Feedback

[Hustler]

I agree with some of the comments previously about spreading the guests out all around the stadium as this wouldnt cause all the crowds in one area..

There was too much shoving and pushing, and with my wife who suffers from panic attacks is not a very good mixture......

Edited June 4, 2012 by Kingy68

[rosie727]

i am too tired to go thru the whole thread after such a busy weekend soooooooooo this is my feedback, i had a great time. there was the right mix of guests to keep me busy, made new friends, the staff were great as always, esp the girl on the VT tickets for primeval, she kept us all amused!!!!. saturday was mad but i still got thru all i had to do. only gripe was sunday arriving at 9 and some of the guests didnt arrive til after 10, which wasnt good when your time is limited and have a 5 and a half hour journey ahead of you.

[BACYLON]

I went all day Saturday & Sunday, I had a good time, all the guests were great etc and a lot of things went perfectly & exceeded expectations, (like letting people into 'holding pens' before opening to try to keep at least some people out of the rain).

 

Here are comments on a few things that didn't work so well:

 

Virtual Tickets #1

I got about 25 autographs over the weekend for myself & friends, nearly all of which were for guests who were on virtual ticket queues. I went up when my number being seen BUT only 3 times did anyone check my VT number and only ONCE did they take the ticket away!

 

I wasn't alone either, as by the end of the day we all had wads of 'unused' Virtual tickets.

 

People around me in very busy queues had VT's out of range to be seen or even no VT at all!

 

 

Virtual Tickets #2

Went in Sunday morning at 9am, went straight to Primeval section, asked for a Virtual Queue ticket and was told 'They haven't arrived yet', so I turned around and went to Lena Headey line asked for Virtual Queue ticket and was told 'We are still waiting for them to be given to us'. Losing the will to live, I spotted TooTall, told him about it, after an expletive, he cracked some skulls and someone ran over with the VT's!

 

Photoshoot queue #1

The line to buy these on saturday stretched around half the stadium to the dealers room within 20 minutes of opening. Perhaps the postal fee is too high to encourage preorders or slow refund of cancelled guests is discouraging preorders?

 

Photoshoot queue #2

As many have mentioned, there was no organisation of queues for taking photo shoots, normally for bigger events SM's do this well and get groups in using number order, not this time, so you just had 200 odd people snaking everywhere with those who had paid £3 to preorder to get a 'low' photo number, forced to queue in order of arriving for the shoot.

 

Photoshoot distribution #1

With some photo shoots still going at 3.40 on sunday and the venue being shut at 5pm it was always going to be tight, to be fair most seemed to arrive back in time. However, approx 50 ever more despairing people (who had photo shoots from 1.40pm!) were forced to leave their details and leave without their paid for photos at 5pm. Photo distribution is a known risk issue so late in the day, and a few of us were dismayed that Jason was not around to explain issues/deal with concerned customers who had to leave without their photos at 5pm.

 

Photo Distribution #2

Half the crew had gloves to use when handling photo distributions, the other half were using their greasy paws.

 

The Venue

Nothing you can do about the weather, but we can all confirm, (ignoring the dealers room) despite approx 20 laps of the stadium, we couldnt find anywhere which could form part of the much mentioned '80% enclosed section'

 

Just a few issues above, but as I said earlier a lot did work very well.

[Count Fooku]

 

The Venue

Nothing you can do about the weather, but we can all confirm, (ignoring the dealers room) despite approx 20 laps of the stadium, we couldnt find anywhere which could form part of the much mentioned '80% enclosed section'

 

 

That had me baffled as well, I couldn't see any noticeable difference between this year and last with the signing area being enclosed!

[fifi]

1. Great guests as always. Most of the crew are lovely and helpful though probably not best to have a crew member being berated for not doing his job in front of customers to the show? This happened at the Primeval auto section. I understand that it was important to get things moving, but that was a little bit unbusinesslike.

2. Cold, cold, cold. I will only come back next year if a) there's a big guest (I came because of Nichelle Nichols) or b} the weather forecast is better.

3. And, I won't bother buying tickets in advance because there was not calling by number at all so no benefit. Despite what others have said, this is usual practice for big guests at SM events and when someone complained to the organisers they said it should be happening, but still wasn't on the second day.

