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[chloepop]

im sorry but the layout of the stadium today was terrible, you couldnt MOVE in there it was ridiculous

 

My god, every time you post you're complaining? Just be grateful you went.

 

excuse me i actually said i had a lovely time if you bothered reading the other posts, i was just saying it was SO packed in there and alot of people agreed with me, today i was pushed, hit in the head and everything..

Thats a completely valid point, it was hectic today lets be honest- that doesn't mean I enjoyed the day any less though, it was still great but I get where your coming from, lots of queues and people taking photos created a lot of traffic at some points

 

thank you, i had a brilliant day... never said i didnt, sean astin was an absoloute BABE... couldnt be more happy, i just said it was packed thats all... some people need to get off there high horse tbh

[Jubilympic2012]

sorry, but showmasters can control the parking. They book the venue, it is their responsibility.

 

Was a bit surprised that there didn't seem to be any marshals directing the traffic round the car parks. Maybe this wouldn't be needed if the car parks were not in their current disarray, but it would have been helpful to have had some control over the car parking with respect to the spacing of the parked cars and the general flow of traffic.

 

That said, from what I could see, the car parks weren't really in any fit state to accommodate such a huge influx of cars. That's not Showmasters fault of course, although it does call into question whether the mk stadium is actually a suitable venue for such a massively popular event, given all the building work that's still going on there.

[michaelrc123]

Hi all -

 

Just thought i would give you my feedback. Its the first time that i have been to the MKDon stadium, i too found it very difficult as signposting wasnt clear enough to get there by car. I know Milton \keynes is confusing due to the islands all looking the same but it could be improved.

 

Once parked and in, the staff on the information were very helpful and gracious with my gold pass and asked me to return later in the day for get my pack as they were busy enough which was perfectly acceptable :)

 

I am a huge supporter of CM but i have a few issues regarding today.

 

Entrance was extremely crowded - would it have been better to have had the info desk somewhere not so close to the main door? It caused huge bottlenecks and from posts above this was an issue for many of us.

 

Signposting - there was none! from the entrances it would have been much easiert o have signs saying so and so to the left so and so to the right and had it clearly suspended where we could all see it. I have a very bad leg and spent ages trying to find people.

 

The photoshoot area - far far too congested! maybe you should have one area for those guests who u know will have massive queues and not put them near the photo collection point.

 

Speaking of that - the photo collection point was quite well organised, but maybe some signs on the wall behind the table to identify roughly where the photoshoot of for example Karen was.

 

Also some of your newer staff didnt quite get the concept of the gold pass and expected me to go and find a Pit Boss to sort it out and i then had to explain o him how it worked.

 

Had a major gripe with the Brian Blessed signing desk. i had waited in the queue as a gold pass member for 1.5 hours while talks etc were going on and just before i got to him no posed photos was mentioned verbally nothing noted. I mentioned to the guy with BB that i had waited for so long couldnt i at least get a posed photo? the answer was no which i though was harsh IMO

 

Also as a gold pass member i was dismayed at the Sean Astin photoshoot, as the Pit Boss had asked if i could let two staff have their photos done before me. I was like ok then, suddenly this turned to 5 It would be better if urgent staff waited until all the gold and VIPs had gone first

 

I reinterate the other comment about the guests: couldnt the guests be put in the dealer rooms and the dealers be on the balcony? the guests are the ones most people are there to see and bring the money in surely warmer surroundings would help us all. Caitlin was so cold when i saw her.

 

Sorry about the above but i needed to share it.

 

Also saying that the staff were lovely and of course the guests :)

 

A great day with a few issues that hopefully can be sorted by next time

Edited June 2, 2012 by michaelrc123

[Queen_Sindel]

Guys, please don't start fighting. This topic is for posting opinions and comments, and the post that was commented on is an opinion that's actually been repeated by others. So no harm done there.

 

I'm sorry, I got in a little late or I would have taken care of the comment that started it off.

 

As you may have noticed I am flying solo today and I do have my hands a little full, especially now that more attendees are back home and the posting has increased. I apologize for that little delay. I've been trying to make those little forum tweaks for stuff that you guys have been asking about, and the software is so not liking me today.

[chrismk]

Had to give up and go home before even getting in. I got there after 9 and couldn't get parked - the whole place was gridlocked. Very disappointed.

 

TBH, if I had known before hand how busy it was likely to be, in tandem with the car parking being so limited (a lot of it was cordoned off due to roadworks/building works) I probably wouldn't have driven down there. What a shame.

 

Why didn't you park in Asda or Ikea?

 

Time-limit on parking. It might have been okay I suppose, but wasn't prepared to risk it just for one autograph.

 

Ah I see... for what its worth, I'm not aware of Asda MK ever issuing tickets (and I used to park there for the football). Ikea (next to Asda) has no time limit. (Though next time, the stadium car park shouldn't be such a mess!)

