Event Feedback

[Zagreus]

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.

It did get much better as the weekend went by. Photo tickets being called in smaller batches, but still at a regular pace. Telling people to "snake" the queue around without the constant pointing out of the sticky-tape on the ground. As I've said before, Showmasters know how to do these things well, and have done in the past. It's really just a case of keeping up the good practices once they have established a system that works well.

[laurab1]

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.

 

There's a post by Jason somewhere about the queues - the venue were mostly running them on Friday and Saturday, but for Sunday SM were running them

[HacklyFracture]

There's a post by Jason somewhere about the queues - the venue were mostly running them on Friday and Saturday, but for Sunday SM were running them

 

Ah, thanks I must have missed that. Certainly explains the big difference between Saturday and Sunday (presumably Friday's went pretty smoothly because of the much smaller volume of people).

[sazzra]

There's a post by Jason somewhere about the queues - the venue were mostly running them on Friday and Saturday, but for Sunday SM were running them

 

Ah, thanks I must have missed that. Certainly explains the big difference between Saturday and Sunday (presumably Friday's went pretty smoothly because of the much smaller volume of people).

 

Wasn't that the 'reason' for the queue problems last year and the year before though? I didn't go, but I read loads of posts complaining that it was chaos because of the hall staff not having a clue - that would seem to hint that getting them involved in anything except peripheral security type queue management is asking for trouble!

[Swissangel4616]

Whatever it was last weekend: busy, chaotic, lot people... I saw... when they got their autographs of their favorites... MANY HAPPY FACES. Sure, the queues was long and sometime a bit crazy... in Karl Urbans queues I saw a guy, when he got his Star Trek Uniform/Shirt (already signed by DOZENT others) by Karl signed...his face had a big smile......

 

I saw many other happy faces... :-) incl. my own. :dance: :clap:

[sdad]

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

im 99.9% sure most of the issues will be solved by EMS in October.

But why did they happen in the first place, with so many years of experience? It's rather like my friend who is dyslexic. She listens to suggestions but never HEARS them. Nothing ever sinks in.

[Indestructible]

RBS have been going nearly 300 years and just look at them. :)

 

[Tribbletastic]

This was also my first LFCC and second con, and I had a just the best time! I want to say a huge thankyou to all involved!

The time spent talking to the guests was amazing, altho i think i enjoyed less of the crowds on sunday! But it was great to see so many like minded ppl turn out.

I didn't get to go to any talks this time round, but i wish i had, I didn't realise that Anthony Head was gonna be on stage, one i wouldn't have missed if i'd known!

I thought all the staff were very kind and helpful to me, cause i didn't really know what to do or expect as it was my first proper one! Thank you to all the staff.

I'm totally hooked, i knoe where all my savings are going in the future!

 

xxx

Edited July 13, 2012 by Tribbletastic

[Seska1]

There were a few things that need alot of improvement and alot of things which were done well

 

First to the negatives:

Queues: The Queue for talk tickets(also for photoshoots) on Friday night- I just wanted GoT talk tickets as I couldnt get them on the on-line shop. It took one and a hlaf hours to get to the top of that queue just to buy those tickets- surely that can be improved. The Saturday morning outside queue was a complete disaster as described in all the posts above. Wrong information given to me and others on 3 occasions by (non Showmasters) staff meant that we were in a huge queue on the wrong side of the building- when a guy arrived with a megaphone at the last minute telling everyone with prepaid tickets to move - it was chaotic. Then after re-queuing and following the snaking line around in an orderly way suddenly all the other queues turned around and charged the doors.It should be said however that Showmasters seemed to have responded very well to the complaints about this and the queues were so much better managed on Sunday but hopefully the experience will be remembered in order to prevent another Saturday like that at any other event.

Talks: Even though I was disappointed that there was a charge for talks I was prepared to pay for people from my favourite shows & especially someone rare like Gillian. The sound at the talks was very poor but the GoT guest s were great so it was a pity that their first talk was cut down to almost 20 minutes due to delay with technical issues at the start. The most disappointing talk and total waste of money for me was Gillians talk. It was impossible to hear and the same questions were asked over and over as well as a can I have a hug persistent questioner. What a waste of time for both Gillian and those who had paid. Last year Christopher Lamberts paid talk was really great especially as there was a compere and as a result we got to hear lots of interesting stories from such a legendary guest while they was still time at the end for a few questions from the audience. This really should have been the format at the Gillian talk.

