A question about Showmasters conventions

[thewizard]

I've only been to a few Showmasters events before as they were local to me but this year i will venture to London for the one in July. Now I will need advice on that at some point but i will keep that for that forum. One thing that always made me curious to ask about was the way these conventions are set up. In America you approach the guest at their table, you pay at the table, you judge how long you have at the table unless there is a very big que and the checks are in place to ensure you get your item signed and move along so that more people get to meet that person. Now that example is for a handful of people at most and that's not because they are huge names, it's because their fanbases are so obsessive that they put them on pedestals actually i wont go on about that. My point is, in this country you don't get anywhere near the guests until you have paid the money and then when you get to the table, unless you are approaching someone who literally only has a few people queing for them, you constantly have the feeling that you need to hurry up and move on. No one wants to be treated like cattle and herded along and im certainly not above telling people who do decide to give me ugly looks where to go but i'd really rather not have to.

 

 

Has it ever been considered to try things this way? To just let people come and go, have a chat, maybe someone who doesn't have a lot of money on them get a chance to at least say hello to a guest and walk away? I know it's a business at the end of the day and i suppose i am no better than the TV geeks that generally hoard conventions as i too am going to meet someone so i guess in the back of my mind i have them on some kind of pedestal but it really would be nice to meet someone and not feel as though the whole world is watching you and have some kind of conversation. The thing i would also bet on is if i did engage in some kind of conversation with the people standing behind me in a que, i bet they would all have no problem with me having a conversation with a guest aslong as they felt they could do the same if they wanted. I know some people are shy or they get nervous and i'm not the biggest talker in the world myself but this is something i feel i should get off my chest before i go in July. I know the admins here will tow the line, the people i wanna hear from is fellow fans like myself that maybe don't go to conventions a lot but when we do it's more a case of taking our money and trying to get rid of us as quickly as possible rather than an experience, which is what it should be, you're paying money, real money to meet someone, it should be an experience of some kind whether that's a shy person who only gets an autograph and maybe a handshake or someone like myself who has things to say. Maybe try and do things a bit differently. If it's a big guest, by all means set things up differently, have some kind of system in place but for everyone else just let us do as we please. Lets make our own ques and if we're gonna meet someone let US look at see how the que is because we pay to get in, we don't mind waiting.

 

If it can be done in America then it can be done here. It's not a nice way to treat people, the photo sessions are the same, point and click then move along to the next person. That's different of course as you are paying for a photo service but my point is a lot of times people get treated the same way at the autograph tables and that's the guests job to say. It's up to the guests to request that people come and go quickly. I know i'm going against the grain here, you get the loyal people that wont have none of it, it's like an NHS nurse refusing to be accept that healthcare in this country is s***, they just wont accept anything other than whats in their minds. I know the admins are gonna bash me but like i said earlier, this isn't for those people, this is for everyone else that maybe only goes to shows like this once a year, they only go when they really really wanna meet someone. How do they feel things could be improved because i think some things could be changed. If i wasn't going in July i probably wouldnt have started this thread and no doubt on the day i'll do my own thing anyway and say what i wanna say to the guest but i thought this would be a good discussion and maybe Showmasters could look at things differently and maybe try things a bit differently, even if its just with a few smaller guests, just to see how it goes.

[DavidB]

As someone who pays their money to meet guests, and has done since 2003, I hope you allow my input as that rather than as 'admin.'

 

What I pay for is the autograph, as it's a 'signing event' - and if there's a chance of a hello, and a friendly but quick exchange, but in the end I know what I'm paying for.

 

Take both Karen Gillan and David Tennant in recent times - both times the queues have been efficiently managed when VERY busy, and yet everyone got what they wanted AND managed to get a friendly but quick exchange. It can be done, and Showmasters are learning from one event to the next.

 

How do I feel about people going up and saying hi? Why they should they be allowed? I don't really understand why they would be. I know that might sound a bit weird but if others are paying out, then shouldn't everyone? That's basically saying well some people should get stuff for free if they can't afford it.

 

I doubt many attendees have unlimited budgets, and as such have to manage what they can and can't get. Such is life surely?