[reversethepolarity]

Today was my first CM:MK and i'd have to say I really enjoyed it. There were three problems though:

 

1) The photo shoot/talk purchasing queue: I was there for an hour. Maybe in future events have a few more desks open to spread it out. However the stewards there were very helpful in getting me to what i wanted on time.

 

2) The Hunger Games Talk: I understand there were problems but I was a little let down with this talk for some reason. Dayo and Almanda were great it's just... I don't know really.

 

3) Queues: It seems the Tom Baker one got out of hand meaning I couldn't meet him which I was a bit sad about. It did feel quite cramped at times although you can't restructure the stadium!

 

However I had a great day overall: Barrowman and Gillan were amazing, the stewards were, as always, fantastic and I loved the atmosphere even if it was a bit cold at times! It was very busy, but none the less a lot of fun XD

 

Here's to 2013!

[Jubilympic2012]

Had to give up and go home before even getting in. I got there after 9 and couldn't get parked - the whole place was gridlocked. Very disappointed.

 

TBH, if I had known before hand how busy it was likely to be, in tandem with the car parking being so limited (a lot of it was cordoned off due to roadworks/building works) I probably wouldn't have driven down there. What a shame.

 

Why didn't you park in Asda or Ikea?

 

Time-limit on parking. It might have been okay I suppose, but wasn't prepared to risk it just for one autograph.

 

Ah I see... for what its worth, I'm not aware of Asda MK ever issuing tickets (and I used to park there for the football). Ikea (next to Asda) has no time limit. (Though next time, the stadium car park shouldn't be such a mess!)

 

Ah, an advantage perhaps of already being familiar with the area :)

I guess I'd become a wee bit annoyed at the lack of parking by that point and wasn't prepared to chance my arm by leaving it in some other random car park. Oh well. (If I go again I think I'll wait for them to finish the building work first!)

[kiwi]

Only 1 gripe which is not Showmasters fault at all....the parking. I don't understand how people think making their own parking spaces is the right thing to do. By the time any parking stewards got there it was too late. We went back to our car at lunchtime (after parking in a proper order) and were completely blocked in. Somehow people had managed to park directly behind vehicles from one end to the other about 4-5 rows deep, there was absolutely no way you could move your car, luckily we didn't have to leave urgently.

 

As for CM, it was great. Sean Astin seemed very friendly. Nichelle Nichols was lovely, very warm and friendly, Paul McGann is always a star. We were very lucky to even see Nichelle and Tom Baker as their queues didn't seem to get very far with the VQ. It would be interesting to know what numbers they got up to in the end.

[sam1974]

I forgot to add earlier that the queuing for the photo ops for John Barrowman and Karen Gillan was crazy. The one year I had good numbers, 19 and 38, you don't call them by numbered ticket. That annoyed me a little. People in front of me had numbers of 250 and higher.

 

I hope that LFCC isn't going to be the same as I have good numbers for my photo ops for that too.

[KingDaveRa]

My friends had tickets for the queue for Brian Blessed, somewhere in the 400s. They got there a bit before me, around 10am. We left at 12, and it was still around 150. They had to be somewhere else unfortunately so bailed on it. A shame really because they both really wanted to meet him, but hey, these things happen I guess.

[fritzlang]

want to say a few words about poor jake lamotta.

 

one of my two reasons for going to this particular convention was to meet him,the other reason was to meet nichelle nichols.

 

on arriving at the dons stadium i did a quick scout round to see where he was located(he wasnt due to start signing untill 11am)

it was pretty cold at the venue today,i think most people would agree on that,so i was amazed to see that jake lamotta,who lets not forget

is 91 years old,had been put out on the main concourse,and open to all the elements.......didnt any of the organisers think this might be a bad idea??? i noticed several guests,some a lot younger than lamotta were sited in undercover areas.

 

jake arrived over an hour late,and after several rescheduled time changes to lamottas photo shoot,he then proceeded to do some autographs,but the queue was soon halted and we were told to come back later because of congestion in the walkway.

on arriving back there later there was no sign of jake,and was told by a crew member he had become ill because of the cold weather,and had cancelled the rest of his appearance,including the photo shoot.

 

thus i reiterate my point,why put a 91 year old man out in the open like that?......he should have been given somewhere with shelter,or preferably inside.

 

it was such a disappointment for many fans,me included,who may have missed our chance to ever meet the bronx bull.it seems unlikely given his age that he will make another trip here,and especially now having become ill on the visit.

 

a real missed opportunity.

 

i hope the champ was ok,thats the most important thing.....does anyone know anything?

[kevinstowmarket]

The guests that were vt and the guests that people wanted to see didn't really tie up. Katy manning and david bradley (both great guests who i met) weren't vt but had huge ques, but some people in tents hardly had a que.