4. Autograph vouchers? Apparently, I can't be given change for a voucher, despite the fact that I had been given 3 x £10 vouchers for a couple of autographs. Change was given for a £10 note handed over though, so it was available. A bit silly, given it's all earning the organisers money and the guy was quite rude too.

5. And the parking? Dreadful on Saturday but we struck lucky on sunday when we managed to get a space near the main entrance and there were stewards guiding people.

6. Photo collection. All that has already been mentioned. Plus, people wandering along the photos just looking at them as though they are part of the show is a bit odd.

 

So, great guests. Generally well crewed apart from a few exceptions. But, not coming back to this one unless a big, big guest and then won't buy in advance. Much prefer other SM events.

[shawlax]

Good points -

 

The crew. All very friendly, helpful very polite and if i had a question they answered it.

 

The Guests. Again, there wasnt a bad guest this weekend that i met, each one was friendly, welcoming and either had a bit of banter or a nice chat. Brain Blessed, Jason Momoa and Brandon Routh all were amazing.

 

The Venue - Again, i know theres some ups and downs about this, mostly out of the control of Show masters, but tbh we drove there and got parking spots so nothing really effected us, so the plus good point i want to make is the food stuff. KFC, McDonalds and Asda - theres no complaints.

 

Bad Point.

 

I feel over the weekend there was only 1 thing i needed to mention and that was Karens photoshoot.

 

Was a mess....Normally with guests like that, they do 1-50 ticket numbers, which is far more organised. Not her. So, personally for me who had a clash with her was very fustrating having a lowish ticket being told to go back to the huge line of people who stretched out right around. Now again, i spoke to another crew member and it got resolved, so thankfully i never missed any shoots, but just giving my feedback and being honest.

 

I could mention photo collection and stuff but i know showmasters are working on stuff and it has improved over the year, so again its not worth mentioning cause i know its well in hand

 

Overall a amazing weekend, Looking forward to LFCC

 

Shawlax

[karen1774]

My husband and i went on Saturday, Had a great day met some lovely guests and found staff friendly and helpful,all in all a good experience.

 

I would like to agree with some others who have posted on here about the photoshoot tickets. We always pre order our photo tickets and think that when queuing it should be done in ticket number order. This would stop such big queues and blockages to other attendess just trying to get around the stadium if you could only queue when your ticket batch has been called.Also if i've paid postage to get my tickets early why should people that decide to get theirs last minute be in the queue before me.

 

Also think the Photo pick up area needs to be handled differently - Maybe put up a sign stating which photos you have back, If the quest you had yours with isn't listed then you don't even need to be anywhere near the table! This would stop so many people decending on the table all at once.

 

Apart from these two things - Well done Showmasters you put on another great show with great quests.

[Psyclepath]

Photoshoots usually are by number order and I can only apologise that we didn't do this on Saturday especially for the John and Karen photoshoots - I was pit boss for area A.

 

Unlike LFCC and EMS we just didn't have the space and enclosure to do this. I hope this doesn't affect your decision to come to another event at MK as I believe we'll be in a better position next year.

 

Michelle

[shawlax]

Photoshoots usually are by number order and I can only apologise that we didn't do this on Saturday especially for the John and Karen photoshoots - I was pit boss for area A.

 

Unlike LFCC and EMS we just didn't have the space and enclosure to do this. I hope this doesn't affect your decision to come to another event at MK as I believe we'll be in a better position next year.

 

Michelle

 

At the end of the day, the gentleman who was on the door (tall guy) who's name escapes me managed to help me and was very nice and understand in Karens photoshoot, so goes to show the crew do help and are amazing, and he turned a potential weekend worry to nothing at all, only reason i mentioned it was again just for feedback but he definatly goes to show the best of showmasters crewing

[Rockstar6662]

 

I feel over the weekend there was only 1 thing i needed to mention and that was Karens photoshoot.

 

Was a mess....Normally with guests like that, they do 1-50 ticket numbers, which is far more organised. Not her. So, personally for me who had a clash with her was very fustrating having a lowish ticket being told to go back to the huge line of people who stretched out right around. Now again, i spoke to another crew member and it got resolved, so thankfully i never missed any shoots, but just giving my feedback and being honest.

