Talk Refunds?

[Rockstar6662]

What?! Anthony did a talk? Where on earth was this advertised? I get the showmasters Tweets sent straight to my phone and never received anything. Got the tweet about Frank Spotniz but not Anthony! I'm gutted!

 

You're not the only one. Only knew from reading that people went to it on here. He's great fun in talks, might have liked to get to it.

[swan]

I attended both GOT talks, the first one was delayed, so therefore shortened, and I could barely hear a thing, Charles Dance couldn't hear the questions either.

 

I will not be paying for talks again.

[Malius]

Yeah it is the venue too, As it's just one big hall (especially at EC) that just fills with and bounces sound around and the talk areas have NO shielding from that really. The height of the walls VS the height of the building the sound is bouncing around is such a mis-match.

 

But yes, better sound equipment would be a great addition.

 

What I mean to say is that there are problems inherent in the system before you even consider the venue.

 

First of all the speakers for the audience are badly arranged, having them at head height doesn't work at all. Most voices are around the hi-mid frequencies and are therefore absorbed by people. This is why most music venues you see the speakers raised above head height so that everyone can hear. Also arranging them around the sides doesn't work, it just increases feedback and bleed which lowers the overall effective volume of the systems.

 

Then the speakers are clearly never rung out properly or tuned properly as every time you hear the 'engineer' try and get more volume out of the system you can hear it on the verge of feedback. They need proper graphic EQ's and testing properly each morning.

 

And this is before we even think about the monitoring situation and the microphones...

[BigBangPenny]

What?! Anthony did a talk? Where on earth was this advertised? I get the showmasters Tweets sent straight to my phone and never received anything. Got the tweet about Frank Spotniz but not Anthony! I'm gutted!

 

It was super last minute; we just happened to be going to get his auto and his crew member said he was doing an impromptu rendition of his charity single (yes he sang live and played the guitar - this isn't helping is it?) ... and then has he ahd some spare time he did a 15 minute Q&A which was great. He was very funny.

[Madeleine]

It seems odd that this question was asked and has not been answered. Is someone from Showmasters going to explain how we can get a refund for talks that were significantly shorter than advertised, or that were inaudible? It ought to go without saying that a talk should be audible. It could have been made audible in many ways; the most obvious being to move all the seats nearer, and not reserve four or five rows at the front for people who weren't coming: if people can see the lips of a speaker they're far more likely to be able to hear despite lousy accoustics. I don't know what could be done about the accoustics, but I know that when I went to the talk at last year's LFCC that Karren Gillian did, I heard every word.

 

But regardless of why we couldn't hear, lots of us couldn't hear somethign we'd paid to be able to hear. It would help if someone were to explain how a refund could be arranged.

[TerraHawk]

It ought to go without saying that a talk should be audible.

 

That's almost philosophical - Is a talk a talk if no one can hear it?

 

But regardless of why we couldn't hear, lots of us couldn't hear somethign we'd paid to be able to hear. It would help if someone were to explain how a refund could be arranged.

 

Be impossible if you bought on the day, but if you bought in advance you have proof.

[Fozziefuzz]

I was actually surprised and disappointed at how far away the front row was from the stage in Talk A. At all previous events (LFCCs included) and talks I've attended even the busiest areas have been a nice intimate experience, which in turn has helped with sound issues. Fine, the distance issue may have only affected me because of my visual impairment, but when I purchase a Gold Pass to ensure this will not be an problem and end up feeling like I'm at the back of, say, last EMS's John Hurt talk, it's really disheartening (I've had better views from further away at Chevron events thanks to decent lighting and video on screens). Add to that the fact that the speaker setup was clearly not designed to deal with such a large area that would be affected by outside noise.

 

I have always enjoyed attending SM's talks and, don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the time that is taken to organise them by all parties involved, but LFCC '12 was the first time I came away feeling like it was a chore to sit there.

[Vitani]

It seems odd that this question was asked and has not been answered. Is someone from Showmasters going to explain how we can get a refund for talks that were significantly shorter than advertised, or that were inaudible? It ought to go without saying that a talk should be audible. It could have been made audible in many ways; the most obvious being to move all the seats nearer, and not reserve four or five rows at the front for people who weren't coming: if people can see the lips of a speaker they're far more likely to be able to hear despite lousy accoustics. I don't know what could be done about the accoustics, but I know that when I went to the talk at last year's LFCC that Karren Gillian did, I heard every word.

 

But regardless of why we couldn't hear, lots of us couldn't hear somethign we'd paid to be able to hear. It would help if someone were to explain how a refund could be arranged.

 

I am disappointed that no one has answered my question. I got tired of waiting and just emailed ticket enquiries. I'll wait and see what they say.

[Queen_Sindel]

I am disappointed that no one has answered my question. I got tired of waiting and just emailed ticket enquiries. I'll wait and see what they say.

 

That would probably be because Showmasters were still out of the office. Unfortunately the mods can not answer this and we have also been waiting for confirmation on how to proceed.

 

If you have e-mailed info@showmastersonline.com you have gone the right way for your enquiry. Did you go and ask at the Organisers Booth at the event? Next time anything like this happens (fingers crossed it does not) please go that route, it is the quickest way for sure.

[PrincessDrusilla]

I had the same problem with the Holly talk on the Sunday, which was especially frustrating as Brian had joined her for it! I was also near the front, just behind gold ticket holders but couldn't make out much. Wasn't going to raise it though as thought it was just my hearing!

