Jump to content

Thoughts about show after our debrief & how to move forward


Recommended Posts

 

Just had an idea that might help future shows. Summer Glau was one of the busiest guests last weekend but could only physically get through so many autos in a day. So what if in future Showmasters sent out to guests like Summer (known busy guests) 500/1000 stills in the week or two before an event that she could pre sign. That sounds impersonal but what if an hour a day was set aside like a photo shoot where people would queue and the guest could give out the still and say a quick thank you for coming or a handshake, it would be no more impersonal or longer than a photo shoot. Now i know the majority of us on this forum would rather meet at the desk at get a personalisation but we still could. but if the price of the pre signed was £5 cheaper many would still pay for that and i bet most of the walkins would too, and its clearly btter than nothing and would allow showmasters to get

 

More people to see the guest.

more people to get an auto

from a buisness standpoint it would certainly allow for more autos to be sold.

 

As long as it would be done after say 2pm it could work. Less people would complain about missing guests too. id say about an extra 50% autos could be sold. I missed out on Carrie Fisher and would have certainly taken this option rather than miss out.

They did something a little like this many years ago at the Milton Keynes show when James Marsters was there. Not sure exactly which show but it was either 2007 or 2008. The queues were massive, VTs off the scale but there was a crew member at the end of the queue selling pre-signed 10x8s. Only time I'm aware it's happened as I got one as I was really late getting there.

 

Not sure how I feel about it really. Surely the whole point is to go and meet the guest but I took one as there was no chance of me meeting him that day. But it's not a lot different to buying from a dealer. Very impersonal and I'd rather meet the guest to know it's genuine and have that experience. It's not entirely just about the autograph for me otherwise I'd just pre-order everything I wanted.

 

But with your idea what if the only time someone could join the queue to meet them was during the period that this "hand out" thing was going on? Wouldn't really be fair would it? It's often towards the end of the day when queues go open and it's easier for anyone to actually go and meet the guest. Maybe something to think about though.

 

My thoughts are pretty much exclusively for the busiest guests who have queues all day and that people miss, there are usually 3/4 of these guests each show but probably more this year with all the people. It would also be like a photo shoot very fast but at least you would see the guest not givin out by a crew member.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Just had an idea that might help future shows. Summer Glau was one of the busiest guests last weekend but could only physically get through so many autos in a day. So what if in future Showmasters sent out to guests like Summer (known busy guests) 500/1000 stills in the week or two before an event that she could pre sign. That sounds impersonal but what if an hour a day was set aside like a photo shoot where people would queue and the guest could give out the still and say a quick thank you for coming or a handshake, it would be no more impersonal or longer than a photo shoot. Now i know the majority of us on this forum would rather meet at the desk at get a personalisation but we still could. but if the price of the pre signed was £5 cheaper many would still pay for that and i bet most of the walkins would too, and its clearly btter than nothing and would allow showmasters to get

 

More people to see the guest.

more people to get an auto

from a buisness standpoint it would certainly allow for more autos to be sold.

 

As long as it would be done after say 2pm it could work. Less people would complain about missing guests too. id say about an extra 50% autos could be sold. I missed out on Carrie Fisher and would have certainly taken this option rather than miss out.

They did something a little like this many years ago at the Milton Keynes show when James Marsters was there. Not sure exactly which show but it was either 2007 or 2008. The queues were massive, VTs off the scale but there was a crew member at the end of the queue selling pre-signed 10x8s. Only time I'm aware it's happened as I got one as I was really late getting there.

 

Not sure how I feel about it really. Surely the whole point is to go and meet the guest but I took one as there was no chance of me meeting him that day. But it's not a lot different to buying from a dealer. Very impersonal and I'd rather meet the guest to know it's genuine and have that experience. It's not entirely just about the autograph for me otherwise I'd just pre-order everything I wanted.

