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In terms of the queue, admittedly I only went on Sunday, from what I could see the prepaid queue was moving far faster than the pay on the day queue, despite the former being a much longer queue. I expect this is usually the case?

 

 

...I only have positive feedback, so I'll just say that I couldn't have had a better day and the two people that went with me completely agree. We're now planning our next convention and intend to make it a yearly thing at least.

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I don't think anyone is quite understanding what I'm saying. We QUEUED and the people walked past the QUEUE bought tickets and WALKED IN! How is this fair on the people who had been QUEUING for at least an hour or so? I'm am NOT saying I'm better than anyone else and really feel that belittling is a good way to deal with some one who has a grievence. Maybe it's best to avoid the forum and email Jason.

 

Ok I am one of those people who walked past the queue at 11am and walked straight in, brought my ticket and then went in. I had already arranged this with Showmasters as my son is autistic and is unable to queue. You may say then don't bring him but he actually likes coming to these events, even if his mood goes up and down during the day! But in order for me to bring him, I need to be able to request that I skip the queue as to avoid any major problems for me or him. So please remember that if someone walks past the queue and heads straight in, they may have a valid reason for doing so. So I am sorry if that offends you, but for some of us, we need to have that option!

 

Anyway, to my feedback. Have to say very happy with the crew this year, each and every one that I encountered knew what a extra help pass was this year, so made this very easy for me and my son. My only complaint is that someone was not allowing Eve Myles to have photos over the table (and she seemed disappointed by this). Now being Joe Dempsie had a much longer queue and I was still able to get a photo with him, I was wondering if anyone knew the reason why it was not possible for Eve? I had been told she was one of those people who usually does photos and I had not brought a photo ticket as a result, as I could not afford both this year.

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Alright so having been to DSTL last year and now LFCC I now have some kind of idea of how things go/should go so here's my feedback:

 

Let's start off with the good stuff:

Amazing work on the behalf of the crew, really helpful. A big hi 5 to you guys. Plenty of great guests, good talks. Especially over in the comic zone there were some really cool minor talks on the D stage. Generally things were done efficiently and on time. The GoT live screening was phenomenal.

 

Stuff that could be improved on:

Audio during the talks. Whilst this was not a problem on the smaller stages, it felt a bit awkward on stage A. At DSTL there were speakers set up on the sides but also along the path that runs across the length of the stage. During some of the talks I had trouble hearing what was being said and I felt like the setup at DSTL was better in this regard.

 

More guest talks? Whilst there was a lot of really good free talks, especially the Charles Martinet and the Neal Adams talks were amazing, I think there could have been more guest talks. For example Rene Auberjonois looked rather bored at times and he was reading a book. Why not do perhaps 30-45 minute talks with just single guests or maybe a in pairs, without tickets like the Charles Martinet talk which attracted a lot of people.

 

Also I felt like the layout for the talks was not optimal. Wouldn't a semi circle layout make more sense? That way people could see and hear much better from the back.

 

The gaming zone felt really sloppy, other than that bus thing there was nothing to it and it felt very half assed. At least if you do show off new controllers and other hardware, then have someone there to explain what's so good about it rather than just put it there.

 

Less 'cattle herding'. At the Peter Dinklage photoshoot I was shoved into the photoshoot and then very quickly pulled off after the photo was taken. I understand that some guests are busy and you have a lot to get through, but to be fair we are paying a lot of money for this so give us at least a couple of seconds to enjoy the moment.

 

But other than that, I had a fantastic weekend and I hope to return either in October, or next year as money permits. Thanks!

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to me, the whole idea of pre-paid is to avoid queues. I didn't have to queue with mine thank goodness.

 

went Sunday. Really surprised at the open queues for Reedus and Peter Dinklage, and met both in five minutes. Also met Sarah Wayne Callies and her queue was super short as well. I love Sundays because they are so much easier for me.

 

I had one photo shoot with Reedus which I'd paid for on the day. With number 311 I thought I would have to wait a while but nope, there were no batch number called on the afternoon shoot which was great for me but unfair to those with low numbers. But it all worked out fine in that way and made some queue buddies. Instant printing was great, I love my photo so so sooo much.

