BigBangPenny Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 The best event I have ever been to in regard to size and space. LFCC last year at Earls Court was terrible, the Milton Keynes Stadium last month also terrible, but the Olympia so much better. The whole event just seemed calmer and more relaxed due to its larger size. Absolutely agree. Olympia was a much better venue, the main signing area at the back was great (I audibly gasped when I saw the size of it!), the availability of "quiet' and rest areas (the balcony and the chillzone) and even the amount of venue cafes was better. I thought the floor was extremely well laid out (especially the talk areas - sounds from one could not be heard at the others like at Earls Court). I also found it much calmer and relaxed and really enjoyed myself. So... definitely NOT too big for us... we loved it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timelord Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I thought this was hands down the best venue yet. Large is good, more room for guests, stalls, stages all these things plus the chill out area on the balcony was fantastic. It was so bright in there also, a gorgeous venue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess4815162342 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 What are you talking about, i thought it was pretty great! and the size was perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted July 9, 2012 Moderators Share Posted July 9, 2012 After yesterday, I have to say actually I enjoyed it even more because of the venue. It really made a refreshing change being able to get around without too much hassle or waiting for people to get out of the way etc. There were wide open spaces to sit, or to have photos taken etc, which meant the cosplayers taking up space in the dealer aisles was kept to a minimum compared to other events I've been to. And most of the time, I could still get round them anyway! More attendees turned up than ever expected, so there's definitely things Showmasters can take from the weekend and work to improve them, but I'd say 75% of what I thought about the venue was positive, and the rest can be worked on for the future now they've been there and know what works and what doesn't. Some things you unfortunately only learn once you're there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jael001 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I like the venue, it's attractive, it's light and airy and there are a few places to get something to eat or drink. I think if the upstairs balcony could be utilised, maybe for dealers stalls or exhibits or even for photo collection, it would be even better, there was a lot more space upstairs than I'd imagined looking from below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted July 9, 2012 Moderators Share Posted July 9, 2012 Yeah I only managed to get the time to go up on the balcony towards the end of yesterday, and it was a lot bigger than I expected. It was very nice as a chill out area, and could certainly be utilised for something .. not sure if dealers would want to be up there, as they might feel away from the 'main' part of the event, but certainly there's potential for SOMETHING up there if considered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonmate1 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Yeah I only managed to get the time to go up on the balcony towards the end of yesterday, and it was a lot bigger than I expected. It was very nice as a chill out area, and could certainly be utilised for something .. not sure if dealers would want to be up there, as they might feel away from the 'main' part of the event, but certainly there's potential for SOMETHING up there if considered. Noooooo.. Leave it as a chill out area.. It was so nice to be able to relax, especially as the photoshoots took so long to come back. The Dealers had plenty of room anyway!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jael001 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 the balcony is huge though and goes all the way around, one side could be kept for a chill out area and the rest used for something else? Personally I dont do sitting on the floor, I can't get up again after lol, so it'd have been nice to have had some seating up there but do understand that it's not necessarily practical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators DavidB Posted July 9, 2012 Moderators Share Posted July 9, 2012 Noooooo.. Leave it as a chill out area.. It was so nice to be able to relax, especially as the photoshoots took so long to come back. The Dealers had plenty of room anyway!!! It was nice, don't get me wrong. Not sure a chill out area needs to be THAT big, but I'd lean towards not putting anything upstairs anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jemzamia Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I really liked this venue. Bigger and brighter and plenty of spaces to relax. The loos were great to for cosplayers like myself as they had plenty of mirrors that weren't in front of sinks so we weren't getting in people's way. Only problem is the quiet tube service I guess but that is out of our control. People just have to be on their toes. The walk from the back entrance of Earl's Court tube station is straight and doesn't take too long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediwarrior Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 The Venue was great. Lots of space inside and really good to have the autograph area at the back and in one space. The downpoints from Saturday can be sorted for next time like the sound at talks, the queues outside and bigger signs outside about where to queue. The only thing that can't really be sorted (and ain't Showmasters fault) is the tube to