run off to ask other people. E.g working in a photoshoot area and not knowing where the photoshoot collection point is.

I also felt sorry for some of the crew having to give information out again and again. E.g Karen not doing any more signings until 4 should have been put on the board. Instead of the crew having to say it all the time. Or the fact on Sat Corey board said 1-50 when he didn't get to start signing till 11. Might have been better putting not here yet or something along those lines.

I just think things like that would not only help the attendee but also the crew.

[jael001]

Seating is something that has come up after every LFCC I can remember but in order to provide seating, they'd need to have a big enough space to put them, which would either cost them more in hall hire fees, or they'd have to do away with some dealer space or other area. And they'd never have enough seating for everyone who wanted it, leading to more complaints I'm sure. I managed to find a seat (on an actual chair, not the floor, I don't do sitting on floors lol) whenever I wanted. I went upstairs to the cafe that had the pies and potatoes around lunchtime and ate there and sat for a while, and later on in the afternoon went to the upstairs seating above the other cafe with a coffee and read my book for a while.

[pinkstarbuck]

i'm writing this on my phone so i can't copy or paste other peoples posts, so i apologise if my post seems a bit jumbled.

 

The photo tables at the end-yes the crowds around them were manic and ridiculous but i'm guessing SM were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people arriving at the same time for their photos. Some of the people i saw at the tables were a little rude to the crew behind the tables, hats off to the crew for dealing with that and being patient, it can't have been easy! The 2 hour window was an estimate, they have to send them off to be processed etc, i'm guessing for most people this was their first con experience so they were not sure what to expect.

 

I also agree with the live band being too loud, we wasn't at the talks but we struggled to hear ourselves speak over the noise!

 

My only gripe was with whoever moved the barriers around the cars. As mentioned in a previous post, at the end of yesterday people were behind the barriers taking pictures, leaning on the cars despite signs saying not to, somebody destroyed one of the signatures on the monkees car with a greasy substance that looked fresh and deliberate-we have pictures of this if the owners want to see it! I find it sad that people would blatantly ignore signs saying "please do not touch or lean on the vehicle" just so they can get a shot, and the barriers had been moved, as nobody was behind the cars until this point. A real shame!

[defender05]

Yeah the photo table was hectic but thats not the organisers fault. If anything its the people who seemed to be staring at the table waiting for their photos to appear out of nowhere

 

 

I know a lot of people were jusr standing there but it didn't help when a few people asked about certain shoots and the staff didn't know who they were talking about.

 

I also noticed that when some of the smaller shots came back they just filled in some of gaps from other shoots so they wern't in any order.

 

One other thing I found strange was that they were selling tickets for one of the models photoshoots right upto just before it was about to start even though she wasn't there.

[MinkyKnights]

somebody destroyed one of the signatures on the monkees car with a greasy substance that looked fresh and deliberate-we have pictures of this if the owners want to see it!

This was like this at the Friday preview.

[Banished_From_Rohan]

 

Also found a lot of the blue t-shirt crew maybe needed a bit more information/training. As many time I saw them being asked information that they should have know only for them to have to run off to ask other people. E.g working in a photoshoot area and not knowing where the photoshoot collection point is.

 

 

Just to address this, it is possible that the crew member you spoke to at the photoshoot wasn't actually crewing the photoshoot as such but was the guest assistant of the person in the photoshoot and was just helping out while there. I know this because I was in such a position with Camille Corduri on the Saturday. It also isn't possible to do a tour of the whole hall before it opens to get your bearings as there are loads of things to be done and there isn't time. Thus crew will have a reasonably good idea of what's going on in their "pit" but won't necessarily know too much about the rest of the event. If in doubt, ask at the organisers desk - they know everything

[Myself205]

Noticed few guests had "NO POSED PHOTOS" signs laid on their desks and not on the wall behind them as they normally are, wonder why?

 

I noticed this, too, with Natalia Tena. I was hoping for a photo with her yesterday morning (it was about 10:15 when I went up) but when I got to the table there was a sign laid there saying "no photos", so I put the camera away and didn't dare approach the subject. Since then I've read that a few people got photos with her, so I'm wondering when on earth they managed it lol.

 

Natalia Tena: she was posing for pictures at the start (saw her posing) but the queue got quite long and VT have been given. When I got to her, like you, there was no posed photo signed. She was lovely to meet :-)

[GMan]

After 8 years going to LFACC, I had my first bad experience with a guest today. I went to see Tom Sizemore this morning, when he was still a virtual ticket, I had a low number something like 30. There was no one else in line to get an autograph, so I went straight through. I spent a couple of minutes trying to decide on what photo to get from the table to get signed, then paid and made my way over to Tom.

 

He was in deep conversation with his crew helper by his side, not being rude I let them carry on their conversation thinking they would see me and let me hand over my blue ticket with how many sigs I have purchased then get my photo signed. Well I waitied and they chatted and chatted and chatted, it must have been a good 3 minutes before either of them even realised I was there. Tom did apologise for them chatting for so long, signed my photo and as I was taking a picture of him signing my photo he turned back to the crew member and carried on chatting. So the photo I took has got him looking away from the camera.

