Event Feedback

[srb]

Just want to put my 2p's worth in.

 

I wanted to get things organised so I didnt have to rush around but for some reason, I couldnt book online. Did send an email which wasnt replied to, but I know that in the week leading up to an event such as this, the organisers have so much to do. So I'm not complaining about that, I knew I could pay on the day.

 

Cues:

 

Yes the EB cue's could have been better organised, but it happens from time to time. Once it was sorted, we got through quite quick

 

Buying tickets for autos & photos:

 

Bit of a scrum, I was panicking a bit as Chris Judge was quite early in the schedule, but the crew were so helpful and go sorted out

 

Photo Shoot

 

The ones I went to were well organised and, no problems

 

I didnt know that there was a photo opportunity to have your pic on the throne, bit upset I missed that

 

Autographs:

 

Again had no problems with the ones I went to

 

Venue

 

Now I do have a bit of a grip with the venue, too big and not enough rest areas. I suffer with a spinal problem and although its not noticeable, I suffered so much with pain that day due to not being able to sit. When I did find a spot that DID have chairs and I saw people sitting there and eating, I thought great! About 10mins later, 2 guys came up to me and told me that I had to move as they were filming! No signs or anything to say that you couldnt sit there. Only place really to sit was in the cafe's there and the prices in them were awful, furthermore there is only so much time you can make a cup of weak tea last before the cafe staff glared at you.

 

All in all the day was great, preferred the Earls Court venue better though

 

 

.

 

I disagre the balcony was open upstairs and had some chairs set out on one side. I went up stairs lots with my two sons it was a way of escaping the crowds downstairs. This was a massive chill out area and is far better than anything EC has ever done. Although a lot of the time we were just sitting on the floor so may not have been ideal for you, but the space was definately there.

[KEVWIT]

Thank you so much Showmasters, I come from France just in order to meet Holly Marie Combs ans she was so nice ! I'm so happy, I can't thank you enough ! I went to a lot of conventions but this was the best one for sure, you can be sure I will be back next year :)

[Sorock]

Some event Merchandise would have been good...

 

I would buy a LFCC fridge magnet.

May sound daft but would be a good collection to have a magnet from each show.

[Spirit Juggler]

Honestly, this was the best con I've been to in a while. I love the venue. Cooler than earls court and much better spaced. The isles were about twice the width of the previous year and this allowed people MUCH more room to move.

[Zagreus]

Oh yeah, one more comment. I had low photo ticket numbers for almost every photo shoot this year (between 1 and 20) so was hoping to be pretty close to the front when the session started. Meaning of course that I could get out quicker and do other things. But calling in batches of 1-150 is pretty mad. I'm sure someone mentioned this before but there's absolutely no incentive to buy tickets early when that happens. And then when you're standing there in the queue of 1 - 150 and you see people in front of you with ticket 300, cos no-one was checking numbers! And then certain French people kept slipping into the queue to join their friends! I know as the weekend went on, this became rarer and some areas were better than others, but it would have been nice to arrange all this beforehand. Some rope-barriers would have helped a great deal.

[sam1974]

On Sunday they were calling ticket numbers in batches of 25, which as a lot better. I had low photo ticket numbers too and was behind people with much higher ones.

 

I knew for Gillian Anderson and Jeri Ryan they wanted to get everyone in upto 400.

[lizz36]

on sunday bernard cribbens was 1-300 and mine was 346 for a few hours i gave up in the end x

[doctorwhat]

Also there was some very rude crew members, and there was absolutely no need for it....and they were the same crew members from Collectormania who I had seen being rude there too.

 

If you have an issue with a crew member, please tell someone in a red shirt at the time. Feedback is helpful, but it is hard to address it once the show has finished.

Sometimes, it is a simple matter of asking that crewmember to re-phrase the way they say things in future.

 

As a first timer how are you meant to know what colour tshirts the managers wear?

 

If you'd like me to be specific about a crew member being rude then I will certainly email whoever is in charge of such things. One guy told me how sh*t a certain Doctor was compared to the actor that he liked. I don't really care what your stewards think to be honest, I was just minding my own business waiting in an autograph queue.