[jcangel]

As a gold pass holder I had planned on attending a lot of the talks, but quite frankly the issues with the sound meant that in the end I only made the effort for the ones I really did not want to miss. I managed the front row for most of the them and I couldn't hear at all well from there, so can only assume it was worse further back.

 

I was also surprised by how far away from the guests the front row was in the main talk area. Was there a reason why the chairs were so far back? I have been closer to the stage at other events when sitting in row 4 or 5 than I was here. I would also agree that the number of rows held back for gold pass holders was excessive. I can understand though that for the main talks that a lot more seats were needed and as the rest of the seating was done in number order then enough space had to be left so that if every gold pass holder had wanted to attend there would have been a seat for them. I am not quite sure if there is a solution to this as the only real way around this would have been to load the talks in ticket number order, as is done at the Massive Events conventions but I fear that takes a lot more time and would not be a practical solution for this set up where the hall needs to be emptied and re-loaded every 30-40 mins.

[dee]

If you have e-mailed info@showmastersonline.com you have gone the right way for your enquiry. Did you go and ask at the Organisers Booth at the event? Next time anything like this happens (fingers crossed it does not) please go that route, it is the quickest way for sure.

It would have had the same result. My daughter went to the organisers booth straight after the Saturday GoT talk to lodge a complaint about the length and sound, and they told her to send an email instead anyway.

Edited July 11, 2012 by dee

[Vitani]

I am disappointed that no one has answered my question. I got tired of waiting and just emailed ticket enquiries. I'll wait and see what they say.

 

That would probably be because Showmasters were still out of the office. Unfortunately the mods can not answer this and we have also been waiting for confirmation on how to proceed.

 

If you have e-mailed info@showmastersonline.com you have gone the right way for your enquiry. Did you go and ask at the Organisers Booth at the event? Next time anything like this happens (fingers crossed it does not) please go that route, it is the quickest way for sure.

 

Ah, okay, thank you that.

[Queen_Sindel]

If you have e-mailed info@showmastersonline.com you have gone the right way for your enquiry. Did you go and ask at the Organisers Booth at the event? Next time anything like this happens (fingers crossed it does not) please go that route, it is the quickest way for sure.

It would have had the same result. My daughter went to the organisers booth straight after the Saturday GoT talk to lodge a complaint about the length and sound, and they told her to send an email instead anyway.

 

I haven't worked at the Organisers Booth at the event, so unfortunately I have no idea what they suggested, sorry.

[toria]

Ben Browder's free talk was awesome at the end of Sunday. It was moved around a lot but was in the talk area B I believe! I could hear everything perfectly and it felt really intimate and special. It was the highlight of my day!

 

Also attended and paid for the Adam and Jewel talk and I was disappointed with that one, I had trouble hearing and felt I was quite far back as the first 3-4 rows were for gold pass people yet they were 70% empty! Perhaps a smaller space would make them sound better, seemed to work very well with Ben's talk!

Edited July 11, 2012 by toria

[dee]

If you have e-mailed info@showmastersonline.com you have gone the right way for your enquiry. Did you go and ask at the Organisers Booth at the event? Next time anything like this happens (fingers crossed it does not) please go that route, it is the quickest way for sure.

It would have had the same result. My daughter went to the organisers booth straight after the Saturday GoT talk to lodge a complaint about the length and sound, and they told her to send an email instead anyway.

 

I haven't worked at the Organisers Booth at the event, so unfortunately I have no idea what they suggested, sorry.

Sorry, that wasn't meant personally. I know they do sort some things at the desk, I just didn't want people to think they'd missed out on a resolution while they were there. If they had gone to the desk, they would have been told the same as you told us :)

[Indestructible]

Although I share the sentiment as had the same experience, I don't see how showmasters can do anything now. I paid cash for a talk, how do I prove I was at the talk to get a refund etc. And even though I thought it was poor value for money I did attend the talk. Also no idea what happens to the money, how much goes to the stars and or agents. If they did the talk then can't expect them to refund etc.

All told I can't see refunds happening. However, next time around many will be less likely to pay. For me as a minimum I would want to know the length of time of the talk and that it is labelled as a talk or a Q and A and not a talk which is actually a Q and A.

[swan]

I think the talks shouldn't be advertised as talks, because they are not. They are question and answer sessions. Big difference to a talk where someone has a prepared talk and stands up to talk abou it.

[BeatrixKiddo88]

Well it depends on the guest to be fair. Kevin Smith still advertises his ones as Q and As but each answer is a 20+ min story rather than an answer

 

Some guests need to be asked a lot to prompt them, so only do about 3 questions per talk as they go off on stories and can hold the floor for ages.

 

Dosnt need to be two names for practically the same thing, will just confuse some people. And as these forums show, a lot of people get confused a lot fo the time hehe

 

AND, as another point, what about guests doing just talks but all the people wanting to ask about certain things? Dont always have the time at the signing table. Talks are the places people get to ask the things they've always wanted to.

Edited July 11, 2012 by BeatrixKiddo88

[Clarkey]

You should have stood up and said something.

No-one would have heard you!!!

[Gordon The Gopher]

I did say something at talk I was at and got a shrug of the shoulders from the woman in blue tshirt. Also got told to email in when I complained on the day

Edited July 12, 2012 by Gordon The Gopher

[scifisteve]

I asked Holly the First Question of her Sat Talk, I was in the First Row, couldn't hear her reply left after about 10 minutes due to the lack of sound.