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Please announce guests :(


LadyKayl
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I don't understand the need to get the hotel booked? If they haven't yet released the booking code, it means that no one has booked the pre-reserved rooms. This means that you shouldn't have a problem when it does get announced. The price probably won't change in the mean time, if they have a negotiated rate.

 

1) Budgeting reasons - How can I budget for the weekend if I don't have a clue how much one of the three biggest expenses is? Ticket bought... done! I can look up now how much the train fare from London to Birmingham is even if I don't get the ticket until a few days ebefore the event.... sorted. I can work out how much the food in the room to reduce more outgoings on meals... sorted. But the room, which is likely to be more than the cost of the ticket and travel combined? No idea.

 

Even if they don't give out the code, would it be so hard to say what the negotiated room rate is so people can budget for it ready for when the code is announced?

 

2) There are a limited number of rooms. As I am going on my own I will want a single room, What if I don't get one? I can either get a twin/double (if there are any) which costs more for me. I can get one and then try and find someone who wants to share. Great I'm now sharing with someone who I don't know and may not get on with.

 

I once worked at Butlins many years ago. I had to share a room with someone. Ok, but would prefer not too. He seemed nice enough, then Ooe weekend I went home to see the family. When I returned Monday morning I found the guy I was sharing with had been sacked. He was going around the camp pinching women's underwear from the washing lines and had them all in the case under her bed. :eek:

 

Not the kind of person I really want to share a room with even if he did make sure that £10 I loaned him was left with the personel department, shows how long ago it was Human Resourses didnt exist! :rolleyes:

 

I've been doing some research of the surrounding area and found places that are likely to be cheaper than the hotel even with the discount, but I haven't booked it not only because the event may get cancelled, not that its an issue as this place is ok with early cancellation, but because I am aware that the discount is given on the presumption that a set number of rooms will be booked. If they aren't it can cost the promoter.

Should I actually care though? As I say, if I'm not being given what I need to book at get a room cheaper, then it's not my fault is it? I've given myself a date in late January. If there is no code been announced I will just book a room elsewhere.

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Nice to see there's a few others who do understand. Everytime I've asked I'm basically told in poilte terms to shut up...I do understand about the contracts and such but it doesnt take away the worry of cancellation, especially when I've read about other cons being cancelled :( x

As I have posted previously, and mentioned above by Queen Sindel, things can get blown out of proportion. Things can get misunderstood. That is why I took great time to explain what I was trying to do as you had taken away the complete opposite to what I had meant in my head.

 

You are, in your own words, new to conventions. That is why some of us are doing our best to help reassure you. There will be people who will vocally share your concerns, and sometimes that can heighten the concerns of a person in your position who is new to the convention scene.

 

Yes, some events have not happened. Some have been postponed. It happens. But, and this is where some people have seemingly chosen to ignore history, Showmasters and Massive Events have run many many events.

 

I do look forward to seeing more announcements for this event as it will mean people like yourself, both new to the convention scene and a little spooked that there has been little activity on this event since it was announced, will have something to smile about.

 

That is assuming people new to conventions know of the history. I knew the name Showmasters and Collectormania years before I ever went to one of their signing events owing to their advert in Empire Magazine and the like. I had no idea they ran themed conventions too. I had never heard of Massive Events and only found out they were connected to Showmasters after joining this forum.

When I talk to people about going to conventions ME isn't the name that people mention, there is another one, which I'm not allowed to mention that people think it is probably being organised by.

 

IMO a far bigger problem is the poor promotion of the events by ME and other organiser/promoters. It appears that it's being relied on word of mouth by attendees and fans.

As I have said I had no idea about ME and their themed cons. I stumbled upon it when I went on another website that lists cons that are happening. I found a couple of others too. I was planning on going to another two other events both of which ended up being cancelled owing to lack of ticket sales. Both IMO down to lack of promotion. I never saw any promotion for any other than their website and their own forums. It was down to the fans to post news on other forums.

One managed to sell a total of 47 tickets over 6 months despite having announced 2 guests intitially and adding two more later on. I then found out they were running another con. How did I find out? They mentioned it on their forum when replying to a question about refunds for the cancelled con.

 

The other con that had been announced a few days previously. Hold on a minute, I'm following you on Twitter and we are friends on Facebook, yet I knew nothing about this new con. How does that happen? How did 150 tickets get sold so quickly? Ahhh right they posted on a forum for that series. That's fair enough but has completely shut out anyone who doesn't use that forum.

