Saturday Experience and advice for SM

[imcaufieldholt]

Dear SM organisers,

As always our family had a great time at LFCC2017!!! Thank you for great guests and a great experience.

The following is a short list of observations and advice that I hope, if not already known, are taken onboard.

1) Photo areas ABCD.. were a complete mosh pit at 3pm-4pm. The volume of people meant it was virtually impossible to get from one end of the hall to the other without just pushing through. In an emergency this would have led to some serious injury, we have seen this before, not at LFCC fortunately, so easily avoided.

2) Popular guest signing areas wre a complete mosh pit at certain times. Many people not just wanting a glimpse of a celebrity, but also to know what the VQ ticket number is up to and who is there and who is on break. All this information needs to be spread around the venue through live update monitors, like an airport, a mobile app etc etc

3) Getting to YALC was a complete pain with little signage and little knowledge by crew. However once there it was like an oasis of calm :-)

4) Very few party/family meeting areas with obvious above head height signage to guide people by phone eg "Meet me at the big overhead X in hall B". Please make meeting areas clearer.

Advice:

- Clear marked and crew manned passage ways for people movement in the crazy areas.

- Above head height live updates of guest being photographed and batch number. Many people were there unsure of the batch number or had arrived early because guest was late, doubling numbers.

- Monitors throughout the venue, but in particular outside the photo areas with live updates of the guest being photographed, batch number, guest end time and maybe even estimated final session end batch number (which can be calculated quite easily and automatically as tickets are scanned)

- Similar monitors for VQ numbers. It would have saved me ages from pushing through the crowds just to see that the guest was on break or that the signing was no-where near my VQ number.

- A mobile app with the above information.

The cheapest thing to implement would be the mobile app if money is an issue as I suspect hiring a load of monitors would be quite expensive.

We had a great time, but the above would have meant a more relaxing AWESOME time :-)

Oh just on a free thinking point of view, an app could also unlock a whole host of additional feaures.....maybe a free marketplace for unused VQ tickets...that would probably devolve rapidly into a black market, so probably not. How about live venue updates of what the guests are up to... I'm sure others would have many better ideas, even ones monetisable by SM... :-)

Many thanks,

Ian

 

[Sebster118]

One thing I observed today was that David Bradley's VQ numbers didn't increase until about 3pm because the Gold Pass holders were being given priority, and I observed one young lady throwing a bit of a hissy fit about how it is unfair to the others with VQs.

I arrived at 6.15, got to the area without running and got my ticket but didn't get to meet him until about 3.30.

Perhaps something to ensure a balance between Gold Passes and standard VQ tickets for one day guests as not everyone can afford a Gold Pass, or see any justification in acquiring one depending on one's plans.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Sebster118

[The Pink Lady]

But... But... Isn't that advantage exactly what Gold passes are intended to give you? Priority in auto queues in particular? You know by not having Gold, and paying much, much less for the price of general entry, that you'll be at the mercy of the availability and speed of signers, and that you take a chance on how many VQs they'll get through? It would only be 'fair' if everyone paid the same to get the same treatment, i.e. there was no gold pass, and everyone wanting an auto (apart from diamond pass holders from their diamond guests) was just on VQs. There will always be an element of risk for VQ holders, which is reflected in the fact you don't pay to get a VQ ticket but only when you're in the physical queue. 

[robmoriarty]

1 hour ago, imcaufieldholt said:

- Above head height live updates of guest being photographed and batch number. Many people were there unsure of the batch number or had arrived early because guest was late, doubling numbers.

- Monitors throughout the venue, but in particular outside the photo areas with live updates of the guest being photographed, batch number, guest end time and maybe even estimated final session end batch number (which can be calculated quite easily and automatically as tickets are scanned)

- Similar monitors for VQ numbers. It would have saved me ages from pushing through the crowds just to see that the guest was on break or that the signing was no-where near my VQ number.

- A mobile app with the above information.

Oh just on a free thinking point of view, an app could also unlock a whole host of additional feaures.....maybe a free marketplace for unused VQ tickets...that would probably devolve rapidly into a black market, so probably not. How about live venue updates of what the guests are up to... I'm sure others would have many better ideas, even ones monetisable by SM... :-)

Many thanks,

Ian

 

App would be a great idea, particularly given the number of events SM are running these days - could be a seriously good investment? I know of a few out there, eventmobi being one that would do almost all of that. Would be fairly certain there are others too.

