feedback and some thoughts from jason after this years LFCC

[fantasyfan]

Hi Jason,

 

I understand that the people controlling (sic) the queses outside were a hired company and not your staff or volunteers, hence some of the problems were beyonfd your control. One of the issues I found on Saturday was these guys were saying if you have a ticket go "that way." That is an really unhelpful piece of information considering that there are various different types of tickets. All they were doing was sending all ticket holders in one direction.

 

As a suggestion to try and clear this up, should you find you have to use a different company next year, or even if you use the crew. Would it be possible to have different tickets printed on different colour paper? Gold tickets are yellow, EB are blue and so forth. It may make it easier for everyone to remember where they should be sending them. Yellow here, blue here and so forth rather then EB, Gold, Standard etc.

It could also help keep things more manageable when not being assisted. After everyone was being sent off randomly in "that way" people were left seeing more than one lines not knowing which they should be in. Quite often you were asking other fans is this the queue for .......? Some people would say" yes," most were saying "I think so" or "I don't know I joined it and hope it's right."

Purely on a visual level this can be cleared up with coloured tickets. If you are holding a blue ticket and you see a line where people are holding or looking at yellow tickets that isn't your line to be in.

 

The other issue, although that is too big a word for the problem I noticed is that on the windows of the door there was a sign that said Gold Tickets Entry. As this was in height with people it became completely obscured by people so you would walk right past the door unless you have been there before and know where you are supposed to go to get in the building. That sign needs to be higher even if it is outside the building so it is above head height. People can see it and know that is where they are supposed to go in or join the queue for that door.

 

Again, towards door opening time an unhelpful comment I was given was I now need to go that way (yep in the opposite direction I was orginally sent) and I need the middle door. Never having been to the building before and not knowing the design of it's architecture that means nothing to me. It's not like you have three doors beside each other and the middle door is obvious. Again i was asking fans is this the line for the middle door? Again getting i don't know I just stopped at this one as I don't know what is happening and where I should be.

Clearer door or entrance labelling is something that needs to be looked at to help the people attending as well as the staff or volunteers that are trying to keep things running smoothly.

I totally agree with your opinion.

[lordschweizer]

@Door Situation

 

I think this year's queue situation was due to olympia grand hall and the 3 possible entry doors.

Doors left "Pay on the day"

Doors in the Middle "Gold Patrons"

Doors right "Early Birds"

 

Next year at Earls Court everything would be the old common and simple way. Only one large doorfront.

Doors on the left "Early Birds"

Doors (more) on the right "Gold Patrons"

The other right "Pay on the Day"

 

BTW have you seen the people which sleeped in front of the POTD door on Sunday? As i arrived at 06.30 the sunday morning 2 people sleeped with bedrolls in front of the POTD Doors... Damn crazy

 

I also completely second the suggestion of different colours for the ticket types.

Or signpost in overhead height QUEUE HERE FOR Early Birds / QUEUE HERE FOR Gold Tickets / QUEUE HERE Pay on the day

 

The signposting was done this year for the Prepaid Tickets as with this solely the EBD's were meant.

 

 

Greetz

[rogerxy]

I have a question: Are you planning to continue the "no personalization" nonsense next year?

[etmuse]

I have a question: Are you planning to continue the "no personalization" nonsense next year?

'No personalisations' is only ever imposed either for time reasons if doing personalisations would mean that guest not getting through most of the people waiting to see them, or at the request of the guest. It is never the preferred option.

[rogerxy]

I beg to differ that it saves time... perhaps it saves time because less people are then interested in getting the autograph but if you count the few seconds it takes to write the name, I rather skip the handshake, talk time or something else that takes a few seconds, if those seconds are so valuable.

 

If it is the guests own descision, that's a whole other matter ofc.

[Queen_Sindel]

It is only a matter of seconds per fan. But it does add up quickly.

 

Guest sees 750 fans. 750 x 5 seconds = 3750 seconds and that's not even taking spelling errors or "is this spelled with a Y or an I?"

 

In this time more fans can get seen - 750 autographs is in fact a really small number of autographs for the big guests. There have been ticket numbers over 1000 and some fans get more than one signature.

 

Plus it's really personal taste. You'd rather skip the handshake. But we've had others getting really upset because a guest wouldn't do it for one reason or the other.