 

Letting attendees 'do as they please' is a crazy idea in all honesty. People can and WILL take advantage. They already do even though there are rules in place.

 

Believe me, it's not bashing, it's just being realistic.

[thewizard]

You say why should they get what others are paying for but if we go by what you say, which is these are 'signing events' then the people paying are paying for a signature. Someone just wanting to say hello, thanks for coming it's nice seeing you, isn't wanting a signature. I think all this separation from guests really does take away from it all. They are all normal people at the end of the day. What's wrong with all us? Are we not good enough to approach them on our own? It's like we need to be vetted for approval before we even get near them.

 

Even if nothing is changed as far as who can and can't speak to the guests, at least for those that do pay.......and aren't meeting someone like David Tennant who's gonna have hundreds waiting for him, at least give people a little freedom to talk.

[jael001]

Sorry but I would be pretty annoyed if people were allowed to just go up to guests whenever they wanted for a chat. Especially if I was wanting an autograph and was having to wait for someone to finish their "free" chat.

 

Also, if people were able to just go and chat without buying an autograph then it would obviously impact the number of autographs sold, because for a lot of people that's the reason they buy the autograph, the signature isnt important, it's those few seconds or minutes to meet the guest. If less autographs were sold it would impact the events themselves as autograph sales wouldn't cover the guests fees (I'm sure you realise that they are paid to appear, they dont do it out of the goodness of their hearts), which would mean that there would be less guests or less events in future. These events are not charity events, they're a business, money has to be made or they wouldn't exist. It's quite simple, if you can't afford it, you have to do without. That applies in all aspects of life. I'd like a big 4 wheel drive car but I can't afford one, I have to make do with my little run-around. I can't afford to meet every guest that appears at these events, I have to pick and choose according to my budget. That's life.

Edited February 21, 2012 by jael001

[thewizard]

See what i mean? Sales sales sales. Money money money. I get it! It's a business! I'm not questioning that at all.

 

 

Yeah i know the guests are paid and that has to be covered but it would be nice to give people a chance to have a small conversation. Maybe it's just a UK thing. There was an interview last year which maybe 1 or 2 horror fans here will have heard, a complete expose on the American horror/sci-fi circuit and one of the biggest agents answered everything, infact i might aswell just go ahead and say Danielle Harris cause this guy is the one that guys most of these horror/sci-fi actors work in America and he revealed it all. They get paid in America for flights and hotels, the agent pays a fee for the 'table'. The guest makes money at the table. Now of course things will work differently over here but over there, the guests work for their money. Its up to them to say to the fans to move along or get a staff member to organise things. I can understand why you are against me, you're used to doing things a certain way here in the UK but there must be people like me that feel like, we're not really paying for a signature, we're paying to meet the person. The only reason we are paying for the signature is because that is the only way to get near them. It's like me paying for a **** in the central station, i don't mind going into a cubicle or standing at a troft with other guys but i need to pay 20p to get in for the privelidge or if not **** my pants. Now you'll probably sit and say ooooh the toilet needs to be paid for, the cleaners wages, the bricks and mortar that hold it together yaddah yaddah yaddah and it's fine, you can sing from that hymn sheet if you want but at the end of the day i need to pay the 20p to do a ****. The 20p is just a way to direct the **** down the correct path, the autograph is just a way to meet the person.

 

But i never looked at it as a signing event only. That is something else i will now take on board, these are now signing events, not conventions. If that's a case then fair enough but if it's gonna be advertised as a convention then you need to give people some freedom and a chance to talk and you say you would be annoyed at someone talking to a guest that you paid to see. No you wouldn't. That person in front of you is talking because they are a big fan. They are exactly the same as you, just like if i'm talking to a guest, i'm not bothered about the fans behind me waiting because they're there for the same reason as me. If there is gonna be this separation between signing events and conventons then you might aswell half the day. Those who want the autographs, just get them out the way asap, it's like the autograph sellers on Ebay, let them get the signatures they want and then get them away from the signing area and let the rest of us that are there because we want to meet the person, let us spend time with them.

[DavidB]

It comes down to the fact that it's easy enough to say when it's not your money behind the guests.

 

Where does it stop?