 

Positives:

 

Fabulous friendly guests: Karl Urban stands out in particular taking a minute to greet everyone by name and have a short chat with everyone. I had to go back a second time on Sunday because he was so nice. I should also single out his guest assistant on Sunday. She was so friendly, calm, organised and relaxed and helped everything run smoothly. All Game of Thrones guests were also amazingly friendly and lovely.

Crew: As well as the lady with Karl on Sunday,there was a guy managing Photo Area B on Sunday who was an example of exactly how things should be done. As people approached he moved them (in a respectable) way to the correct place, called out clearly what was going on and by ticket numbers and kept the whole area organised. He was also genuinely concerned and was doing a great job. Other friendly crew people were Roxy in Holly's queue on Friday and Pooks with Mitch on Friday.

The Iron Throne: Great idea- more of the same please!

Upstairs gallery: This was a great area to chill out and rest while keeping and eye on all the activity below. Overall it was a good venue.

 

Thats my thoughts for what they are worth!

[madcap_magician902]

There's a post by Jason somewhere about the queues - the venue were mostly running them on Friday and Saturday, but for Sunday SM were running them

 

Ah, thanks I must have missed that. Certainly explains the big difference between Saturday and Sunday (presumably Friday's went pretty smoothly because of the much smaller volume of people).

 

Wasn't that the 'reason' for the queue problems last year and the year before though? I didn't go, but I read loads of posts complaining that it was chaos because of the hall staff not having a clue - that would seem to hint that getting them involved in anything except peripheral security type queue management is asking for trouble!

 

Most venues demand that their own staff control anything exterior to the venue itself, and until they totally screw it up SM normally have to let them, it's not a case of learning lessons, it's probably in the contract.

[sazzra]

 

Wasn't that the 'reason' for the queue problems last year and the year before though? I didn't go, but I read loads of posts complaining that it was chaos because of the hall staff not having a clue - that would seem to hint that getting them involved in anything except peripheral security type queue management is asking for trouble!

 

Most venues demand that their own staff control anything exterior to the venue itself, and until they totally screw it up SM normally have to let them, it's not a case of learning lessons, it's probably in the contract.

 

I meant the queues being handled solely by venue staff and SM staff being conspicuous by their asence. I seem to remember reading things like the venue staff knew nothing and Jason came out yada yada...It was the same situation at LFaCC this year, the venue staff are being pointed at as not knowing what to do but equally, why weren't there people telling them how it worked?

[Queenie]

I have a comment about the running of the masquerade, and I'm not entirely sure who to direct it to; I'll post it here in case anyone sees, but if you could direct me to the appropriate email address or whatever, that would be wonderful :)

 

It was my first time in a cosplay competition of this level, and I was super-excited - And rapidly very, very disappointed that I only got a maximum of two minutes to pitch my costume to the judges during the pre-judging. I didn't get to say half the things I'd planned! I'd spent the best part of eight months on my costume, and felt that one or two minutes did not represent the amount of effort myself and several other competitors had put into their work. Just as I left my stint of judging, I heard the organiser (Whose name I don't know, my apologies) say to the judges that they had to hurry it up further, more like a cursory glance than any in-depth analysis of costume construction and presentation of the character.

 

I understand that something like the masquerade takes an awful lot of time to organise - Such as the forty-five minute delay on Saturday! - But is there any chance the pre-judging could be scheduled to start at 1pm instead of 2pm, to allow those competing to present their costumes to the judges a little more thoroughly? In the long run, I believe it would make a lot of people a lot more satisfied with the attention given to their hard work and diligence.

 

Thank you, and I hope you can take my feedback into account in the future!

[madcap_magician902]

 

Wasn't that the 'reason' for the queue problems last year and the year before though? I didn't go, but I read loads of posts complaining that it was chaos because of the hall staff not having a clue - that would seem to hint that getting them involved in anything except peripheral security type queue management is asking for trouble!

 

Most venues demand that their own staff control anything exterior to the venue itself, and until they totally screw it up SM normally have to let them, it's not a case of learning lessons, it's probably in the contract.

 

I meant the queues being handled solely by venue staff and SM staff being conspicuous by their asence. I seem to remember reading things like the venue staff knew nothing and Jason came out yada yada...It was the same situation at LFaCC this year, the venue staff are being pointed at as not knowing what to do but equally, why weren't there people telling them how it worked?