[Shaggy]

Also there was some very rude crew members, and there was absolutely no need for it....and they were the same crew members from Collectormania who I had seen being rude there too.

 

If you have an issue with a crew member, please tell someone in a red shirt at the time. Feedback is helpful, but it is hard to address it once the show has finished.

Sometimes, it is a simple matter of asking that crewmember to re-phrase the way they say things in future.

 

As a first timer how are you meant to know what colour tshirts the managers wear?

 

If you'd like me to be specific about a crew member being rude then I will certainly email whoever is in charge of such things. One guy told me how sh*t a certain Doctor was compared to the actor that he liked. I don't really care what your stewards think to be honest, I was just minding my own business waiting in an autograph queue.

 

Fair enough you may not know who is in charge but you can always go to the organisers booth and ask for someone in charge to complain to. It helps both you as an attendee and SM to get issues sorted ASAP.

[Queen_Sindel]

Also there was some very rude crew members, and there was absolutely no need for it....and they were the same crew members from Collectormania who I had seen being rude there too.

 

If you have an issue with a crew member, please tell someone in a red shirt at the time. Feedback is helpful, but it is hard to address it once the show has finished.

Sometimes, it is a simple matter of asking that crewmember to re-phrase the way they say things in future.

 

As a first timer how are you meant to know what colour tshirts the managers wear?

 

If you'd like me to be specific about a crew member being rude then I will certainly email whoever is in charge of such things. One guy told me how sh*t a certain Doctor was compared to the actor that he liked. I don't really care what your stewards think to be honest, I was just minding my own business waiting in an autograph queue.

 

Fair enough you may not know who is in charge but you can always go to the organisers booth and ask for someone in charge to complain to. It helps both you as an attendee and SM to get issues sorted ASAP.

 

You can ask any crew member who the person in charge of their area is, they will tell you. If you don't want to speak to the crew member you have a problem with just ask someone else.

 

If you'd like to make a report now please e-mail info@showmastersonline.com

[bav]

 

- also posting the pictures available for autos for the big guests outside the signing area so people can choose before entering the area itself is a great idea to avoid delay caused by people inside the area taking their time to do so; I

- the chaos surrounding the Gillian Anderson limited edition prints; we went to the photo pick up as said on the forum but due to uninformed crew members we asked there we were sent around quite a bit in the process - from photo pick up to Organisers Booth to photo sales back to Organisers Booth and finally - thank God for the woman in the read shirt with the walkie talkie in the Organisers Booth - to the knowledgable guy at photo pick who eventually handed us the prints - phew!!! (note to self: if in doubt ask a crew member in red!!)

 

 

Great advice, I think one of each print could easily be pinned up outside on the wall next to the VT hand-er-out-er, so that people can see them up-close before heading in. Also people like also considering buying other prints from the dealers, if the free selection doesn't have one in that I like.

 

Does anyone know where I can see the limited edition Gillian Print? I didn't even get to see it, let alone get one, or get it signed

[Rockstar6662]

Does anyone know where I can see the limited edition Gillian Print? I didn't even get to see it, let alone get one, or get it signed

 

Here's mine....

[ctas]

a bit of a mixed experience for my first showmasters event. bad start with some v. rude staff responding to my questions (that i feel i asked nicely enough!) as though i were incredibly stupid. ticketing for free talks was awful, was told four different times/places to get them and ended up missing out on everything on the saturday ones! the iron throne photoshoot was one of the best things, though collecting photos was a shambles - no staff trying to get people to move on if their photo wasn't there! being a short person i couldn't actually see mine and had to leave without photos! the game of thrones talk on the sunday was pretty awkward, throw the guests in and very quick intro then "questions" -- perhaps a moderator to get the ball rolling might've made it flow a bit better as it wasn't advertised as q+a only in the programme!

