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Hallowhedon 5 - thoughts on the new con 'set up'


Elspeth
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After Bitten3 we were dead set on not doing anymore SM events. However, after hearing the venue may be Birmingham for HW5 and that they may make it open to more horror and supernatural guests, we have decided we will probably go next year for sure. Great idea SM and has restored my faith a bit after hearing great reports about HW4 as well. :)

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Events based on multiple shows are a harder sell. When the event is based on a single show, assuming it is one I am passionate about (like True Blood), then I am happy to part with my money before any guests are announced, but when it could be guests from a variety of shows then I am a lot more reluctant to book without announced guests. It's been like that with Hallowhedon and me for a while anyway though, so the fact that it is changing and becoming even more broad actually will not make a difference to my decision to buy a ticket or not. It's going to be all about the guests, if 3 are announced I want to meet I will buy a ticket, but it does really need to be at least 3 to make it worth my while.

Edited by jcAngel
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For the past Hallowhedon's I've always bought my ticket on Sunday morning (been to all 4), but the announcement put me off and I went home ticketless.

 

I will more than likely go, but I will wait on a first guest or two (yes, I know they cancel). Really enjoy the HW's and they're my fave con of the year.

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Must say we had the most fantastic time but this news did make us worried. We love HW and have been to them all with a silver or gold ticket. A lot of us have no interest in Supernatural/other horror tv/film & would not like to see our event change and eventually taken over by another fandom either ie. Supernatural who have their own con elsewhere. We are all linked by our love of one or more of Joss' shows be that buffy,angel, dollhouse or firefly etc.

 

While i realise you must make money from events i would hate for this to be a giant signing event where all you do is queue & therefore miss out on the core idea of the fandom ie to mix with our like minded fans so hope this isnt going to turn into a factory! Another organiser does have a mixed con with one other show but it is still mainly 6+ buffy/angel guests to 2 guests from the other shows so defined.

 

I'm not clear how this is working? Do we still just get only 4-6 guests per con or is it just 3 Whedon guests therefore if you get 8 guests we wont be the majority?This also means one of the 4 main shows this event was supposed to cover will always lose out too and the others potentially only have one guest, this wont be viable for some cost wise?. There were fans this year who did not attend as there were not enough guests as it was when we had 5 in other years - i know its a catch 22 to make a profit, but if you're making it "bigger" it really should be 4-5 guests from Whedon so our fans are not losing out on previous years' nos. & any other guests should be on top of that number to be fair to our fandom who support this event. With 3 guests what happens if we have a late cancellation we'll end up with just 1-2 guests when most of the fans booked a whedon con?Also which other show/shows are you covering?

 

Unimpressed with Birmingham, been there before its big and not so cosy, we like the Radisson, they've been very good to us recently & we also have a good relationship with the Pheasant & their food/atmosphere is great, half the con go there after all. There is nowhere around B'ham unless you want to drive to The Little Owl (we dont) & they cant accommodate a large no anyway & that Wetherspoons at the NEC has never been open when we've been in the past and food not great. The Radisson can accommodate plenty so not sure why the move just yet would it not have been better to wait to see how 2013 goes first?

 

We will always support Hallo"whedon" & i would hate to lose this event,we have a lovely fandom/ fantastic guests . This was one of the best weekends this year due to Nicky,J & krisitine and husband John but a number of us will be waiting to see who next years guests are before deciding which ticket to buy as it may be a standard this time. Its not worth a silver/gold yet as i certainly wont have any interest in the other guests its all about B/A for me i'm afraid. With 3 guests from Whedon the pressure is on to only get only the main cast so we will miss out on some of the guest cast which is a shame as some of these people are absolute gems too.

 

I think it needs to be clearly distinguished this is primarily a Whedon Con (hence the name) & with a clear ratio difference between guests so we dont get swallowed up with another fandom,this would be unfair to us.Our fans booked based on this/previous years & dont want to be disappointed.

 

I look forward with interest into seeing how this works, due to the fantastic guests i know a number of fans have signed up for next year already so i hope any changes are well thought out beforehand as this year has a lot to live up to and we await news on guests for 2013. Please make sure this works as we love these events and do not want to lose Hallowhedon, we want this to be able to go on for years to come.We await further details.

Edited by buffy2k
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Given that there were 3 Buffy/Angel/Whedon guests at Hallowhedon 4 - surely this is cause for celebration of an upscale if there are still intended to be 3 Whedon guest at HW5

 

But I guess for some people that will depend on which market/show the 3 Whedon guests are from

 

I mean I'd be up for some Cabin in the Woods guests providing it's not at the expense of Buffy/Angel/Firefly guests that people still want to see

 

Fran Kranz was excellent and Richard Jenkins had a fabulous performance. Of course I'd be happy to see Chris Hemsworth who did do some promotion for Thor when it was out in London - how up for a convention he would be is a different matter.

 

I would absolutely love to see Clark Gregg appear at a con, but I'm sure that's a stretch too.

 

There's a lot of supernatural type shows I've not dipped my toe into, so it would very much depend on the guests. It's going to take a while before I watch Vampire Diaries.