 

I did ask for a posed photo and to be honest got a very nice photo with him, but I did feel a little let down especially as I had read what a great experience some people had with him yesterday. Pretty much soon after me he became an open queue.

[cookiemonster]

Regarding seating again, I heard there were no chairs in the Gold Pass chill out room? Was this correct?

 

Also, I swapped three Walter Koenig photo shoots on the Friday, from Saturday to Sunday as they clashed with other photos and talks. I was told it was difficult as it messed up the figures? Luckily I was allowed to swap but it seemed a bit odd, surely if you clearly cross reference on whatever documents you are using there shouldn't be a problem? Obviously though I don't know what you use other than those ticky grid sheets so I may just be talking nonsense!

[Flibble]

Regarding seating again, I heard there were no chairs in the Gold Pass chill out room? Was this correct?

 

Also, I swapped three Walter Koenig photo shoots on the Friday, from Saturday to Sunday as they clashed with other photos and talks. I was told it was difficult as it messed up the figures? Luckily I was allowed to swap but it seemed a bit odd, surely if you clearly cross reference on whatever documents you are using there shouldn't be a problem? Obviously though I don't know what you use other than those ticky grid sheets so I may just be talking nonsense!

 

Umm...there was a Gold Pass chill out room? Where????

 

I was speaking to a guy called Martin from Sweden (another Gold Pass Holder) and he told me about this, but he couldn't find it either.

 

It's a great idea if that's what happened, but it would have been nice to know where it was!

[Holyfrell]

I had a great experience at this show apart from when I went to get Karen Gillan's autograph. I won't name and shame on here but one member of staff was extremely rude to me when I was picking a photograph which put a bit of a downer on my day

 

Must've been a different crew member to whom I saw, as the lady who was at the photograph table for Karen when I was picking a photograph was lovely to me and my little brother :)

[Flibble]

I thought that the band also drowned out the stage talks a bit. I also thought that the tannoy announcements were too quiet, but there's not much Showmasters can do about that.

[jael001]

I thought I spotted a door that said gold pass chillout room near Karen Gillan's signing area and photo studio 3. At least I think that's where I saw it.

[cookiemonster]

I thought I spotted a door that said gold pass chillout room near Karen Gillan's signing area and photo studio 3. At least I think that's where I saw it.

 

Yeah it was at the very bottom, between Karen Gillan's autograph room and the 3 stage talk area.

[Holyfrell]

I went on Saturday and the whole event was lovely, the crew people sat with the stars and the crew organising the photo shoot queues were all great etc - except for the few grumpy, rude, crew members behind the photo-shoot tables near the entrance to the venue.

 

And the ONE person who was dealing out the Karen Gillan photo shoot photos as slow as possible, stopping before people could get their photos and then just walking about with the stack of photos in her hands. She also refused to reply to questions or to people who were politely telling her they'd just seen their photo in her hand, and ended up getting another crew member to put the photos down on the floor at the back and tell everybody to come back later! Rubbish!

 

Sorry for the rant, but it was a real downer on the day, especially since a lot of people were trying to head home (including myself) and were held up by the photo shoot table crew.

 

I know they were likely under stress from the amount of people waiting to get their photos, but they could've organised it a little better - like how it was organised at Collectormania London '09 with the massive square of tables in the middle of the venue with the photos laid out on them and multiple crew members milling about sorting them out - so much easier.

 

Asides from that little whinge, I have no complaints about the event and thank Showmasters for pulling off an incredible task! Wonderful guests and wonderful displays!

[Avengers7]

The Chill Out room was fantastic! And yes there were plenty of chairs in there. I have no complaints about the event, it was busy, I met everyone I wanted and all the guets were great. I was a bit stressed over photoshoots and timing on Sunday but hey, it was great.

 

I personally don't think any guest should have 'over the table' photos due to it taking so much time and also it wouldn't be fare for those of us who have bought photoshoots. Just my opinion. Great to be home though and rest my feet.

[Anthonyharrison11]

2 things spoiled this event for me.

 

1. Even though i arrived at 11AM and got a VQ ticket for an Christopher Lloyd autograph, i was told that my number was 490...yet at 11AM only numbers 1 to 200 had been called...fair enough. However when i went back at half 4 they were only up to 238!! or there abouts! i was gutted i didnt get the autograph i went to this event specifically for!

 

2. Even though ive paid £45 for a special shoot with Chris Lloyd and the Delorean i left without my photo because by half 4 it had not been put out and no members of staff were trying to control the photo collection system. So this process ended up a farce. People just stood at the front of the table and didnt move until their photo came out...which it didnt because only the first hundred of this batch went out. In the end i had to fill out a form and leave it with a member of staff. Surley after all these years there MUST be a better system of dishing out the photos than this!? Does anyone know when these will be sent out?

 

 

 

I have to say that these totally put a downer on the day for me. If it wasnt for meeting the lovely Alex Kingston it would have been a total disaster!

