houdinia Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 the decision to limit and sometimes stop photos completely was not taken lightly and i understand the disappointment this may have caused. Stopping photography may seem useless but it actually speeds up the queue significantly (something which was clearly an issue for many patient fans). we always try to find a balance between time spent queueing and time spent with the guest and there are inevitably points when people will be disappointed. we did try to allow pictures as long as it didn't hold up the queue but unfortunatley a minority abused this which resulted in complaints from the people who were kept waiting. i am grateful to everyone for their patience and your comments are being considered. thank you for any constructive feedback you have HOUDINIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonmate1 Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Houdinia.. what about the banning of taking photos whilst waiting in the queue?? there is no hold-up, yet it happened.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenaciousD Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 The overall complaint is no photos at all. Fine no photos with him, but whilst your waiting not being able to take one when he was actually signing seemed odd. It's even odder that he apparently wasn't informed either. I think everyone would be interested to know what the staff were told to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzy Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 (edited) Ive worked in several autograph lines for varying other companies and so long as pictures are taken from the side with no flashes it usually doesn't cause a problem. The problem comes when fans are trying to juggle money, autograph tickets, photos, plastic sleeves, backpacks and cameras whilst already agitated at meeting the actor and want to take a picture either with them or of them signing the item! Now, surely this would have been helped somewhat by the use of a CLOAKROOM which my friends and I were told that Showmasters had opted not to use. I would like to know if this is true, as obviously people had travelled from all over the place (myself coming from Grimsby) and would therefore have backpacks/etc. If I had the chance to have put the rest of my stuff in a cloakroom, then I could have put my purse/poster/camera etc in just one carrier bag and would have been able to move around/take pictures/organise myself far better than I did today. Also, seeing as though I'm only 5 foot 2 inches, maybe I wouldn't have been constantly whapped around the head with taller people's backpacks, lol Or perhaps if you could have deposited the rest of your stuff at a table of some sorts ........ *ponderment* I think it's a shame that if you are one of the first to get in say, Billy's queue, than you can get a picture but at the end of the day it's significantly less likely, which sucks. I'm not moaning or anything, I just agree that people should have been far better prepared like I was. I even sorted my bags out in the queue, taking out all the stuff I needed (money/camera/poster etc) and putting them into one bag, and then putting the rest of my stuff by the rail. Made things go along much more quickly. *Also - I do think Billy was just very tired on Saturday - he was absolutely lovely with us today, just like he was at CM3 Edited March 7, 2004 by Dezzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eogwyn Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 the decision to limit and sometimes stop photos completely was not taken lightly and i understand the disappointment this may have caused. Stopping photography may seem useless but it actually speeds up the queue significantly (something which was clearly an issue for many patient fans). we always try to find a balance between time spent queueing and time spent with the guest and there are inevitably points when people will be disappointed. we did try to allow pictures as long as it didn't hold up the queue but unfortunatley a minority abused this which resulted in complaints from the people who were kept waiting. i am grateful to everyone for their patience and your comments are being considered. thank you for any constructive feedback you have HOUDINIA Sorry Houdinia - I'm one of the ones who took a picture when I was told not to, my only defence is that it was for my 10 year old daughter I kept wanting to say Hi to you, but you looked so busy I didn't want to interrupt, please forgive me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eogwyn Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hey Eogwyn, did you a sticker. Did u get it, I left them in the forum area???? Yes thank you - I wore it with pride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEX (PSP) Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hey Eogwyn, did you a sticker. Did u get it, I left them in the forum area???? Yes thank you - I wore it with pride Ohhhh, Cool. Even if your lying and hated it. YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eogwyn Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hey Eogwyn, did you a sticker. Did u get it, I left them in the forum area???? Yes thank you - I wore it with pride Ohhhh, Cool. Even if your lying and hated it. YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY!!! Course I'm not lying Unfortunately I haven't