Jump to content

showmasters I Love you!


alisonloub
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 115
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I am wondering: is there easy access to get there by public transport (from London)?

 

Train straight to Dartford then a very short bus ride from there. You can get trains from Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge. Sometimes Victoria. Takes about 35-40 mins.

 

thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't think of a worse place for a con.

I'm sending out healing vibes to your mind, with the hope that your thinking processes get well soon - off the top of my head, the Sovloki Gulag, Mogadishu, the wilder parts of Helmand Province, any operational sewage processing plant, Notre Dame, Lakeside... are alll considerably worse places to have it :YAHOO:

Barely - I'll take my chances in the Solovki Archipelago over the nightmare of "Europe's largest and most innovative retail and leisure destination" thank you kindly, and probably see better tattoos there in the process. The only part of the announcement that could tempt me is the mention of film screenings with guest introductions, I still have fond memories of the Lost Boys screening in MK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't think of a worse place for a con.will be avoiding like the plague m

 

I'm not at all enthused about a Bluewater convention either.

 

For EMS I paid:

£24 - 2x early bird tickets

£45 - Petrol

£25 - Parking for the day

£30 - lunch & dinner for two because I'm out for so long

= £125 + 8hrs total drive Time for the day

By comparison I spent £20 on a photoshoot and £55 on two autograps so £75.

 

Essentially I paid £200 for 2 autographs and a photo and I'm absolutely dead after today's endurance marathon (up at 4am, back at 9:30 pm). To be honest I nearly didn't come today because I couldn't be arsed with getting this knackered and driving for so long, and that is after I'd already paid for the early bird tickets and photoshoot and parking! I almost threw away £70 just so I didn't have to slog my guts out getting to the show... but I forced myself because I knew I'd already spent that money and I'd regret not meeting Hurt and Rigg.

 

The drive down to London EMS this morning was a awful and now I might have to think about adding another hour on to get to Kent? I'm not going to bother no matter how good the guests might be. To be honest I'm thinking of giving the London shows a miss because the costs involved in getting there from The North already seem like a total waste of money that could be put to better use on literally anything else.

 

As if guests didn't cost enough the added expense of paying for hotels is a cost I don't want to entertain and the extra fuel costs or even higher train ticket fares put me off even more. I don't mind paying any price for any guest, its a privilege to meet them, but if getting in to the show itself is a logistical/financial nightmare i.e. it costs more to get there than the amount I spend on guests, it is too hard to justify the trip anymore.

 

We have London Film and Comic Con, London Entertainment and Media Show, now Bluewater and Milton Keynes.

 

Are Showmaster's events just run for the Southerners now then???

 

What happened to the likes of Collectormania in Coventry or Manchester?

 

Why can't Showmaster's spread them out a bit so we all have the opportunity to have shows near us as well as having those that a bit further away?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't think of a worse place for a con.will be avoiding like the plague m

 

I'm not at all enthused about a Bluewater convention either.

 

For EMS I paid:

£24 - 2x early bird tickets

£45 - Petrol

£25 - Parking for the day

£30 - lunch & dinner for two because I'm out for so long

= £125 + 8hrs total drive Time for the day

By comparison I spent £20 on a photoshoot and £55 on two autograps so £75.

 

Essentially I paid £200 for 2 autographs and a photo and I'm absolutely dead after today's endurance marathon (up at 4am, back at 9:30 pm). To be honest I nearly didn't come today because I couldn't be arsed with getting this knackered and driving for so long, and that is after I'd already paid for the early bird tickets and photoshoot and parking! I almost threw away £70 just so I didn't have to slog my guts out getting to the show... but I forced myself because I knew I'd already spent that money and I'd regret not meeting Hurt and Rigg.

 

The drive down to London EMS this morning was a awful and now I might have to think about adding another hour on to get to Kent? I'm not going to bother no matter how good the guests might be. To be honest I'm thinking of giving the London shows a miss because the costs involved in getting there from The North already seem like a total waste of money that could be put to better use on literally anything else.