Edited July 10, 2011 by Anthonyharrison11

[Rockstar6662]

The Chill Out room was fantastic! And yes there were plenty of chairs in there.

 

A few beanbags, some snacks and a minibar would be nice next time lol :)

 

It was nice to have somewhere to just block out the crowds and a bit of the noise for a while, especially at lunchtime. Must admit it took me a while to find it on saturday but used it a few times today to sit and chill a bit.

 

I personally don't think any guest should have 'over the table' photos due to it taking so much time and also it wouldn't be fare for those of us who have bought photoshoots. Just my opinion. Great to be home though and rest my feet.

 

I always see a desk photo as a bonus. If it's available I'll avail myself of the opportunity but there were a couple of times I had my camera around my neck and didn't ask and the guest looked like they were waiting for me to do so. Lea Thompson and Shawnee Smith stand out on that score. They did seem a little surprised.

 

It was mostly because I had a photoshoot booked and that will be a lot nicer and I do feel sorry for them standing up and sitting down and standing up again every time someone asks. Did a get a nice one of Christopher Lambert sat at the desk though.

[Poppy]

I often attend Collectormania & always really enjoy it and I have attended LFACC quite a few times (including the first one!). I enjoy the events a lot. However I did think Friday evening was a bit of a shambles.

 

When I got there, the queue was absolutely massive. I only had just over an hour & debated about leaving there & then. There was 2 queues that were very confusing, almost joining (one for prepaid & one for pay on the day), & only 2 booths open. Eventually someone started to come down the line selling tickets which should have been done from the start.

 

When we got in, I asked at the information desk about the free autographs & was told to go to the back of the hall!! I had no idea who was free/how many guests you could meet for free....so was confused about the whole thing.

 

Then when I saw Jessie Cave's queue, it was ridiuclous. I stood in it for 10 minutes & moved one person. I didn't have time so had to leave. What I didn't understand was why there was no virtual queue tickets given out so you could at least have seen how long you had to wait instead of standing in a massive queue. There was no staff around to ask. Virtual queuing was necessary for this.

 

It would have also been helpful at the door to be given raffle tickets or some form of ticket that you hand in when you collect your free autograph as this would make it much more organised & give you a clear idea of what you are supposed to be doing.

 

I was very disappointed that there was no more organisation so I didn't know where I stood, how much time I had to play with & had to rush around & eventually miss out on the free autographs.

 

They are a brillant idea & obviously worked wonders as Friday was very busy but more organisation would have made it a much better experience & would have not left people such as myself disappointed. They needed quicker access into the hall & also more organisation about the free autographs.

 

On a seperate topic ; With regards to photos over the desk. When Showmasters first introduced photo shoots years ago, everyone was worried about this exact topic & we were all assured that this wouldn't affect over the desk photos (if & of course only if time was allowing & guests wanted them!). I understand what people are saying that it is not fair to people that buy photo shoots, but to me photo shoots are the extra you pay for whereas photos over the desk are part of the experience when getting an autograph & would be very upset if they were no longer allowed. I have sometimes not got an autograph when photos have not been allowed & think this would severely affect what I brought at these events.

Edited July 10, 2011 by Poppy

[Manbeast]

I'm convinced the main reason the line to buy tickets on Friday was moving so slowly was because a lot of people were paying by card which slowed everything down, I was even told to skip a few people as these people wanted to pay by card and I was paying cash.

 

Would have been good to have noticeboards along both lines, on all days, marking which line was pre-paid and which one wasn't.

[ericsdonor]

Hmmm I don't think it was badly organised but I think there were a few things that could have been done differently..............

 

The music drowning out the talks was terrible it was bad enough on the Saturday, but I would have thought that come Sunday this would not be allowed to happen and that they would have learnt but unfortunately not, also I agree with someone else on here who said about having a slightly higher stage/chairs as when the guests sit down they're really hard to see!!!

 

The photo collection, my oh my what a palava, surely something as simple as a whiteboard next to each area updated by a crew member detailing which photos were back would simplify things a little and maybe make it less of a scrum, I have to say the tables in the square format that you could walk round were better than the one backed against a wall.

 

Still not sure what happened to the Robert Knepper photos, even the crew members both blue and red didn't seem to know why there was a delay on them coming back, this is the first time I've ever had to use the post out service and I'm not really sure how it works as someone just thrust a form at me and told me to fill it in, there was no mention of paying anything or how long it would take, does anyone know?????

[Queen_Sindel]

Still not sure what happened to the Robert Knepper photos, even the crew members both blue and red didn't seem to know why there was a delay on them coming back, this is the first time I've ever had to use the post out service and I'm not really sure how it works as someone just thrust a form at me and told me to fill it in, there was no mention of paying anything or how long it would take, does anyone know?????

 

You should have been asked to pay a postage charge, but as it was apparently really hectic at that point this got missed. But don't worry, you will get a photo.

 

I'm not sure who's sending the picture out this time, but an update should be posted on here. From other posts someone was told 4 to 5 weeks, but unless you left a really generic description it shouldn't take that long.