 

How many people do you let 'go and say hi' and 'have a short conversation'?

 

At what point does that impact greatly on the 'sales' to the point where each guest is making a loss, and an organiser gets run into the ground because of their 'generosity'..?

 

You're talking like there's no conversations that ever happen with guests, which is simply not true.

[thewizard]

They wont get run into the ground, it just means those that want a bit of time with the guests will get it and will go away with a happy memory and will most likely return to a future event.

[Guest anniekins]

Sorry but I would be pretty annoyed if people were allowed to just go up to guests whenever they wanted for a chat. Especially if I was wanting an autograph and was having to wait for someone to finish their "free" chat.

 

 

 

 

This happened to me last year at Glasgow and wonders of wonders it was actually Crew members who made paying customers wait!

 

It happens I'm afraid now. So not really a new thing in my observation :)

[DavidB]

They wont get run into the ground, it just means those that want a bit of time with the guests will get it and will go away with a happy memory and will most likely return to a future event.

You're not looking at the logistics though are you.

 

Let's go back to some of the bigger Who guests - how many families would be allowed to go up and take their kids up for a 'quick chat'? How do you say yes to some but no to others?

[sazzra]

No, they will go away boasting how they got a photo/auto for nothing while all the other morons had to pay. It's been done before, people have come on here after the old MK ones saying how they spent x amount of time with a guest while they weren't busy, and 'because they got on so well' the guest gave them an autograph.

 

There have been endless posts on the 'if I'm paying, I'm owed time/an over the table shot/ their first born child' theme, and it's been pointed out equally endlessly that no, the events are for signatures and that's what you're paying for. The people who don't want to pay don't have to come to the events, and therefore forfeit the right to whinge that they didn't meet guest x, y or z; if you can't afford to come, that's unfortunate but is one of the joys of a market economy.

[adriangill]

They wont get run into the ground, it just means those that want a bit of time with the guests will get it and will go away with a happy memory and will most likely return to a future event.

Due to the business model and the finances involved that is exactly what would happen. Unfortunately Only an organiser with unlimited funding would be able to get away with your suggestion.

 

From a fan point of view, sorry it may be selfish but I wouldn't want every one to have even a couple minutes each of chat time. That would drastically cut down on the number of people who would be able to get autographs. Fine if you are one of the lucky 150 over a five hour period. Not so fine for the rest.

[Rockstar6662]

Personally I think things work pretty well as they do at the moment. The event is about getting autographs, not about spending time chatting. This is driven by a business model to make money as it presumably costs a lot to get guests over from the USA and elsewhere, much more so than it costs to get them to events in their own country.

 

I've found you have the opportunity to exchange a few words, ask a question of the really busy guests and others you can take your time with and have a decent conversation without feeling like you're holding the queue up.

 

I'm there primarily to get an autograph and anything else is a bonus. It's great to feel you've interacted with the guest when you do have a conversation and I've had some great ones but that's not what these events are about and for every person taking 5mins to chat to guest there's lots of people missing out on getting an autograph.

 

How would it work for the really busy guests? Take Karen Gillan last year as an example. Non-stop signing all day, two photo sessions and a talk. And still people were disappointed they missed out. How on earth could you accommodate people just wanting a chat when there was that kind of demand for autographs from her? Simply wouldn't work.

[kevinstowmarket]

i see both sides here. No way should people meet guests for free. Why should I subsidise your meeting!? I work over time to meet someone. If you can't afford it work harder.

What annoys me is when a staff member takes my stuff off me, gets it signed when i'm not at a table then flings it back at me. If I spend over 100quid i expect a 'hi'. I think that sm don't always get the best qualified or politest people to do the job...

[Rockstar6662]

i see both sides here. No way should people meet guests for free. Why should I subsidise your meeting!? I work over time to meet someone. If you can't afford it work harder.

 

I agree with the sentiment that people shouldn't be able to just go up to the guests for free unless there's no queue and they move once a paying punter comes along and that does happen but it shouldn't become the norm.

 

Also I for one don't get paid overtime, it's not an option for everyone but I know what I can or can't afford.