 

Personally I certainly didn't mind not getting a personalisation from Patrick Stewart at first LFACC. He has the gift of making everyone feel welcome within a few seconds, even if it's only with some words.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Queen_Sindel
too hot to do math

[cookies41]

Even though I do prefer personalisations on autographs, Showmasters do try and get every guest to do this but mostly it is up to the guests discretion - e.g. Freema and Karl had signs up both days saying 'no personalisation' yet when I got the to their desks I was asked whether I wanted it personalised as they were happy to do that. Opposite to that, because Adam Baldwin was so busy, the decision was made that in order to get as many through as possible, he wouldn't personalise.

It just means that people won't go away disappointed.

[rogerxy]

Plus it's really personal taste.

EXACTLY!!!

So the best solution would be that you can choose to have a talk/handshake or getting personalization, because some do care about the first and not the second and vice versa.

And the spelling errors are not a problem, which you would have known if you were at the con. The staff wrote your name on the ticket you bought before you come to the celebrity. So top 2-3 seconds extra per guest for those who want personalization, and that is not all who wants that.

 

And from what I saw, the celebrities usually talked to the guest for a little while and during that time they could have written 20 personalizations, so that just felt ridiculous for someone like me who would rather take _one_ personalization than getting that talk time.

 

It just means that people won't go away disappointed.

It does? Because I skipped 2 of my planned signatures because they wouldn't personalize. For me, getting a non-personalized autograph means nothing, I might as well have bought it on E-bay then. I want my autograph to be to me. A non personalized autograph is just lifeless and cold imo. Not funny to have at all. So yeah, I was pretty dissapointed.

Edited August 2, 2012 by rogerxy

[Queen_Sindel]

Plus it's really personal taste.

EXACTLY!!!

So the best solution would be that you can choose to have a talk/handshake or getting personalization, because some do care about the first and not the second and vice versa.

 

Offering a choice would cost even more time. People can't decide. Some people will try to get both still.

 

Handshakes are definitely not the reason why personalisations are restricted. Only a very limited number of people want them. It's the amount of people to go through. And from reading on here I do get the impression that if you can't get a personalisation the majority will prefer some sort of interaction over a handshake.

 

I'm sorry your choice was to go away. But there's a lot of attendees who want the autograph as an memento of having "met" the guest, and the interaction as short as it is is actually more important to them. Showmasters have to find the balance to make as many people happy as possible. If the balance seems to shift I am sure things will be reconsidered.

 

And the spelling errors are not a problem, which you would have known if you were at the con. The staff wrote your name on the ticket you bought before you come to the guest. So top 2-3 seconds extra per guest for those who want personalization, and that is not all who wants that.

 

I was at the event. And I have seen the stickers. They speed up the process, yes, but the fact remains that this costs extra time. Even if it cuts down the 5 seconds I gave to 3, the stickers don't make the extra time disappear.

 

I've been to all LFACCs but one, so I have seen a lot. Writing the names down isn't the solution for everything. It's not foulproof.

 

Attendees are sometimes still catching that they can get personalisations despite being asked when buying the autograph, so spelling at the table it is. Happened in in the Brian Krause queue this year actually. Or someone remembering they suddenly want their husband's/wife's name on the photo after all. Again spelling at the table it is. And sometimes even the names written down don't help. I have a friend named Keith I am sometimes getting one or two autographs for. I always bring my own name stickers, even printed because no one can read my handwriting. Even with a sticker the name regularly gets spelled "Kieth" for some reason.

[rogerxy]

I think you are splitting hairs with your arguments, ofc. any trouble can happen in any given situation, but I don't think not being able to read a name from a piece of paper is such a common problem.

 

And if it is true that people don't think getting no personalization is such a big problem, than I don't see why the few of us that think it's important shouldn't be able to get it upon request. I think there are ways to make everyone happy in this case, and still not lose any time all in all.

[Queen_Sindel]

I was just trying to show you that things are not always as easy as one would think. There are too many things to consider, and a lot someone might not even think about. I apologize if this came over the wrong way.