[Sambuca Sam]

I first started coming to Showmasters events back in 2007, and went every year until the debacle in 2014. This was first time back since then and I thought I would add my observations to this thread, and hope that Showmasters could take them onboard for future shows (i think that's all people really ask). No show will be without issues, but hopefully problems from previous shows have been sorted.

1. We were in General Entry and arrived at 8.30am and were in the venue by about 9.05am, my word what an improve since my last visit. I know there were issues with General Admission getting in either before or at the same time as Gold holders, and that does really need to be addressed given how much people pay for them.

2. My wife had Diamond pass for Richard Dean Anderson and it worked really well. She got her photo in no time at all and had an autograph with about 5-10 people ahead of her in the queue.

This leads to the realisation that if you really want to see someone then you really need to get a Diamond pass. Unfortunately, this is the way that things seem to have gone with comic-con conventions (especially the main London one). I dithered over a Diamond pass for Alyson Hannigan and by the time I had made up my mind on Saturday it was too late. Future lesson learned.

One thing I would like to raise about Diamond passes, is that when you buy them from the ticket site you specify which day it's for. I bought the Diamond pass for RDA for the Saturday. Now, when you look at what a Diamond pass includes, it includes the talk from the guest. This is misleading because RDA's talk was on the Sunday only. So, ineffect we are paying for something that we don't actually get. I wonder if there is a possibility of getting different prices for Diamond passes on days where a talk is not hosted.

3. The Sales Desk - this was the biggest problem. The waiting time to be seen at at Sales Desk was at least an hour, which is simply not good enough. Infact, I walked away from the queue after 30mins as I hardly got anywhere. Showmasters are losing money here. There were people saying you could go online and purchase tickets, but both my wife and I tried wifi and 4G connection without any success. The bandwidth on the networks simply seemed saturated. I know that Showmasters would advocate buying tickets before the event, but sometimes it's a spur of the moment decision.

4. Food/Drink - I know this is not a showmasters area, but maybe something they could pass onto the building management. At the lunchtime peak, the outlets were inevitably really busy but again the queues the queues seemed to move at snails pace at best. We walked away from two queues. In the end we left the building and went down the road to the Cumberland Arms, where it had alot of people from the show. Whilst not in Olympia, people aren't spending their money there. I feel there is more than enough space around the perimeter of the floor area to have some "pop-up" food stalls, so it spreads out the people more. The Midnight food van was a joke, run out of beef brisket before 1pm and closed entirely not too long afterwards.

5. Seating - this has always been an issue at events and hasn't improved. There still simply no seating and everyone is sitting on the floor. I can't see why some benches could not be put along the edges, which is where people up sitting on the floor.

So the question is would we go back to being regular attendees again ? Possibly. I would definitely try and ensure that we go either Friday or Sunday next time (unfortunately this year we were restricted on when we could go). I would purchase Diamond passes for guests I definitely want to see as well, as the era of seeing the bigger names later the day with standard queue tickets or hoping for an "open" queue have gone. Joining queues when I see they are "open". I made the mistake of of leaving Bernard Cribbins until later when he had an "open" at the time, result he was really busy went I went back and subsequently didn't get to see him. It also seems that guests take more time with autographs these days. I remember going to a show back in 2008 (i think) where Scott Bakula and Keely Hawes got through a phenomenal amount of people, not sure this happens nowadays (i maybe wrong).

As I said above, all I ask if that Showmasters appreciate the feedback and take note of these observations for future shows.

 

 

 

 

 

[fissijo]

3 minutes ago, Sambuca Sam said:

One thing I would like to raise about Diamond passes, is that when you buy them from the ticket site you specify which day it's for. I bought the Diamond pass for RDA for the Saturday. Now, when you look at what a Diamond pass includes, it includes the talk from the guest. This is misleading because RDA's talk was on the Sunday only. So, ineffect we are paying for something that we don't actually get. I wonder if there is a possibility of getting different prices for Diamond passes on days where a talk is not hosted.