It wasn't the best cm for me (guests, cold, parking as mentioned), but i'll be back if my bank manager lets me.

K

[70s boy]

Good Weekend Nice Guests

Only complaint was that the bus was dropping / picking up in the wrong place Had a word with Jason hopefully it was rectifed

[jozan]

Had a good day, a few problems with the free bus ended with meeting some new people. All i can say is Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats HO!!!!!!

[Daniel]

I don't have any big complaints. I had a great day, yes I was dissapointed about the two Hunger Games guests cancelling, but the guests I did meet were very nice.

 

I thought the dealers selection was good and the layout was too. The football matches made for some good lunch break entertainment too.

 

My only complaints were that the bus wasn't easy to spot. We were lucky not be waiting too long, but the bus stop at the stadium wasn't easy to find nor was it at the station (but I know the roadworks were out of showmaster's hands).

 

As for the venue. I am still not satisfied, is there ever going to be an indoor venue built? There has been talk for years but still nothing, it was getting freezing in there goodness knows how the guests must have felt being out there almost all day. I do hope another venue is found or the stadium improves (it still looks half finished).

 

Other than that the day was great. Thanks to everyone I encountered who helped make it special I do appreciate your help. See you all next May

[adam_bomb]

Id imagine the indoor venue will be ready for next year, the various retail deals for primark and m and s have now been completed which means the finances are now in place to complete the arena, id expect a serious upgrade by the time May 2013 rolls around!

Edited June 2, 2012 by adam_bomb

[resroc]

want to say a few words about poor jake lamotta.

 

one of my two reasons for going to this particular convention was to meet him,the other reason was to meet nichelle nichols.

 

on arriving at the dons stadium i did a quick scout round to see where he was located(he wasnt due to start signing untill 11am)

it was pretty cold at the venue today,i think most people would agree on that,so i was amazed to see that jake lamotta,who lets not forget

is 91 years old,had been put out on the main concourse,and open to all the elements.......didnt any of the organisers think this might be a bad idea??? i noticed several guests,some a lot younger than lamotta were sited in undercover areas.

 

jake arrived over an hour late,and after several rescheduled time changes to lamottas photo shoot,he then proceeded to do some autographs,but the queue was soon halted and we were told to come back later because of congestion in the walkway.

on arriving back there later there was no sign of jake,and was told by a crew member he had become ill because of the cold weather,and had cancelled the rest of his appearance,including the photo shoot.

 

thus i reiterate my point,why put a 91 year old man out in the open like that?......he should have been given somewhere with shelter,or preferably inside.

 

it was such a disappointment for many fans,me included,who may have missed our chance to ever meet the bronx bull.it seems unlikely given his age that he will make another trip here,and especially now having become ill on the visit.

 

a real missed opportunity.

 

i hope the champ was ok,thats the most important thing.....does anyone know anything?

 

I can only agree with this and have said something similar in my previous posts in this section. It really is somewhat baffling how anyone can expect guests in their late 70's through to their 90's to sit all day in the cold wind signing autographs. Its not the first time this has happened and I would have thought that a bit of thought and common sense would have prevailed when organising the areas for guests of a certain age. I hope Jake is okay and sympathise for your lost opportunity. Luckily I was still able to meet the Tottenham players, but I did feel great sympathy for them out in the cold and I felt a distinct draft at their tables.

[adam.anouer]

After a rather vexing trip to the venue in which it rained I finally arrived. I was assigned as Cash Assistant to Brandan Routh who was absolutely wonderful throughout and gave me a warm welcome when he arrived. That point onwards I managed to meet some interesting fans who made the day that bit more fun.

 

At Midday I went to my Photoshoot with Karen Gillan who was as bright and beautiful as ever before returning to my station and continued cash duties for the rest of the shift (with the exception of one or two toilet breaks). At one point a Dalek collecting contributions for charity (yes you heard me right) came in then turned to the person leading it and said "Can we go and meet Karen Gillan?". I saw alot of awesome costumes and downright funky outfits among the crowds which were all very well done.

 

However due to the fact that I went into the Photoshoot wearing my Red plaid shirt (Completely obscuring my Crew Badge and T-Shirt) I forgot to collect the picture so I'll have to get that at some point.

 

Later on I went to the Party where Jason and Sean were playing a coconut drop game before I tried and won a coconut. He later ended up toasting his coconut with mine after which I really wanted to buy him a beer.

 

The Crew: All of them were awesome. It was nice to meet Andrew, Karen and some others properly and meet some new friends in the process. They did incredibly well in dealing with the cold weather and provided top quality help wherever they could also gotta thank TooTall for pointing me in the right direction.