 

I am quite sure that a lot of those that of the attendees that accept to get no personalisation in the end would rather have one. There've been polls for that in the past and "I'd rather have a personalisation" always wins. So again if the choice "personalisation or not" is offered the number will greatly increase as it's not only those who really insist on personalized autographs would get one. But for most it seems to be a question of rather meeting the guest at all instead of missing out, and they'll rather get just the signature instead of giving up meeting the guest completely.

[Avengers7]

Plus it's really personal taste.

EXACTLY!!!

So the best solution would be that you can choose to have a talk/handshake or getting personalization, because some do care about the first and not the second and vice versa.

And the spelling errors are not a problem, which you would have known if you were at the con. The staff wrote your name on the ticket you bought before you come to the celebrity. So top 2-3 seconds extra per guest for those who want personalization, and that is not all who wants that.

 

And from what I saw, the celebrities usually talked to the guest for a little while and during that time they could have written 20 personalizations, so that just felt ridiculous for someone like me who would rather take _one_ personalization than getting that talk time.

 

It just means that people won't go away disappointed.

It does? Because I skipped 2 of my planned signatures because they wouldn't personalize. For me, getting a non-personalized autograph means nothing, I might as well have bought it on E-bay then. I want my autograph to be to me. A non personalized autograph is just lifeless and cold imo. Not funny to have at all. So yeah, I was pretty dissapointed.

 

I really cannot see your logic here. You mean to tell me that you refused to pay for 2 autographs because the guests would not personalize.

 

Surely its better to have met them than not. I can'y see why your arguing here!

[TerraHawk]

I think there are ways to make everyone happy in this case, and still not lose any time all in all.

 

At the end of the day it takes longer for a guest to dedicate and write minimum four words, one of them variable, than it does to write two which they can pretty much write on autopilot.

 

Perhaps in these cases dedications/messages should be chargeable. If you want photo signed by 'Big Actor' that's £20, If you want 'To Fan, Best Wishes, Big Actor' that's £20 +£5 +£5, the time spent on the additions is partially compensated for. They'd still spend more time on the additions than the basic sig though.

[bondy25]

I don't agree with this though as the actors themselves write best wishes or lots of love on their own accord depending on the guest.

 

One autograph I didn't get personalised was for a friend as they wrote te extra words.

 

So why charge more for something they do automatically

 

Other events I go to dot charge for the personalisation and a lot of the time I known guests who want to personalise the autographs to make it more memorable for the fan meeting their guest or idol! A lot of people who go to these type of events are those who want to meet their fav star or whatever so why penalise them for this and then add more charges for a personalised message a guest automatically writes!

 

 

Edited August 3, 2012 by johnbond

[rogerxy]

I really cannot see your logic here. You mean to tell me that you refused to pay for 2 autographs because the guests would not personalize.

 

Surely its better to have met them than not. I can'y see why your arguing here!

I don't feel any joy whatsoever to own an autograph that is not personalized to me, why is that so hard to understand? It's not nearly the same thing as having a personalized one.

 

I don't like the idea of charging extra for a personalization, that should be free. That said, if I had to choose between paying extra for a personalization or paying a "regular" fee for a non-personalized autograph, I would pay extra for the personalization without a shadow of a doubt. At 1st I was going to ask if I could get Karl Urban to personalize one signed photo for the prize of two but in the end I found it to be to expensive so I didn't care to ask.

 

John boy: True that... I would rather have my name than "Best Wishes" or something similar.

Edited August 3, 2012 by rogerxy

[jael001]

Everyone has a different reason for getting their autographs. For me, I dont care about the signature at all, it's the fact that I'm face to face with the guest that's the important bit, having a chance to talk to them, have some kind of interaction, even if it's just a smile and a hello. Personalisation or not makes no difference to me.

[Kuato_Lives]

In my opinon just let the guests decide what they do on the day. If they want to handshake, talk and personalise then let them and if they don't then fair enough. No point in speculating on future rules to enforce. It works alright the way it is.

 

As for people missing out on getting autographs and using this "People taking up guests time" excuse, then they should have got there earlier to ensure that they meet them. First come, first served and all that.

[TerraHawk]

As for people missing out on getting autographs and using this "People taking up guests time" excuse, then they should have got there earlier to ensure that they meet them. First come, first served and all that.

 

All well and good, but if they don't get there early enough to meet them, then they don't get there early enough to spend their money on them either. It's in the organisers interest they get through as many as possible, not just the privileged few.