 

Why do you assume there weren't, lol. They can't be made to listen.

[stargatezone]

Really enjoyed LFCC, my first convention and first trip to London.

Had Gold pass, really good for getting past the ques.

Stargate guests, especially Chirs Judge were so friendly it was great to meet them.

I was glad to see a Ben Browder talk added but disappointed not to see a Stargate panel.

More Stargate people at the next LFCC please!!!!!

 

 

Some small points I think could be improved:

 

Struggled to find the Gold Pass room. When I did it was not very good, just a few wooden tables, two chairs added on the Sunday. The rubbish left in there was there all weekend, could of done with a bin or a cleaner.

 

Another small thing to point out is that the signs showing which photo area was which needed to be higher up, so you can see them above people's heads. Same for the signs outside as people que to get in. Above peoples heads please.

 

On the Sunday I could not find a cash machine that worked (inside the hall and outside), I saw quite a few people that couldn't get cash, therefore couldn't buy what they wanted to.

 

A few vending machines would be good. The ques to get a bottle of overpriced water was ridiculous.

[madcap_magician902]

There was a Tesco right across the road selling normal priced water, and I think they did cash back. That was what I told everyone that asked me those questions

[intouchuk]

It was my first LFCC and I enjoyed it for the most part. I posted earlier regarding problems with the Gillian Anderson talk. There was another X-Files related disappointment. An X-Files prop display had been mentioned in publicity beforehand so I was interested to see it. When I got to the hall and checked the layout plan (posted all around the hall) there it was prominently marked. Set off in search of it and could not see anything. Asked various (sorry no names) team members at desks and standing none of whom knew anything about it! It's on the layout!!! Eventually while looking at other stalls I came across, what I assume, was the "display". A rather scruffy looking glass case, no signs, with a suit hanging there forlornly and a copy of The Lone Gunman newsletter. I assume the suit was Mulder's but there was no identifying label. This is hardly what I would call a display and is certainly nothing worth identifying on a layout plan. It looked like somebody might have begun a display then lost interest, found they had no props or run out of time! In that case it would be better to have removed it entirely from the hall and plan. Very disappointing.

[gibbo247]

Where to start!

 

Well it did not start well, the staffout the front didn't know what to do with me!

I had a gold ticket and was bounced around out the front, no one seemed to know what to do!

I thought the gold ticket would have been straight in no hassles!

Due to the amount of time that was wasted, i missed the Chris Judge photo shoot! I almost missed Jewel Staite photoshoot.

My mum had a early bird ticket and walked straight through,and just managed to catch Chris Judge's photo shoot!

One member of staff to issue a gold ticket! Rather poor!!!!

I paid the extra for this ticket and found it to be a total waste not impressed with it at all

I was left feeling cheated by the extra cash i paid for this ticket!!

I am considering asking for a refund on it as it was a total con! I will never ever get a gold ticket again!

Why did i have to send my picture inif it wasn't used???

 

The photoshoot times should have been posted sometime in advance to allow people to get a rough idea of what time to book travel.

As we missed the Kevin Sorbo photoshoot. Due to the crazy time of 9.30???

 

Why hold the event at that time? Gay pride march through London, a music event in London then too!

It was a absolute nightmare to get through london.

 

The Venue was too small to host an event of that size.

There was too many people there for the size of the Venue.

The Venue didn't enough toilets, there was always a queue for the stalls!

 

Too top it all off as of today Thursday, i still have not got my photoshoot pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xxc]

Where to start!

 

Well it did not start well, the staffout the front didn't know what to do with me!

I had a gold ticket and was bounced around out the front, no one seemed to know what to do!

I thought the gold ticket would have been straight in no hassles!

Due to the amount of time that was wasted, i missed the Chris Judge photo shoot! I almost missed Jewel Staite photoshoot.

My mum had a early bird ticket and walked straight through,and just managed to catch Chris Judge's photo shoot!

One member of staff to issue a gold ticket! Rather poor!!!!

I paid the extra for this ticket and found it to be a total waste not impressed with it at all

I was left feeling cheated by the extra cash i paid for this ticket!!

I am considering asking for a refund on it as it was a total con! I will never ever get a gold ticket again!

Why did i have to send my picture inif it wasn't used???