got a picture of myself wearing it (well perhaps that 's fortunate as I'm the most unphotogenic person in the world ) Some people saw me wearing it, let me think Rachiepachie did in Talk 2 (Hi Rachie, lovely to meet you) and Lilelfgirl and Eduardo saw me at the SM's desk (lovely to meet you all too ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEX (PSP) Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Was Rachiepachie waring hers??? go on grass her up. LOl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eogwyn Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Was Rachiepachie waring hers??? go on grass her up. LOl Well she wasn't wearing it at the time, but she may have done earlier - trying to be diplomatic here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEX (PSP) Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Might start a riot here. Glad you found yours. It was one of my fav's. The writing was straight!!!!! Hope to see you at CM5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidachu Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 man, whats with all the flames? I shall propose this from a new angle. If you went into an exibition and had paid say £15 to get in but were informed that there was a strict no photos policy would you in any way argue with it? The likelyhood is no. So why should this be any different? Yes these are stars, yes we are the reason that they are stars. But they are also human beings. Imagine how you'd feel having constant photos and flashes going off in your eyes for about 4 hours? It'd wear you out, and in some cases even cause headaches. Now we all know Billy had just stepped off a plane from the USA which is no small flight, add the time difference and is it any supprise that the guy was a bit off in any way when signing? Imagine how you'd feel? He could very easily have said that he wasn't going to sign at all on Sat cos he wasn't feeling up to it, but he DIDNT. He sat there, he signed for people, and in most cases he said hello and smiled but its a tiering thing keeping on smiling and signing through feeling like hell. No matter how often and how far people travel the stress of traveling on their body won't realy lesson, theu will need time to relax and regain the energy they usualy have. So think about that next time you go to a signing and are informed that the actor has just flown in and is still there for you. As for the photos rule, NOWHERE is it said that attendees will be garanteed anything, so if you get anything more than meeting the guests thats a pretty big plus to me. Maybe I'm on my own there, but just the experience of saying hi is pretty good. And what if your camera messed up your film?? Who will you blame then? No one, you still won't have your photos and after all the complaining etc your still where you started. Think about just how much you are asking of these human beings, they are just like everyone of us, they just are better known. Imagine being in thier shoes, prahaps then you won't be stressing about photos/autos etc and understand just how much these people give you even if it is just a simple hello and goodbye. *Gets off her soapbox* Skid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEX (PSP) Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 man, whats with all the flames? I shall propose this from a new angle. If you went into an exibition and had paid say £15 to get in but were informed that there was a strict no photos policy would you in any way argue with it? The likelyhood is no. So why should this be any different? Yes these are stars, yes we are the reason that they are stars. But they are also human beings. Imagine how you'd feel having constant photos and flashes going off in your eyes for about 4 hours? It'd wear you out, and in some cases even cause headaches. Now we all know Billy had just stepped off a plane from the USA which is no small flight, add the time difference and is it any supprise that the guy was a bit off in any way when signing? Imagine how you'd feel? He could very easily have said that he wasn't going to sign at all on Sat cos he wasn't feeling up to it, but he DIDNT. He sat there, he signed for people, and in most cases he said hello and smiled but its a tiering thing keeping on smiling and signing through feeling like hell. No matter how often and how far people travel the stress of traveling on their body won't realy lesson, theu will need time to relax and regain the energy they usualy have. So think about that next time you go to a signing and are informed that the actor has just flown in and is still there for you. As for the photos rule, NOWHERE is it said that attendees will be garanteed anything, so if you get anything more than meeting the guests thats a pretty big plus to me. Maybe I'm on my own there, but just the experience of saying hi is pretty good. And what if your camera messed up your film?? Who will you blame then? No one, you still won't have your photos and after all the complaining etc your still where you started. Think about just how much you are asking of these human beings, they are just like everyone of us, they just are better known. Imagine being in thier shoes, prahaps then you won't be stressing about photos/autos etc and understand just how much these people give you even if it is just a simple hello and goodbye. *Gets off her soapbox* Skid Hello, welcome to the forum. You can shut up