 

But with your idea what if the only time someone could join the queue to meet them was during the period that this "hand out" thing was going on? Wouldn't really be fair would it? It's often towards the end of the day when queues go open and it's easier for anyone to actually go and meet the guest. Maybe something to think about though.

 

My thoughts are pretty much exclusively for the busiest guests who have queues all day and that people miss, there are usually 3/4 of these guests each show but probably more this year with all the people. It would also be like a photo shoot very fast but at least you would see the guest not givin out by a crew member.

 

Get that but often hard to judge who is going to have the biggest queues all day so hard to know who to do it for. I don't think anyone would have thought Summer would be quite so busy for example and there's been plenty of "big" guests in the past who you've just been able to walk up to later in the day. David Tennant, Gillian Anderson, Karl Urban, Matt Smith even are a few that spring to mind. All busy initially but much quieter later in the day.

 

Karen Gillan at her first LFCC appearance was busy all day but went open queue for about 10mins at the end. But then at her next appearance at Milton Keynes, I just walked up later in the day without needing a VT.

 

Not killing the idea but it's almost impossible to guess who will be or won't be so busy that it would justify it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

Just had an idea that might help future shows. Summer Glau was one of the busiest guests last weekend but could only physically get through so many autos in a day. So what if in future Showmasters sent out to guests like Summer (known busy guests) 500/1000 stills in the week or two before an event that she could pre sign. That sounds impersonal but what if an hour a day was set aside like a photo shoot where people would queue and the guest could give out the still and say a quick thank you for coming or a handshake, it would be no more impersonal or longer than a photo shoot. Now i know the majority of us on this forum would rather meet at the desk at get a personalisation but we still could. but if the price of the pre signed was £5 cheaper many would still pay for that and i bet most of the walkins would too, and its clearly btter than nothing and would allow showmasters to get

 

More people to see the guest.

more people to get an auto

from a buisness standpoint it would certainly allow for more autos to be sold.

 

As long as it would be done after say 2pm it could work. Less people would complain about missing guests too. id say about an extra 50% autos could be sold. I missed out on Carrie Fisher and would have certainly taken this option rather than miss out.

They did something a little like this many years ago at the Milton Keynes show when James Marsters was there. Not sure exactly which show but it was either 2007 or 2008. The queues were massive, VTs off the scale but there was a crew member at the end of the queue selling pre-signed 10x8s. Only time I'm aware it's happened as I got one as I was really late getting there.

 

Not sure how I feel about it really. Surely the whole point is to go and meet the guest but I took one as there was no chance of me meeting him that day. But it's not a lot different to buying from a dealer. Very impersonal and I'd rather meet the guest to know it's genuine and have that experience. It's not entirely just about the autograph for me otherwise I'd just pre-order everything I wanted.

 

But with your idea what if the only time someone could join the queue to meet them was during the period that this "hand out" thing was going on? Wouldn't really be fair would it? It's often towards the end of the day when queues go open and it's easier for anyone to actually go and meet the guest. Maybe something to think about though.

 

My thoughts are pretty much exclusively for the busiest guests who have queues all day and that people miss, there are usually 3/4 of these guests each show but probably more this year with all the people. It would also be like a photo shoot very fast but at least you would see the guest not givin out by a crew member.

 

Get that but often hard to judge who is going to have the biggest queues all day so hard to know who to do it for. I don't think anyone would have thought Summer would be quite so busy for example and there's been plenty of "big" guests in the past who you've just been able to walk up to later in the day. David Tennant, Gillian Anderson, Karl Urban, Matt Smith even are a few that spring to mind. All busy initially but much quieter later in the day.

 

Karen Gillan at her first LFCC appearance was busy all day but went open queue for about 10mins at the end. But then at her next appearance at Milton Keynes, I just walked up later in the day without needing a VT.

 

Not killing the idea but it's almost impossible to guess who will be or won't be so busy that it would justify it.

