How did the show go?

[nuttymummy]

unfortunately I didnt have access to the forum on the way down on the train....no damn wifi!! ha ha

 

london film and comic con, and milton keynes are far superior really though so I think I will just stick to those. EMS is great for people who are more local...but I dont think i could pay to travel to it again.

 

Just sticking my 2 cents worth in to hope it helps x

[trekkerjonathan]

didn't go to this event as im going to destination star trek london on the 19 to 21 of october so i pre ordered matt smith and ethan phillps from the store sounds as if it was not only a good event but not alot of people went due to cancellations of some of the guests

well roll on destination star trek.

[DIDS]

One of my guests had to pull out, so I only attended this event for Christopher Malcolm.

I managed to meet Christopher straight away. I had a couple of looks around the stalls and that was it. I never bought anything as there was nothing there for me. I was suprised by the lack of stalls.

I was back at Victoria Station by 11:30 for a train back home !!

[cookiemonster]

I really enjoyed the event! In some ways I liked the quietness, especially after the manic con that was LFCC and before what I am predicting will be a hectic DSTL!

The Sunday reminded me of a Friday MK and at one point only Craig Charles had a queue of any size. He was a good sport coming back for Sunday morning especially when he was hungover and I got a great over the table photo (he also suggested doing it, "Not that i'm trying to force one on you!" he added!).

The talks were good - Vaughn Armstrong and Ethan Phillips were a great pairing and Paul Darrow was hilarious on the Sunday!

 

I think this EMS suffered on many parts - 1) Con fatigue and finances - We've recently had Lords of Time that would have hoovered up more of the Who guests we could have seen here and DSTL and Autographica are just around the corner. 2) Lack of big headliners - As mentioned before, Matt Smith has been round the block lately so maybe wasn't such as big a draw as he would have been say a year ago. 3) Cancellations - the amount of cancellations (while not SM's fault) probably put people off.

 

Also, in a weird roundabout way although the new printers are great in us getting our pics ASAP and it's also great seeing people coming out of the booths with smiles on their faces holding their pics, I think a lot of people came and did what they wanted to and went. Had we had the old system, people would have had to wait 3 hours and would have wandered about more to fill in the time.

[riversidejon]

agree with the Cookiemonster....

[lams9999]

I was there on sunday, it was dead empty. I was there only for 6 guests (compared to 25 at LFFC and 18 at CMK). No queue at all nearly anywhere (except small queues at the photo shoots). Never seen that before! When I was in the guest signing area, I felt a bit sorry for the guests as they basically had nothing to do most of the time. Good point for me : I could chat easily for 5-10 minutes with each guest without taking anyone else's time. Still I don't think that's good for the guest. I'm sure Jason will disagree but as somebody wrote above, I think it's time to seriously reduce the number of events per year : LFFC/CMK and 2-3 ME would be okay. There is a crisis and there is simply a limit in the number of people that will come and spend money to meet guests.

 

On the plus side, the new printing system is really impressive and very very nice.

[showmasters]

i am going to point out one thing

 

we used to run

2 collectormanias a year

2 CM Gmex

2 london event

1 CMG

and the small events

as well as the other shows in the UK

 

 

now we have

 

 

1 collectormanias a year

2 london events

1 CMG

and the small events

and a lot less other shows in the UK

 

so if we run less events my friend there will not be any ?

 

and with less events there is less chance to book the guests when they are around to coincide with a show , so remember the more the better.

 

i will point out a few other points that many of you will not know .

 

trasport on Sunday was bad due to a lot of rail links not working. so we felt that sunday was going to be much slower anyway so no real surprise there .

 

when we have run EMS we used around 6000 SM for the hall. this hall is 11,000 nearly double the size of hall we have used at all the previous shows, so its going to look much quieter. but saturday was fine and worked well for everyone and the numbers where fine and what we needed , the sunday was quiet and more so then we wanted but there is a lot of events on and we know most of the trekkies are not going to be there as they are saving for two weeks time .

 

and we also was very unlucky about the amount go guests that had to drop out , and we had a tough time replacing them at short notice. so i think this is what happened , its not a big issue really we have good events and slow events its the way of things , but at the end of the day we are not going to be able to make each event bigger than the last one every time , we knew one day the guest list would be lesser that the one before , we are not worried as this year has been the best year for guests and business we have ever had so country to what some people may thing we are quite happy with the weekend we thought it was going to be a bit quitter and it was , but saturday was a great day and i do think everyone that attended had a good time. it's really funny when we here people complaining that a show is too busy and then when we have a quiet show people still complain. so we just look at it as we try out best every thing to put on the best event we can and if there was the guests you wanted to see there they i am shore you had a good time meeting the guests and being at the event.