[Kuato_Lives]

As for people missing out on getting autographs and using this "People taking up guests time" excuse, then they should have got there earlier to ensure that they meet them. First come, first served and all that.

 

All well and good, but if they don't get there early enough to meet them, then they don't get there early enough to spend their money on them either. It's in the organisers interest they get through as many as possible, not just the privileged few.

 

It's all good trying to make as much profit as possible but if you harness the experience, you'll get a bad rep and people will simply stop turning up. Take Collectormania for example and Sean Astin, what a top guy! Posing for pics, chatting etc what an experience he gave to us all. Purely on that meeting I recommended going to LFCC to as many people I know. I got that same experience from the awesome Zach Galligan at LFCC too. You harness this experience by enforcing rules suggested in other posts in this topic on all the guests, then people would probably stop recommending it, word of mouth would become terrible, people would just stop turning up.

 

It's pretty much a given that big guests like Gillian Anderson you get to say a quick "Hi, how are you" etc you get your autograph and move on quickly so I don't really see what people are complaining about.

[cunningham1471]

As for people missing out on getting autographs and using this "People taking up guests time" excuse, then they should have got there earlier to ensure that they meet them. First come, first served and all that.

 

All well and good, but if they don't get there early enough to meet them, then they don't get there early enough to spend their money on them either. It's in the organisers interest they get through as many as possible, not just the privileged few.

 

It's all good trying to make as much profit as possible but if you harness the experience, you'll get a bad rep and people will simply stop turning up. Take Collectormania for example and Sean Astin, what a top guy! Posing for pics, chatting etc what an experience he gave to us all. Purely on that meeting I recommended going to LFCC to as many people I know. I got that same experience from the awesome Zach Galligan at LFCC too. You harness this experience by enforcing rules suggested in other posts in this topic on all the guests, then people would probably stop recommending it, word of mouth would become terrible, people would just stop turning up.

 

It's pretty much a given that big guests like Gillian Anderson you get to say a quick "Hi, how are you" etc you get your autograph and move on quickly so I don't really see what people are complaining about.

 

Unfortunately if these events get bigger and more popular, it's possible that interaction could get less over time and more a "Hi, how are you?" scenario if the number of attendees keep going up regardless of whether the guests would like to chat and give you a minute or two.

[TerraHawk]

It's all good trying to make as much profit as possible but if you harness the experience, you'll get a bad rep and people will simply stop turning up.

 

Well whats better - have 1200 people annoyed they had an equally poor experience, but walk away with an autograph, or have 800 happy and 400 walk away without anything?

Edited August 4, 2012 by TerraHawk

[Kuato_Lives]

It's all good trying to make as much profit as possible but if you harness the experience, you'll get a bad rep and people will simply stop turning up.

 

Well whats better - have 1200 people annoyed they had an equally poor experience, but walk away with an autograph, or have 800 happy and 400 walk away without anything?

 

Definitely the latter You have to remember I'm an attendee not a Show organiser. I don't really care how much money SM makes or if other attendees miss out as long as I have a good time...Just being honest.

[TerraHawk]

Definitely the latter You have to remember I'm an attendee not a Show organiser. I don't really care how much money SM makes or if other attendees miss out as long as I have a good time...Just being honest.

 

Just hope there aren't 800 in front of you then.

[DavidB]

The bigger guests are, on the whole, better managed than they ever have been. I don't see numbers dwindling because of 'bad experiences' - quite the opposite in fact.

[Rockstar6662]

The bigger guests are, on the whole, better managed than they ever have been. I don't see numbers dwindling because of 'bad experiences' - quite the opposite in fact.

 

The big guests have been managed brilliantly the last few shows in my view. No longer are you simply herded through. Yes it is quick but now you at least have a moment to say something and they are trying to allow personalisation as much as possible. It's a much, much better experience in my opinion than it used to be. You at least feel acknowledged and that you've met the person rather than just stood in front of them for half a second.

 

Some of it is down to the guest and I was impressed with Karl Urban who shook hands, was very welcoming, took time to talk to people and still the line kept moving.

 

You'll never get a long chat with these type of guests like you can with some others but I've come away at least feeling like I've had the interaction which is what it's all about.