 

The photoshoot times should have been posted sometime in advance to allow people to get a rough idea of what time to book travel.

As we missed the Kevin Sorbo photoshoot. Due to the crazy time of 9.30???

 

Why hold the event at that time? Gay pride march through London, a music event in London then too!

It was a absolute nightmare to get through london.

 

The Venue was too small to host an event of that size.

There was too many people there for the size of the Venue.

The Venue didn't enough toilets, there was always a queue for the stalls!

 

Too top it all off as of today Thursday, i still have not got my photoshoot pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

im pretty sure the photoshoot times were posted a week or so before.

[Rockstar6662]

im pretty sure the photoshoot times were posted a week or so before.

 

Correct. Schedule was posted a week before. It can't be done much earlier until things are finalised. Even then there were changes.

 

Not gping to requote the original post but Unfortunately the schedule does have to assume you're there all day as there's so much going on. It's impossible and unreasonable to expect things not to start early. They can't possibly know that some people won't be there until late.

 

As for the gold pass. Yes I could probably have done without it but it makes it so much easier. Never had a problem with it. Go straight in, got it sorted on Friday evening and the rest of the weekend was a relative breeze. For me it was well worth it. Others don't feel the need for it.

 

Not nice that anyone has a bad experience but these are all day, all weekend events and you really have to try and make sure you're around all day if necessary as the schedule does start early.

[Queen_Sindel]

If you had an issue with a crew member please e-mail SM and let them know, best describe exact situation. Posting a picture saying this crew member was aggressive is something we are trying to avoid as this may give the impression someone is singled out. The situation you took a picture of was apparently a rather serious one seeing a pit boss (red shirt) was standing close by.

[Too Tall]

LeMartien,

 

Due to the time constraints involved with that signing we needed to get people through quickly. They meant to come over as "assertive/firm" to get everyone through, I apologise if anyone came over as "aggressive". I shall talk to the crew members involved.

 

Stuart.

[fantasyfan]

Where to start!

 

Well it did not start well, the staffout the front didn't know what to do with me!

I had a gold ticket and was bounced around out the front, no one seemed to know what to do!

I thought the gold ticket would have been straight in no hassles!

Due to the amount of time that was wasted, i missed the Chris Judge photo shoot! I almost missed Jewel Staite photoshoot.

My mum had a early bird ticket and walked straight through,and just managed to catch Chris Judge's photo shoot!

One member of staff to issue a gold ticket! Rather poor!!!!

I paid the extra for this ticket and found it to be a total waste not impressed with it at all

I was left feeling cheated by the extra cash i paid for this ticket!!

I am considering asking for a refund on it as it was a total con! I will never ever get a gold ticket again!

Why did i have to send my picture inif it wasn't used???

 

The photoshoot times should have been posted sometime in advance to allow people to get a rough idea of what time to book travel.

As we missed the Kevin Sorbo photoshoot. Due to the crazy time of 9.30???

 

Why hold the event at that time? Gay pride march through London, a music event in London then too!

It was a absolute nightmare to get through london.

 

The Venue was too small to host an event of that size.

There was too many people there for the size of the Venue.

The Venue didn't enough toilets, there was always a queue for the stalls!

 

Too top it all off as of today Thursday, i still have not got my photoshoot pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have missed the photoshoot with Kevin Sorbo, too.

I was very unhappy for this.

[Berber Anna]

The Venue was too small to host an event of that size.

There was too many people there for the size of the Venue.

The Venue didn't enough toilets, there was always a queue for the stalls!

 

Too top it all off as of today Thursday, i still have not got my photoshoot pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've seen much busier events, I actually found this rather refreshing! Enough space to move around and minimal shoving by the dealers' stalls. I went to the upstairs toilets a few times, and there was never a queue there. Don't know about the downstairs ones, though. Upstairs seemed quieter, so that's where I went.

[superwondergirl]

event feedback

 

Thank you --- I had a great time

[jareththegoblinking75]

HYA SM,

 

All in all a fantastic event! only gripe was the fella who was in charge of the holly marie coombs photos queue on sat was quite abrupt with us and a couple of other of your regulars.....

also can you introduce a family photo rice,as in 2 adults/children as we couldnt all afford extra tickets for photos and wanted family pics with guests as we have kids,who all love coming to your events btw..........

keep up the good work and heres lokking forward to EMS!!!!!

K.