 

Us fans are more than happy to spread the word and help promote if we can, it benefits us in the long run as the conventions are more likely to go ahead and be more successful, but more visibilty for the cons needs to happen too beyond mentions on forums and a feeling that the organisers of the various cons are actively promoting it as much as possible even though they are doing so many other things, which we know and accept.

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The advertising has to be taken in context and weighed up as to whether it's worth the cost etc. Only SM/ME know how much an advert in Empire would cost - a lot I imagine - and so something like LFCC and Collectormania would be worth advertising in there, due to appealing to a wide spread of fans etc, but something like this? There's not many places an appropriate advert could go, especially when there's only one guest at the moment. I would suggest it's not worth the cost at the moment.

 

In the end it's up to them really. If they feel that word of mouth and whatnot is enough, then that's their choice. All the advertising in the world doesn't guarantee a good turn out - sometimes there's just not a viable fanbase there that want to attend conventions. They can try and run these events, but they won't always work, and the more advertising they put out there the more they stand to lose. It's something that those in charge of the finances have to decide.

 

People asking for updates constantly - understandable, but not necessary. Coming on here every week or two to answer every query about what's going on isn't going to change the fact that they're still working on guests. They always work on guests all year round - it's not some BS to shut people up, and I completely respect why people wonder what's going on etc, but when SM/ME don't have anything else to add then it gets a little pointless. And believe me, no matter how many 'we're working on it' updates they give, it doesn't stop people asking. I've seen people ask 'any more guests' the day AFTER SM/ME have given an update. So I can understand why they don't give constant updates as some will be impatient regardless.

 

As someone has said - there's plenty of events that DO run, so while I understand some get a little wary because of those that get cancelled, it's not every single convention and there are numerous ones that go ahead successfully. Jason has said he'd rather at least try to run something as if he never did that, he wouldn't have had many of the successes that ME have had.

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That is assuming people new to conventions know of the history.

This comment was directed at seasoned event attendees who have been overly vocal about past issues in comparison to events ran. This post was one of several exchanged between myself and another poster, and thus looses meaning if just read as a single post.

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The advertising has to be taken in context and weighed up as to whether it's worth the cost etc. Only SM/ME know how much an advert in Empire would cost - a lot I imagine - and so something like LFCC and Collectormania would be worth advertising in there, due to appealing to a wide spread of fans etc, but something like this? There's not many places an appropriate advert could go, especially when there's only one guest at the moment. I would suggest it's not worth the cost at the moment.

 

In the end it's up to them really. If they feel that word of mouth and whatnot is enough, then that's their choice. All the advertising in the world doesn't guarantee a good turn out - sometimes there's just not a viable fanbase there that want to attend conventions. They can try and run these events, but they won't always work, and the more advertising they put out there the more they stand to lose. It's something that those in charge of the finances have to decide.

 

People asking for updates constantly - understandable, but not necessary. Coming on here every week or two to answer every query about what's going on isn't going to change the fact that they're still working on guests. They always work on guests all year round - it's not some BS to shut people up, and I completely respect why people wonder what's going on etc, but when SM/ME don't have anything else to add then it gets a little pointless. And believe me, no matter how many 'we're working on it' updates they give, it doesn't stop people asking. I've seen people ask 'any more guests' the day AFTER SM/ME have given an update. So I can understand why they don't give constant updates as some will be impatient regardless.

 

As someone has said - there's plenty of events that DO run, so while I understand some get a little wary because of those that get cancelled, it's not every single convention and there are numerous ones that go ahead successfully. Jason has said he'd rather at least try to run something as if he never did that, he wouldn't have had many of the successes that ME have had.

 

David, I agree with pretty much all that you have said. It's a no win situation on either side unfortunately. The cost of advertising is expensive, thats why I said about having the names of ME events as a bar at the bottom on the Collectormania or Movie Mart adverts. Of course if an seperate advert was done for ME nothing says that it has to be pirely for one convention. It could be sectionlised (is that a word?) and have all the ME events to appeal across the board to the widest encatchment.

 

Logging on every two weeks to see a new name is silly and likely to be unrealistic. Even if it is successful to start with there will only ever be a limited number of guests. 6-10 (if you are lucky), unlike a Collectormania where you could have 50+ guests. I don't think anyone thinks that they are getting told BS, I certainly don't. However I do think it's reasonable that if a person has purchased a ticket and is unable to get a refund (should they want one because they have to wait months to do so) feels like they would like to see some progression of activity of the event's planning in whatever form it takes whether guests, hotel code, party themes or something else, even if it's just changing the website a bit after 5-6 months so it looks fresh. If the website is the same month after month it looks like it's been created and forgotten.