 

Guests were AMAZING. Peter was a sweetheart, really endearing and funny. Sarah was so sweet, she shook my hand and we had a really nice chat about her English family. And the Reedus; holy hell man. After he cancelled last year I was worried I'd never meet him but Jason, and everyone else needs doughnuts or something because this guy made my day. Hugged me tons, kissed my hand and somehow bit me(?!?!?!?!?!) he was so genuine and it really makes me want to meet him again. Also, anyone who had their Sunday afternoon photoshoot with him: HE WAS WEARING A BRACELET I MADE HIM.

 

Stalls were great, cosplay talk was great. I had no problems and thank you to the crew member (red shirt, obviously stressed haha) who allowed me to quickly give Norman a card when I had forgotten to during the signing. Photo shoot cre in area A were very lovely as well.

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I admit my eyes glazed over after a while, reading the early bird comments :BRUISED: .

 

I've done several LFCC/EMS/CMMK things now, and thought they were each one getting better and better. This was the first time, if I'm honest, that I felt differently. If Saturday had been my first experience of an event, I'm not sure I'd have tried again. It was absolutely mental at times, far too busy - forget walking or even slow walking - at times, my feet were moving inches. I'm not full on claustrophobic, and can usually handle crowds, but I was starting to feel really penned in and frazzled.

 

And whereas the queues for photoshoots are normally super efficient, calling by number, shouting to everyone can hear, etc. - this was hit and miss. I got to Amanda Tapping's Saturday morning shoot as the last handful were going in. One more would not have delayed things, but OK, so be it. Came back in the afternoon, 5 minutes after her shoot started - not a problem, if you're calling by number, as I was something like 217. Instead, the crew guy didn't even ask what number I was, just said come back in 20 minutes. Now if he'd called say 401-500 and saw I was 217, why not say "stay nearby, in 5 mins I'll be calling the next batch and you can join". I went away, dutifully came back 20 mins later like a good little trouper, only to be told to come back in another 10 minutes. Feeling hot, tired and majorly frazzled, I walked to the front desk and begged a switch to Sunday because I was a whisker away from crying by this point... Even Sunday was a mess - morning shoot, deliberately asked if they were calling by number. No, comes the reply. So we start queueing. After the queue starts moving and we're halfway there, a red shirt comes along and says they are now doing it by number, so 201 or higher go away. Three times denied a photo by this point, and really not impressed by the apparent meltdown in a system that always worked so well before. In the past, EVERY shoot was by number, everyone knew it, voices were loud, crowds managed. It worked! I finally got a photo with Amanda at the fourth attempt. Bless her, she is a sweetheart and it was worth it.

 

I know these get popular, and that's great because it means they'll continue and there's demand for guests. But is there no limit on door sales? If there had been a fire or need to evacuate, we couldn't be inching our way out of the building.

 

I got Peter Dinklage and Joe Dempsie on Saturday, plus Peter's talk - and felt thoroughly frazzled. I think I ended up in the row behind where I should have been for Peter's talk, certainly two ladies with higher numbers (in the 60s) were ahead of me and I was 55. A latecomer leaving it til the last minute arrived, forcing everyone on my row to shift along to accommodate her, and so after organising myself and getting a seat with a good view, I ended up behind a tall person and unable to see much :sad: .

 

Sunday redeemed it, as I got decent photos and it was thankfully quieter. Even after standard entry came in, it was manageable.

 

Maybe it was the frustrations colouring my view, but whereas in the past I thought you were doping the crew with happy pills as they were always happy and willing to help, this time the ones I dealt with didn't seem that way. Hopefully they were happy, as I know they volunteer!

 

If you could ensure communication is consistent, that would help too - the forums had been full of "if you want to switch to Friday or Sunday, we'll allow this to ease the demand on Saturday". Yet Saturday morning, this was not allowed by the crew my friend spoke to. I spotted TooTall and Jason walking around and asked them, so they must have spoken to the sales desk as my friend went back later and was allowed to switch (as was I, after the Amanda problem).

