Feedback of our time at LFCC

[makeadeal345]

During my one day at LFCC this year I heard a lot of people complaining. Firstly about the queues to get in, then about the queues inside, then about the wait for their photos etc.

 

All I have to say is... I loved it!

 

It's all part of the experience for me. I pay the money to take my rightful place in that queue to get my photograph or to get my autograph and I am proud of it.

 

All the crew were hard working, kind and helpful and they did everything they could to make the day go as smoothly as possible. But sometimes you've just got to face the fact that it is never going to be perfectly smooth, and just roll with it.

 

Thanks Showmasters for another brilliant event and I am thoroughly looking forward to the next!!

 

M-A-D

[superwondergirl]

well said

thank you

[ratchet1007]

I attended Saturday with my fiancee and friend and had a lovely time. All the guests we met were personable and chatty which was wonderful. I much preferred the venue to Earls Court as there was a lot more space to move around, which was needed with the amount of people in attendance. I also liked how the guests and stalls were kept separate which meant that there wasn't too much congestion.

 

My only gripes actually concern other con goers as opposed to anything with the crew. My friend had tickets for the Hayden talk which was switched to stage C which meant that it wasn't entirely closed off, me and my partner went to meet him and found a load of people who hadn't paid just standing at the back taking pictures with staff trying their hardest to usher them away, which most people did. However, there was one person who point blank refused to move, personally I don't think this is fair, if you haven't paid for the talk you should respect that other people have and you should not be there. It also wasn't fair on the guest as people were using flashes, something that at the start of the talk is allowed only for the first few minutes. My other gripe was people hanging around guests just snapping pictures, in particular people hanging around Mitch Pileggi trying to get shots of Hayden and both Chris Judge and Adam Baldwin. In the case of Chris and Adam after we had given our VQ tickets in we were surrounded by a mass of people who had not paid for a autograph and were just stood taking pictures, this meant we were crowded in a small space and in one instance my friend had a flash go off right in his face.

 

My only issue crew wise was with regards to the photo collection, I was told that all the throne pics that were going to be printed today had been so I filled in a form and then saw someone holding a new batch of photos which held mine. I also thought it was a bit silly that certain photos with certain guests were located in two or even three different places, I understand the crew were rushed but personally I feel that a lot of collection issues could've been resolved if each guest had all their pics in one place, with signage saying what guest was on that table.

 

Overall though I had a really good time, the Dredd panel was something new and I hope to see similar things at future events. Thank you showmasters for a lovely day.

[Vitani]

I always appreciate the efforts of showmasters, so I want to first say thank you for getting such fantastic guests. I think the queuing system for Gillian Anderson and Jeri Ryan, and the talks was very good and ran smoothly. Gillian's presence, however, made for a huge number of visitors, and I think you were overwhelmed by how busy it was, and that did cause a few problems, especially with entry on Saturday morning. Here is my feedback, and I hope it is helpful and constructive:

 

1. Entry

 

There is no kind way to put it; it was absolute chaos. There must have been at least three different lines for pre-paid early bird entry at one point. We started up in a long queue that went all the way down to Pizza Express, then that queue seemed to be sent all the way back down to the entrance to join another queue - but it was so squashed that there was no queue, just a crowd of people. That crowd got even bigger, when new arrivals got off the train at 9am and just integrated themselves into the people who had been standing waiting for a good long while. The queue finally took the shape of a snake, but by the time I had turned about 4 lines, the entire queue turned round so that all the people who were at the back of the queue were at the front of the entrance. I think what needs to be done is there to be barriers to mark the direction of queue, so people don't end up jumping the queue (which is mostly accidental) or losing their place.

 

2. Talks

 

The sound was just terrible. The microphones didn't work half the time, and there were speakers in the talk area, but they were never used. I couldn't hear half the talks I paid for. Also, there were far too many rows dedicated to gold pass users. I get that you have to make sure you have enough for every gold pass holder, but not every gold pass holder is going to go to every talk. It leaves rows of empty seats which other people could use, but are not allowed, which is ridiculous. I think the way to get around this, is instead of having gold pass holder seats, you should just let the gold pass holders in first. Call them from the queue, let them sit where they want, and then allow the rest in.

 

 

[cookie13]

Photo quality and distribution= APALLING!!

[pinkstarbuck]

We have done LFCC for the past 6 years, this year we're attending as stall holders so we can't see it from an attendee point of view but I do notice the same complaints coming up every year though.

 

I'd like to say kudos to the security at Olympia, they have been very polite, welcoming and kind throughout the weekend.mthe venue is also a vast improvement and the free wi if has been a godsend, please do this again next year! I like the autographs being out of the way, it made it feel more cosy and didn't seem to be as crowded as previous conventions.