 

As if guests didn't cost enough the added expense of paying for hotels is a cost I don't want to entertain and the extra fuel costs or even higher train ticket fares put me off even more. I don't mind paying any price for any guest, its a privilege to meet them, but if getting in to the show itself is a logistical/financial nightmare i.e. it costs more to get there than the amount I spend on guests, it is too hard to justify the trip anymore.

 

We have London Film and Comic Con, London Entertainment and Media Show, now Bluewater and Milton Keynes.

 

Are Showmaster's events just run for the Southerners now then???

 

What happened to the likes of Collectormania in Coventry or Manchester?

 

Why can't Showmaster's spread them out a bit so we all have the opportunity to have shows near us as well as having those that a bit further away?

 

I think its fair to not find locations sutable mate, but if you find its not worth it, its not worth it then. I am spending well over £200 alone in transport for this weekend, and then add what I will be using on autographs, food and so on :firedevil:

 

Its not that I have a lot of money, in fact I'm a student, but I found the guestlist to be worth all the time and money invested (alright being fair, it was David Tennant that dragged me all the way from Denmark :YAHOO: ) Consider the memories your potentially getting, and then consider the trouble you will go through. If the memories are not worth the hassel, then don't do it :)

Edited by AlusCWM
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't think of a worse place for a con.will be avoiding like the plague m

 

I'm not at all enthused about a Bluewater convention either.

 

For EMS I paid:

£24 - 2x early bird tickets

£45 - Petrol

£25 - Parking for the day

£30 - lunch & dinner for two because I'm out for so long

= £125 + 8hrs total drive Time for the day

By comparison I spent £20 on a photoshoot and £55 on two autograps so £75.

 

Essentially I paid £200 for 2 autographs and a photo and I'm absolutely dead after today's endurance marathon (up at 4am, back at 9:30 pm). To be honest I nearly didn't come today because I couldn't be arsed with getting this knackered and driving for so long, and that is after I'd already paid for the early bird tickets and photoshoot and parking! I almost threw away £70 just so I didn't have to slog my guts out getting to the show... but I forced myself because I knew I'd already spent that money and I'd regret not meeting Hurt and Rigg.

 

The drive down to London EMS this morning was a awful and now I might have to think about adding another hour on to get to Kent? I'm not going to bother no matter how good the guests might be. To be honest I'm thinking of giving the London shows a miss because the costs involved in getting there from The North already seem like a total waste of money that could be put to better use on literally anything else.

 

As if guests didn't cost enough the added expense of paying for hotels is a cost I don't want to entertain and the extra fuel costs or even higher train ticket fares put me off even more. I don't mind paying any price for any guest, its a privilege to meet them, but if getting in to the show itself is a logistical/financial nightmare i.e. it costs more to get there than the amount I spend on guests, it is too hard to justify the trip anymore.

 

We have London Film and Comic Con, London Entertainment and Media Show, now Bluewater and Milton Keynes.

 

Are Showmaster's events just run for the Southerners now then???

 

What happened to the likes of Collectormania in Coventry or Manchester?

 

Why can't Showmaster's spread them out a bit so we all have the opportunity to have shows near us as well as having those that a bit further away?

 

Whilst I agree its not so great that theres less events up north than down here in the South it can only be because these events are not paying their way... if they were profitable or broke even then they would keep them.

However to get to Bluewater from the NOrth is quicker and easier than getting to Earls Court. Even though if is further is is just off the M25 so no inner London traffic issues. Also there is FREE parking. . So it would be quicker, cheaper but only a little further as you wont have all the London start/stop driving.

 

I live down a short drive from Bluewater so I can get to it and the London events easily but do think its unfortunate the events up north seem to be on the wain. MK used to be great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The drive down to London EMS this morning was a awful and now I might have to think about adding another hour on to get to Kent?