 

Was a bit disappointed Jason Momoa had shades on in his photo - and I know I wasn't alone as I saw two other people duck out of his Sunday morning photo, hoping he'd have removed them by the afternoon.

 

I think given I live in London, if scheduling allows (i.e. guests are doing Friday and/or Sunday), I will do only Friday and Sunday because that's the last time I want to do Saturday if there's any way to avoid it and still see people. Normally I've been impressed by the events, and praised them to people - I even persuaded a colleague to come this year, with his wife and two kids. There are odd niggles yes, it's natural - but overall you've always done a fantastic job - really and truly. This is the first year it felt chaotic and inconsistent. I hope that next time it can go back to clear, numbered photoshoots across the whole event, and back to the excellent service.

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I think the problem with early bird pre paid and paying on the door is what's stopping people with pre paid tickets joining the shorter "pay on the door queue" and then just getting in once the doors open.

 

For example, when I got there at 7:30am on Saturday the pre paid queue was longer than pay on the day queue, what was stopping me joining pay on day queue and beating the pre paid queue?

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I think the problem with early bird pre paid and paying on the door is what's stopping people with pre paid tickets joining the shorter "pay on the door queue" and then just getting in once the doors open.

 

For example, when I got there at 7:30am on Saturday the pre paid queue was longer than pay on the day queue, what was stopping me joining pay on day queue and beating the pre paid queue?

Morality? :lol:

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I don't think anyone is quite understanding what I'm saying. We QUEUED and the people walked past the QUEUE bought tickets and WALKED IN! How is this fair on the people who had been QUEUING for at least an hour or so? I'm am NOT saying I'm better than anyone else and really feel that belittling is a good way to deal with some one who has a grievence. Maybe it's best to avoid the forum and email Jason.

 

I'm so sorry that you were unhappy with the way things happened on Saturday.

 

Sometimes the ways these things are organised depends on the show itself and its location but please be assured that Showmasters are reading the feedback made by yourself (and others) and are always trying to refine and improve the system.

 

I hope that you were still able to enjoy the event and got to do and experience everything you wanted.

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Just because the 'pay on the day' queue is shorter doesn't mean it's faster, which is sort of the whole point of the discussion, and the main reason there /are/ two queues. The pay on the day queue always moves significantly slower than the pre-paid queue due to the time taken for the payment transaction compared to 'hand over ticket'.

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I am surprised at the response along the lines of "we get this every year".

If you really do get this every year, has it not occured to you to examine WHY you get this every year and then do something about it?

 

If this is a common complaint and saying "you misunderstood" every year is your only defence, maybe the fault is actually in how you are phrasing things in the first place?

If 1 person in 50 doesn't get it, maybe it is that 1 person at fault. But if 20 out of 50 don't get it, maybe it's the explanation that's at fault ...

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Hmm, don't have an opinion about the queueing thing, though I do see where you're coming from. It seems odd that a pre paid line would go slower then a pay on the day one.

 

Anyway, the only things I disliked on my first LFCC ever (sunday) were:

 

- Ray Park not turning up

- Lena Headey falling sick and having to return home (why oh why did I postpone queueing up for her :'( )

- René Auberjonois not personalizing for... no reason whatsoever. That was really weird :s

- Peter Mayhew not personalising and apperantly not able to correctly spell Chewbacca. Though it didn't bother me too much, I've heard before he isn't a very easy guest.

 

And all of these weren't Showmasters fault, but up to the guest (except for Headey, who couldn't help it either)!

 

So I'd say excellent edition, I really hope I can afford coming to the winter one! :)

Edited by dogsoldierspoon
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We get it every year yes. Do we get it from MANY people? No, not at all. I don't find the details misleading and the majority don't either. It's just a few who make assumptions and then are a little disappointed when they don't get what they were never offered in the first place. That's why I try to explain to people as much as possible, but I do think the current system works perfectly fine.

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I am surprised at the response along the lines of "we get this every year".

If you really do get this every year, has it not occured to you to examine WHY you get this every year and then do something about it?

 

If this is a common complaint and saying "you misunderstood" every year is your only defence, maybe the fault is actually in how you are phrasing things in the first place?