 

I did 10 photoshoots over the weekend (including Karens) and at none of them were people being called by ticket number. Luckily I didn't have any clashes but i know some people who did and where normally they'd probably be let in it somewhere near the front, it was very much a case of "tough, you've got to go to the back".

 

i know everyone gets through and it does happen quite quickly but one of the reasons for buying tickets early is to get a low number so you can go through early and then get on with other stuff. Plus I suspect the people who do buy early are probably buying quite a few with low numbers so that they can get through each one quickly.

 

First time (except where the numbers of people are very small) I've not seen this happen. Plus the queue for one of the photo areas was running right into the dealers area at times.

 

Didn't spoil anything for me but the usually well organised chaos of the photoshoots didn't seem to be happening at this event which did surprise me given the experience they have at doing these things.

 

No-one took any of my VT tickets off me though when I met the guests so I could have easily gone through a few times and I believe people were even swapping high numbers for low numbers with friends to get others through. Again, the queuing in the past has always worked well but not so much here.

 

Then the usual people clogging up walkways and entrances, gawping at guests and trying to take long-distance photos when it clearly says "no photos" always gets me a bit annoyed but while in some areas crew were trying to stop this happening, it wasn't the same everywhere but that's always been an issue.

 

I'm kinda used to all that by now though and just try to work around it, so really it was just the photoshoot queueing and then the slight confusion on Sunday morning when no-one had any VTs to give out that were the only real issues but none caused any real problem and i got to see everyone I wanted and do everything I needed without any stress.

 

I know the photo collection had issues but I was lucky to get all my photos so probably best to leave others to state their experiences on that. Did end up with 2 of my Lance Henriksen ones though. Picked one up on Friday and there was another copy there on saturday too which surprised me. Looked like one had been printed in-house and the other off-site so interesting to compare the two.

[chrismk]

Most of the guests don't do over the table photo's any more and this really annoys me.On Friday I asked Carl Weathers and Nichelle Nichols and they both said no because I'm doing a photo' shoot and there was nobody behind me.Sadly the photo' shoots are the reason why the no posed photo's ban is up but on the other hand John Schuck Olivia D' Abo and Lance Henriksen were happy to oblige!! I dislike the photo' shoots mainly due to the additional expense and would prefer a free photo over the desk on my own camera in a sensible standard size rather than join another queue pay extra for a ridiculous 9x6 which means when I come home I have to trim the photo with a blade so it fits in to a regular 5x7 frame!

 

As has been said time and time (and time and time) again, the decision regarding over the table photos is almost exclusively down to the guest (sometimes their agent). The only time it might be an organisers decision, is if there is a huge queue (such as with Karen Gillen) and that is to allow as many attendees as possible to meet the guest (over the table photos slow things down.)

 

The guest may not want to have flashes going off in their face all day, or they may not want to be constantly standing up to pose for pictures. Often, they use the photo shoot as a shield to hide behind, because they don't want to come across as 'the bad guy'.

[Rockstar6662]

Most of the guests don't do over the table photo's any more and this really annoys me.On Friday I asked Carl Weathers and Nichelle Nichols and they both said no because I'm doing a photo' shoot and there was nobody behind me.Sadly the photo' shoots are the reason why the no posed photo's ban is up but on the other hand John Schuck Olivia D' Abo and Lance Henriksen were happy to oblige!! I dislike the photo' shoots mainly due to the additional expense and would prefer a free photo over the desk on my own camera in a sensible standard size rather than join another queue pay extra for a ridiculous 9x6 which means when I come home I have to trim the photo with a blade so it fits in to a regular 5x7 frame!

 

As has been said time and time (and time and time) again, the decision regarding over the table photos is almost exclusively down to the guest (sometimes their agent). The only time it might be an organisers decision, is if there is a huge queue (such as with Karen Gillen) and that is to allow as many attendees as possible to meet the guest (over the table photos slow things down.)

 

The guest may not want to have flashes going off in their face all day, or they may not want to be constantly standing up to pose for pictures. Often, they use the photo shoot as a shield to hide behind, because they don't want to come across as 'the bad guy'.

