Crewing for Showmasters - Advice?

[jakers77777]

Hi everyone,

I was just looking for some advice from people who have had experience crewing with Showmasters or at similar events.

I'm hoping to become a crew member at this year's Glasgow Film and Comic Con with my friend, and it looks pretty fun and would be great experience!

I'm looking for some pointers from people who have done this before - what kind of stuff do you do, what's it like, what skills do you need and most importantly, whether or not you would recommend it.

I think it would be great to do, but please be honest. I know it will be difficult, but that's to be expected!

Thanks for anything you can provide.

Jakers.

[etmuse]

It can be a really long day, and you might end up on your feet for 12 hours straight, depending on the job you're assigned. But I've been doing it five years so far, and many crew have been at it far longer! There must be something that keeps us coming back...

 

Honestly, the only skills you really need are a willingness to work hard, listen, and use a little bit of common sense! (ok, and adding up can be useful too, in jobs that require taking payments...)

[jakers77777]

It can be a really long day, and you might end up on your feet for 12 hours straight, depending on the job you're assigned. But I've been doing it five years so far, and many crew have been at it far longer! There must be something that keeps us coming back...

 

Honestly, the only skills you really need are a willingness to work hard, listen, and use a little bit of common sense! (ok, and adding up can be useful too, in jobs that require taking payments...)

 

Thank you. I'm expecting it to be difficult but rewarding!

[StuartG2198]

I've been doing these shows for a number of years now and have always admired the dedication of showmasters crew, I tend to attend 2 or three shows a year and generally I keep myself really busy when I do, but when I found out SM was coming back to Manchester (to which I'm local) I did consider it but it fell on my wedding weekend but definitely think that I might give it a go next year.

[StuartG2198]

It can be a really long day, and you might end up on your feet for 12 hours straight, depending on the job you're assigned. But I've been doing it five years so far, and many crew have been at it far longer! There must be something that keeps us coming back...

 

Honestly, the only skills you really need are a willingness to work hard, listen, and use a little bit of common sense! (ok, and adding up can be useful too, in jobs that require taking payments...)

etmuse (or any other crew) I understand that as a volunteer you give up your time to work the show but can I ask if there is any opportunity to do photo shoots/autographs, obviously I appreciate this will be limited but I'd be interested to hear your experiences

[etmuse]

We get limited breaks to go get our own stuff, yes. Usually if you're doing a full day the 'allowance' is up to a MAXIMUM of 4 photoshoots or 2 autos (or 2 photos and 1 auto) - photos take less time as we can be slotted through the front of the queue to get back to our own job. At really busy shows it can be difficult to accomodate these maximums but they do try. Generally the advice is that if you have a lot of stuff you want to do yourself, take a half day off somewhere - there is no necessity to crew for the entire event! (This year, as with every year since there's been one, I'm spending Friday of LFCC as an attendee so I can see some of the show before crewing Sat/Sun!)

[StuartG2198]

We get limited breaks to go get our own stuff, yes. Usually if you're doing a full day the 'allowance' is up to a MAXIMUM of 4 photoshoots or 2 autos (or 2 photos and 1 auto) - photos take less time as we can be slotted through the front of the queue to get back to our own job. At really busy shows it can be difficult to accomodate these maximums but they do try. Generally the advice is that if you have a lot of stuff you want to do yourself, take a half day off somewhere - there is no necessity to crew for the entire event! (This year, as with every year since there's been one, I'm spending Friday of LFCC as an attendee so I can see some of the show before crewing Sat/Sun!)

Sounds good to me think I would do the same myself will wait and see how things pan out next year and will possibly put my name down for a show closer to me.

[jakers77777]

Can I ask, are the photoshoots and autos you are allowed to have paid for by SM? Volunteering for the whole day and only being allowed a limited number of photos/autos doesn't sound very appealing to me.

What other benefits does crewing bring, as I'm thinking I might just go with the helper option - crewing sounds a bit extreme!

[etmuse]

You do get some money towards expenses per day (which you can choose to receive as vouchers for photos/autos) but whether that covers all the things you want to get depends on how expensive the guests you want are! And if you crew multiple days then (if necessary) accomodation is provided between those days.

TBH there have only been a few rare occasions when there have been more guests that I wanted there than I had time for in my breaks.

[jakers77777]

You do get some money towards expenses per day (which you can choose to receive as vouchers for photos/autos) but whether that covers all the things you want to get depends on how expensive the guests you want are! And if you crew multiple days then (if necessary) accomodation is provided between those days.

TBH there have only been a few rare occasions when there have been more guests that I wanted there than I had time for in my breaks.

 

Thank you for this. I think I will volunteer as a helper and maybe reconsider crewing. Your advice has been invaluable, etmuse!

[enty]

I volunteered on in 2012 for LFCC as there was extra crew needed at the last minute. I have now crewed at 14 events including DSTL and Sherlocked, usually LFCC, Newcastle and Glasgow. I have done jobs like guest assistant, front door sales desk, silent auction, runner, prop photo shoot. It is hard work but you do get sucked into it and once you have done you will want to do more.

[andyfilm_1]

Cool, I'm tempted to crew for Cardiff FCC as its just a short train ride away. :)

[Knitty Fred]

Hi everyone,

I was just looking for some advice from people who have had experience crewing with Showmasters or at similar events.

I'm hoping to become a crew member at this year's Glasgow Film and Comic Con with my friend, and it looks pretty fun and would be great experience!

I'm looking for some pointers from people who have done this before - what kind of stuff do you do, what's it like, what skills do you need and most importantly, whether or not you would recommend it.

I think it would be great to do, but please be honest. I know it will be difficult, but that's to be expected!

Thanks for anything you can provide.

Jakers.

 

There's also some more info in the crew topic here

 

http://showmastersonline.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25858

 

I would say that crewing is not for anybody who thinks that they will be able to do nothing but spend their entire working period getting free autographs/photoshoots and chatting with the guests.

 

I used to be responsible for a stand at craft shows and the only "perk" there was that you gained free entry as you were a volunteer. I had one volunteer who I had a text message from saying that they were unable to make it in as they were in bed with a migraine. Unfortunately they happened to stop at one of the traders who I'm good friends with and got told that person had been in and shopping. So said person had obviously come to the show, got their free entry, gone off shopping and gone home again.