Super Stage feedback

[MLP*]

Spent the afternoon mostly watching the panels so here's my comments :

The biggest problem for me was the sound problems. There was something weird about the mics. It was a struggle to make out the guests at times. The guests could not hear the interviewers and neither could hear the questions from the audience.

The Doctor Who panel was incredibly brief. Can't have been more than 20 minutes. Paul McGann and Colin Baker could have filled that on their own so the other guests stars were left a bit surplus to requirements.

Was a tad disappointed by the Game Of Thrones panel just because I was hoping for Lena Headley.

Highlight of the day was Stan Lee. He remains the consummate showman and had the audience in the palm of his hands.
Sadly the interviewer did ask very long winded questions. Simple "how did you get started in comics" or "tell us about the creation of Spider-Man" would have been sufficient for Stan to give us his obviously well honed anecdotes.
Still, Stan did have some fun responding to some of the waffly questions with cheeky one word "yes" answers.

I gather there were issues around Stan doing very little signing today ? Looking at the schedule they had him on I think the organisers were wildly optimistic about what a man in his 90s was going to be able to achieve. He was on top form for his panel though so overall I'm pleased to be able to say that I've seen him.

[minchb]

 

Was a tad disappointed by the Game Of Thrones panel just because I was hoping for Lena Headley.

 

 

This is the talk I'm guessing? I'm sure they advertised her for it?

[MLP*]

Mentioned in another thread but perhaps worth repeating :

 

The Super Stage had no doors so it was basically reliant on the honestly of the attendees to stand in line and hand their tickets over.

 

Whilst queuing for the Stan Lee talk I saw two little kids just walk through the back entrance to the stage and sit down because there was no crewmember on that entrance to stop them.

 

 

 

 

 

Was a tad disappointed by the Game Of Thrones panel just because I was hoping for Lena Headley.

 

This is the talk I'm guessing? I'm sure they advertised her for it?

 

 

Yes. It was a paid talk (£20) so I was hoping she would be on the panel but sadly not.

 

I'm not sure that they ever actually announced who was doing the talks. I had no idea who was doing the Star Trek and Doctor Who panels until they turned up on stage.

[minchb]

 

 

 

Was a tad disappointed by the Game Of Thrones panel just because I was hoping for Lena Headley.

 

 

This is the talk I'm guessing? I'm sure they advertised her for it?

 

 

Yes. It was a paid talk (£20) so I was hoping she would be on the panel but sadly not.

 

I'm not sure that they ever actually announced who was doing the talks. I had no idea who was doing the Star Trek and Doctor Who panels until they turned up on stage.

 

It says here http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84417&hl=%2Bgame+%2Bthrones+%2Btalk that she was meant to be in todays talk. That's very disappointing.

[Vhiper]

Sound was indeed crap, even talked to one guest later on and he said he found his talk boring, that there was no connection with the audience and indeed blamed it on the sound system, because no one could understand eachother

[LadyDeTemps]

There seemed to be issues with the sound, not sure if it was the mikes (or maybe those aksing questions not being familar on how to fully utilise the mic) or the speakers...but it was hard to hear over the hubub outside. but I did like the layout...could see the stage wherever I sat.

[Rockstar6662]

Only went to one talk in the Super Stage, the Star Trek one this morning (Sunday) and only about half of that as had to get to a photoshoot in the other hall. Was sat on front row and the sound was indeed appalling. Not directed properly and echoing all over the place. I could barely make out what anyone was saying and clearly the guests were struggling to understand the questions from what I saw. The seats they were on looked rather uncomfortable too.

 

The main stage wasn't much better being right near the entrance with the guests having to complete with the sound of hordes of people coming and going and hanging round the stalls etc. Just put it near the back somewhere away from the main crowded areas.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed the two talks I was able to find time to get to despite these issues.

[retconned]

 

 

 

 

Was a tad disappointed by the Game Of Thrones panel just because I was hoping for Lena Headley.

 

 

This is the talk I'm guessing? I'm sure they advertised her for it?

 

 

Yes. It was a paid talk (£20) so I was hoping she would be on the panel but sadly not.

 

I'm not sure that they ever actually announced who was doing the talks. I had no idea who was doing the Star Trek and Doctor Who panels until they turned up on stage.

 

It says here http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84417&hl=%2Bgame+%2Bthrones+%2Btalk that she was meant to be in todays talk. That's very disappointing.

 

 

Yep, her and Kate Dickie weren't at the talk.

[DMG]

I was in the front row for the Michael Madsen talk this afternoon, and could barely understand what he was saying because the sound system was so booming and echoey. One guy tried to ask his question over the mike and Madsen just couldn't hear it at all, and in the end the guy had to just forget the mike, walk up to the stage and speak the question to Madsen in person up close.