 

Many guests were doing over the table photos or at least allowing photos while they were signing, even on Saturday when it was very busy. Not everyone sure and maybe the ones Howie wanted to meet were those that didn't. I'm always very respectful of the signs and will take a photo if I can but not worry if I can't. There can be many reasons why they don't want photos taken as chrismk states: time, personal preference, not liking flash, difficulty getting up and down so much etc etc. I personally never use flash and make sure I say so plus I now get a photoshoot with those I'd really like a photo with anyway though appreciate not everyone can afford that.

 

This keeps coming up time and time again. If it was a case that it's just because they have a photoshoot then there'd be almost no-one allowing photos at the desk yet many do.

[etmuse]

Most of the guests don't do over the table photo's any more and this really annoys me.On Friday I asked Carl Weathers and Nichelle Nichols and they both said no because I'm doing a photo' shoot and there was nobody behind me.Sadly the photo' shoots are the reason why the no posed photo's ban is up but on the other hand John Schuck Olivia D' Abo and Lance Henriksen were happy to oblige!! I dislike the photo' shoots mainly due to the additional expense and would prefer a free photo over the desk on my own camera in a sensible standard size rather than join another queue pay extra for a ridiculous 9x6 which means when I come home I have to trim the photo with a blade so it fits in to a regular 5x7 frame!

 

As has been said time and time (and time and time) again, the decision regarding over the table photos is almost exclusively down to the guest (sometimes their agent). The only time it might be an organisers decision, is if there is a huge queue (such as with Karen Gillen) and that is to allow as many attendees as possible to meet the guest (over the table photos slow things down.)

 

The guest may not want to have flashes going off in their face all day, or they may not want to be constantly standing up to pose for pictures. Often, they use the photo shoot as a shield to hide behind, because they don't want to come across as 'the bad guy'.

Actually, even with Karen Gillan it was her decision (I was her guest assistant on Saturday) - she was asked when she arrived at the table in the morning if she wanted to do over the table shots or not. (The time it takes was the reason she decided against it, but was happy for people to snap her while signing.)

[Rockstar6662]

Actually, even with Karen Gillan it was her decision (I was her guest assistant on Saturday) - she was asked when she arrived at the table in the morning if she wanted to do over the table shots or not. (The time it takes was the reason she decided against it, but was happy for people to snap her while signing.)

 

Exactly. Nice to have the confirmation that it's not just the organiser out to make more money. As it was I got a lovely photo of her at the desk (which I actually prefer to get now anyway) which took a lot less time that having her get up, pose, someone else try to work the camera and sit down again.

[timelord81r]

Photoshoots usually are by number order and I can only apologise that we didn't do this on Saturday especially for the John and Karen photoshoots - I was pit boss for area A.

 

Unlike LFCC and EMS we just didn't have the space and enclosure to do this. I hope this doesn't affect your decision to come to another event at MK as I believe we'll be in a better position next year.

 

Michelle

 

 

deff not trying to cause an issue but last few CMMK's its been done and the queues exist, called up in batches or not, same amount of ppl are queueing. i was right at the back of karens (as i was at sean astins delayed shoot prior) and i had a very low yellow, a few of us did but we were still sent right to the back of a VERY long line lol. it was only cos by that time all the shoots were over running that I didnt miss my next shoot. though i heard karens wasnt a crews decision, in other shoots ( the crew guy seemed disinterested in shoot clashes or queueing by numbers, he seemed to only be interested in helping you with a clash if it was a talk clash.

 

but if ppl are saying they wont return cos of this? thats crazy, imo, i still got to all my shoots (12 in one day)

 

 

saying all this, like ive said before the crew overall were awesome, very friendly and helpful,

[miltonbones]

Went on Saturday. My sixth convention and my second at Stadium MK. I used to live in MK twenty years ago so i love coming back up to the place. I actually like the venue and dont mind the big crowds as they're part and parcel of these things. Met some amazing guests and had some quality photos, the only downside of the whole day was the inevitable waiting for the photos to be developed and trying to fight to the front of the table to get near them. A couple of staff were quite astute and waved photos up in the air so that if you recognized them and were in them then you were well away.