now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidachu Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hello, welcome to the forum. You can shut up now. And you're issue is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonmate1 Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 man, whats with all the flames? I shall propose this from a new angle. If you went into an exibition and had paid say £15 to get in but were informed that there was a strict no photos policy would you in any way argue with it? The likelyhood is no. So why should this be any different? Yes these are stars, yes we are the reason that they are stars. But they are also human beings. Imagine how you'd feel having constant photos and flashes going off in your eyes for about 4 hours? It'd wear you out, and in some cases even cause headaches. Now we all know Billy had just stepped off a plane from the USA which is no small flight, add the time difference and is it any supprise that the guy was a bit off in any way when signing? Imagine how you'd feel? He could very easily have said that he wasn't going to sign at all on Sat cos he wasn't feeling up to it, but he DIDNT. He sat there, he signed for people, and in most cases he said hello and smiled but its a tiering thing keeping on smiling and signing through feeling like hell. No matter how often and how far people travel the stress of traveling on their body won't realy lesson, theu will need time to relax and regain the energy they usualy have. So think about that next time you go to a signing and are informed that the actor has just flown in and is still there for you. As for the photos rule, NOWHERE is it said that attendees will be garanteed anything, so if you get anything more than meeting the guests thats a pretty big plus to me. Maybe I'm on my own there, but just the experience of saying hi is pretty good. And what if your camera messed up your film?? Who will you blame then? No one, you still won't have your photos and after all the complaining etc your still where you started. Think about just how much you are asking of these human beings, they are just like everyone of us, they just are better known. Imagine being in thier shoes, prahaps then you won't be stressing about photos/autos etc and understand just how much these people give you even if it is just a simple hello and goodbye. *Gets off her soapbox* Skid Nice to view the humanitarian approach to this, but you are forgetting one thing.. They are probably used to this and are not doing it for free!!! For the sort of money they command, a few hours signing autos, being friendly and having pics taken is money for old rope... As for just flying in.. I agree that they are entitled to feel dreadful.. But would it not be more professional to arrange flights, etc to give you enough time to rest and recuperate.. I know it may be unavoidable at times, but not always so.. But why did Brent & Levar not arrive until late on the Saturday??? They had not just flown in.. in fact Brent told me he had dinner with Patrick Stewart the night before.. The no photos rule is not about posed photos.. it is the snapshots taken whilst standing in the queue.. most of which would go unnoticed by the guests in any case.. The question is .. why ban those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEX (PSP) Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 You post 5 whole posts, most of these members have been to all the Showmasters events, and have expected things to be the same. We know Billy was weary after a long flight, and we waited to see him after a big delay. A lot of us are tooo demanding wanting a photo of the person we have just paid £15 to see for 1 minute, but that is 'cos we are used to getting a photo from previous events. Don't take it the wrong way, but lighten up. Having read a few of your posts, your gonna end up being more hated than me. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidachu Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 As for just flying in.. I agree that they are entitled to feel dreadful.. But would it not be more professional to arrange flights, etc to give you enough time to rest and recuperate.. I know it may be unavoidable at times, but not always so.. As you said, at some times its unaviodable, and if its happened then this most likely was the case. I doubt the stars themselves would want to fly in with no time to recover. But why did Brent & Levar not arrive until late on the Saturday??? As for this one I have no idea, prahaps they had a TV appearence, interview or the like. While they are over here most actors try to fit in as much other work as they can aswell. The no photos rule is not about posed photos.. it is the snapshots taken whilst standing in the queue.. most of which would go unnoticed by the guests in any case.. The question is .. why ban those? Well some of the stars do things like put it as part of thier contract that they don't want photos, as for other reasons, taking photos in the queue does in some cases stop the queue from moving as you are standing there focused on taking pictures and don't notice the queue moving, or then need time to pick your stuff up etc. But the main point overall is that the decision is made for a reason, and its taken as its believed that it is the best option for all involved. I think people just need to respect this - if you don't thats your choice, but you can't change