 

As we both agree it's a no win situation, but I do feel that as this is a common occurance it's something that needs to be looked at and addressed in some way.

 

Regular monthly competitions where the winner has to have purchased a ticket even if it's between the competition and the start of the con perhaps? Nothing massively expensive. As the guests have a variety of photos to be signed. One could be a full set of all of a guest's photos all autographed. with a few guests that one can be done a few times. Or perhaps an exclusive photo/poster signed by all the guests. A free photo shoot with a guest. Something like these whilst not as exciting as a guest announcement and won't stop the requests for more guests to be named, it does at least help a bit during the long months leading up to the con where it's dead and nothing appears to be happened and the con is being forgotten by the organisers.

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1) Budgeting reasons - How can I budget for the weekend if I don't have a clue how much one of the three biggest expenses is? Ticket bought... done! I can look up now how much the train fare from London to Birmingham is even if I don't get the ticket until a few days ebefore the event.... sorted. I can work out how much the food in the room to reduce more outgoings on meals... sorted. But the room, which is likely to be more than the cost of the ticket and travel combined? No idea.

 

They've told you how much the room will be, you just can't book it yet. (it's under the 'venue' link on the Massive events page for the convention.)

 

2) There are a limited number of rooms. As I am going on my own I will want a single room, What if I don't get one? I can either get a twin/double (if there are any) which costs more for me. I can get one and then try and find someone who wants to share. Great I'm now sharing with someone who I don't know and may not get on with.

 

Given as no one can book a room for the event yet, non of the single rooms can have been taken. I understand that in your circumstances, you'll need to move quickly when the booking code is released, but right now, everyone is in the same position as you.

 

I've been doing some research of the surrounding area and found places that are likely to be cheaper than the hotel even with the discount, but I haven't booked it not only because the event may get cancelled, not that its an issue as this place is ok with early cancellation, but because I am aware that the discount is given on the presumption that a set number of rooms will be booked. If they aren't it can cost the promoter.

Should I actually care though? As I say, if I'm not being given what I need to book at get a room cheaper, then it's not my fault is it? I've given myself a date in late January. If there is no code been announced I will just book a room elsewhere.

 

I understand that you can probably get cheaper accomodation, but in my mind, the extra few quid is worth the peace of mind of knowing that you can get money back if there is a problem. My experience would suggest that if there's no code by January, then its less likely that the event will go ahead, as (as you correctly pointed out), the organisers often have to commit to getting a certain number of rooms booked, which is hard to do with less months notice.

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Actually I am not worried about the event being cancelled or not getting guest announcement, but do find it strange that this event is not been promoted as much. Maybe it has but I haven'seen anything. The last facebook post by ME was April 15? :eek: I would imagine that during the week leading up to the season premiere there would have been posts indicating that there would be a convention related to the series.

 

I'm all for helping promote happily ever afer, but it would be much easier if there were facebook post I could repost or tweets I could retweet.

 

I think a bi-weekly comment/reminder/advert/hashtag on social media could help. Just a thought.

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  • 1 month later...

You can't blame us for being worried, other cons coming after this one have more guests and hotel codes. I understand things have to be finalised before you can post by law, but it does seem that this con has been forgotten a little as there's been no news at all since the original announcement. - and no one has has any replies to email sent to showmasters. Try and see things from our side a little it's only 4months away, it's looking alot like what happened to the middle earth con x

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The mods are certainly trying our best to get a hotel code for you. It does seem like an hotel issue as this event is not the only one that has none.

 

I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, but we can only keep saying the same: Unless Showmasters says the event is cancelled it is going ahead. The show didn't even have a note about low ticket sales like the Eternal Twilight event had. So I don't think there's a need for the electric puddles just yet. ;)

 

For some shows it's just the case that guests can only commit closer to the event. Four months is a long period of time in convention timeframes.

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  • Showmasters Admin

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry there has been no news on this for a while! :(

 

I am actively chasing guests as we speak for HEA and I hope to have some exciting news for you very soon! :dance:

 

Thank you for bearing with us and I hope that you will be pleased with the news I hope to bring very soon!

 

Take care,

 

Mark :smile:

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry there has been no news on this for a while! :(

 

I am actively chasing guests as we speak for HEA and I hope to have some exciting news for you very soon! :dance:

 

Thank you for bearing with us and I hope that you will be pleased with the news I hope to bring very soon!

 

Take care,

 

Mark :smile:

 

:angel: We're all still being very patient :angel:

 

Hope we get some news soon :WAVE: x

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