More talks added to the online shop

[Murph]

I was gonna say, I only booked my Sunday 1 today lol

[KingRichard76]

But the 80's Talk with Zach Galligan, Anthony Michael Hall and Alex Winter has been removed.

 

I bet I'm going to look like a flipping hypocrite now if its now going to be on Saturday... And or Sunday, either that or the talks sold out lol.

[jediknight49]

Perhaps it's a cunning plan to make more people buy Gold passes

[kevinstowmarket]

i never went to the talks, so really it doesn't bother me. But if i'm honest it does seem a way of getting more money. Most guests are quiet by the end, so a half hour talk won't lose them too much. Autograph prices have crept up a bit too. Yes, things have became more expensive. But check the rate of inflation.

I do agree that many will be quite quiet, and if they are i'd think showmasters would reassess. It's their business. You have the decision to go, what you have. If you don't agree with pricing don't pay, they don't make you.

[Kuato_Lives]

What's going on with the 80s Star talk and Tom Skerritt talk? They've been removed from the online store. Dare I say this but could they have possibly become free talks which is why they are no longer for sale? Any word from Showmasters on here would be great right now so we can find out what's going on.

[KingRichard76]

What's going on with the 80s Star talk and Tom Skerritt talk? They've been removed from the online store. Dare I say this but could they have possibly become free talks which is why they are no longer for sale? Any word from Showmasters on here would be great right now so we can find out what's going on.

 

This!

 

(I really hope that Zach does a free talk)

[HGcareers]

The Hunger Games talk at CMMK for £10 was dead. God help the talks for LFCC, I'm really not happy

 

It was really dead and we only had 20 mins after the guests were late and barely any questions I think that talk should have been free

[kevinstowmarket]

i don't think they were expecting this feedback tbh!

[Queen_Sindel]

In case someone missed it, a list of some of the free activities (including free talks) has been posted: http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=76464&hl=

[jediknight49]

I Know that SM has played around with some of the talks and now made a couple of them "free", but there are still too many that require payment for my liking.

 

I think this policy will be revisited once LFCC is over and SM see falling numbers attending the talks.

[dreamsphere3]

I get that people are disappointed that these talks aren't free, but I'm getting depressed about the amount of moaning that's going on. I was so excited about the recent guest announcements and the talks but you guys are really harshing my squee

 

i totally get you!!

 

I 100% agree. Why is everyone being so damn negative? I would understand if you were being forced to attend these talks but your not. Yes I understand some of the upset but my only problem is that the shop is closed to me and I can't buy anything! I was Houghton purchase more tickets with new got birthday money!

 

Seriously though,I notice that moaning and groaning seem like an Olympic sport here. Personaly I think it's because you are all lucky and spoiled with choice of convention. we have none in Ireland and lemme tell you,if we did we would be so gratefully for it!

 

right,my little rant over,peace and love guys,share the cyber hugs!

[BeatrixKiddo88]

I'm thinking maybe pre-sales for other things have not been as high as say last year. I know some people moan about DW guests but they do bring in tons of money.

 

This year is a good line-up, but it is very spread out and some are a little more niche than most years. So I think SM expected more than they have gotten so far.

 

And so, rather than put up auto prices (which is the main source of income) or photo prices (so on the day is more expensive than pre-sale, which would get LOADS of complaints) they raised/added the only things they really could., the talks.

 

I know personally it isnt my biggest line-up for a while, despite soem great rarities. And most people I know are only getting 3/4 guests. Whereas last year we all went mental lol For me its the cheapest event of the year so far, whereas las yera it was my most expensive.

Edited June 21, 2012 by BeatrixKiddo88

[scifisteve]

As has been pointed out taking people out of signing (or photoshooting) time is a loss of revenue to SM

 

Now if you view it as having previously been funded by "door money", that means everybody was paying for it. Which raises the question of if it is fair that 10,000 people should pay for a talk for a few hundred people to attend? If I attend and don't fancy any of say 20 free talks, is it fair that I should be subsidising so many talks for other people?