the rules/decisions made by organisers etc in the insanity of whats happening at the event. It really is something that is not taken lightly - the event organisers want you to get as much out of your day as possible - and sometimes that means being strict on rules you consider insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skidachu Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 You post 5 whole posts, most of these members have been to all the Showmasters events, and have expected things to be the same. We know Billy was weary after a long flight, and we waited to see him after a big delay.A lot of us are tooo demanding wanting a photo of the person we have just paid £15 to see for 1 minute, but that is 'cos we are used to getting a photo from previous events. Don't take it the wrong way, but lighten up. Having read a few of your posts, your gonna end up being more hated than me. LOL. I have been to 4 showmasters events. I was crew for this one. I have worked many conventions and events over the last 4/5 years. I work in an entertainment venue where complaints and hastles around the same matters like these come up time and time again. Just because I have a 'newbie' status does not in anyway reflect the knowledge or experience I have, it just means that i have not been using these boards in terms of posting before. I'd be curious to see how you reacted to a more established poster, no doubt a lot nicer and friendlier than you have to me. And if you're hated, then prahaps that says something about how you post, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumflavorkisses407 Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 I am new to posting here, mainly because the board has only just decided to LET me post, and I don't want to be jumped on like SKid before me but I do want to say something about the Billy thing. When I met Billy [quite late in the day about 3/3:15] he was absoloutely perfectly sweet wonderful. IU gave him some Mardi Gras beads, and when I explained it was because Elijah and Dom had been to Mardi Gras he said *and have lots of them* and I said yeah, so thats *so I don't feel left out?* and I smiled and nodded. It was a completely dumb, last minute gift, a joke to give me something to say [i also gave him a letter] and he could have been really snide about it [understandably] yet he wasn't. He signed my name on picture despite that njo personalisations crap, and was generally a gorgeous fantastical person. But, and there is always a but, to me [as someone who has studied him so often in interviews and things] it was obvious something wasn't right. To steal a cliche his smile didn't reach his eyes all the time. I think this was obvious in the talk as well, where he seemed a little peeved that everyone [myself included] kept asking him questions and not as many of the others. Often ones he's probably heard a thousand times before [most of them I know he has]. Yet, neither of my friends noticed this, alot of others didn't, and posts before have pointed out he was perfectly sweet to them. If he didn't manage this facade the entire time, or if you thought he was fake then what more can you expect? If the guy doesn't feel to brilliant, there is nothing he can do about. He had had a busy week. Did he know about it when he signed up? Probably not. Has he probably been under alot of extra stress recently because of Oscar wins etc. Probably yes. I spent most of today feeling soooo ill. But still I was there. Why? To meet Billy and Andy. I snapped at my friends cos I was ill, I burst into tears on the train home, and got them quite worried, because I had such an emotional day, but still I went, still I made the effort to see him. Just like he did for us. Maybe instead of chastising the poor guy for being under par, you should admire him for still making the effort, for still getting up despite this. I hate to state the obvious but he doesn't have to do these things. Yes you paid for it, yes your a big fan and have paid for all kinds of merchandise. Yes you think he owes you something back. Figure that he ran himself ragged to get there for you, that he turned up despite obviously feeling tired/ill/stressed, and didn't just call in sick. How disappointed would you have been then huh? </ probilly rant> Hang on heres a P.S to Dragonmate1. Do you believe money = happiness? Or innerpeace, or true happiness whatever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptenbob Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Right. I'm gonna start by introducing myself, I was the big guy with the beard, stood at the front of the queue, stopping people taking photographs. I didn't do this because I'm some sort of killjoy, in fact, as one previous poster mentioned, I *can* completely empathise with queueing up and not getting a pic with Billy. As I'm sure you're all aware, (and I'll deal with saturday mainly, but the further points can also be raised about today,) Billy's flight was later than expected, and I for one think Billy deserves a huge amount of respect for coming to the venue straight away, I'm sure more than a few of you guys have flown that sort of distance before, now please imagine starting work straight away afterwards, it wouldn't be easy no matter what the job, but before you reply to this part, just consider your own job in respect to this, for a few seconds. By not allowing photographs on Saturday, by 4:30, working