No. Picking a random northern starting point (I chose York Minster), google maps gives me

York Minster to Earls Court Exhibitiuon Centre 205miles at 4hours 9minutes or 211 miles at 3hours 56 minutes. By contrast, York Minster to BlueWater Park comes in at 219 miles at 3hours 57minutes or 237 miles at 4hours 7minutes. So, you're probably talking the same travel time. At perhaps 15-25 miles extra, at 30mpg you're talking maybe an extra £5 tops in petrol, offset by saving £25 on parking. In fact, since your route is now pretty much all motorway at the southern end with no faffing about through central London, I suspect your total fuel consumption would be almost the same as it is now.

I don't mind paying any price for any guest, its a privilege to meet them, but if getting in to the show itself is a logistical/financial nightmare i.e. it costs more to get there than the amount I spend on guests, it is too hard to justify the trip anymore.

I sympathise - it depends on how much you want to see somebody. On numerous occasions I've passed up going to London to see somebody because I can't be bothered to spend £30 and 3 hours of my life travelling to see them. And on the flipside I've also on occasion spent many times that amount to travel halfway round the world to see somebody. It all depends on your priorities, and I assume people would respect you for that.

 

Are Showmaster's events just run for the Southerners now then???

I'm sure that folk in Plymouth or Llanelli will tell you it's hardly a brief stroll for them either...

What happened to the likes of Collectormania in Coventry or Manchester?

 

Why can't Showmaster's spread them out a bit so we all have the opportunity to have shows near us as well as having those that a bit further away?

It's a business, and that requires hard business decisions. About one-third of the population of the entire UK lives within 50 miles of London. I believe that something like 43% of the country's entire disposable income "resides" in the same area. The simple fact is that it makes business sense to be as close to as many of your potential customers as possible. Based on those numbers, it's probably likely that London shows are far more profitable because they attrract more people.

 

It's just one of those trade-offs. To be simplistic and stereotypical, folk "oop north" get cheaper beer in their pubs, friendlier neighbours and better fish and chips. Whereas down south we get worse fish and chips, more expensive pub rounds, but lots of SM shows. Maybe if you can sort out all our pubs gertting cheap beer, we can get you set up for some more SM shows. See? Never going to happen :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't think of a worse place for a con.will be avoiding like the plague m

 

I'm not at all enthused about a Bluewater convention either.

 

For EMS I paid:

£24 - 2x early bird tickets

£45 - Petrol

£25 - Parking for the day

£30 - lunch & dinner for two because I'm out for so long

= £125 + 8hrs total drive Time for the day

By comparison I spent £20 on a photoshoot and £55 on two autograps so £75.

 

Essentially I paid £200 for 2 autographs and a photo and I'm absolutely dead after today's endurance marathon (up at 4am, back at 9:30 pm). To be honest I nearly didn't come today because I couldn't be arsed with getting this knackered and driving for so long, and that is after I'd already paid for the early bird tickets and photoshoot and parking! I almost threw away £70 just so I didn't have to slog my guts out getting to the show... but I forced myself because I knew I'd already spent that money and I'd regret not meeting Hurt and Rigg.

 

The drive down to London EMS this morning was a awful and now I might have to think about adding another hour on to get to Kent? I'm not going to bother no matter how good the guests might be. To be honest I'm thinking of giving the London shows a miss because the costs involved in getting there from The North already seem like a total waste of money that could be put to better use on literally anything else.

 

As if guests didn't cost enough the added expense of paying for hotels is a cost I don't want to entertain and the extra fuel costs or even higher train ticket fares put me off even more. I don't mind paying any price for any guest, its a privilege to meet them, but if getting in to the show itself is a logistical/financial nightmare i.e. it costs more to get there than the amount I spend on guests, it is too hard to justify the trip anymore.

 

We have London Film and Comic Con, London Entertainment and Media Show, now Bluewater and Milton Keynes.