If 1 person in 50 doesn't get it, maybe it is that 1 person at fault. But if 20 out of 50 don't get it, maybe it's the explanation that's at fault ...

 

What exactly can be done? There's two options which also come up every year. One is have all pay on the day join the back of the prepaid line. Which is not exactly fair on the pay on the day tickets either. They will have been waiting way longer than the last person in the pay on the day line. The second one is just have one huge line from the start. I imagine Earls Court security will have a fit about that one. They didn't seem to be too happy about the length of the queues as they were.

 

We are trying to improve the descriptions every year. If you come up with a better way to put things to make misunderstandings go down, all suggestions are really appreciated.

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I went on Saturday and was really surprised by the length of queue at 8am. Been to a few SM events and this definately the busiest show so far.

I agree with a few comments about the queing system, but i don't have any quick fix idea that would please all parties.

My big disapointment at this event was the "no photo/video of any kind for quite a few of the guests, and not just the big guests either. In the past, i've been able to grab a photo or video of the guest signing my image.I appreciate that over the desk pics/flash ect are a no go at times and i am 100% happy with that, but to not grab a photo of them signing the image, given how much we are now being asked to pay for the auto is a tad off.

Before people say "you are paying for the auto, not a photo to be taken," again, i agree to a point, but i see no harm whatsoever or added time to the already very quick auto time allowed to us (Dinklidge was less than 10 seconds for the £30 i paid to get his auto)

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I think the problem with early bird pre paid and paying on the door is what's stopping people with pre paid tickets joining the shorter "pay on the door queue" and then just getting in once the doors open.

 

For example, when I got there at 7:30am on Saturday the pre paid queue was longer than pay on the day queue, what was stopping me joining pay on day queue and beating the pre paid queue?

 

I understand where you are coming from. When I got there on Sunday, the Pay on the Door queue had about 20 people in it and the Pre Booked queue was disappearing round the corner! Yes it was tempting to join the short queue,but I've always found that the pre paid queue moves pretty quickly.

 

I think the current system works fairly well.

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I think personally if it was something that caused major issues then it would've been looked at and changed by now. Clearly the current system generally works fine, with the occasional person getting a little confused because they're making assumptions. Yes it's a shame but I don't think there needs to be a huge do-over on a system that has been going for years and is proven to work. The only thing that needs looking at is how busy it gets, and how to manage that I think.

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2 things that I can see here but may be wrong. They are called early bird because they let you in from 9am instead of "general entry" 11am. The pay on the day queue may be inside quicker but then often have to queue at the box office to make a payment.

Yes the early bird pre pay went around the building but once doors opened it did move pretty quickly. Earls Court staff tend to manage the queues outside but I did go outside on Saturday morning to try and help. I did send some people to a queue on the other side of the doors without realising the queue went around the entire 2 EC buildings and back again!

I'm pretty sure that all pre paid were in by about 9:25 ish.

 

I was actually looking after the early bird entry at 9am on Saturday and all those in the pre-paid line for early bird entry were in by 9.43am! (Which was pretty good going I think)! :smile:

 

Those in the 'pay on the day queue' certainly were not in by 9.43am!it took till 10.37 to go to open queue for on the day sales to be cleared.

 

Sure, if you were first in line of the pay on the day queue then you would get in before those last in line in the pre-pay queue, but those people at the front of the pay on the day queue were there from VERY early indeed and so paid their due by their dedication to waiting! :smile:

 

I guess what I am saying is, getting many thousands of people who were in the pre-pay queue inside the hall in13 mins was a pretty good job! Or at least I think so and hope you all do too! We try our best and that is the best we can do!

 

Mark :smile:

 

altered as i have found out more info .

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One other little thing: People smoking in the queues. I understand that it's legal to smoke outside, but it's just disgusting. It's not as if I can walk away because I would just lose my spot in the queue. I don't really know if anything can be done about it, but it really wasn't pleasant being forced to breathe in all the crap from the people in front of me and behind me.