I'm sure it says somewhere in the description that activities for the DP can be any day - all you are saying when you pick one is what day you want your photo-op on. The rest (auto and talk) can be any of the days. (Had to beg a day off work for the Alan Tudyk talk)

[HeartDT]

6 minutes ago, Sambuca Sam said:

I first started coming to Showmasters events back in 2007, and went every year until the debacle in 2014. This was first time back since then and I thought I would add my observations to this thread, and hope that Showmasters could take them onboard for future shows (i think that's all people really ask). No show will be without issues, but hopefully problems from previous shows have been sorted.

1. We were in General Entry and arrived at 8.30am and were in the venue by about 9.05am, my word what an improve since my last visit. I know there were issues with General Admission getting in either before or at the same time as Gold holders, and that does really need to be addressed given how much people pay for them.

2. My wife had Diamond pass for Richard Dean Anderson and it worked really well. She got her photo in no time at all and had an autograph with about 5-10 people ahead of her in the queue.

This leads to the realisation that if you really want to see someone then you really need to get a Diamond pass. Unfortunately, this is the way that things seem to have gone with comic-con conventions (especially the main London one). I dithered over a Diamond pass for Alyson Hannigan and by the time I had made up my mind on Saturday it was too late. Future lesson learned.

One thing I would like to raise about Diamond passes, is that when you buy them from the ticket site you specify which day it's for. I bought the Diamond pass for RDA for the Saturday. Now, when you look at what a Diamond pass includes, it includes the talk from the guest. This is misleading because RDA's talk was on the Sunday only. So, ineffect we are paying for something that we don't actually get. I wonder if there is a possibility of getting different prices for Diamond passes on days where a talk is not hosted.

 

 

 

 

 

Diamond passes are always sold with clear expectation they are spread out over 3 days so dont see why anything needs changed here personally.   i have bought many DP and have not once went to any of the talks which is  choice as personally would rather spend that time doing photos or autos but Insti but DP to get the assurance i will get photo and auto and not have to queue so much also :)

Edited July 30, 2017 by HeartDT

[Queen_Sindel]

5 minutes ago, fissijo said:

I'm sure it says somewhere in the description that activities for the DP can be any day - all you are saying when you pick one is what day you want your photo-op on. The rest (auto and talk) can be any of the days. (Had to beg a day off work for the Alan Tudyk talk)

Yes, it does say that specifically. But as a lot of people seem to misunderstand I am pretty sure the current wording will be looked at.

[natedammit]

These are always my favourite post-lfcc threads. I shall now shush myself.

[Sebster118]

2 hours ago, The Pink Lady said:

But... But... Isn't that advantage exactly what Gold passes are intended to give you? Priority in auto queues in particular? You know by not having Gold, and paying much, much less for the price of general entry, that you'll be at the mercy of the availability and speed of signers, and that you take a chance on how many VQs they'll get through? It would only be 'fair' if everyone paid the same to get the same treatment, i.e. there was no gold pass, and everyone wanting an auto (apart from diamond pass holders from their diamond guests) was just on VQs. There will always be an element of risk for VQ holders, which is reflected in the fact you don't pay to get a VQ ticket but only when you're in the physical queue. 

Indeed. I know some are slow signers but it took 5 hours for one guest's VQ number to go from 1-20 to a higher number. And there has been an every-man-for-himself attitude when the doors open.

I know that a VQ ticket is no guarantee to meet the guest yet if you're not around when your number's called, you can join the queue later in the day.

The VQ worked well with past Collectormanias but it doesn't always seem to be the case since the introduction of Gold/Diamond passes, as well as the age/writing speed of the guests.

I don't want to start an argument/dispute as this is a partial paraphrase of someone who has similar views, but I do hope Showmasters take these views into account and possibly review their queuing procedures.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Sebster118

[tenaciouspirit]

1 hour ago, Sambuca Sam said:

 I would purchase Diamond passes for guests I definitely want to see as well, as the era of seeing the bigger names later the day with standard queue tickets or hoping for an "open" queue have gone. 

 

 

 

 

Buying DPs for guests you really want to see is a good mindset (and something that I always do). But the reality is that those days actually aren't gone. 

 

I saw mads on open queue at like 15:00 today, and I know he got through loads of VQs on Friday. Same with Steven Yeun, Finn Jones, Alan Tudyk and Pam. 

