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Expensive Event


chrismk
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Jason has already posted in General Chat about his pricing etc, (just in case you haven't seen that) I think it explains their way of thinking quite well.

 

 

Any chance you can point it out, as I can't find it!

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hi Chris

 

i think you are missing one important thing here

 

everyone that comes gets to pick what they want to buy , thay can come to the event and enjoy the event and spend NOTHING at all or you can come and just listen to John Barrowman or the odd person or no one can buy one of each talk and photo ops and yes that would be expensive but there is the point , you get to choose what you want at a weekend con you pay one high but fair price and you get everything included if you want it or not , with this deal you just buy what you want , so we will not sell out of all the talks we will not sell out of some of the photo ops and because of this we have to charge what we need to to cover the costs of putting them on , with a weekend con you commit and pay for everything so it all sells out if you want it or not , this is a free show please remember that really its totally free if you do not want to buy anything or see a talk we even pay £5600 for busses and the car park is also free to everyone attending , so we are fair and it is still great value for money but trying to compare it to a weekend con it just does not compare , one last thing sales have been good for this first time talks for this show but most people are only picking one or two talks so i think it proves that people want this and it proves my point that its people not committing to spend £79 or £125 for a weekend experience more the people interested in the odd guests happly paying to have the chance to hear the guest or two they want to hear talk .

 

maybe our weekend events are too good a value ? maybe ? but we do not sell them out often so maybe we are just right on the price ? and as the tickets so far tonight maybe we are at just the right price here as well ?

 

as to the party we have a lot planned that only the people that attend will see so we will find out on here after the event is it was good value for them or not , we are known for our partys and this being the first for a long time at collectormaina i think we will put on a great show and it will be something people will remember for a long time .

 

one last thing we do intend it to be exclusive and we do not plan to sell loads or it will not work how we want it to be so lets just all see how things work out , we have wanted to do extra things like this for years and now the stadium is being expanded now is our chance to take the show to the next level , work is on going at the stadium and all is good for the weekend of the show many of you will see the changes going on and we are told that by Oct this year much of the building work will be completed and then we can really get going for what we have planned for the show in 2013 and beond

 

i hope that helps Chris i do understand you are passionate about this but i do have to say these things do cost alot of money and things need to pay for themselves and the prices of each talk and photo op and party we feel are very fair , you are paying for the chance to do just that activty with out committing to any other spend at the show and thats why things cost what they do , but we do feel its still very fair .

 

jason

Edited by Rhianydd
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This event is VERY expensive for me. But that is entirely my own fault! I've been saving up for a months so I can have a brilliant time here and meet everyone I want to meet etc.

 

Party wise, i thought £25 was a bit expensive, but at the same time if they were cheaper I think too many people would want to come. I was considering staying in an alternative cheaper hotel, that would have cost £120 for 2 nights and buying the party tickets which would have been £100 for me and a friend. Costing £220 all together.

In the end I decided on the residents pass, for the ease of everything and there are talks included etc.

However, if I lived in MK I would probably have bought the party tickets individually, because then I wouldn't be missing out on anything by not booking a hotel. Nobody is being forced to go to the parties it just give people who don't have the residents pass the option to attend.

As far as talks go, I didn't think there would be any at all, so I for one am glad there are some (even if they are paid)

 

I don't know, I never think of signing events and ME conventions as the same thing...I usually end up spending £400-500 at cons(hotel included) and usually about the same at singing events (more this time though)

Plus at CM it's free entry and there are free buses, the money has to come from somewhere. LFCC had the entrence fee which will help towards costs and doesn't have any buses.... So I think it's actually quite good value for money. I don't know, but I'd imagine booking rooms in a hotel is a lot cheaper than booking the likes of Staduim MK and earl's court etc.

I trust SM that their prices are the lowest they can be and they do put on the best events in the country!

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This event is VERY expensive for me. But that is entirely my own fault! I've been saving up for a months so I can have a brilliant time here and meet everyone I want to meet etc.

 

Party wise, i thought £25 was a bit expensive, but at the same time if they were cheaper I think too many people would want to come. I was considering staying in an alternative cheaper hotel, that would have cost £120 for 2 nights and buying the party tickets which would have been £100 for me and a friend. Costing £220 all together.