 

The Guests: Were absolutely brilliant. Brandon was incredibly friendly and polite to everyone and didn't once drop the ball on time or effectiveness. Karen was extrodinary managing to personalise all of her autographs this time around and get through them at wonderful pace while being polite at the same time. Caitlin Blackwood was an absolute angel throughout managing to get through alot of autographs and a photo shoot before lunch. Christina Chong was very friendly too. Sean Austin was an absolute sport especially at the party he was lively. I got the impression Callum Blue was a little like myself not knowing quite where to put himself and trying to blend in (possibly being a little shy) I genuinely wanted to say hello but was too shy.

[SciFiRob]

When I saw the table on Friday with jake's name I wondered who on earth would think a 90 year old would be happy sitting the cold like that. I thought it would be changed by the time he came on saturday but seems it wasn't.

 

the bus situation was a bit messy. I got the 9 30 on saturday and aout 20 people were left at the stop, so it never even got to go to mk centre either.

 

I don't know if it's the colour settings on the inhouse printer, or cheap paper or ink that is the cause, but my photoshoots printed on the inhouse printers are simply not as good as the boots prints. To me it's an obvious difference in quality, but the idea is good.

[chloepop]

yeah i agree, caitlin blackwood had two jumpers on and looked freezing, what a shame about the old tottenham players is well.... they still looked happy tho which is a good thing :)

[DavidB]

I thought the crew did a very good job, organising as much as they could. I didn't have any problems, and they answered my questions when I had any. All seemed helpful and relaxed.

 

In terms of the venue, it was cold but I just tried to keep moving really. Luckily the guests I wanted weren't huge queues so I didn't suffer too much. You just have to be prepared really. I know some people haven't been before but I took a hoody and stuck that on once it got too cold for me. It is tricky because some areas are quite busy and not so bad.

 

The guests - I was very impressed with my own experiences, and the feedback from others actually. I think we had a good bunch this year, and a lot that were talkative and willing to personalise, do photos etc. Always nice when they're on good form. In particular, Jessica Parker Kennedy was a complete sweetheart, and Jonny from Alcatraz was a really interesting guy to talk to.

 

I liked the atmosphere. It had a good buzz to it and I thought it was a very enjoyable event overall. Lovely to see lots of forum people too - thanks if you said hi .. Did see lots of other members like Chloe and others, but difficult to say hi in queues! Hope you all had a great time though and managed to get what you wanted.

[chloepop]

I thought the crew did a very good job, organising as much as they could. I didn't have any problems, and they answered my questions when I had any. All seemed helpful and relaxed.

 

In terms of the venue, it was cold but I just tried to keep moving really. Luckily the guests I wanted weren't huge queues so I didn't suffer too much. You just have to be prepared really. I know some people haven't been before but I took a hoody and stuck that on once it got too cold for me. It is tricky because some areas are quite busy and not so bad.

 

The guests - I was very impressed with my own experiences, and the feedback from others actually. I think we had a good bunch this year, and a lot that were talkative and willing to personalise, do photos etc. Always nice when they're on good form. In particular, Jessica Parker Kennedy was a complete sweetheart, and Jonny from Alcatraz was a really interesting guy to talk to.

 

I liked the atmosphere. It had a good buzz to it and I thought it was a very enjoyable event overall. Lovely to see lots of forum people too - thanks if you said hi .. Did see lots of other members like Chloe and others, but difficult to say hi in queues! Hope you all had a great time though and managed to get what you wanted.

chloe as in me? lol

[DavidB]

Yep - seen your photo on here so many times lately that I recognised you immediately

[chloepop]

ohh god haha, where was i ? what was i doing hahaah

[jcangel]

I had a hectic day yesterday, but did get everything I wanted to, which is the most important thing... That said a couple of gripes; first the free bus, I managed to catch one leaving from the station at 9:30 although I arrived in time for a 9am one that never showed. The bus was packed when it left (leaving some of the waiting crowd behind) it did not stop at the shopping centre...was it supposed to? If I had been waiting there I would not have been too happy. Perhaps more buses during the busy 'get there when it opens' time? Also agree about buses back, really had no clue where to go to pick them up, was told just outside the main entrance, but this wasn't the case. I know the bus is free, and is a service, but when it is more frustrating than paying to get there I did wonder if it was worth it.

 

Secondly the venue. It really is not at all suitable for the number of people that attend. Trying to negotiate around packed walkways is extremely unpleasant and frustrating. Guests with VQ lines were fairly easy to see, as queues were obvious, but guests on open tables at times had scrums in front of them and no clear place to line up whilst waiting. It made things less pleasant than I think it should have been.

 

My main problem with h venue is that it is so open and although I am not blaming Showmasters fo the weather, it always seems to be a cold and wet weekend when ever Collectormania is on. It's just no fun hanging around and the only space that is warm is the dealers area, which is so crowded it is hard to move.

 

Will I go again? Of course if there are guests ttending I want to meet. Do I wish it were somewhere else? Absolutely!

Edited June 3, 2012 by jcAngel