 

one show down 3 more in 2 weeks to go and what is looking to be the busiest Autograpica we have had in the10 years they have been running so one might be slow followed by a very busy one , its swings and rounderbounts but as long as everyone has a good time we are happy.

 

one last points i think people need to remember and i keep reminding the crew and friends of this as well

 

EMS is 3 years old , its not LFCC which is around 10 years old , it takes time for people to get to know of these events , not the people on here as you all know this but you are only 5 % tops of the people that attend LFCC , i talked to a guy today not hr phone how said when is the next event on ? and he did not know of LFCC this was his first event and thought it was amazing and is not planning to come to all the events , so like once when LFCC was the little sister to CMMK and everyone said we should just stick to the events at MK. EMS will grow.

 

thanks for everyone that did come and support this and all our events , and we will see you all again soon.

 

off to work on the next two weeks shows now

 

jason

[lams9999]

OK, I'm not going to debate again about this but you say less shows at the top of this message and then a bit further you say "3 more shows in the next 2 weeks" ..... and you're not talking about Hallowhedon or Chevron which happen in the next 2 or 3 weeks after. But no more discussion about this for me.

[nuttymummy]

Oh of course....people drop out and thats just the way its going to be sometimes.its no-ones fault especially if stuff has to be worked around filming.

 

I don't want people to take opinions to heart etc. Just hoping some of it makes sense to maybe help future shows. Do you know when you love something that much you just really want to help....it sparks strong opinions. So anyone having a right go on here just really really loves the shows and wants to see them at the best they can be :)

Please remember that :) dont take it to heart or as 'complaining' but we just love the things so damn much we want them to be awesome ha ha. and sometimes some of us think our opinions are vaild ones XD x

 

Jason....are there any plans for a strong Walking Dead line-up soon? I cant wait if there is LOL I was gutted when Norman Reedus had to drop out!

 

xx

[vash-chan]

This was my first EMS attendance so I wasn't sure what to expect (normally I go to LFCC but I didn't go to this year's one because I couldn't afford it due to unemployment). I was surprised when I arrived at 10:30am on both days that the queues outside were small.

 

It was definitely quiet on both days and I felt sympathetic towards some of the guests who had been sitting there for a while. I expected Saturday to be really wild because of Matt Smith's appearance but reading the feedback on here I was surprised it wasn't so bad should've bought a photoshoot ticket *sniffs*. Because some of the guests I wanted to meet on Saturday had cancelled said day's visit was a quickie so I mostly went around the stalls for a few hours and went to the Red Dwarf talk before leaving. I was busier on Sunday as one of the guests on my EMS 2012 wishlist was present and I managed to have a long chat...and bought a few goodies at the stalls xD

Edited October 8, 2012 by vash-chan

[Avengers7]

OK, Im going to bullet point mine....theres a few issues LOL

 

Good:

most of the crew were really helpful and lovely :)

 

Had more time to talk to the guests and less time to queue

 

met some really awesome people that I had become friends with on facebook due to these events

 

Bad:

1 crew member...not helpful at all...

 

I had arrived and paid to get in on the Saturday at 3.20pm straight from the train to get the Red Dwarf and boxers signatures (as they were only there Saturday) and our main day was Sunday but we rushed and paid to get in anyway. To be told the Red Dwarf photo shoot had already happened (scheduled for 4.15-5.15pm)...so even though we had plenty of time....they decided off their own backs just to do it earlier despite people making plans. that SUCKED.

 

Ludo...nowhere in sight...

 

Craig Charles...left early and then when we tried to get him on the Sunday we assumed he had gone for his dinner...only to realize he had left early again!

 

Boxers...no where to be seen

 

the show was EMPTY. fair enough we didn't have to queue, but there were half the amount of stalls....which majority of the stall holders looked bored to tears.

Yep I get the points about being able to walk around, see stalls, no queues. But some of those guests were first time signers in the UK....and as they sat there at their desk with no queues for HOURS on end....I doubt very much they would like to come back! which is very unfair. If they are first UK signers....show them to a big show to wet their appetite to come back again. I felt really embarrassed and sorry for them. I just feel that 'new' guests should be at the bigger shows to encourage them to come back poor souls!