 

What annoys me is when a staff member takes my stuff off me, gets it signed when i'm not at a table then flings it back at me. If I spend over 100quid i expect a 'hi'. I think that sm don't always get the best qualified or politest people to do the job...

 

That's certainly been a complaint in the past but not something I've personally experienced recently. It was certainly possible to exchange a few words with all the really busy guests last year (Karen Gillan, David Tennant etc). I was able to ask a question and exchange a comment and at least feel like I'd been acknowledged and had some interaction with them. The assistants for both were great and kept things moving without rushing.

 

Other quieter guests I had great and sometimes lengthy conversations with.

 

Hopefully things have been learned that you don't have to push people through as quickly as you describe and can still get through plenty while giving a bit more of an experience. They were even letting you take pictures of David while queuing which was a first and it was great to be able to get something even if you couldn't do it at the table. But it seemed to work well and not hold things up and all added to a much more pleasurable experience than has been sometimes the case in years past.

[thewizard]

Again a few things here. I didn't know these were 'signing events', it certainly isnt promoted specifically as that. Secondly since i know how the Americans work their system, it works over there, if it didn't work they wouldn't operate that way. No jumping on me saying it would never work........it quite clearly does work and i can give you mention links to many conventions in America and you can take a look at their history of running events and guests and guests prices but again i know the guests only get their flights and hotel fees paid for. Only a few really big names are on some guaranteed money and like the interview revealed, sometimes the organisers make that money back and sometimes they don't. But of course that is a convention, where you are encouraged to meet your favourite actors and directors and engage with them, not a signing event where you are paying for the signature.

 

 

Again i can see why some of you are angry, i can see this is how it's been for some time now. It's engrained in your minds that this is how it is and should be and that's fine, it's not your fault. It's just because we are in the UK, not the almighty US where not signing events......but events that look sound and operate and could quite easily be called signing events run regularly and things work very very very differently. It's a different crowd i guess. And in America they do have things in place for busy guests. I'm sure Karen Gillan was busy and people can obviously anticipate ahead of time who is gonna be busy, i'm sure Gillian Anderson this year will be busy all day, even I wouldn't expect to get much of a conversation or any with her but my point was by all means manage her, get the ticketing system all sorted for her and whatever else but not every single guest is gonna be like that. You don't need to have that system in place for every single guest on the show. Manage the bigger guests but leave everyone else alone and trust people or have someone keep an eye on things, you think badly about people a lot, people don't like to be herded around. Just go with the flow for a few hours and see how things are, see if people are taking liberties or if things are running smoothly. The irony is most people wouldn't take liberties, they are too shy or when they get within a few feet of the guests table they do get nervous and don't say much.

 

In some ways it's more classy than it is in America. Some of these actors literally sit at a desk and talk money with you and will sit there and look right at you and take your money just to talk with you and sign something but at the end of the day that's how they make their money. I'll admit that paying the money before you meet the guest is a bit easier fr the guest and maybe not as stressful on the individual especially if they get there and realise they can't quite afford the autograph, i'm sure that would be bad and some guests would feel bad about that too.

 

 

I suppose i'm not gonna win this. I can see what David's done right off the bat, these are 'signing events'. It's a different thing. I kinda like what Robert England does in America, his wife or the one sitting taking the money...........right away says Robert, here are the signatures. Robert signs the pile of stuff because the people that paid for the stuff only want his damn signature, he signs them, big pile of 8x10s, clears his desk and meets the first fan and shakes their hand. IMO that's how it should be done. Those that just want signatures, get them done first then get rid of them completely, don't even let them near the guest, they pick or take their item, pay the money then a staff member gets it signed separately by the guest. Once all that is done then the real fans wait for their desired guests.