 

I saw her sitting with an empty desk for quite a while somewhere else in the year :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Its such a shame to see that 95% of posters on here don't think its right to increase prices but the moderator is agreeing with the 5% who do. Think we know there will be price increases next year. Also its roughly the same percentages who think removing posts from view is wrong but the mods agree with the minority who think its alright again.

To be fair, I agree with David's reasoning. Prices do go up, whether we like it or not. Showmasters can decide not to book guests that are more expensive than GBP 15 per autograph, but then we're back to a minor roles only convention and those have gone belly up all over Europe, because people aren't that interested in them anymore.

I don't agree with his reasoning. Hes not saying, thungs will go up next year because of inflation. We're talking about paying more to guarantee getting a photo/auto. Well. Paying at all should guarantee it. If I had the money for an aston martin and was told I could pick up 1 of ten next week for x amount, then got there and was told sorry, too late, these ten people paid this amount x amount so tough. I'd be.... well.... lets say upset!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

Just had an idea that might help future shows. Summer Glau was one of the busiest guests last weekend but could only physically get through so many autos in a day. So what if in future Showmasters sent out to guests like Summer (known busy guests) 500/1000 stills in the week or two before an event that she could pre sign. That sounds impersonal but what if an hour a day was set aside like a photo shoot where people would queue and the guest could give out the still and say a quick thank you for coming or a handshake, it would be no more impersonal or longer than a photo shoot. Now i know the majority of us on this forum would rather meet at the desk at get a personalisation but we still could. but if the price of the pre signed was £5 cheaper many would still pay for that and i bet most of the walkins would too, and its clearly btter than nothing and would allow showmasters to get

 

More people to see the guest.

more people to get an auto

from a buisness standpoint it would certainly allow for more autos to be sold.

 

As long as it would be done after say 2pm it could work. Less people would complain about missing guests too. id say about an extra 50% autos could be sold. I missed out on Carrie Fisher and would have certainly taken this option rather than miss out.

They did something a little like this many years ago at the Milton Keynes show when James Marsters was there. Not sure exactly which show but it was either 2007 or 2008. The queues were massive, VTs off the scale but there was a crew member at the end of the queue selling pre-signed 10x8s. Only time I'm aware it's happened as I got one as I was really late getting there.

 

Not sure how I feel about it really. Surely the whole point is to go and meet the guest but I took one as there was no chance of me meeting him that day. But it's not a lot different to buying from a dealer. Very impersonal and I'd rather meet the guest to know it's genuine and have that experience. It's not entirely just about the autograph for me otherwise I'd just pre-order everything I wanted.

 

But with your idea what if the only time someone could join the queue to meet them was during the period that this "hand out" thing was going on? Wouldn't really be fair would it? It's often towards the end of the day when queues go open and it's easier for anyone to actually go and meet the guest. Maybe something to think about though.

 

My thoughts are pretty much exclusively for the busiest guests who have queues all day and that people miss, there are usually 3/4 of these guests each show but probably more this year with all the people. It would also be like a photo shoot very fast but at least you would see the guest not givin out by a crew member.

 

Get that but often hard to judge who is going to have the biggest queues all day so hard to know who to do it for. I don't think anyone would have thought Summer would be quite so busy for example and there's been plenty of "big" guests in the past who you've just been able to walk up to later in the day. David Tennant, Gillian Anderson, Karl Urban, Matt Smith even are a few that spring to mind. All busy initially but much quieter later in the day.

 

Karen Gillan at her first LFCC appearance was busy all day but went open queue for about 10mins at the end. But then at her next appearance at Milton Keynes, I just walked up later in the day without needing a VT.

 

Not killing the idea but it's almost impossible to guess who will be or won't be so busy that it would justify it.

 

You may be right but these events are getting exponentionally bigger year on year. If people buy these pre paid online then there would still be those sales and most people don't stay till the end. At the end of the day all that would be left would a few unsigned stills but i gaurentee showmasters could havee shifted 100s of these pre signed on saturday, its just another revenue stream for showmasters and another way for fans to get an auto and a glimpse of the guest they want to see. Some vt were double of what actually got to meet the guest on saturday.