Olympia which ain't often and also places to eat and drink nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexterror Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Having really enjoyed this event at Earls Court for the last few years, i didn't like this venue at all, even though it was bigger i still found it very got very hot and crowed! Definitely won't be going on a Saturday ever again unless i really have to, probably have second thoughts about going all together if its held at the Olympia again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicAvatar Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I also approve of the venue. Much better than Earl's Court. More space and light. With luck the teething problems will be sorted next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeowl Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I thought the venue was fine - it's really quite good that it's pretty much "THERE" when you step off the tube - makes it less of a pain in trying to find the place. As others have said, the size of the venue felt bigger which allowed for more guests and better spacing out of the particular areas. The main "issue" (if that's what you could all it) still seemed to be around the stewarding/staffing of the event. Queueing was frequently an issue. An example of this was the lad managing the Craig Parker queue on Saturday AM. He took my VT off me, tore it up, told me to join the queue and stayed about three-four people in front of me rather than standing behind me at the back of the queue - this allowed people to join the queue behind me without having VT's and it just caused a bit of an unnecesary "disagreement" when a few people behind me weren't aware of the VT's - they thought it was an open queue. I also wish there was more staffing on the comic guest area - couldn't find anyone who knew whether some of the guests were attending or not. Just seemed like the comic artist area was left to its own devices and sort of forgotten about. I had a great day on Saturday though. Didn't get around many of the dealers stalls though - purely due to how busy I was. I met all 20 guests who were there that I wanted to meet and had a fantastic time. Thanks Showmasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lams9999 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Venue was great and definitely needed for the saturday's massive crowd. Size of the whole event (in terms of guests, activities, etc...) was maybe a bit too much. I managed to get all I wanted but that was though some times and that's also because I'm now a very experimented attendeed who has done dozens of events before. I felt bad sometimes for newbees who must have found the whole event sometimes too gigantic. The queues on saturday were ridiculous. No barreers !!??? So many people went in while they were coming from the back. And barely no crew members to manage these queues !!?? Sorry but if you want to go to the next scale, you have to increase seriously the number of your crew members! I'm not too bothered about talks at those events. Being non-UK native, it has always proved difficult for me to understand everything in such a noisy atmosphere. Apparently this year even the natives had this problem so this issue should be solved. I think the only way is to better isolate the stages from the outside crowds. Easier to do than to say but it's not my job. Also, I can understand that some talks are paying but not most of them. Four photo shoots areas was I think too much and if you decide to run four again next year, consider having very experienced photographers who can provide top quality pictures (like Malcolm does) in an extremely short time. Sometimes the queues at booths B, C or D were very slow and it was a bit of a stress because I had sometimes 2-3 other conflicting shoots. All in all it wasn't bad at all and I was happy with most of my pictures but please consider using more professional photographers next time. Also I think the Chris Judge in "costume" picture was a joke. £25 for this was ridiculous. The £5 iron throne pictures were far more better value for money. Overall, still a great experience and I managed to get through all this madness and collect everything I wanted (including Melissa's signature on my Triangle DVD, thanks for that!) but several things should be improved and dealt more professionnally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Some of the balcony area should have been used for the photo collection, would have made much more sense. But I was very happy with the venue and I think they should have LFCC at Olympia next year instead of Earls Court 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Effect Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 (edited) Olympia is a much better venue than Earls Court. Larger, natural lighting, and in my opinion more airer. The balcony was also a pleasant area to sit and eat lunch. I hope the next LFCC is held there! The guest area could become a bit of a jam at times with some instances of two queues for guests at opposite ends of the room meeting in the middle! I'd happily take this if it is what is needed in getting bigger guests to attend. I only met two guests this weekend (Tom Skerritt and Ke Huy Quan) but I can recognise who are the headline guests at the show despite not being interested, Showmasters do great work in getting the likes of Gillian Anderson and Karl Urban to attend...I'm hoping for Ian Holm and Sigourney Weaver next year, imagine those queues! Also was this a different hall to what was used for the first EMS a while ago? I did think the signing areas were better there as they were spread out... Edited July 9, 2012 by Matt Effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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