[minchb]

 

 

 

 

 

Was a tad disappointed by the Game Of Thrones panel just because I was hoping for Lena Headley.

 

 

This is the talk I'm guessing? I'm sure they advertised her for it?

 

 

Yes. It was a paid talk (£20) so I was hoping she would be on the panel but sadly not.

 

I'm not sure that they ever actually announced who was doing the talks. I had no idea who was doing the Star Trek and Doctor Who panels until they turned up on stage.

 

It says here http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84417&hl=%2Bgame+%2Bthrones+%2Btalk that she was meant to be in todays talk. That's very disappointing.

 

 

Yep, her and Kate Dickie weren't at the talk.

 

 

Wow was Kate there? was she busy? I can only imagine them not being there due to how busy they were

[TrinityKiller24]

The super stage sound was absolutely awful. I was there for The Walking Dead's talk and couldn't hear a single thing. The speakers sounded incredibly distant like they were situated over the other side of the room. Couple that with the constant sound of the other people elsewhere in the building.

[nicky]

Sound was indeed crap, even talked to one guest later on and he said he found his talk boring, that there was no connection with the audience and indeed blamed it on the sound system, because no one could understand eachother

 

I think another reason for that is that the compere spends WAY too long talking to the guest himself instead of opening the questions up to the audience. Please let the talks be a proper Q+A session again from start to finish. If its evident that the audience is having trouble coming up with any questions THEN the compare can step in. We only have 20 mins!!!

Edited July 14, 2014 by nicky

[GHanks]

So so upset and dissapointed at the GoT talk during the day. Spent the whole talk upset and feeling conned.

Couldn't hear one word. Promised confirmed guests did not appear and so many people around me complaining.

 

People were queueing waaaay in advance. The area was empty but no one was allowed to start getting seated. They then decide to start the event before a good 100 people had even sat down. WHY? Rude.

We could of walked in without tickets around the back and saved the £100 to hear mumbled and echoey voices.

Ergh.

[only_jay]

So so upset and dissapointed at the GoT talk during the day. Spent the whole talk upset and feeling conned.

 

Couldn't hear one word. Promised confirmed guests did not appear and so many people around me complaining.

 

People were queueing waaaay in advance. The area was empty but no one was allowed to start getting seated. They then decide to start the event before a good 100 people had even sat down. WHY? Rude.

 

We could of walked in without tickets around the back and saved the £100 to hear mumbled and echoey voices.

 

Ergh.

Same here! Was really lookimg forward to Lena being there so was gutted when she wasn't. After being in the Sherlock talk the day before I kind of expexted the sound issues and to put Sibel on the panel when she obviously really struggled was painful to watch. Usually really enjoy the talks and they are a welcome breather from being on my feet but this year they were a total waste of time imo.

[GamerGraph]

For me I went to the super stage for two talks one on saturday with the sherlocked talk, the sound was clear though a little inconsistant and on sunday was great but wow does it show how poor the sound is recorded it with a stereo mic and boy did that thing echo on playback. time they spent some money on carpet and sound proofing some of the walls. concreate with more concreate doesnt work!

 

Talks were not a waste of time, but it did make a difference if didnt sit all the way to the left or right of the room centre and front had no problems listening :)

 

they do need sound engineers to come in the week before the talk and make tests with equipment and check everyone will have a great expereince.

 

if the talk isnt free do everything you can to make sure people are getting there money worth.

[dazzlerjames]

I was operating the sound on the super stage and agree with what most of you are saying. Because of the hall and the way things were set there was nothing that could be done about the echo. I tried all kinds of adjustments and how each guest holds the mic also has an effect. We test the sound in the mornings, however obviously acoustics change when people come in etc. I have made a few suggestions about how the sound could be improved. As for carpeting and sound proofing it just isn't possible, EC aren't going to allow it.

Edited July 14, 2014 by dazzlerjames

[discodiva]

I refuse to pay for a talk at any of these events now.....as hard as the poster above and his sound colleagues can work, the accoustics in these halls are just not set for "Open Stage Talks"....

 

Sadly again I can't mention "other places" but it's a real pleasure to hear a guest speak in a "proper auditorium"...

Edited July 14, 2014 by discodiva

[Wrong Name]

I was operating the sound on the super stage and agree with what most of you are saying. Because of the hall and the way things were set there was nothing that could be done about the echo. I tried all kinds of adjustments and how each guest holds the mic also has an effect. We test the sound in the mornings, however obviously acoustics change when people come in etc. I have made a few suggestions about how the sound could be improved. As for carpeting and sound proofing it just isn't possible, EC aren't going to allow it.