The crew have been outstanding in what cannot be an easy job, many of them are volunteers and having spent the best part of 15 years in retail myself, I know how difficult and stressful dealing with many people and questions at once can be, so I thank them. The communication (or lack of!) is not their fault, it is down to the organisers-which is not a negative remark about SM (I understand their job must be difficult too!) and in the con business it is often fast moving and subject to change, and often out of organisers hands.

 

To those of you who popped by our stall and purchased, I can't say which stall as I don't think it's allowed, THANK YOU! You are helping to pay for our wedding and we are very grateful and no doubt you will see us next year! :)

[Jumpyghostface]

It's all part of the experience for me. I pay the money to take my rightful place in that queue to get my photograph or to get my autograph and I am proud of it.

We had a lovely time on Saturday, too. However, I think the complaints you are referencing (mine included) are that we *didn't* get our rightful places in the queues - we behaved well, turned up at the time we were supposed to, etc etc, and because of various things the queues themselves went to hell and the systems that were supposed to work, didn't.

 

I don't think anyone has said that they don't expect to queue - we only scheduled *one* photoshoot we really wanted to do, and considered everything else gravy, and we had a fabulous time. But it is reasonable to assume that the person who arrives an hour before should end up further along in the queue than the person who arrives an hour after.

[Daniel]

I had a great time. I was only there on Saturday and have no complaints.

 

The event was very busy and that is the reason for the queues and the wait times for autographs. For large events such as this I will make sure I get an early bird ticket. I don't mind waiting for autographs because the anticipation is part of the experience, but I don't like to risk not getting an autograph, but I was lucky enough to get an autograph from everyone I wanted.

 

The guest line up was great, I look forward to future events.

[ops12]

Photo quality and distribution= APALLING!!

 

I was a little surprised on Sunday to see the Saturday prints left in their packets instead of spread out, but this may be for the same reason I noted that the staff wore a glove (just one?), to stop people handling all the photos to get theirs. Please people, look with your eyes!

Do the photos go to just one place for developing? maybe adding more outlets would speed things up?

[Haskett]

I think my only gripe was that i got sent away from the the Adam Baldwin queue 11 times (of which i left without any fuss and came back each time when they said) and it was only when me and a lady who had been going through the same thing that i put my foot down (as politely as i could) that they let me (aswell as the lady) queue and i really hate putting my foot down in those situations because i know its of no fault of the crew members at all.

 

Aside from that i had a great time and every guest i met was really friendly (I had a nice 5 minute chat to Alex Winter about how Bill and Ted got me into Megadeth haha).

[simon_etheridge]

I went Sunday which as wheelchair user is the better day as its quieter here is my experience

 

1.entry

Went straight up and got my pay on the day early bird ticket. My dad/carer came after me as he had park the car but he came in gold pass door so security woudn't let him in even when I explained he was my carer but he ignored them and came in anyway he went and got his ticket. And the crew after a issue with the lift got me in.

 

2. Queuing

As wheelchair user who can walk a bit but standing for long periods is dangerous the crew were fantastic either got me in first or last made sure my chair was safe and that I was ok only time had a problem was I qued for Karl urban and nearly passed out my own fault could of had help and during queuing for freema ( again could of had help just had to ask ) my back seized couldn't hardly walk but crew let jump crew and arranged for my wheelchair to be brought close signing table.

 

3. Venue I liked the venue all on one level can't remember the venue but one year the photos were downstairs and the sightings were up stairs which was great fun(not).

 

Can't comment on talks as didn't attend any but had very few problems and a good day.

[makeadeal345]

It's all part of the experience for me. I pay the money to take my rightful place in that queue to get my photograph or to get my autograph and I am proud of it.

We had a lovely time on Saturday, too. However, I think the complaints you are referencing (mine included) are that we *didn't* get our rightful places in the queues - we behaved well, turned up at the time we were supposed to, etc etc, and because of various things the queues themselves went to hell and the systems that were supposed to work, didn't.

 

I don't think anyone has said that they don't expect to queue - we only scheduled *one* photoshoot we really wanted to do, and considered everything else gravy, and we had a fabulous time. But it is reasonable to assume that the person who arrives an hour before should end up further along in the queue than the person who arrives an hour after.

 

That's fair enough, but all I am saying is; to queue is going to be part of the day, as everyone knows, so just go with it as its never gonna go perfectly smooth.

((Although something that did make me chuckle was 2 guys I was stood behind in a queue for Jeri Ryan complained the whole time about how much it was a waste of their time queuing up and how they had better things to do. ))