Edited by cropsy2008
Link to comment
Share on other sites

sorry if this has been answered already but with the A lister guests when will we know when to purchase a ticket for them will there be earlier announcements before the show thanks

It's just all speculation and possible ways to move things forward in the future. Don't worry about it. Any details will be on the forum should it ever happen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

To be fair you & anyone who works for SM or Volunteers for them is allowed an opinion obviously the same as everyone ... but that opinion would be by default bias in the defence of SM because you wouldn't want to ruin your relationship or lose your position as a mod or twitter controller so will always see the positive side more so

I have posted good and bad points about this event so obviously sit on the fence about it's success as got everything I wanted from it but at the same time can see where improvements are to be made but if I was employed by SM I can well imagine my posts would sway more in favour than sit on the fence

Completely understand where you're coming from but at the same time it's my finances and my enjoyment of the events too. I'd LOVE to get more and I would have loved to get more last weekend. BUT I understand how things work and I'm genuinely okay with it. It's life..
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

it was a very enjoyable event was disappointed that I didn't get to meet Anthony Head and Stan Lee but sometimes these things happen I was happy enough meeting for members of the TWD cast and hope there are more to be announced for the LFACC W event very much looking forward to the October event :dance:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Said it before... will say it again... I think everything worked great for Gold Ticket holders. Just limit the numbers of walk ins and everything will be fine. Everything else was sorted perfectly. I really think so.

Then if that's the problem why was the place overcrowded before any of the walk ins got inside? Just asking.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a suggestion maybe only sell early bird tickets in advance that way you could put up barriers up to stop standard entry tickets getting to the door, then the left side doors for gold and other passes that way you can open all other doors for early bird and get them in quicker.

My main complaint is the queue on sat namely trying to find the end of the early bird queue asked two members of staff who sent me in opposite directions also once you go round the corner there is no staff so attendees are basically having to sort the line themselves what may help is if someone held up a long pole with a sign on it saying end of early bird queue so we can find where it is.

 

Also what about individual actor talks not just star trek or doctor who but for example a Paul McGann talk that way you can have a Q & A about his whole career cos I would love to ask him a question about Withnail & I.

 

One last thing I can not believe that during a whole weekend someone could not find ten minutes to give that batmobile a good dusting.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm amazed at the number of people who complain about a ticket for those who can pay more, surely this is the description of Gold Passes? I watched the gold pass people this year, and thought to myself "they must be meeting a lot of people", rather than thinking of them as elitist snobs. I quite like the idea of a "mini-gold" ticket, say an extra £5 to guarantee early entry for the biggest guest. I find the Earlybird tickets are not as useful as they have previously been, the rest of the flock seemed to have buy them, too. I don't have a problem with the guest handing me a photograph they have pre-signed, either.

I don't have a problem with people having a quick word with the guest, but I was at a convention recently when the guest was deep in conversation, and after 10 minutes, myself and other members of their queue left in disgust.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm amazed at the number of people who complain about a ticket for those who can pay more, surely this is the description of Gold Passes? I watched the gold pass people this year, and thought to myself "they must be meeting a lot of people", rather than thinking of them as elitist snobs. I quite like the idea of a "mini-gold" ticket, say an extra £5 to guarantee early entry for the biggest guest. I find the Earlybird tickets are not as useful as they have previously been, the rest of the flock seemed to have buy them, too.

 

But one of the reasons that the early bird tickets weren't as useful this year was the hundreds of gold passes sold this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

back up your myth theory with numbers Stan Lee was way more expensive in the big apple in October 13. $75.

Actually, at the current rate, that is GBP 43.85, so still cheaper.

Plus $60 entry ticket and $5 for the photo so not cheaper at all

 

 

Well you didn't mention that, did you? Increasing the numbers as you go.