 

guests-wise it was brilliant, loved the stalls and there was plenty to see and do despite the talk disappointments! spent far too much money at the postcard and jewellery making stalls haha, and loved the guys with the free sci fi books. it was amazing to see so many wonderful costumes too! luckily the positive outweighed the negative mostly :)

[Spock]

We really enjoyed it. Decided to do both Sat / Sun though which meant we weren't too rushed fitting it all in time wise. Suggestions for the talks as follows : 1) Higher stage so people sat further from the stage than the first five rows have a decent view of the guests. 2) Guests not seated behind a desk - Ben Browder's talk was great - he stood up and moved around ! 3) Better stage lighting - not relying on just the hall lights. All in all thanks for another great show. Looking forwards to next year's already:-)

[Spock]

Some event Merchandise would have been good...

 

I would buy a LFCC fridge magnet.

May sound daft but would be a good collection to have a magnet from each show.

 

Can't help you with the magnet but, how do you fasten a Stargate photo to the wall?

With a Braetac:-)

[cunningham1471]

This was my time at one of these kind of cons. I usually go for the traditional conventions rather than signings. Overall i had a good time and would certainly consider going to another one.

 

My main problem on the day was the queues outside. Yep another one here folks. It was shambolic. On arrival and seeing the mass of people I thought i would do the right thing and ask someone that loked like a steward or secuity. AlL i got was people with tickets up there people without tickets go that way. Straight away that tells me nothing as you have various types of tickets. I had an earlybird ticket. I'm in a queue, in the right earlybird ticket queue, because I asked the fans/public is the right one. They seemed to think so< so that's good enough for me.

Along comes another person who informs everyone that people with tickets need to be somewhere else further down the front. It's a free for all as people start legging it forward, not actually knowing where they are legging it too. trying to think wisely i ask him for confirmation and am told I need "the middle doors" which is great if you know where the other doors are and thus can work out which ones are in the middle.

So after joining the throng of movement of the confused I managed to somehow find myself further forward than before, but not having a clue which queue I was in. As i slowly went forward as people entered the building I realised I was in front of the Gold pass entrance. I could tell as there was an A4 size, maybe slightly larger stuck on one of the windows of the glass door. This is a terrible place to see it. If I had been walking along the street, there is no way you could see it owing to it being obscured by people lined up. It needs to be higher than the people at about 7-8ft high. So I edge myself forward but by bit and I'm in. I'm still not sure which door I got in. I'm guessing it's the Gold Pass enrance but I could be wrong and I don't really care if I'm honest. i am happy to queue and go in the right entrance, if i's made clear where that is. If it's not then I'm getting in anyway I can.

 

Whilst in the queue somebody who had been there on Friday night said that it was discovered there were no barriers and apparently this happend before at another show. if this is the case I would suggest serious consideration is made about hiring barriers from an seperate company even if it means putting 50p or £1 onto the price of each ticket. If you have a whole bank of steards outside controlling (good luck with that) the queues and signposting where you should go then that's different.

I must add that the problem outside with the lack of or wrong information appeared to be from security or the building staff. They were in dark suits,looking like bouncers and not the blue Showmasters t-shirts. It may be lack of communocation between them and the onsite event management, there could be a number of reasons for the confusion including the pure size of the turn out which surprised me.

 

Like I say, it hasn't put me off going to another and I did have a great time. But what is happening outside does need to be addressed.

[Swissangel4616]

Oh yeah, one more comment. I had low photo ticket numbers for almost every photo shoot this year (between 1 and 20) so was hoping to be pretty close to the front when the session started. Meaning of course that I could get out quicker and do other things. But calling in batches of 1-150 is pretty mad. I'm sure someone mentioned this before but there's absolutely no incentive to buy tickets early when that happens. And then when you're standing there in the queue of 1 - 150 and you see people in front of you with ticket 300, cos no-one was checking numbers! And then certain French people kept slipping into the queue to join their friends! I know as the weekend went on, this became rarer and some areas were better than others, but it would have been nice to arrange all this beforehand. Some rope-barriers would have helped a great deal.

 

You're right. I had also any lower ticket numbers 12, 48, 86... but people with much higher numbers was in front of me... For Jeri Ryan it was really terrible and I got a little bit panic...

 

Next time the Crew should:

 

1) hang out the names of the actor of the current photo shotting and which would follow.

 

because some people was standing in the queues for the wrong actor/actress.