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4 or 5 LFCC visits now, and it's generally been a lack of info on which queue to join that's been the problem, not how quickly I got in. Though I've usually bought all my tickets and don't get many (if any) autographs, so VTs aren't an issue. This time I arrived at 10:05 and 9:25 on Sat and Sun, and walked straight in with my prepaid ticket.

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One other little thing: People smoking in the queues. I understand that it's legal to smoke outside, but it's just disgusting. It's not as if I can walk away because I would just lose my spot in the queue. I don't really know if anything can be done about it, but it really wasn't pleasant being forced to breathe in all the crap from the people in front of me and behind me.

 

Seconded - when I have queued in the past, this has been an issue. Don't be literal, smokers - you may be outside and not indoors, but you're in a queue where some people may be captive audiences. Parents might not want their kids inhaling it, single attendees can't leave without loving their place.

 

Yes it's outside, but please have a little consideration (and I'm sure some of you do, probably inhaling a few cigs outside the station to stock yourself up before queueing, but clearly some smokers aren't as considerate).

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ah now! i totally understand you all moaning about lines and what not, but telling showmasters to bash on the smokers in line is so not on. i am not a smoker and never will smoke, i have seen it ruin my mothers health to such a state that she cant even climb stairs now without needing a rest, BUT! this does not mean i bash smokers. smoking is an addiction and people also do it to help with stress, its very unhealthy yes and not a bit nice being near but try to remember how you are on the day, your stressed over how ever long your queing, your over excited and nervous about meeting guests of your dreams and so on, its moments like that they need to light up! thats just really pushing it complaining about that, sorry, but that really annoyed me.

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Me and my husband had an absolutely fantastic weekend :smile::dance: A massive thumbs up :thumbup: and thank you to all the Showmasters team for making everything so well organised. As for the queuing on the Saturday, wasn't an issue for us. We got in, that's all that matters and once the queue started moving, it went very quickly we thought. We are more than used to queuing, we have spent half out lives in Theme Parks and they can have some horrendous queue's and do not move anywhere near as quick :smile:. The showmastsers crew who were outside managing the queue were fantastic (again, better than in any theme park) and they had everything under very good control. We both got everything done we wanted too. Had know trouble getting any autographs or photo shoots. Still reeling at the fact that I got to meet Sarah and Norman. Totally amazing expereince :dance: :dance: My husband very much enjoyed meeting the cast of DS9 as well and also had a thoroughly nice conversation with Jennifer Calvert, wonderful lady.

The cosplay outfits we saw were incredible and were amazed at the effort that had been put into them. All the people we met and talked to were genuinely lovely people and will not hesitate to come back to Comic Con again. Truly great experience :smile:.

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ah now! i totally understand you all moaning about lines and what not, but telling showmasters to bash on the smokers in line is so not on. i am not a smoker and never will smoke, i have seen it ruin my mothers health to such a state that she cant even climb stairs now without needing a rest, BUT! this does not mean i bash smokers. smoking is an addiction and people also do it to help with stress, its very unhealthy yes and not a bit nice being near but try to remember how you are on the day, your stressed over how ever long your queing, your over excited and nervous about meeting guests of your dreams and so on, its moments like that they need to light up! thats just really pushing it complaining about that, sorry, but that really annoyed me.

 

I don't recall anyone here asking SM to bash on the smokers. All I've seen is one person comment it's not very nice, and I agreed with them.

 

Everyone can get a bit stressed at the thought of meeting actors who mean a lot to them. And we all have ways of coping with stress. Most of those ways (deep breathing, distracting yourself with an iPod, whatever) won't negatively impact the people around - that's the point we're making. As another consideration, if someone's made an effort to shower, dress well and then they get up to the guest they want to meet, reeking of smoke - that's not fun.

 

Maybe an honour thing where smokers speak to the people around them in the queue (if they're on their own and have no-one to hold their place), go away to smoke and then come back? A bit like at the supermarket when you realise you've forgotten something in a nearby aisle and ask the person behind you if they mind you ducking out and returning to your same place in the queue.

 

Smokers get their stress and nicotine fix, the non-smokers avoid inhaling their smoke. Win win, and hopefully not too much of a hassle for anyone. That would be ideal, for everyone to be happy with minimum fuss.

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