Newcastle Verdict

[stuart29]

Been reading a few of the posts regarding NFCC and though I'd add my own verdict on it.

 

This was my second event after attending Collectormania Glasgow last year. Main reason for attending NFCC was simply the chance to meet Peter Beardsley as I'm a huge NUFC fan however the chance to meet the likes of Carl Weathers & Danny John-Jules was also a factor.

 

There were a lot of positives to take from the event - good line up of guests who were very approachable and happy to chat with the fans etc, reasonable pricing on photoshoots / autographs, the SM staff I dealt with were helpful (bar one which I'll get to in a minute) and for the most part, it was a well run event given that it was the first one at that venue.

 

On the flip side, the queuing was a joke. The biggest gripe I had with it was had my family or I taken any of our stuff back to the car rather than carry it about with us all day, we'd have been faced with a minimum 2 hour queue with people who hadn't paid to get back into to an event that we'd already paid for. That just seems wrong to me.

 

The other things I had gripes about - the lad on the ticket desk who thought it would be funny to crack a joke regarding Scottish Independence after I'd stood in the cold for a good while waiting to get in wasn't a good start to the day ... but that's just me!

 

I also thought the layout of the hall could have been better. You've got the vast majority of fans trying to get the back of the hall for the signings and having to squeeze through, to me, an overcrowded stall area. Compare that to Glasgow where it was, pretty much, come through the doors and turn left for signings and right for the stalls. On a similar topic, the talk stages. Why have the guests having to squeeze through the crowds - and in some cases have to have SM staff move people out of the way - to get to a talk area when there was one next to the signing area? I know some of guests enjoy mingling with the crowds - Danny John Jules stopped off to do some shopping on this way to his talk lol - but it, to me anyway, seemed a bit unprofessional for want of a better term when you see staff/stewards having to carve a path through the crowds - again that's just my opinion.

 

Lastly, there did seem to be a bit of "left hand not knowing what the right was doing" at times. As I said, I went to meet Beardsley who was running late for his signings. At one point, there were at least 3 different SM staff running back and forward trying find out where he was and why he was late - each of them saying something that contradicted the others.

 

However, despite my gripes, it was a good event which was well the trip and definitely one I'd go to again. Beardsley was really pleasant and easy going while Danny John Jules was a pleasure to meet. Yes, it had problems but given that it was the first in that venue, there were always going to be teething problems which will hopefully be sorted for next years event.

[BasG]

You've got the vast majority of fans trying to get the back of the hall for the signings and having to squeeze through, to me, an overcrowded stall area. Compare that to Glasgow where it was, pretty much, come through the doors and turn left for signings and right for the stalls.

 

You didn't have to walk through the stalls in the main arena to get to the signing area. You could walk through the corridors as well and completely avoid the stalls.

[stuart29]

Completely agree as I did this a couple of times but the majority of people were all trying to squeeze through the main hall which was busy enough with the stalls & customers as it was.

[jadelouised]

I soon learnt to walk through the corridors too! Hopefully with the proposed changes in the statement from Showmasters everything will flow a bit better next year. That said, the crowds didn't bother me all too much, it only got annoying for ewhen it was at a point you couldn't move or you were trying to look at a stall but couldn't get over there.

[stuart29]

Quite agree, hopefully things will improve for next year. Saying that given that it was the first event at the Metro, it seems to have been a success - apart from the whole queuing issue. The crowds didn't bother me that much - it was just the sight of some of the SM staff having to, in some cases, almost barge through some of the crowds to get the guests to and from the talk areas that just looked a bit .... wrong in my opinion. But it's the first year, there was always going to be teething problems regardless.

 

On the whole, a very good day.

[stevie_g]

I had a great time! The only provisions I'd make would be to try to do something about the sound at the talks (right in front was fine, but not off to the side), a little more room between stalls if possible, and we definitely need cloakrooms.

Edited April 4, 2014 by stevie_g

[biggeordiegeek]

I enjoyed it, but it seemed like there was some missing stuff, biggest one to my mind was tabletop gaming, it was completely absent, this was my first UK con, but its something I have come to expect from cons in the US and Europe, for there to be an area to go play some games that don't need a screen.