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LFCC 2015 - SOME HONEST FEEDBACK


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I put everything in another thread, but a further problem I had was that I left the back to the future talk at 15:55 to get to Neve Campbells photoshoot at 16:10. Got there at 16:05 to find they were already on batch 3! What the hell was going on there? If the talk ran late we would have likely missed completely...makes me incredibly nervous about booking talks and photoshoots in the future. If I book these I expect to get the item I paid for or a refund....

 

Neve was a split shoot, the other tickets had gone through in session 1.

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I think asking for crew members to know every single thing about the event is a LOT to ask! There's only so much we can remember, and the primary things we need to remember is what's happening in our assigned area so we can help everyone out who needs our help there.

 

I get what you're saying minchb, but, as an example, I asked THREE crew where the stairs to Level 3 were on Saturday and got sent to 3 different, incorrect areas where the stairs just went down. I finally got directed by someone who was there as a customer like me. Surely simple things such as 'Where are the stairs up?' are not too much to expect ALL staff to know?

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Well people were hanging around the photo shoots I saw Saturday, because the boards supposedly showing batches were either empty, or hadn't been updated from the previous guest even! How do you know whether its your batch or not, if there's nothing on there? Friday I was told on here my Photo A had moved. When I approached the guy to double check I was in the right place, he bit my head off! Can I suggest bigger boards, or a really large flip chart with the batches/info on next year, so people can see them better, also. With the crowds, even when the info was up, it was sometimes hard to see without pushing through, and then people panicked thinking you were queue jumping!

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The photo shoots get pretty crowded, if they were all on the same floors the crowd control would be even worse. Everything needs to be separated so that people disperse between the floors.

 

I think the stair cases should have been one way (which showmasters did by the Sunday) although few people took notice. Plus I even saw people taking up the stairs to eat and drink, which wasn't a great idea, maybe have a fast lane one way system round all of the whole room so that you don't get stuck behind people shopping. There should have been a few ways in to the venue, round the sides to let people in.

 

I'd have like to have seen a few break out areas, like at DST3, but kept in line with the theme of some of the guests films? So this year there could have been some 1950's tables for BTTF and maybe a great hall (downsized) type thing for Harry Potter fans, or just some plain old chairs and bean bags!

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The aircon was on. I was working the talks yesterday, there were definitely a few spots in there where it was almost freezing.

 

I'm glad you brought this up QS. Yes, I agree, the talks room (Super Stage) was very well air conditioned, which was a blessing to escape to when things got too unbearable BUT, on Friday, when there was nothing in there but Free Talks, crew refused to let anyone in to the huge, open and air conditioned room unless a talk was on (so huge gaps of time passed when the room was empty and not used). I get it was different for Saturday when paid talks were on but that respite on Friday would have been a godsend!

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Which schedule was not accurate? Stuart and I tried to communicate most of the changes and I was told Twitter updates where being sent too. All maps I saw had been changed, my apologies if some where missed. The "scribbling on" part was a last minute thing because two things were really moved the very last minute. You're not going to be able to print large maps at such short notice. The info about the Sigourney signing area I had updated Saturday morning before the show opened. Sorry if someone still couldn't find the area.

 

It's really asking a bit much to expect crew members to know everything. They are familiar with their area and are told how to handle questions they can't answer, which would be directing the person to someone who does know. Crew goes in through a completely other entrance, so yeah, if they were working the signing area for example they wouldn't know where the attendee exit is unless they attended themselves the day before. I was working the super stage yesterday and had an attendee get mad at me because he was looking for a dealer that had a very particular display which was supposedly somewhere on the ground floor.

 

 

None of the maps on level 1 or 2 on Saturday had been amended to show that the organisers booth had been moved. We were sent all over the place for it in order to pick up the 'extra help' slip for my friend who struggles to stand for long. It was a little ridiculous.

 

And when I asked a blue shirt the first one said 'I don't know I'm busy' and the next one I asked at the Sales Desk said 'I don't know it's my first day'. I understand that they can't know everything but I find it incredibly rude to be told 'I'm too busy' and as for the other one - fair enough you don't know but they could have at least asked someone else for us. In the end we asked a girl sat at a signing desk who was very helpful and said she had made a point of finding out where the main things were so she could be helpful.

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Which schedule was not accurate? Stuart and I tried to communicate most of the changes and I was told Twitter updates where being sent too. All maps I saw had been changed, my apologies if some where missed. The "scribbling on" part was a last minute thing because two things were really moved the very last minute. You're not going to be able to print large maps at such short notice. The info about the Sigourney signing area I had updated Saturday morning before the show opened. Sorry if someone still couldn't find the area.