together, we had managed to clear all 700 tickets, and were able to take people without tickets. Put simply, taking pictures DOES take time, the longer people take with him, the less people can see him. Imagine for a second, you were lucky enough to get the ticket number 700 in the morning, imagine your relief as you realise that you're the last person to have a chance. If we'd have allowed everyone to do everything they wanted to, taking all the time they wanted, you just would not have got to meet him at all, ticket or no. Now, please put yourself in my shoes. I've been there since 8am, my job is to dissapoint every single person that comes to me... I'm a nice guy (believe it or not,) and I truly wish that I could have let EVERYONE have EVERYTHING, but that wasn't in my power. People have mentioned here about there being one rule for one, and one for another, but, as Poppy proved back on the first page of this thread, I couldn't let a really good friend bend or break the rules, I was as honest about it as I could possibly be. Some people (and I've been taking notes from your replies... ) DID break the rules, which left me with a hell of a lot of explaining to do to the people behind them, to explain that it wasn't "one rule for one and one for another", but that you'd been cheeky. To the people that understood my (and Showmaster's,) position, thank you, you guys that went through and took it all in your stride were great, a real pleasure to deal with. To the lady (I believe it was, please forgive me if I'm wrong,) that posted and mentioned that I'd said how sorry I was, and that I empathised, I truly did, and I'm glad you could take heart from that. To the crew I was working with in Billy's line both days, thank you from the bottom of my heart, I'm really sorry we couldn't all get together afterwards, but maybe C5 we can have a drink together? To everyone I haven't so far mentioned, I'm truly sorry that I had to enforce the rules, but the top and bottom of it is, that you all got to meet Billy, and photo or no, *no-one* can EVER take that moment away from you. Troy. The big guy with the beard at the front of Billy's queue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naurarwen_fangorn Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 First of all I enjoyed the event. Picture or no picture I was happy really. I'm not on anyones side here, I would loved to have a pic with Billy, it would have been the highlight of my day, but I got pics with the other guests that I wanted to see even with Kier Dullea and Gary Lockwood who are great guys. And I hate it when people on this forum argue and this the reason why I'm so close to wanting to leave cause some people come on here and ruin it for others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzy Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Methinks Troy just pinned down exactly one of the points I was trying to make in another thread - thank you lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamps! Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Imagine how you'd feel having constant photos and flashes going off in your eyes for about 4 hours? It'd wear you out, and in some cases even cause headaches. I totally agree with this point, I sure as hell would not like to have people constanly picturing me with flash light or whatever!!!!!!!!!! Jeez can you imagine the headache, it would be the equivalent of one hell of a hangover!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know its upsetting when you can't get a piccie, but as Ptenbob says, you got to meet the guym that memory will stay with you forever and will be more precious than a picture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Maybe LOL) I think this is a case where you unfortunately you can't please everyone, its hard to find the right balance between between do we let people take piccies or not and try and get as many people the chance to meet these guests. On top of that sometimes the guests themselves request these things and it is only fair that we respect their wishes. As far as I am aware these things are also never guarenteed and also the £15 you paid is for the autograh itself, it does not include pictures, thats just an added bonus, if the guest is happy for io to be done - at least thats the way i understand it. Hmm anyway yeah - god i must get some sleep soon LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lady Elanor Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 Well I got to see Billy right at the end on saturday and the poor guy looked exhausted... I guess I kinda felt a bit upset I couldn't interact with him but then as I left he gave me the most adorable genuine smile ever. That made my day! Remember he's only human and I doubt you could do as well as he could. Ptenbob.. Troy! you were polite and asked people nicely. If it hadn't been for you half the people wouldn't have met him at all, me included. You did a great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danni09 Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 I had my picture taken with him! On the Saturday we just got our autographs but Sunday we went up and said that we didn't want another autograph just wondered if we could have our pictures taken with him. And he was like 'yeah sure!' What a great guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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