 

But I definitely would like to see more True Blood guests, Supernatural, Being Human as I was looking forward to Roadhouse 2 so was disappointed when that didn't happen.

Edited by Samphirette
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Not so sure about Birmingham yet, we like the Radisson, they were very good to us this time and we also have a good relationship with the Pheasant too just 5 mins walk away.We will see.

The Pheasant has a fabulous menu! I was so disappointed I couldn't eat all my mail course :o

I quite like the Hilton as I find it easier to walk around with toilets and breakfast being on one level as opposed to halfway on a staircase. Birmingham however can be an issue for some as the trains on a Sunday night are haphazard.

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Ok I probably have a cheek as I've not been able to afford the last 2 however, I almost made it this year and was fully intending to go next year. This however has put me off.

 

On one level I do like the idea of some guests from other shows but there is no guarantee I'd be interested in them. A Whedon only con you know every single guest is from something you love.

 

The main downside I can see is some of the fans you may attract. I loved the first 2 hallowhedon and it was the attendees that helped make it. The fan base is so compassionate, friendly and considerate. The guests could mingle at parties and sure people would go up and talk to them but then leave them in peace. I went to a supernatural con and the fans were more like crazed stackers. They crowded the guests and once they were near them never moved and left no option for anyone else to even see them from a distance. A lot of them were also quite rude and inconsiderate. I love the Whedon fan base and love how they behave, introducing other genres would take part of that away for me.

 

Also I have to say if the con was moved to Birmingham it would further put me off going.

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Given that there were 3 Buffy/Angel/Whedon guests at Hallowhedon 4 - surely this is cause for celebration of an upscale if there are still intended to be 3 Whedon guest at HW5.

 

I was surprised to find that ME weren't planning for a fifth guest this year, so it was very disappointing to only have 3 guests.

 

However, given that the number of attendees was so low this year, I fully understand why there was only 4 guests planned and, even with just 3, it was still one of the best cons I've ever been to.

 

It's the diluting of the Whedon aspect that worries me the most. I love the Birmingham Hilton and the new location suits me perfectly.

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A Whedon only con you know every single guest is from something you love.
Only if you love all things Whedon. Now I could sit and watch Firefly (and Serenity) all day long, I found Dr Horrible rather amusing and Dollhouse pretty interesting. But I've never been able to get into Angel or Buffy, and Cabin In The Woods did nothing for me either. So HW has never really appealed, since there's so much there I couldn't give two hoots for.

That said, I'm not much interested in the non-Whedon shows mooted, other than Being Human, so unless by a twist of fate the guestlist for HW5 skews in a direction that appeals to me, I'm unlikely to break my HW duck next year either.

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In terms of ticket sales I think it works in theory, but in practise could be difficult.

 

Because as a whedon fan I wouldn't attend a full weekend event for another show if there was only one guest I wanted to meet. Not only would be expensive but there is always a chance of a guest change.

 

If a guest from another show was appearing at HW5 I think most viewers of that show would feel the same and the most attendees would largely be there for the Whedon guests.

 

There are enough shows to choose from Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Dr Horrible and The Avengers so I think it would be cluttered if other shows were introduced.

 

A possible answer could be get a guest from another show who has guest starred in a Whedon show, there are loads of good guests who have done that.

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I can safely say I had the best Hallowhedon this year. Yes there was only 3 guests but they were 3 absolutely brilliant guests. The reason why I go to Hallowhedon every year is because it is not like a lot of Cons where its just like a people factory. Its far more intimate. I am a bit dis heartened to hear it will be changing next year & I hope the 'Whedon' will not be taken outta Hallowhedon. I like other shows supernatural, vampire Diaries etc but I only have interest in meeting the whedonverse characters & fans. Super con this year Nic Brendon is a gentleman & so good with all the people :clap: . J august is a beautiful man inside & out :thumbup: & Kristine is aN ABSOLUTE lady :dance: . PLEASE DON'T KILL HALLOWHEDON :no:

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I am hoping that when the new website goes up we will get some clarification on who the non-whedon guests are likely to be. I'm not expecting specific guest nanes lol but 'other supernatural and horror guests' is too broad a net for my liking. I am hoping it will be more a case of being expanded to 'whedon, with additional guests from show a, and show b'

 

Hope my rambling makes sense lol

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so say all of us - i know the "supernatural" thing & possibly some random horror B movie guest/s is certainly putting off a lot of people i know so hope thats not the case it wasnt clear at the con, Even so i think its going to be hard to sell this if you only have one guest from 3 of Joss' shows if its only going to be 4-6 guests as it just wont be viable with the cost for a lot of regulars to go. If its a lot more in line with other cons i know of say 8-10 guests and Whedon verse is still the majority fandom with just 2 -3 other guests then maybe it will work but i do think we need clarification first as a lot of people wont book till its known.

After all at the first 3 HW's we got 5 guests so if we have to go with just 3 in future i think we will feel deprived out of 2 guests. Luckily it did work this year with only 3 guests but no guarantee it will again and would a lot of those people have booked if they had known it was 3 in advance theres the question as a lot of fans were already waiting on more guests before booking as it was which has a knock on with finance etc for booking guests.. Hope we get some sort of response soon and its not left too late.

Edited by buffy2k
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