 

IMO Rockstar you should be one of the ones that doesn't get near any guests. You said yourself you are there for the autograph. You should pay before the guests even arrive at the tables. Pay for your item to be signed or 8x10 photo then they will be signed at some point during the day, a Showmasters staff member will ensure it gets signed. Or maybe this could start something completely different. Showmasters seems have different events for different things so why not try, in 2012 a pure horror/sci-fi convention and see how it works? Not a signing event, not an event full of stalls and businesses trying to flog their own stuff. Nothing but pure horror and sci-fi. Dealers that deal in nothing but horror/sci-fi items and memorabilia and see how it goes. It would work and because it would be dealing with a niche product, a niche collection of actors/actresses and directors, only really dedicated fans would show up, it might not get as many people but you could charge more and part of the selling point of the event is to interact with the guests. A cast reunion for example, i know it's been done many times but i don't recall it ever being done for horror. The reason i mentioned sci-fi is because a lot of actors crossover, they are known for various things, they can appeal to certain crowds.

 

Maybe it's time Showmasters tried something like this or use Danielle Harris this July as an example. See how busy she is. Here is someone who always takes time to talk with people. She openly says on Youtube, if a fan wants to interview her she always says yes cause she knows its a big thing for fans. So if shes taking 10 minutes or 15 minutes out to talk to any fan that wants to, she can't be that bothered about making money all day. There's the thing Rockstarr, i know the guy that runs her fansite well infact it is her official site because she don't have the time to set her own one up, they know each other well in real life. I know Danielle takes time for her fans. What if i show up in July and it's me and you in the que and i'm front and i ask Danielle, oh i wanna interview you for Youtube Danielle, do you mind if i talk to you for 10 minutes. If she says yes to me......does that make me a bad person? Am i such a bad person for asking her that when she herself tells the world ooooh sure i always talk to my fans, when fans wanna interview me i always say yes but there you are paying the same as me and you only get a signature. And believe me that could easily happen, it could very easily happen this July if i take it into my head to take my video camera and make sure i am well in the front of the que lol. I know for a fact Danielle isn't just coming to the UK for this event, Danielle has plans on travelling all round the UK and Europe all through July and August. I'm just a fan at the end of the day. I'm not trying to take your time or anything from you. I'm not trying to complete an autograph collection, i just wanna meet a select few people whos work i admire. But don't think bad of me for wanting to be a bit personable.

[TommyT]

See what i mean? Sales sales sales. Money money money. I get it! It's a business! I'm not questioning that at all.

 

Yeah i know the guests are paid and that has to be covered... They get paid in America for flights and hotels, the agent pays a fee for the 'table'. The guest makes money at the table. Now of course things will work differently over here

 

Exactly, it's simple maths. Internal flights in the US are relatively cheap and short. Fly someone from the US to the UK, that's a 7-11 hour flight, depending on where they're coming from. And for that length of time they're going to want first class or at least business (depending on their clout). Call it two grand for a Club class ticket. Or four grand if they're bringing their agent. Think of three to five times that price if they utterly demand first class. Plus if they work in the States, its simple income to them. Easy to handle. If they work over here, their earnings are liable to UK tax. Plus Uncle Sam's taxman wants his cut too. So his accountant has to do the paperwork to comply with the double taxation agreement so he only gets taxed once. That's another expense. All this stuff racks up.

Then think of your business model which says we'll sell 300 autographs per day over two days at £15. That's 600 autographs over two days x £15 - 9 grand. Which you need to pay your guest, his hotel, flights, your staff hotels, 10 x 8 costs, Sharpies and a million and one other things. If you let every paying attendee have three minutes with that guest, then that's 20 attendees an hour. On a 9-5 day, take out time for lunch, a toilet break or two maybe a photoshoot, a coffee break you might get six or six and half hours of signing out of a guest per day. 13 hours times 20 an hour is 260 attendees. So to make your nine grand, you now need to be making £35 per atteendee not £15. Dilute that further by having non-paying people who just want a chat taking up some of those 260 slots, and you're looking at having to charge people £40 or £45 a pop.

[DavidB]

IMO Rockstar you should be one of the ones that doesn't get near any guests.

No one was thinking bad of you. They were just debating with you in a perfectly reasonable manner.

 

However comments like this aren't going to help you at all.

 

If a customer pays their money then they're as entitled to anything as anyone else is that pays that same amount of money regardless of motivation.

 

You want to punish people who collect autographs at events that are for autograph signings?

 

This isn't a debate. You're asking for something completely different to what's on offer here. I would suggest running your own events if you want a chumfest and see how difficult it would be, because believe me it's never going to work like that. It's financial logic.