 

Brian Blessed - a legend and lovely bloke but needed his own section a'la Carl Weathers, the Doctor Whos, as his queue trailed for miles at times. Me and the missus were probably the fourth people into the stadium and walked past his empty table and were told it wasnt going to be a virtual queue, by the time we'd done one circuit of the ground it was and we had to revisit several times before we saw him but it was well worth it. I think he fancied my wife as well the way he kept staring at her at both the shoot and the autograph session. Gordon's Alive!

Richard Kiel - the first celebrity i saw in the stadium, he nearly ran me down on his scooter as he neared his table cos i didnt see him. This never happened to Roger Moore. Anyway, lovely bloke and very imaginative in his photo session.

Carl Weathers - quiet but polite at the autograph session, thankfully he took his sunglasses off at the photoshoot and was again very pleasant.

Nichelle Nichols - lovely woman but looked very cold.

John Schuck - nice guy, had longer chat with him than any of the others. Had no idea he was in M.A.S.H. the movie.

Vic Armstrong - again, nice guy, he looked very pleased when i told him i was 2/3 through his book.

 

The selling areas were quite quiet compared to usual which was refreshing, i managed to pick up the expanded Star Trek II and III soundtracks so was delighted. All in all, loved the day, cant wait til the next one.

[Rainbowchazer]

Two or three further things which occurred to me overnight.

 

1. Families.

• Why not offer a group ticket for families to come in together? I have read so many posts saying 'why couldn't my child come in to x photoshoot with me?' It is unfair to charge for several tickets when there will be one photograph resulting.
  
• Why should the children suffer and have to wait longer because some erk has pushed in front of them when their parents have bought VTs? I take the earlier poster's point about autistic youngsters not having the ability to stand still and wait, but that applies to many youngsters who don't understand the concept of queueing. Now that the original event attendees are old enough to have families and bring them along, more attention should be paid to the requirements of families. Perhaps a special time for particularly popular guests to meet with the families where the rest of us childfree types are not allowed in?
  

2. Wheelchairs, Canes, Buggies

• A film con is always going to be popular with those who find movement difficult, as enjoying films is something everyone can do. But it is impossible to move safely when it's so crowded. I had my bad foot stood on more times than enough and I didn't take a cane because I knew what it would be like and so leant on my husband instead. However, I did see many people with canes, in buggies and chairs. It became very difficult to move around many parts of the circuit on Saturday and I really feel for the partially sighted chap I saw being escorted around. He was waving his cane in a vain attempt to draw people's attention to the fact that they needed to give him some space, but it wasn't working. More consideration should be given to the numbers of people allowed in at any given time - I would have hated to have had a fire alarm when it was so busy!
  

3. General facilities

• The toilets needed to be kept better stocked.
  
• The stadium seating was supposedly cordoned off, but loads of people were using it because there was nowhere else to sit. A stewarded rest and relaxation area somewhere away from the noise would be really useful. I've crewed such places in the past at events like this and it is a welcome addition for many. Especially given the numbers of families and disabled there, whose stamina isn't always up the same level as fully mobile adults. I found it very tough going to constantly push and shove, shuffle and weave - and I've walked four Half Marathons in my time.
  
• The parking...needs to be sorted out.
  
• Ticketing needs to be more rigorously enforced than it was, especially early in the day. We had ticket 504 for Sean Astin and were able to get in when the advertised numbers were 0-500, around 4.30-5pm. Chap in front of us had 548, and if that had been us we would have waited until open q or 0-550 was called, especially as there was a queue still for him even that late in the day. Yes, I know telling people they'll have to wait won't be popular, but that's what pit bosses and senior crew should be sorting out. If people create a scene, they should be ejected. I see some of the crew were telling people to wait their allocated turn, even if the manner in which the news was conveyed wasn't ideal.
  

Am sure I'll come up with more ideas in due course. Simply put, the lack of space hampers everything from parking to waiting for guests to picking up photos to simply moving around at all. Can't be helped as things are.

[maegurwen]

To be honest, my only complaint was the free bus. When i got there one bus arrived , most of us got on but a quarter of the group were left behind. Very cramped as some of us kept kicking each other trying to find our footing as the bus went round the roundabouts. At one point i thought the bus was going to topple over...

Then when we got there..it was the wrong side of the stadium. The bus driver drove along the carpark and randomly stopped at one point to let us off, which meant walking from the other side of the stadium to the entrance. When it came to getting the bus back, i wasn't sure if the pick up point was where i was dropped off or in front of stadium ( like previous trips to the stadium). Apart from that i enjoyed the day.