 

Are Showmaster's events just run for the Southerners now then???

 

What happened to the likes of Collectormania in Coventry or Manchester?

 

Why can't Showmaster's spread them out a bit so we all have the opportunity to have shows near us as well as having those that a bit further away?

 

If you book trains early enough you can get from Manchester to London for about £50 return incl the tube day ticket for London getting there within 3 hours, so less knackered and cheaper than petrol and parking.

 

I do however agree that it is not right that there is no con up here in the north, not even Birmingham anymore! We spend more in travel and hotel if we have to do both days due to guest appearances than for the autographs and photos which don't come cheap as we all know.

 

There are so many great venues and hotels up here and LOADS of people would attend as there are people up even further north that could come to the Manchester area but not London.

 

I disagree with what some others have said in here about the London thing but of course those living down there wouldn't argue having them all down near London.

 

We understand about business and revenue but the new media centre has been build up here too, and they wouldn't do that if there was no revenue up here don't you think? So yes I do hope that we will get a con up here again one day, hoping is all we can do. I appreciate all showmasters does and all and I am sure it will be a never ending discussion so that's my 2 cents thrown in and I am out. Peace. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are so many great venues and hotels up here and LOADS of people would attend

It's not just attend, but spend. If you search the forums, somewhere you'll find a post where Jason reveals that every Manchester show (I think there were three) lost substantial sums of money - I think it was a minimum of £10k on each, or it may be a mnimum of a £20k loss on each. I think there were reasonable (if not huge) amounts of people turning up at those shows, but the income was nowhere near enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh joy, another southern event I won't be able to get to without paying more to go than I'll be paying at the actual event. So sick of this. Not everyone can drive or afford astronomical train and coach fares all the time, you know?

 

The other Manchester convention that happened recently was very crowded and full of people despite (IMO) a general lack of interesting guests. I am sure you could make your costs back if you only did one on alternate years instead of every year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Google :D

 

Regarding the location - Showmasters have to work with what they feel is best. Yes, this one is great for me, but I've had to make decisions on the past on ones further away.

 

I know it's harsh but they can't run these events to 'be fair to everyone' .. it's a business, and it's their decisions in the end.

 

I certainly hope this new event is very successful as I think mixed in with the screenings etc, it definitely has potential.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure that folk in Plymouth or Llanelli will tell you it's hardly a brief stroll for them either...

 

Correct, at least with London the public transport will get you where you need to by train.

 

Bluewater, from the sounds of it I'd have to get a train into London, then on to Dartford, then a bus, which is probably effort more than I'd be willing to put in.

 

Now if you'd said Collectormania: Lakeside I'd have been there in a shot. Despite being in Devon I am an Essex boy :lol:

 

But yes another South East event hardly seems essential. Something in Cardiff or Bristol would at least try out a different target audience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm in Manchester and yes although I'd like a con somewhere closer to home even if this was Birmingham etc then I'd be really pleased.

 

However I do see where Showmasters are coming from besides I love my journeys down to London as I do actually find it so much easier to get around and more to do than back up here in Manchester.

 

Plus if you shop around and look early enough train tickets to London etc can be very cheap so if they right guests are announced it's worth the trek all about weighting up options.

 

The only thing that I'm thinking about LFCC's location and timing for next year is prices relating to the Olympics. I'm wanting to book now so that I can get a decent price but then I'm also thinking that I'd rather wait to see who is announced.

 

Good thinking on the Bluewater event! Will mean I finally get to go shopping there yippee!

Edited by xjacksx
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shame - all the Wembly Arenas and O2s that could replace EC, and we get stranded at another sterile, souless "shopping mecca" miles from anywhere, with "all your favourite brands" and not an independent retailer or eaterie within an hour's bus journey. I hope SM will put on buses like they have to other venues, or how will those relying on public transport get there for 3am to queue for Matt Smith and Harrison Ford ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...