 

The only real DP guests that I believe didn't do many VQs were John Cleese, Alyson and BC (who were arguably the three biggest guests)

I would say those days are only gone for saturdays, and that actually many big guests still see loads of people

Edited July 30, 2017 by tenaciouspirit

[The Pink Lady]

I, too, was lucky and got autos from Diamond guests with VQ tickets - Mads Mikkelsen and Kevin Smith, and these were both on Saturday. Mads I managed to see late morning, I think, and Kevin by about a quarter to five. 

[HeartDT]

I gave up on Kevin Smith even on Sat with VQ of 85 it was ridiculous. went so many times  and our number was called and we could queue  which we did... we were told he was expected back.... we waited 55 mins in his queue and he didnt come back and we had to leave for photo. we did this several times he either wasnt there or queue too long wasnt able to join.   he was ridiculously slow signing... appreciate gr8 for those that got to see him but not good for many waiting.   a nice balance would have been good. othera manage  nice exchange while still meeting many. 

[GoldenGrego]

It's strange you guys didn't get to people with such low vq numbers but I got David Morrissey on number 401  

[TerraHawk]

27 minutes ago, GoldenGrego said:

It's strange you guys didn't get to people with such low vq numbers but I got David Morrissey on number 401  

David was open queue by the time I went to him later yesterday. He used to sign his surname rather than just M, but he was adding his character most of the time. So he saved 8 letters and in my case added 10!

But the biggest difference is he wasn't a diamond guest. in some cases that added 200 people in front of the VQ

 

 

 

[Voorhees79]

48 minutes ago, HeartDT said:

I gave up on Kevin Smith even on Sat with VQ of 85 it was ridiculous. went so many times  and our number was called and we could queue  which we did... we were told he was expected back.... we waited 55 mins in his queue and he didnt come back and we had to leave for photo. we did this several times he either wasnt there or queue too long wasnt able to join.   he was ridiculously slow signing... appreciate gr8 for those that got to see him but not good for many waiting.   a nice balance would have been good. othera manage  nice exchange while still meeting many. 

Went back to Kevin Smith at about 4pm when he had disappeared and was still on VQ 100. he returned about 5 minutes later and from that point his queue started moving fast I was 176 and got through after about 20 minutes

 

[Dobbin11]

Only guests I never saw with a VQ where RDA  & Kevin Smith but they where slow signers and my numbers where pretty high. Was in the queue for Alan Tudyk next to the Kevin Smith queue and it hardly moved for the whole time I was there. If they both come next year I am defo getting a diamond.

[imcaufieldholt]

Just to add a couple more cents.....

For us we have pretty much given up with the autographs for the very popular guests, but go for the photos..... why, because you pretty much guarantee to meet with the guest and come away with a souvenir, rather than the random-ness of the VQ option (I appreciate that Diamond or Gold would eliminate this but not really in my budget :-( ... ). So if we want to meet a guest for definate then we buy the photo tickets and chance it with the VQ, that way we know we don't have to stress too much about actually meeting the guest when they are at their desk. It may actually be more expensive now I think about it..... but I pretty much know we'll be able to shake hands.

I apprecaite that doesn't work for everyone as we all go for different reasons and have different expectations AND for sure the photo won't get you much of an interaction beyond "hello...[smile]....thank you", but it works for us. So the real win is if we get a photo and win in the VQ (standard entry) lottery :-)

[Sacred_heart]

Kudos to the team (and subsequent additional team) running Kevin Smith today - he went from 1 to the 300s in an hour and a half. Lots of people had left but there was a throng of anxious fans waiting. 

Sone kind chap gave me his 125 (I was 183 and my OH 184) so we passed our forward to some 200 and 300 fans but I think in the end they may have got through all who stayed to closing.

 

conversely I wish I held my nerve and waited for Mads. I went early as a staff member said he was tired and may leave early but he was free as a bird by 3.30 pm and I could have had a bit more time instead of going at the busiest time (he was still lovely an charming but more time is always a bonus).

 

i definitely agree digital VQ updates would be amazing as lots of people ended up hovering as they weren't sure when or what was happening.

 

however I feel great from the day and know that my diamond pass was worth the money and will get more next time.