 

I had booked train tickets to return home on the Sunday at 6pm. We had walked round the stalls that many times after getting all our autographs in under an hour that I could probably memorize every item they sold LOL we had over 4 hours to kill....and man was that hard!

 

I have decided I will probably never attend an EMS again. I have been to Milton Keynes and London Film and Comic con, and knowing this was more of a 'side' convention rather than a main one I still wasn't expecting no outside queues at all and the inside to be absolutely dismal.

 

The Guests who were there and the people/crew made it bearable. They were all FANTASTIC (bar one!)! and enjoyed myself just for those alone.

I'm afraid I would rather queue for hours and get bumped around stalls than pay over £300 in train and hotel etc to attend EMS again

 

This was Olympia in July:

 

 

 

the excitement was much more intense!

 

we only used half of the room this time and the stalls had to be spread out to fill the space.

 

Do you think maybe you are trying to do too many shows? and maybe stick with doing less....but filling the place more?

 

Just a thought xx

 

 

I for one totally disagree! I hate being pushed around in busy events, really dont like crowds of people.

 

This event was brilliant - decent guests, brilliant photoshoots and fabntastic talks. What more can you ask for.

 

 

I can't understand any attendee who complains because it wasnt busy enough.

[Inga]

Well I was, of course, thrilled to meet Matt Smith and Chris Heyerdahl, and I have to say both photos and autos were really reasonably priced this year - let's be honest I wouldn't have missed this for the world. But yeah, this show was a bit of a let down compared to previous shows. It was partly because there weren't really any other guests I wanted to meet (normally I have trouble fitting them all in) but I know that not every show will cater to my tastes as my idea of a good guest isn't everyones. But aside from that I had two major issues with the show.

 

Firstly it seemed like the whole place was empty. I only went on the Saturday, but the space seemed really big for what seemed to me to be a smaller show - there was a lot of empty space, and attendance didn't seem very high (I also noticed a lot less cosplayers this time which was a big shame) I guess this might have been to do with the guest cancellations, or maybe something bigger was going on that I didn't know about!

 

Secondly, I was really let down by the amount of stalls this year. Normally there is such a huge variety of stalls (and lots of them), selling some really unique and interesting things, but this time they seemed to all be along the same lines, which is great if you're a big collector but not so great if you just want to pick up a few nice bits'n'bobs - there seemed to be hardly any stands selling clothing or jewellery, and at the last EMS I really enjoying poking around those stands because it's often stuff you don't get as readily on the internet.

 

I'll be honest, I got my Matt photo, looked once around the stalls, and really wished I could head home. Instead I had to hang around for nearly five hours to get my Chris photo. I was bored!

But even though I didn't really enjoy this show, all the previous events I've been to have been fantastic, so I'm already really looking forward to Collectormania MK, and LFCC.

[UKscout]

for me 3.5hrs on the train, 30min bus journey and in and out of the event in 30mins which was great

as I could catch the train

 

yes the EMS show was a tad quite but London did feel a bit quite on Saturday probably due to certain amount of

tubes lines being down for the weekend which was a nightmare

 

It was great to get the three signings I needed and actually have time to talk to the signers without having someone breathing down

you neck trying to get their sig next.

 

 

 

Sorry, we can't mention other events here

Edited October 8, 2012 by Rhianydd

[TerraHawk]

so if we run less events my friend there will not be any ?

 

and with less events there is less chance to book the guests when they are around to coincide with a show , so remember the more the better.

 

trasport on Sunday was bad due to a lot of rail links not working.

 

the sunday was quiet and more so then we wanted but there is a lot of events on and we know most of the trekkies are not going to be there as they are saving for two weeks time .

 

and we also was very unlucky about the amount go guests that had to drop out , and we had a tough time replacing them at short notice. so i think this is what happened ,

 

When aren't the trains down?

 

I'm not saying you should do less events, but perhaps spread them out a bit better. You say trekies are saving up for the end of the month, so you are admiting you are in competition with yourself.

 

Surely having three bg events in one month is almost putting all your eggs in one basket?