 

It's really asking a bit much to expect crew members to know everything. They are familiar with their area and are told how to handle questions they can't answer, which would be directing the person to someone who does know. Crew goes in through a completely other entrance, so yeah, if they were working the signing area for example they wouldn't know where the attendee exit is unless they attended themselves the day before. I was working the super stage yesterday and had an attendee get mad at me because he was looking for a dealer that had a very particular display which was supposedly somewhere on the ground floor.

 

 

None of the maps on level 1 or 2 on Saturday had been amended to show that the organisers booth had been moved. We were sent all over the place for it in order to pick up the 'extra help' slip for my friend who struggles to stand for long. It was a little ridiculous.

 

And when I asked a blue shirt the first one said 'I don't know I'm busy' and the next one I asked at the Sales Desk said 'I don't know it's my first day'. I understand that they can't know everything but I find it incredibly rude to be told 'I'm too busy' and as for the other one - fair enough you don't know but they could have at least asked someone else for us. In the end we asked a girl sat at a signing desk who was very helpful and said she had made a point of finding out where the main things were so she could be helpful.

 

 

I've seen at least three maps that I remember newly amended on Saturday, but I really don't recall at what time that was. :/ A number of others had definitely been altered Friday night.

 

That's the point where I mentioned too, crew should tell you who can help of get someone to help. And as we keep saying, if there's an issue with crew or you can't get a question answered ask them to get their Pit Boss, a red shirt. Ally who was the Pit Boss at Sales would definitely have known. That doesn't really apply to sales because it's not a spread out area, but sometimes the crew can't really leave their post (even when it is not obviously for the attendee), so unless someone is close by they can't go and ask someone else.

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so this weekend was HECK-TICK. Friday was spent getting to know my way around and i got an autograph and bought a couple of things. Saturday was a disaster waiting to happen almost. noon knew where any of the shoots were i was sent between floor 1 and floor 2 6 times before someone could tell me where my photo shoot with Richard Dean Anderson was. the crowds weren't as bad as last year but i think tickets were still over sold. the size to quantity ratio was just unbearable at times on Saturday and getting from L1 to L3 for a photo shoot was near impossible sometimes. my friend missed a photo shoot because she was told the wrong information by a pit boss and not being able to get on the lift. i think what could improve the event for next year is to keep the number of tickets sold this year the same but add the 3 extra halls to make 9 or to move the YALK to the winter con. also what would greatly help is putting all the autographs on the 1st and possibly ground floor and all the photo shoots on the top floor together that way if one shoot is delayed and it clashes with another photo shoot people don't have to change floors trying to get to a different floor for another photo shot only to find they miss one of the shoots. if they were all on 1 floor if 1 is delayed people could just walk across the room to do their other shoot then back again. Sunday was a little better than Saturday but the queuing for the BTTF talk (which i paid for) was a real pain. i had a gold wrist band. i was mere meters from the seating when i was told to go outside, go round the building and join the queue. but i wasn't told exactly where to go and due to learning difficulties saying instructions like that just confuses me which i told the staff. eventually some other gold wristband guest came with me. when we finally made out way outside we were then told to go further round the building, then we were told to go to a different entrance. eventually we found out way to the right entrance only to find that golds had already one in. eventually i found a seas way further back than the gold seating. I was NOT impressed either as the talk had just started. I'd have got a seat where golds were if id just been aloud to join a queue inside. next i come to the issue of the gold autograph and photo vouchers. there was no consistency. you weren't aloud the use them for prop shoots then you were, you could put them together you couldn't for more expensive guests or use them as part payment. the vouchers you give as refunds would have been much easier than the paper ones given and would be reusable(next year by showmaster) once handed in as payment to showmaster. lastly what would really have helped if there were people in yellow t-shirts with clipboards with information on where every guest autograph and photo shoot is taking place and who could run around delivering messages to keep the communication open. that way people could find out quickly and easily where everyone was and when they were suppose to be somewhere. if crowd control and communication can be sorted for next year things should hopefully run a lot smoother.

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i do think if showmasters don't want things to get cluttered and want to be able to look through things there could possibly after the next come be a thread made named FEEDBACK ON THIS WEEKEND where people could just comment on what they thought and how things could be changed to make improvements. that way til will all be in 1 place.

Edited by stargate geek emily
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I put everything in another thread, but a further problem I had was that I left the back to the future talk at 15:55 to get to Neve Campbells photoshoot at 16:10. Got there at 16:05 to find they were already on batch 3! What the hell was going on there? If the talk ran late we would have likely missed completely...makes me incredibly nervous about booking talks and photoshoots in the future. If I book these I expect to get the item I paid for or a refund....