[adriangill]

Maybe it's time Showmasters tried something like this

They don't need to because that is not what these specific events are designed, and intended, to be. They are primarily for autograph collectors to get their autograph in person from the guest. They are not intended for interviews, long chats etc.

[TommyT]

Showmasters seems have different events for different things so why not try, in 2012 a pure horror/sci-fi convention and see how it works? Not a signing event, not an event full of stalls and businesses trying to flog their own stuff. Nothing but pure horror and sci-fi. Dealers that deal in nothing but horror/sci-fi items and memorabilia and see how it goes. It would work and because it would be dealing with a niche product, a niche collection of actors/actresses and directors, only really dedicated fans would show up, it might not get as many people but you could charge more and part of the selling point of the event is to interact with the guests. A cast reunion for example, i know it's been done many times but i don't recall it ever being done for horror.

I think that if you do a search across the fora for posts made by Showmasters themselves that feature the word horror, then I think you'll find that they're not terribly enamoured of the idea. I think their belief is that despite the fairly loud and relative frequent protestations of some folk who post here, the horror market is too broad and fractured in franchises, too small in number of potential fans and therefore too risky for them to contemplate. And it may also be that they're not really that interested in the genre (which would also give them less expertise in selecting guests and indeed less personal interest in the event).

There's a lot of smart people out there running events, as well as some dumb ones, and a lot of people who may not have the specific background in organising such an event, but have enough transfereable skills from similar endeavours to make a decent go of it, plus any number of people looking to make a buck from a business, any business. The fact that absolutely none of them are doing it suggests that none of them think it would be particularly profitable. Now they could all be wrong, but that's not the most likely explanation.

And of course the ultimate response is that if somebody thinks it's such a good idea, they are quite free to have a go it doing it themselves. Could we look forward in 2012 to TheWizrd Events promoting their niche horror convention?

 

(Edited to correct typos)

Edited February 21, 2012 by TommyT

[adriangill]

Am i such a bad person for asking her that when she herself tells the world ooooh sure i always talk to my fans, when fans wanna interview me i always say yes but there you are paying the same as me and you only get a signature. And believe me that could easily happen, it could very easily happen this July if i take it into my head to take my video camera and make sure i am well in the front of the que lol.

Not a bad person for wanting it, but this is not really the type of event suited for that. If you do ask and there is a queue then you will be asked to move on.

[jael001]

I agree with TommyT, if TheWizard thinks they can do a better job of organising an event like this and sees a genre that they think isnt being covered satisfactorily, why aren't they trying to do it themselves rather than trying to get someone else to risk their money?

 

Showmasters have been doing this for a very long time, as have the other "signing event" organisers in this country, and there are good reasons why none of them use the model you seem to think would work, just because something works in the US doesn't mean it will work over here, especially with the costs involved that have already been mentioned.

 

Conventions in the UK are a very different thing to signing events for many reasons, one of which is that the number of attendees are strictly limited at conventions (usually under 1000 attendees), tickets are for the entire event and almost always include the autographs from the guests, talks and parties. To me what TheWizard has described as a convention in the US isnt a convention at all, it's a signing event, even if it's not called that. The guests are there to sell autographs and maybe do panel talks and the odd photoshoot. That's really no different to CM or LFCC or EMS in my opinion. It sounds to me like maybe TheWizard should attend a few more events over here before deciding they know how they should be run.

 

And to turn around and say that paying customers shouldn't even get the chance to MEET the guests and that they should be rushed through so that "real fans" can get time to talk to the guests is incredibly insulting. Maybe in the US most people buying autographs are dealers, that's not the case in this country, very few of those getting autographs from the guests will be dealers, most will be "real fans" who want to meet their idols AND get autographs from them and are happy to pay for the privilege. I don't consider someone wanting to get something for nothing a "real fan", just a cheeky so-and-so who wants to get what they want for free.

[Stenun]

One question you've still not responded to, thewizard, is how many people you're suggesting should be given a "free audience" with the guests and for how long each?

 

I understand that reluctance to accept that you have to pay to meet the guests but it's inevitable. It's the same logic as to why you have to charge for autographs.