[dragonsanddaffodils]

But wasn't that just referring to the trek guests and the fact that dstl is the first of its kind in Europe and wasn't a regular occurrence, so of course trek fans may have to consider missing ems in order to attend this new show. Doesn't mean that other attendees wouldn't go. The last sm show was July, that's a good gap, does however show how many trek fans there usually are

 

 

[dragonsanddaffodils]

Craig Charles was not meant to be attending Sunday, I saw the post saying he had added on a few hours Sunday morning

[TerraHawk]

The last sm show was July,

 

But the next one is next week.

 

Personally I could have now been midway between atteneding 6 events in six weekends. Ironically the only of those SM run is the EMS, and that was the easiest for me to miss, with not enough guests of interest to me (So actually - thanks!) this time round..

[dragonsanddaffodils]

True! I am glad sometimes that I crew cos I would want to go to everything! Lol

[nuttymummy]

 

 

 

I can't understand any attendee who complains because it wasnt busy enough.

 

think about it......

if a guest has come over and its not busy....they might think its a waste of time...and NEVER come back.

 

Hence you dont get to meet people you want too......

 

I would rather it be packed to the rafters and the guest itching to come to another show so I get to see them again/or see them if i missed them the first time.

 

If I was a guest coming from the US and had traveled on a plane getting jet lagged and stopping in a strange country just for a handful of autographs and HOURS of sitting at a desk twiddling thumbs I wouldn't bother next time x

 

I'm thinking from the guests perspective.

[FooFighter756]

My first time attending any event like this. Was gutted I didnt take my son as he would have loved it, but planned a weekend for my girlfriend and myself. Did not know what to expect and what the format would be. I am very surprised how good it was and how easy and accessible the guests were. I especially enjoyed the hour long chat by Chris Claremont on the Saturday, and immediately wished had brought some of my books to be signed! Bought a comic anyway and rushed round to get it signed! No charge either and happy to chat. They guy in front of me in the queue must have had nearly 100 comics to be signed (no idea if he got them as he let me go ahead as I only had 1!!)

 

Spoke to many stall holders, and some of the cosplay guys about these kind of events and I am shocked I have never attended these kind of things before. Am a firm fan now and already planning to attend next years events, with my kids and a few friends!!!

 

Everyone friendly and helpful, only minor criticism is price of food and drink, but I guess thats London prices for you!

[dazzlerjames]

The red dwarf shoot lasted for an hour so wasn't over by 3:20pm. Lots of people still attended the shoot so not convinced by the argument that because DJJ was a no show loads of people cancelled their shoot - this wasn't the case.

[zhane]

I personally liked that it was quiet as it was easier to move around, no long lines, etc. I do however feel that nuttymummy makes a lot of sense seeing it from a guests perspective. We do after all want them to come back!

[DavidB]

I can't understand any attendee who complains because it wasnt busy enough.

 

think about it......

if a guest has come over and its not busy....they might think its a waste of time...and NEVER come back.

 

Hence you dont get to meet people you want too......

 

I would rather it be packed to the rafters and the guest itching to come to another show so I get to see them again/or see them if i missed them the first time.

 

If I was a guest coming from the US and had traveled on a plane getting jet lagged and stopping in a strange country just for a handful of autographs and HOURS of sitting at a desk twiddling thumbs I wouldn't bother next time x

 

I'm thinking from the guests perspective.

Problem is there's no guarantee that all guests can have a successful event, which is often why so many suggestions never come to fruition etc.

 

Have a far busier event, and then suddenly people complain there are too many big guests and they can't afford everyone. It's often a lose/lose situation when you're an organiser.

 

Would it have been nicer to have a busier event? Sure, but would it guarantee many more fans would meet those guests? Not exactly. Plus it's all down to everything falling into place - organiser budgets, actor schedules etc. It's very rarely a case of pick and choose whichever event you want them to go to. It has to work for all parties involved.

[riversidejon]

balance of scales views there are many. Too busy good for some, bad for others, too quiet good for some bad for others.

[rosie727]

i cant comment about sat i didnt get there til 3 30 and was completely hyper from all the coffee i drank from my train journey from glasgow. was suprised i got straight in for matt smith, but happy after all the travelling i saw him!!!!! lovely guy. i also managed to meet mark rolston and jonthan frakes

sunday was very quiet which meant guests spent longer talking and i managed to have a long chat with bradley gregg who was a real pleasure lovely lovely guy, bring him back anytime!!!!!!

i was disappointed for SM's when i heard some of the dealers were gonna pack up at about 1ish