 

Neve was a split shoot, the other tickets had gone through in session 1.

Thanks for clearing this up . But what does happen if a talk runs over and you miss a photoshoot? Just quite nervous after some bad experiences yesterday (some good ones too)

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A couple of points for me,

 

1. In regards to the heat over the weekend, you are always going to get these problems at Olympia due to the glass roofs.

 

2. I personally don't think these events should be held over several floors, a new venue should be used if needed. The excel is ready made for this and I can't believe for one minute they would turn down the chance of having it hired out for a weekend because another company uses it.

 

3. I can understand that all of the staff might only work in certain areas over the weekend but that is no excuse for not knowing where the exits or stairs are and this should have been covered in case of any accidents or even a fire.

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I put everything in another thread, but a further problem I had was that I left the back to the future talk at 15:55 to get to Neve Campbells photoshoot at 16:10. Got there at 16:05 to find they were already on batch 3! What the hell was going on there? If the talk ran late we would have likely missed completely...makes me incredibly nervous about booking talks and photoshoots in the future. If I book these I expect to get the item I paid for or a refund....

Neve was a split shoot, the other tickets had gone through in session 1.

Thanks for clearing this up . But what does happen if a talk runs over and you miss a photoshoot? Just quite nervous after some bad experiences yesterday (some good ones too)

 

 

Go to the photoshoot area immediately, let the pit boss know. Sometimes they can get a guest back. If not they will advise you what to do.

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2. I personally don't think these events should be held over several floors, a new venue should be used if needed. The excel is ready made for this and I can't believe for one minute they would turn down the chance of having it hired out for a weekend because another company uses it.

 

It has an exclusive deal with another company meaning SM can't use it.

 

Other people have suggested the O2, but I think that gets booked up to far in advance by other things. And is expensive. And for those that have been, the arena area isn't actually that big. And I don't know how much else of the place you can hire that has massive floor space.

 

As I keep saying, this country just doesn't have the venues like the US does for this sort of event.

Edited by BeatrixKiddo88
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A couple of points for me,

 

1. In regards to the heat over the weekend, you are always going to get these problems at Olympia due to the glass roofs.

 

2. I personally don't think these events should be held over several floors, a new venue should be used if needed. The excel is ready made for this and I can't believe for one minute they would turn down the chance of having it hired out for a weekend because another company uses it.

 

3. I can understand that all of the staff might only work in certain areas over the weekend but that is no excuse for not knowing where the exits or stairs are and this should have been covered in case of any accidents or even a fire.

 

Regarding 2. I'm afraid there's such things as exclusivity clauses, so that is entirely possible that the Excel is out for contract reasons.

 

Regarding 3. The stairs were on the maps.I wasn't at the different pit meetings I'm afraid, if I had more details I would have replied more in depth.

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I totally agree this weekend was a shambles as far as showmasters are concerned. And I've yet to see any type of coment or apology from them. Very poor

Brace yourself for the we are getting bigger and moving forward speech without a hint of a sorry for the massive f### up this weekend
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As far as I am aware the air conditioning was on, it only appeared to be somewhat effective on level 3 though.

 

The problem with the airconditioning was that too many doors were opened, such as the front doors. Airconditioning only works properly if the doors and windows are closed. As the second and third floor were properly closed up, the airconditioning there worked as it should.

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2. I personally don't think these events should be held over several floors, a new venue should be used if needed. The excel is ready made for this and I can't believe for one minute they would turn down the chance of having it hired out for a weekend because another company uses it.

 

It has an exclusive deal with another company meaning SM can't use it.

 

Other people have suggested the O2, but I think that gets booked up to far in advance by other things. And is expensive. And for those that have been, the arena area isn't actually that big. And I don't know how much else of the place you can hire that has massive floor space.

 

As I keep saying, this country just doesn't have the venues like the US does for this sort of event.

 

 

Not saying this isn't the case but how could Destination Star Trek, Sherlocked and other events that can't be named be held there if there is an exclusive deal?

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2. I personally don't think these events should be held over several floors, a new venue should be used if needed. The excel is ready made for this and I can't believe for one minute they would turn down the chance of having it hired out for a weekend because another company uses it.

 

It has an exclusive deal with another company meaning SM can't use it.

 

Other people have suggested the O2, but I think that gets booked up to far in advance by other things. And is expensive. And for those that have been, the arena area isn't actually that big. And I don't know how much else of the place you can hire that has massive floor space.

 

As I keep saying, this country just doesn't have the venues like the US does for this sort of event.

 

 

Not saying this isn't the case but how could Destination Star Trek, Sherlocked and other events that can't be named be held there if there is an exclusive deal?