 

But in some US conventions prices have gone overboard, I agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Increasing costs as a way of crowd control is both lazy and unethical. It would be a shot in the foot and the final nail for some. Do people not keep up with current affairs? This way of thinking is outmoded and is failing across the globe. SM don't want to increase cost, the fans don't want increased cost so hey, how about not increasing the costs?

 

Of course people pay only what they can afford, not sure that is the issue here. Bigger boat, more people, same price but still more profit, everyone is happy. Jeez, it's not rocket science!

Sorry but your solution will not create less demand at the autograph lines - epic fail

 

I'm not talking about the autograph line, I'm talking about crowd control. The VQ system still works in my opinion. People who use phrases like 'Epic fail' and think it's clever make my blood boil, is this your idea of us fan sticking together is it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

Increasing costs as a way of crowd control is both lazy and unethical. It would be a shot in the foot and the final nail for some. Do people not keep up with current affairs? This way of thinking is outmoded and is failing across the globe. SM don't want to increase cost, the fans don't want increased cost so hey, how about not increasing the costs?

 

Of course people pay only what they can afford, not sure that is the issue here. Bigger boat, more people, same price but still more profit, everyone is happy. Jeez, it's not rocket science!

Sorry but your solution will not create less demand at the autograph lines - epic fail
do you think Showmasters want less demand at autograph lines? healthy demand means more cons in future, just better organisation of those queues is whats needed and will no doubt happen.. and is there really any need for the "epic fail" quote? thats IS the sort of thing this forum can do without.

In fairness when someone is being a smarty pants and saying "jeez, it's not rocket science" then they deserve a bit of gentle banter

 

Your definition of banter and my definition of banter seem to be very different. I think there has to be an element of respect before banter can really flourish and after what you wrote about other people in the forum (that got deleted) i'm not sure how you expect to gain any.

Edited by Geekchic
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been having an idea. If the queues are gonna be big and long…hows about sending out some entertainment? At least then you get something for your 4 hour queuing even if you can't get in. ;)

Maybe some jolly music...turn the queue into a giant conga line. Mexican wave from one end to the other...ok..maybe the heat is getting to me. lol

Edited by LadyDeTemps
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been having an idea. If the queues are gonna be big and long…hows about sending out some entertainment? At least then you get something for your 4 hour queuing even if you can't get in. ;)

Maybe some jolly music...turn the queue into a giant conga line. Mexican wave from one end to the other...ok..maybe the heat is getting to me. lol

 

Let a busker set up a pitch who only plays video game theme tunes like Zelda & Mario.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I've been having an idea. If the queues are gonna be big and long…hows about sending out some entertainment? At least then you get something for your 4 hour queuing even if you can't get in. ;)

Maybe some jolly music...turn the queue into a giant conga line. Mexican wave from one end to the other...ok..maybe the heat is getting to me. lol

 

Let a busker set up a pitch who only plays video game theme tunes like Zelda & Mario.

 

I was thinking about bringing my squeezebox along for wlfcc (for talent show) I could play a few tunes in the line. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

Increasing costs as a way of crowd control is both lazy and unethical. It would be a shot in the foot and the final nail for some. Do people not keep up with current affairs? This way of thinking is outmoded and is failing across the globe. SM don't want to increase cost, the fans don't want increased cost so hey, how about not increasing the costs?

 

Of course people pay only what they can afford, not sure that is the issue here. Bigger boat, more people, same price but still more profit, everyone is happy. Jeez, it's not rocket science!

Sorry but your solution will not create less demand at the autograph lines - epic fail

 

I'm not talking about the autograph line, I'm talking about crowd control. The VQ system still works in my opinion. People who use phrases like 'Epic fail' and think it's clever make my blood boil, is this your idea of us fan sticking together is it?

 

how is it any different to ....Jeez, its not rocket science!

 

are you calling us/me and possibly showmasters stupid?

 

where is the respect there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...