 

I agree ,why should we pay for the "free Talks on our entry fee when generally I do not have the time to go to them anyway Talk time is the loss off signing time with so many guest at these events I also fear that on the Attendee side some people might miss out on an Autograph. I think to many people think of these as True Cons (3 day events held in hotels) rather than a Signing event. A True Con all talks are free but you pay £80 plus for entry

 

 

 

Sorry to be blunt, but if you "don't feel like paying" then don't, no-one's being forced to pay anything or even come to the event at all, it's a choice, you choose whether you think it's worth it or not or whether you can afford it or not. There are few people that can afford to do everything they want in life, we can't expect the world to cater to our personal budgets. I've missed out on coming to LFCC in the past or missed out on specific guests because I couldn't afford to meet them, that's life.

 

Yep Nuff Said

[TommyT]

I think this policy will be revisited once LFCC is over and SM see falling numbers attending the talks.

Really? 20 paying customers in a paid talk -> revenue for SM = £300

200 people in a non-paying talk -> revenue for SM = £0 (plus it takes all those people out of circulation of the rest of the show when they could be spending...)

 

what might be a more interesting question for them to review would be are they likely to get substantially more than three times as many paying cutomers into a talk at £5 than they do at £15? (60 people at £5 is not as good as 20 @ £15, because you have to deal with about 3 times as many sales transactions. But 75 or 80 at £5 is almost certainly more favourable).

[scifisteve]

I am neither Nah or Yay on the subject, But With limited seats available for each Guest, Paying for talks can be usefully for sorting a Fan who really wanted to see a certain talk from those with just a casual interest or others that may be bored and have nothing else to do till till later.

 

Bit like when I used to Drink at Pages every Saturday, then having to pay to get in at Christmas and New Year :)

[dreamsphere3]

im pretty sure this thread will get closed as there is another one already open about the talks and stuff.

[Queen_Sindel]

Not closed, but I'll merge the two topics.

[Annelie1991]

I finally did decide to attend the holly talk but have to get my ticket at the day itself cause international cant be shipped anymore

[chrismk]

I don't get it- whats changed since last year that has made Showmasters think: 'Lets have a lot more paid talks'?

I love what Showmasters do- without them, there would be no talks, free or paid, but we're not made of money and I have enough to spend on autographs and photoshoots. I can't help but feel that almost all of the talks (besides Anderson,Ryan and possibly GoT's talks) will wind up being half empty- what would be the point in that?

 

What has changed is the volume of big guests. This years list is pretty epic and if you think about it, for the hour the guest is unavailable, they could have signed maybe 100+ autographs at £10-£30 a go. Showmasters have to maximise earnings from the guests, to pay for their costs (fees, transport, hotels, etc). Therefore the option is quite clearly 'pay talk', or 'no talk'.

 

This potential loss of earnings applies to any guest who is likely to have a constant stream of attendees queuing all day, so the free talks are more likely to be guests who will be 'Open Queue', at which point a free talk can almost act as an advertisement for the guest (I know several people - myself included - who have got an auto or photo with a guest, simply on the basis of a great talk!)

 

I was quite vocally opposed to all the pay talks at CM:MK, but that was because there were NO free ones.

[thefreckles]

So, since everybody is spamming this whole topic about the paid talks i too would like to say something,

 

so.. more talks aren't free anymore. Showmasters shall have good reasons for that, is there really a point of sending so many posts in this topic and complaining?

I can understand if you wanted to join a couple of talks and now you've found out they aren't free anymore you won't like it, but hey, that's life and

if you really really want to be at a paid talk, you'll pay :)

Actually, no. There are two talks I would really, really like to go to but i) money is tight and I have to really think about what will give me best value for money and ii) I semi-baulk at having to pay some of the fees announced given how absolutely awful the sound is in these venues. Paid a lot of money for one talk and, at times, you could barely hear the guest and I was in the first or second row behind the Golds! And that is my main objection. If I am going to have to pay for a talk, I expect my money's worth and to be able to hear the guest. Also, more free talks meant I was more likely to go both days (and end up spending more money both days on spur of the moment autos/photos). Will probably only go the one day now. With the fact that this has come with no warning whatsoever so close to the event (thus no time to manage budgets) has not left me feeling positive. Obviously my feelings only but am entitled to air them here just as those who disagree with me are too :)

Edited June 23, 2012 by thefreckles