 

 

They're themed whilst LFCC is generic and is a like for like competitor.

 

I could suggest Wembley Stadium as an alternate venue?

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I would surmise it's because they are for one specific show and not multiple shows, both are huge signing events that cover multiple shows, films etc therefore conflict of interest arises as they are just too alike.

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Ok, I appreciate some of these threads have become (or appear to be to some) a whinge-fest, but since I paid a lot of money for the weekend (and that was a fraction compared to some) I feel I'm entitled to state my views/grievances/whatever. I fully appreciate putting on and managing an event like this is a MAJOR effort, and I don't want SM to think I'm at all ungrateful, but I feel my points are legitimate, so I'd appreciate them being read in the manner they are intended.

 

OUTSIDE QUEUEING/EARLY BIRD TICKETS

Nightmare. Well, it was for me, cos I hate the sun, it hurts my eyes and burns my skin. I got there about 75/80 mins early on Fri and 95+mins early on Sat and ended up further back than on the Fri, and both times it was abundantly clear that the crowds just had not been catered for. Having people wander up and down continually telling us to bunch up tight when it's (to me) swelteringly hot isn't really a solution. I've heard comments about previous events and we know the sales for this one, so something should have been prepped in advance, e.g. far more gates set out to zig-zag more people into a smaller space.

this ties in w/ the absence of early bird tickets, which to me were a great idea for people who just wanted an auto or two and then go after a quick look around; when I met Lance Henriksen in Glasgow, I was able to get in, see him, get a siggy and be on my way, and paid a couple quid for an EB ticket for the privilege. This time, I'd have to pay a LOT more for a Gold ticket, and I'm not made of money, especially after budgeting for flights and hotels. I'm forced now to have to stand outside for at least 90 mins, then hope I get a decent VQ number and wait hours if not, potentially not even getting the autograph depending on how things go. that makes me very resentful, to be honest, there's a ton I could be doing w/ that time. and the argument about going away and coming back doesn't wash, thanks, cos that's more time and money wasted.

 

STAIRS

Inside ~ FFS, really, how hard is it to co-ordinate an up side and a down side, especially when a lot of the stairs have banisters in the middle helpfully allowing this? this is aside from the morons on the main stairs up who decide to come down the side where everyone going up has lined up against. I saw this more than once, are people just mentally deficient or do they somehow think they're so special it's beneath them to take two side-steps and join the line going down?

 

BLUE SHIRTS

Utter waste of space. I asked 8 of them for info, 2 of them managed to tell me something useful. If you're there representing the company and announcing that on a shirt, you're going to be asked questions - SM should realise this and at least prepare the people, I assume giving them photocopied plans/timetables etc is w/in SM's remit? I'm sorry but if you're wearing an SM shirt and you can't give any more of an answer than "uh...I dunno" then you're a waste of floor space.

 

CHANGING GUEST POSITIONS

Frankly - why? WTF does this prove? I scout someone on Fri (William Forsythe, let's say), and I find him, but I'm doing other things so I'm logging his position for when I've got time. I come in on Sat, head over...and he ain't there. exactly how does this help people?

 

PROGRAM

This is an utter waste of £5. seriously, What the Hell sort of program is this rubbish? a Terminator retro, some half-written crap about wrestling tag teams, and something about scream queens; who gives a damn? does someone not understand a program is supposed to be ABOUT the event?!?! Where was the features on the guests, the write-ups and quick bios? you got some storming guests, and didn't print one goddamn word about them. not one mention of what they were doing so that someone might go "hey, Bill's doing a talk on Sun, let's see if there's tickets spare" etc. This is a shameful effort, I expect some comment about not wanting to write up about people who might have to cancel, but it had all the (wrong) maps and timetables in anyway, so if that's the excuse then what's the point in a program at all? if I went to an Iron Maiden concert and the program was a long bland article about vaguely-related music w/ not a word about Maiden, how do you think people would feel?

 

AIR CON

No idea about the comments that the problem was because there were too many doors/windows open (lol, huh?), this isn't directed at SM obviously but something really needs to be done about it if you're going to cram that many people into that space.

 

Like I said, I'm not ripping SM apart, I think there's just some aspects of the organisation that need some very serious consideration, not least of which is the price/ticket policy.

Edited by Wolfie138
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I've been to events where they have a live Twitter feed and each person in charge of each photo shoot has access to it to post which numbers/group/batch need to queue next, introducing something as simple as this would have saved a whole lot of crush and confusion especially around shoot A and that fella may have kept his voice for a bit longer!!!