In the end I decided on the residents pass, for the ease of everything and there are talks included etc.

However, if I lived in MK I would probably have bought the party tickets individually, because then I wouldn't be missing out on anything by not booking a hotel. Nobody is being forced to go to the parties it just give people who don't have the residents pass the option to attend.

As far as talks go, I didn't think there would be any at all, so I for one am glad there are some (even if they are paid)

 

I don't know, I never think of signing events and ME conventions as the same thing...I usually end up spending £400-500 at cons(hotel included) and usually about the same at singing events (more this time though)

Plus at CM it's free entry and there are free buses, the money has to come from somewhere. LFCC had the entrence fee which will help towards costs and doesn't have any buses.... So I think it's actually quite good value for money. I don't know, but I'd imagine booking rooms in a hotel is a lot cheaper than booking the likes of Staduim MK and earl's court etc.

I trust SM that their prices are the lowest they can be and they do put on the best events in the country!

 

I think if enjoy an event and can save for it, then its worth it.

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I appreciate that Jason has explained himself fairly, but as a final (you'll be grateful) comment, I'd like to point out that there is a big difference between expense and value for money. I fully accept that people spend what they want and are in control of the expense, but for value for money, it compares very poorly with other SM/ME events.

 

I don't accept some of the comments about cost, because they are costs that have existed since Collectormania moved to the stadium, when there were no talks or parties. They only way that they are relevant now, is if the talks/parties are subsidising the event.

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This event for me is costing £200 (well that's my budget anyway, making sure I can stick to it is another matter) and I'm getting 8 autographs, 2 photoshoots and a talk, all from people that I want to meet. Hub 8 cost me £200 including petrol and ticket and a few photoshoots. All of the guests were lovely, but would I have necessarily met them all if at CM:MK? Probably not.

 

All of the events are different for everyone. There weren't as many of my friends at Hub 8 as there will be at CM:MK, so will probably have even more fun at this event with a similar cost and gettting more of what I want.

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I understand ever growing costs it's just a shame the talks are basically the cost os an auto - something that would last me years, not just 30 mins. Had the Primeval talk been £5 I would have gone along with my bf. Sadly they are £10 and what with all the other autos, shoots etc I just can't justify it.

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Hi Steve - we appreciate your feedback but please don't single out mods for any particular reason. We're all discussing everything reasonably in this topic. Thank you.

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Hi

 

We are really looking forward to this event and will already be spending hundreds to come down for Glasgow to attend.

There's a lot of great guests and the lineup is amazing.

 

We've been doing this for years now and rarely attend any of the talks as it's not our thing (we did sit in on the Corey Feldman talk at LFACC which was great).

 

I feel really sorry for anyone who loves attending the talks as it looks like the days of the free talks for the average punter are over unless I'm reading it wrong. At previous events there would be a few paid tickets for the bigger guests but most were free. Now, there's a price on all talks which is a shame.

 

I would have happily listened to Richard Kiel given the chance and I could be wrong, but how many people are going to pay £10 for that talk when there's been other free talks in the past with more "current" guests.

 

It doesn't affect us much, but I do feel sorry for fellow attendees who like this kind of thing.

 

Steve

 

PS: If any of the mods wish to reply, can it be either Qs, TT, Rhianydd or 1of2.

Edited by steevofromglasgow
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I appreciate that Jason has explained himself fairly, but as a final (you'll be grateful) comment, I'd like to point out that there is a big difference between expense and value for money. I fully accept that people spend what they want and are in control of the expense, but for value for money, it compares very poorly with other SM/ME events.

 

I don't accept some of the comments about cost, because they are costs that have existed since Collectormania moved to the stadium, when there were no talks or parties. They only way that they are relevant now, is if the talks/parties are subsidising the event.

 

To be honest Chris, how do we know they aren't. I appreciated Jason coming and explaining too, that was really helpful. I don't know how the shows are run, I crew them, but behind the scenes is another matter.

 

 

Steve

 

PS: If any of the mods wish to reply, can it be either Qs, TT, Rhianydd or 1of2.

 

Sorry Steve, I must admit, asking only certain mods to reply makes me a little uncomfortable. Especially when the mod you have omitted knows a great deal more than me about the shows from his years of experience.