 

I have worked on sound teams and events in the Brompton Hall many times and your statement that EC wouldn't allow any sound proofing is just NOT TRUE!!! Almost every time I have worked there we have hung black clothes up around the areas with any sound systems that baffle the sound and stop the echoes and not only are EC fine with it, they help set it up! That is what was needed for the super stage. The fact that it didn't have this screamed to me that the people in charge of sound didn't really know what they were doing as every Sound Engineer I know would have insisted on this knowing that it would sound just as bad without it. It also needed a some speakers up the front as the people in the front rows couldn't hear anything. I've worked with sound reinforcement for a long time and after one talk in there I decided not to go back to the Super Stage, the set up was a joke!

[Henchman]

I was dreading what the Stan Lee talk was going to be like in terms of sond, and when the compare started talking I thought my fears were reaslised. However, when Stan was actually talking I could hear every word he was saying, obviously the way he was holding the mike or the qualities of his voice just worked out better in that enviroment. It may have also been the fact that I was prety much smack bang in the middle, as before when I was in the super stage I was at the edges near speakers, which was almost deafening at times.

[dazzlerjames]

I'm not going to argue on here but EC fire regs wouldn't allow it. The seating had to be moved after the PA was installed which resulted in some seating in front of the speakers unfortunately. I do know what I'm doing but if you wish to volunteer (yep that's right volunteer!) then do join the crew.

[benweblight]

I can understand the acoustics of that venue are quite difficult to work with. However it is hard to believe that much thought or expense was put into how to minimise these problems; especially with a full capacity stan lee talk planned. The speakers and mikes being used were hardly 'top of the line', The sound desk was to one side of the hall rather than being central so that the engineer can actually hear how it sounds for the audience. There were no flown speaker arrays which quite often help with these kind of problems. Any of the large London PA companies could provide you a system that would work and they are used to dealing with venues like this.

 

It seemed to me like they had tried to scale up the sound systems used in smaller venues; this is not proper system design.

 

This is coming from someone who works full time as a sound engineer at a large venue.

[GamerGraph]

When I go to the Eurogamer Expo we get to go into a closed room for talks with the games developers, why don't these rooms get used for talks here? I know the capacity isn't ideal but the sound is never an issue in the room.

[dazzlerjames]

I can understand the acoustics of that venue are quite difficult to work with. However it is hard to believe that much thought or expense was put into how to minimise these problems; especially with a full capacity stan lee talk planned. The speakers and mikes being used were hardly 'top of the line', The sound desk was to one side of the hall rather than being central so that the engineer can actually hear how it sounds for the audience. There were no flown speaker arrays which quite often help with these kind of problems. Any of the large London PA companies could provide you a system that would work and they are used to dealing with venues like this.

It seemed to me like they had tried to scale up the sound systems used in smaller venues; this is not proper system design.

This is coming from someone who works full time as a sound engineer at a large venue.

I can understand the acoustics of that venue are quite difficult to work with. However it is hard to believe that much thought or expense was put into how to minimise these problems; especially with a full capacity stan lee talk planned. The speakers and mikes being used were hardly 'top of the line', The sound desk was to one side of the hall rather than being central so that the engineer can actually hear how it sounds for the audience. There were no flown speaker arrays which quite often help with these kind of problems. Any of the large London PA companies could provide you a system that would work and they are used to dealing with venues like this.

It seemed to me like they had tried to scale up the sound systems used in smaller venues; this is not proper system design.

This is coming from someone who works full time as a sound engineer at a large venue.

 

agree with you on a lot of these points and it includes some of the suggestions I made.

[Wrong Name]

I'm not going to argue on here but EC fire regs wouldn't allow it. The seating had to be moved after the PA was installed which resulted in some seating in front of the speakers unfortunately. I do know what I'm doing but if you wish to volunteer (yep that's right volunteer!) then do join the crew.

I appreciate you volunteer, I personally can be on tour or working too much to be able to do that myself. But I can promise you I worked on shows including the BRIT awards where the after show parties are held in the Brompton Hall and we always have blacks up. Go to other Cons in other venues and they put blacks up in places for stages. Without doing something to dampen the sound in places like that, what's the point in having the talks in there, no one can hear anything?

 

(P.S. you only had speakers on stands so it wouldn't have taken much to move them after the seats were moved!)

[dazzlerjames]

All the cabling had been stuck down etc and cables were as long as they could be. I did try moving the speakers. At one point I even turned the stage monitors round! Like I said I only volunteer, not my show or my equipment but I have made suggestions so hopefully next time if there is a superstage then things will improve.