If you didn't charge for the signature then what would stop people turning up and asking for a dozen autographs? Then the next person does, too. Then the next 18. Then 240 signatures have been signed but only 20 people have gotten to meet the guest.

How many signatures do you reckon one guest can do in a day?

 

And it's the same with having a conversation. How long should the guest do this for? Is each attendee restricted to two minutes? What if they're a father and son, do they get 4 minutes? What if the kid doesn't say anything so effectively the father gets 4 minutes? Why shouldn't the next person get 4 minutes? Should I borrow a friend's baby just to get more time with a guest? What if I ask a question that takes longer than two minutes to answer? Do I not get to hear the end of the story? Should we allow the guest to finish speaking? Then I'll save my most complicated question until last, that'll get me more time.

Should I go on ... ?

[thewizard]

Well if they don't think it's worth their time doing then that's their choice. I'm kinda hoping that is the case then there really wont be any problem at all with me spending time with Danielle since Danielle is really only known for horror films therefore the only people that are gonna go meet her are people like me and if horror guests aren't really requested a lot over here then it might actually work out ok in July. Now i'm thinking about it that way i can see how this might work out ok. I've been looking at this negatively and i'm only just realising the fact that Danielle is only known for nothing but horror films is actually a stroke of luck.

 

I forgot to mention this earlier, it's why i mentioned Robert Englund, i saw a video not long ago on Youtube that Robert did at one of the last Showmasters events he did and he spent nearly 10 minute talking with 1 guy while his girlfriend filmed it and there was no one rushing him or telling him to move along. This was a recent video too. That is how it should be and COULD be and that was a Showmasters event, i forget which one but that's why i remember it. I don't know if it was the staff that day or maybe Robert was quiet but he took the time out for that man to talk to him.

 

As for saying it doesn't work, it quite clearly does. There are many big horror conventions in America. I wont know what will happen in July 1of2. If you don't ask you don't get in this world. Hopefully when i arrive it's quiet enough that i will get a conversation. I'll definately be leaving it to later in the afternoon anyway. I'm not trying to take anything away from anyone, like i said, if i get lucky and get a decent conversation i'd like to think the fan behind me wouldn't be upset or mad about that, i'd hope that they would hope for the same thing and try get the same experience but i suppose no one knows what will happen until the day.

[showmasters]

we run the shows like a business but care about them like a fan as thats what we all are here .

 

 

the photo ops are not a meet and greet they are a photo op .

 

the signing sessions are also just that a signing sessions also not a meet and greet .

 

soem people just want an autograph as quickly as posable knowing its real and they got it in person which is really great for them and the shows work well for them.

 

this works well for us as we have planed it out so it works to cover our costs for paying the guests to attend the show by fans getting the chance to get there autograph .

 

we do nto run Meet and Greet shows or there would be Meet and Greet tickets, but there are not any for sale as thats just not what we do .

 

our events are run for people that just want a photo with a guest or an autograph or sometimes listen to them as we often have talks some of which are free , yes free something we give away , this also has to be paid for as the time that the guests are away from the signing sessions or photo ops also has to be paid for so it costs us money to have a guest do a talk and so we also work that out in the photo ops price and the autograph price , as everything has to be covered, and some times we do charge to cover the costs of a talk but most of the time we give it away to the fans.

 

if we gave time away it will cost us money and to cover that we would have to put up the prices of the guests autos and photo ops , we look at the amount of autos and photo ops a guest need to do to cover what a guest need to make and charge the least we can for this , that way the prices are fare and we will sell more of them than if we charges the most we thing people will pay and all our events are run on volume as its the way we think it should be done its why we charge little on our door to get into the show and in some cases we do not charge at all , which is great for the fans that do not have that much to spend or for people that just do not collect autographs.

 

i hope you can see were we are coming from , talking to a guest seems like it not going to cost anything but the guests are there to meet fans and as such this is not the time to chat , no more than a thank you and how are you doing to day , and that is down to a guest and nothing to do with us .

 

i hope that helps , i will close this post soon as this topic has been talked over many times and it is clear why this has to work this way.

 

thanks for reading this

 

jason