 

 

 

With regards to the costs of the talks, My very first show was LFCC 09 and I paid for myself and my boys to attend the Twilight talk which was £25 I believe. They loved every minute of it and was therefore worth it, so I suppose you have to decide what you want from a show, an experience of a talk - listening to the actors chatting away, interacting and answering our questions, or an autograph or a photoshoot. All three are completely different experiences and different people "get" more from one than the other.

 

Thankfully we are all different or it would be a really boring world :D

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Hi

 

We are really looking forward to this event and will already be spending hundreds to come down for Glasgow to attend.

There's a lot of great guests and the lineup is amazing.

 

We've been doing this for years now and rarely attend any of the talks as it's not our thing (we did sit in on the Corey Feldman talk at LFACC which was great).

 

I feel really sorry for anyone who loves attending the talks as it looks like the days of the free talks for the average punter are over unless I'm reading it wrong. At previous events there would be a few paid tickets for the bigger guests but most were free. Now, there's a price on all talks which is a shame.

 

I would have happily listened to Richard Kiel given the chance and I could be wrong, but how many people are going to pay £10 for that talk when there's been other free talks in the past with more "current" guests.

 

It doesn't affect us much, but I do feel sorry for fellow attendees who like this kind of thing.

 

Steve

 

PS: If any of the mods wish to reply, can it be either Qs, TT, Rhianydd or 1of2.

Steve,

 

Firstly - Talks at MK have always been paid for. Due to it being a free entry event they need to be, or anyone could just walk in and get them. This does not effect LFCC or EMS in anyway, which will continue to have both free and paid for talks.

 

Secondly - Please don't be posting who you do and don't want replying to you. It's unnessessary and extremely rude. It clearly breaks Guideline 2 and Rule 2 in the Guidelines and Rules thread. So please do NOT do it again.

 

Stuart.

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I feel that £25 per night for a party is too expensive. I suspect I will not be alone in that feeling. I may not be aware of the EXACT costs to Showmasters, but I have enough experience to be able to estimate them (having a party at your own wedding will give you a vague ballpark figure!!). If the costs are that high (which I don't think they are), then they should look at alternatives.

 

Don't get me wrong... I've done EVERY MK Showmasters event in the past (back to when they were held at Woughton and Stantonbury campuses) and I want the events to do well and grow. But I feel strongly that the pricing is wrong and will not help achieve this growth.

 

Hell no! £25 to party with Carl Weathers, Zach Galligan, Lance Henrikson and many others is a bargain!!! That's like some epic party!! Unfortunately I can't make it on either of those nights (Got committed to something else on the Friday night (Unless I can weasel out of it) and I'm travellling back home Saturday evening) and I'm kicking myself. It's not everyday an opportunity to party with such accomplished and fantastic actors arises.

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I lOve CMMK mainly for the fact that it's free and I can choose who to meet and mainly have fun with my friends. I am crewing this year so that I can have fun, meet the guests I want and crewing is good fun and feels worth while. This does mean I can't get to the talks but I get to be there in the first place which I can't wait for. As for fair price most signing type events like CM charge entry and prices per guests are always similar. Showmasters always try the best they can to get the guests they do and to try and make great for everybody.

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I appreciate that Jason has explained himself fairly, but as a final (you'll be grateful) comment, I'd like to point out that there is a big difference between expense and value for money. I fully accept that people spend what they want and are in control of the expense, but for value for money, it compares very poorly with other SM/ME events.

 

I don't accept some of the comments about cost, because they are costs that have existed since Collectormania moved to the stadium, when there were no talks or parties. They only way that they are relevant now, is if the talks/parties are subsidising the event.