 

 

The problem with that is it a) assumes everyone uses twitter and B) assumes everyone has internet access "on the go". Not everyone has a smart phone and I know I had problems using the wi-fi on my tablet.

 

What's wrong with having good old fashioned signs up where they can be seen easily?.... the tiny little boards at the end of the autographs just get lost in the crowd.

 

 

I said this in the other thread started last night that seems to have been removed. Finding things was impossible... every map I found was different on Sunday, only one had the suggested "You are here" on it, some hadn't had the delorean shoot moved. The issues about stairs and lifts has been said - I don't think I ever got up to level 3 because every stair case I was directed to just went down to the ground floor. I gave up in the end because I was too hot.

 

Also I understand there was a lot of confusion about the entry to the BTTF talk. There were no signs up at all to say that standard ticket holders had to queue outside to get in - I only vaguely recalled seeing something on here about it so checked earlier in the day - but I don't recall it being put on the FB or twitter, and not everyone uses social media. You obviously have someone capable of making good posters, so how difficult would it have been to have a nice big sign up explaining what to do. It would have saved the angry people who had queued for the best part of an hour at the entrance only to be told they had to go around outside and found themselves at the back.

 

Showmasters do a great job in getting excellent guests but lack basics that would help things run so much more smoothly.

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I would surmise it's because they are for one specific show and not multiple shows, both are huge signing events that cover multiple shows, films etc therefore conflict of interest arises as they are just too alike.

 

That is no official confirmation, but that is always the way I understood it as well.

 

And now if we could please steer away from that again cause we are treading dangerously on the edges of the forum rules. :lol:

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I went on the Saturday, i agree it was chaotic but i'm glad i went and i had a good day regardless. I can get over the fact that it was hot (i mean, there was a glass roof), i can get over it being oversubscribed (i managed to get my hayley atwell auto and photo - that's all i went for), i can even get over the completely rude member of staff at photoshoot A on Saturday morning who talked to people like crap because they dared ask her where their photoshoot had been moved to but if you want honest feedback for the next LFCC then movement around the venue is a major thing - queuing to get onto the staircase then having to move like cattle down the stairs (which i know was unavoidable) isn't just annoying - i'm pretty sure it's a safety and fire hazard. (i'm aware that couldn't be accounted for prior to the event but moving forward if olympia is used again and the event is made bigger it needs addressed)

 

Also, the problem with photoshoots and the utter chaos that was queuing for them - it's pretty offensive coming on her and hearing people say it's ALL the attendees fault and that we're all idiots for going to the shoot area before being called. take some responsibility - communication is key, signage was minimal and there was no queueing systems for the busier shoots and it shouldn't have been left to one guy to try and manage hundreds of people - also, i've never been to comic con or an event like this before, neither have alot of the people there so forgive some of us for not actually knowing how long it takes to go through one batch - as far as i knew my batch number meant i wouldnt be in photoshoot session 1 so i turned up 5 minutes before photoshoot 2 because i didn't have a clue how long it would take to get to me. I wasn't aware i should feel like my presence annoyed someone.

I agree staff did a great job - i work in customer service and i know how annoying people can be when they are getting pissy but i also had the issue where i went to FOUR different members of staff to find out which stairs actually went up at the start of the day (because i could only find the down ones) and was sent all over the place before a helpful girl by the help desk pointed me in the right direction. I get that they can't know everything but something as simple as which corner of the venue the main staircase is wasn't much to ask.

Edited by lozwinter
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im just going to keep this simple and avoid writing an essay.

 

THE GOOD:

 

the guests were great.

 

the vendors and stalls were great. (albeit cramped)

 

a few of the crew were excellent (especially luke and chris at photoshoot A)

 

the lighting inside the venue was great for photos (no orange tinge)

 

 

THE BAD

 

The layout was messed up and very confusing- keep it simple. (or as simple as can be. guests all in one area. photoshoots all in another. stalls in a third etc etc)

 

The aircon was dodgy, but i think thats down to both the number of people within the building and all the doors being open

 

Lack of seating outside talk areas (as someone with a dodgy back i often need to have a sit down and going to the floor and back up is very painful)

 

A LOT of the crew (blue shirts especially), while being very friendly didnt know what was going on with a lot of things, and this caused problems.

 

Stairs/Lifts: taking 30 minutes to get from one level to another should NOT be happening

 

No early entry seemed a bit silly to me. personally i dont mind paying a few quid extra if it means i can get more autographs done before the rush happens

 

 

i really enjoyed the saturday and sunday. i loved going to the con and meeting guests and seeing friends and spending far too much money, however i do feel that if certain issues are addressed properly then LFCC could go on to be one of the best events in europe, as well as the biggest

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