[Avengers7]

Most of the guests don't do over the table photo's any more and this really annoys me.On Friday I asked Carl Weathers and Nichelle Nichols and they both said no because I'm doing a photo' shoot and there was nobody behind me.Sadly the photo' shoots are the reason why the no posed photo's ban is up but on the other hand John Schuck Olivia D' Abo and Lance Henriksen were happy to oblige!! I dislike the photo' shoots mainly due to the additional expense and would prefer a free photo over the desk on my own camera in a sensible standard size rather than join another queue pay extra for a ridiculous 9x6 which means when I come home I have to trim the photo with a blade so it fits in to a regular 5x7 frame!

 

 

Personally I think its great that some of the guests dont allow over the table photos. I just wish that every guest would refuse. Especially with the bigger guests, having these ttype of photos really slows down the queue. Added to that, some of us buy photoshoots and therefore its unfare to allow across the desk photos for some while others have to pay.

[Vitani]

I was there on Sunday and was very happy with everything except one aspect. You ad to pay to have your photoshoot pictures sent home if they were not ready on time. The late photoshoots are always going to be a problem. Mine was with Nichelle and should have been ready by 4.30pm, but I was well aware that it probably wouldn't be ready until 5. I was able to wait, but for people who are not, or for those whose photos weren't going to be ready by the time the event closed, I don't think they should have to pay postage when showmasters are meant to have them ready by the end of the day. That should be showmaster's expense if they don't finish on time, not ours.

 

Apart from that, I had a thoroughly good time and I would like to thank you for running the event.

[Banished_From_Rohan]

 

Personally I think its great that some of the guests dont allow over the table photos. I just wish that every guest would refuse. Especially with the bigger guests, having these ttype of photos really slows down the queue. Added to that, some of us buy photoshoots and therefore its unfare to allow across the desk photos for some while others have to pay.

 

See, it's your opinion and that's fine but I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with you. Not everyone who attends these events can afford to pay for photoshoots with guests as well as autographs and all the other expenses as well. Nobody HAS to pay for a photoshoot - it's your choice. Plus, to take it to a logical conclusion, if lots more people paid for photoshoots and all guests did them you would a) find that the guests were at the tables for a lot less time signing autographs, therefore reducing the likelihood that those who wanted their photoshoots signed could get them done and need more photoshoot areas and photographers!

I think the taking of photos from the queue as you're waiting for things to get signed as with Tennant at EMS is a good compromise for the busier guests, otherwise you're going to de-personalise the experience of meeting the guest even more than it can be already.

[Avengers7]

Personally I think its great that some of the guests dont allow over the table photos. I just wish that every guest would refuse. Especially with the bigger guests, having these ttype of photos really slows down the queue. Added to that, some of us buy photoshoots and therefore its unfare to allow across the desk photos for some while others have to pay.

 

See, it's your opinion and that's fine but I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with you. Not everyone who attends these events can afford to pay for photoshoots with guests as well as autographs and all the other expenses as well. Nobody HAS to pay for a photoshoot - it's your choice. Plus, to take it to a logical conclusion, if lots more people paid for photoshoots and all guests did them you would a) find that the guests were at the tables for a lot less time signing autographs, therefore reducing the likelihood that those who wanted their photoshoots signed could get them done and need more photoshoot areas and photographers!

I think the taking of photos from the queue as you're waiting for things to get signed as with Tennant at EMS is a good compromise for the busier guests, otherwise you're going to de-personalise the experience of meeting the guest even more than it can be already.

 

 

I agree that the taking of photos in the Tennant queue was a very good compromise and that would be great with all guests but it is very frustrating when you are queuing for someone for an hour because every single person has asked for a posed photo.

I saw at least 2 people walking away from queues having had major strops because they couldn't have the posed shot that they thought they were entitled to.

Edited June 4, 2012 by reddragon

[Banished_From_Rohan]

Bleeding smilies! The was supposed to be b )...and if that comes out as a smilie I'll scream! No I can understand some people getting frustrated if things are taking a long time, and it may well have been with Andrew and Hannah on Sunday that this was the case, but if so it was because the guest assistants were having to basically do the jobs of two people rather than one as we couldn't put cash desks out where they should have been due to the weather.