 

2) Better control of ticket number because any (as already told) with ticket number 300 was standing in front of someone with number 12.

 

3) but honestly, some visitors had been also a bit crazy to wait in the lines... not enough grips in their head how to wait or standing in the lines.

 

 

But I also understand the trouble for Crewmember where had been newbies and was asked/picked out in the morning to be a crewmember. So they could'nt know anything.

[bav]

Does anyone know where I can see the limited edition Gillian Print? I didn't even get to see it, let alone get one, or get it signed

 

Here's mine....

 

Legend, that looks pretty damn good! Gillian's signature on your print looks incredible. On the two things I had signed, one was in silver (my own pen) and one in black, and because she signs so quickly both mine look like the pen is running out of ink!

[yellowmarlin]

Has Jason posted his opinion on how the weekend went yet?

[OneSixthBruce]

Well from a dealer point of view... was fantastic,

 

Saturday as you all know was nuts, sunday was less manic.

 

Didn't get to see much as was busy but did meet some great people :)

 

Roll on next year!

[HacklyFracture]

This was my first LFCC (and only my second con) and I had a really great time.

 

I'm glad I went on Friday because I got a few of the autographs I wanted and got to spend longer talking to the guests than I imagine I would have on Saturday.

 

The queue on Saturday was, as has been said, a shambles. Thankfully this was all sorted by the Sunday and some barriers had been put up but I would have thought someone could have realised some would be needed on Saturday.

 

I didn't get any photoshoots or attend any talks but some of the feedback on here is making me kind of glad I didn't.

[C.Parkers-Girl]

Has Jason posted his opinion on how the weekend went yet?

 

Not yet :-) It will be pinned on the main page when he does. Bare with him :-) All the feedback will be taken into account and im 99.9% sure most of the issues will be solved by EMS in October.

Only thing thats hard is the photoshoot distribution with people not moving, people seem to think that if they stand there it will get their photo quicker and they refuse to move, I asked a couple of people on Saturday and they just ignored me

[Kuato_Lives]

Has Jason posted his opinion on how the weekend went yet?

 

Not yet :-) It will be pinned on the main page when he does. Bare with him :-) All the feedback will be taken into account and im 99.9% sure most of the issues will be solved by EMS in October.

Only thing thats hard is the photoshoot distribution with people not moving, people seem to think that if they stand there it will get their photo quicker and they refuse to move, I asked a couple of people on Saturday and they just ignored me

 

To be perfectly honest, I don't really think the crowded photoshoot area promblem can be solved. Showmasters have improved the way they do things over the events i.e Crew wearing gloves to prevent fingermarks, a chart on the wall saying which photos are back which is excellent. But the overcrowding is down to the attendees and we'll probably just have to accept that as the norm.

[yellowmarlin]

Has Jason posted his opinion on how the weekend went yet?

 

Not yet :-) It will be pinned on the main page when he does. Bare with him :-)

 

Sorry. Not trying to rush him, it's just that there's been an awful lot of posts since the weekend and I have neither the time or the patience to read them all. I was just wondering if I'd missed Jason's post somehow.

[Zagreus]

To be perfectly honest, I don't really think the crowded photoshoot area promblem can be solved. Showmasters have improved the way they do things over the events i.e Crew wearing gloves to prevent fingermarks, a chart on the wall saying which photos are back which is excellent. But the overcrowding is down to the attendees and we'll probably just have to accept that as the norm.

When Showmasters get it right, they can do it REALLY well. The problem is that often when a good idea is implemented at one show, it perhaps doesn't go any further than that one show. Maybe it's down to different crew members at each show, I don't know. I would have thought that good practice would be passed down the line for each subsequent show. For example, some methods used in the past which, if used continuously, would be perfect.

1 - Gloves (now standard practice)

2 - Using a white-board and updating it regularly (and of course remembering to sign-post where collection area "B" is - there's no point saying where the photos are if that area isn't sign-posted)

3 - The ladies and gents on photo distribution asking the crowd to keep moving around the table in a clockwise direction, thereby allowing everyone access to the table while keeping everyone moving. This was done once before and, to me, seems the ultimate solution.