 

well i do not know what i need to to do to get you the accept it Chris , the hall its in costs per hour the guests taking part in the talk takes them away from the signing so we have to pay them to attend or work out a deal to cover the cost of their time , the tec needs to be hired for each day the crew needs to paid to run the room and on top of that we pay 20% vat and credit card charges as well all this for a 200 seated talk which some of the talks will not sell out leaving the seats that have sold having to cover the cost of the entire talk zone , so Chris please do accept it , you and i have these chats from time to time , you are a fan just like me you seem to think that thay are very easy at times to pull of and that they make us lots of money , well you should have a go one day really as there is alot more involved when you put your money on the line and make something happen , i am not being funny Chris but you and i have talked things like this over many times now ,you feel like you do so take the next step my friend go for it , i will come along if the guests are what i want to see and just sit back and enjoy it and have a few beers and chill and not have any worrys , i have done two event that are not mine in the last few weeks its been great watching others putting out fires and running around i plan to do it more often :-)

 

hope that helps paint a better picture with this info

 

jason

Edited by Rhianydd
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Hi

 

We weren't at MK last year and we rarely do the talks so I didn't realise the talks were paid for at this event - I thought this was somthing new. Glad to hear the talk at other events are free.

 

While I'm on the subject, the last time we were at MK (2 years ago) the event was in the upper tier of the stadium and the weather was terrible. Is it the same setup this year - I'm only asking because we have a seven month old baby with us now who is susceptible to a lot of colds (I know CM can't do anything about the weather lol)

 

thanks

Edited by steevofromglasgow
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Is it me, or is this event working out incredibly expensive, especially when compared to a Massive Events convention?

 

Standard tickets for an ME convention start at around £80. For that, you get 2-3 nights of parties, around 6 hours of talks, opening closing ceremony and an autograph with 4-6 guests.

 

With the amounts being charged at this event for parties and talks, a similar experience would cost several hundred. You could argue that it shows what good value ME conventions are, but it also suggests that the pricing policy for this event is somewhat steep (and I'm putting it gently!)

 

2 Nights parties - £50

6 of the cheapest talks - £60

6 of the cheapest autographs - £60

 

Total £170 - and this is for one less party, no ceremony and no talks/autographs from any of the 'headline' guests. In a time of recession, your average punter is looking for better value for money, not worse!

 

This is a signing event though not a convetion

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The talks are new in as much as they are new to this particular venue. However, they did have them a few years ago when we were in the shopping centre and they were paid for back then. In the shopping centre days it was to do with having to pay for a separate venue for the talks. I believe it is a similar issue this time as SM have had to hire rooms at the hotel to hold the talks in.

 

To answer your question about where we will be, the event will be on the concourse again. I understand that the roof has now been finished so it should be a bit less draughty (fingers crossed) but I'd advise being prepared for it being cold.

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ME Events are incredibly good value, I have always considered that to be the case, yet you still get people complaining that they can't have a day ticket to them etc etc

 

ME and SM events are completely different, I don't think they are comparable for pricing reasons, but again, only SM and ME themselves know the ins and outs of the finances.

 

 

The parties have been requested time and time again since I started using the forum, and now SM are doing as people have asked and running the parties. The numbers able to attend the parties are limited by the space there, and presumably hall hire etc etc has to come in to that.

 

SM and ME are not money hungry people, they are fans running shows for fans, you only have to see them at the shows to know that. You also only have to think of the smaller ME shows that other companies wouldn't have run if they decided that the returns weren't enough, yet ME do (yes there are cancellations, but there has to be a limit)

 

Jason has already posted in General Chat about his pricing etc, (just in case you haven't seen that) I think it explains their way of thinking quite well.

 

This could go round and round in circles, but at the end of the day, it is our choice to go to a show, buy autos, talk tickets etc

 

People want day tickets, because they can't afford a full weekend one (or perhaps can't afford it along with the additional hotel costs). To be honest, I think it's a reasonable idea to charge people at a convention a small amount, just for being able to attend talks/parties.

 

I do not agree that the events are 'completely different. They both have guests, signing sessions, photo sessions and now they both have parties and talks. The biggest difference is that signings have a bigger variety of guests and a low entrance cost, meaning a LOT more people can/do attend them. Yes, the costs are different, but the biggest costs (guest fees, guest transport/accomodation, venue hire) are similar and scalable to the number of attendees.

 

I know that Showmasters are fans, I've known Jason and Mark for years (as I say, going back to Stantonbury/Woughton campuses) and I have respect for them, which is why I'm highlighting something that I see as an issue.

 

The only reason why there is the parties though as stated is because Collectomaina is 10 years old!! The parties may now happen again!

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