[Rockstar6662]

Personally I think its great that some of the guests dont allow over the table photos. I just wish that every guest would refuse. Especially with the bigger guests, having these ttype of photos really slows down the queue. Added to that, some of us buy photoshoots and therefore its unfare to allow across the desk photos for some while others have to pay.

 

See, it's your opinion and that's fine but I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with you. Not everyone who attends these events can afford to pay for photoshoots with guests as well as autographs and all the other expenses as well. Nobody HAS to pay for a photoshoot - it's your choice. Plus, to take it to a logical conclusion, if lots more people paid for photoshoots and all guests did them you would a) find that the guests were at the tables for a lot less time signing autographs, therefore reducing the likelihood that those who wanted their photoshoots signed could get them done and need more photoshoot areas and photographers!

I think the taking of photos from the queue as you're waiting for things to get signed as with Tennant at EMS is a good compromise for the busier guests, otherwise you're going to de-personalise the experience of meeting the guest even more than it can be already.

 

 

I agree that the taking of photos in the Tennant queue was a very good compromise and that would be great with all guests but it is very frustrating when you are queuing for someone for an hour because every single person has asked for a posed photo.

I saw at least 2 people walking away from queues having had major strops because they couldn't have the posed shot that they thought they were entitled to.

 

Then they need to pay more attention to the signs that are up everywhere. Often both at the front of the queue for a guest and right behind their heads. Sorry to be blunt about it, but it's not exactly kept a secret if there are no posed or even no photos at all.

 

I do disagree with the "no table photos at all" argument though. I don't begrudge anyone getting an over the table photo even if I'm getting a proper photoshoot with the same guest. As long as it doesn't hold things up too much of course. Personally I think I look terrible in photos and when stretched and contorted over a desk look even worse. I do it sometimes but have now got into the habit of taking a photo just of the guests signing or just as themselves and it seems a bit more natural that way. Then I get a proper shoot with the ones I really want to have a photo with.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Rockstar6662

[Avengers7]

Personally I think its great that some of the guests dont allow over the table photos. I just wish that every guest would refuse. Especially with the bigger guests, having these ttype of photos really slows down the queue. Added to that, some of us buy photoshoots and therefore its unfare to allow across the desk photos for some while others have to pay.

 

See, it's your opinion and that's fine but I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with you. Not everyone who attends these events can afford to pay for photoshoots with guests as well as autographs and all the other expenses as well. Nobody HAS to pay for a photoshoot - it's your choice. Plus, to take it to a logical conclusion, if lots more people paid for photoshoots and all guests did them you would a) find that the guests were at the tables for a lot less time signing autographs, therefore reducing the likelihood that those who wanted their photoshoots signed could get them done and need more photoshoot areas and photographers!

I think the taking of photos from the queue as you're waiting for things to get signed as with Tennant at EMS is a good compromise for the busier guests, otherwise you're going to de-personalise the experience of meeting the guest even more than it can be already.

 

 

I agree that the taking of photos in the Tennant queue was a very good compromise and that would be great with all guests but it is very frustrating when you are queuing for someone for an hour because every single person has asked for a posed photo.

I saw at least 2 people walking away from queues having had major strops because they couldn't have the posed shot that they thought they were entitled to.

 

Then they need to pay more attention to the signs that are up everywhere. Often both at the front of the queue for a guest and right behind their heads. Sorry to be blunt about it, but it's not exactly kept a secret if there are no posed or even no photos at all.

 

I do disagree with the "no table photos at all" argument though. I don't begrudge anyone getting an over the table photo even if I'm getting a proper photoshoot with the same guest. As long as it doesn't hold things up too much of course. Personally I think I look terrible in photos and when stretched and contorted over a desk look even worse. I do it sometimes but have now got into the habit of taking a photo just of the guests signing or just as themselves and it seems a bit more natural that way. Then I get a proper shoot with the ones I really want to have a photo with.

 

 

I think you hit the nail on the head there when you said great as long as it doesn't hold things up. I can give you examples of at least three guests on the weekend twhose quues were being held up due to constant asking for photos. All these guests were brillinat and agreed to have them but it was very frustrating.