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LFCC 2018: Highs and Lows


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1 hour ago, MAGIC MONKEY said:

The problem with the 'dealers' is that they're the ones who spoil things for real fans. Also when you're after several guests it doesn't help that one person is getting masses of stuff signed and holding up everyone else. Then you can't go and meet other guests because you're stuck in a queue due to dealers trying to 'rack' someone.

I was surprised she came along at all TBH. I have met her on several occasions and only once did she sign. It's known that she dislikes signing for anyone.

 

1 hour ago, dogsoldierspoon said:

And of course, I absolutely hate dealers.

 

So would you rather have a world where we're paying more money to meet people (because the dealers haven't paid a shedload to meet them and paid for a big chunk of their appearance fee)? Would you rather not have a lot of the smaller guests there because they can't make a profit now the dealers have gone?

 

To some extent I understand the argument in "free" environments, such as stage doors, but complaining that someone has paid for multiple autographs and has got those autographs is utterly bizarre. 

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6 minutes ago, autographfan said:

So would you rather have a world where we're paying more money to meet people (because the dealers haven't paid a shedload to meet them and paid for a big chunk of their appearance fee)? Would you rather not have a lot of the smaller guests there because they can't make a profit now the dealers have gone?

 

To some extent I understand the argument in "free" environments, such as stage doors, but complaining that someone has paid for multiple autographs and has got those autographs is utterly bizarre. 

 

I think the argument isn't that they shouldn't get what they pay for, but rather that as an event based around fans meeting the people who helped bring to life characters they love, maybe there should be priority placed on making the event as fan friendly as possible. 

After all there is a finite number of autographs people can get through. If a dealer who may not even give a damn about the people and things that are getting signed gets 30 autographs that means potentially 29 fans who would absolutely love the chance to get one auto aren't going to get anything. I'm sure it's something the actors don't love either.

Not that I'm saying dealers and that should be not allowed or anything. Just I can understand peoples frustration, and why autos should be limited to 5 across the board.

Edited by Blairy550
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You've not understood what I've said and this conversation is now pointless. The issue with the dealers is the amount of items they are getting signed, especially when the guest is busy. It was even mentioned in another post that Christopher Eccleston got fed up signing for them at the show. If they want masses of stuff signed, fine. But just don't do it when the guest is busy with loads of people queuing up to meet a particular person.

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Just now, Blairy550 said:

 

I think the argument isn't that they shouldn't get what they pay for, but rather that as an event based around fans meeting the people who helped bring to life characters they love, maybe there should be priority placed on making the event as fan friendly as possible. 

After all there is a finite number of autographs people can get through. If a dealer who may not even give a damn about the people and things that are getting signed get 30 autographs that means potentially 29 fans who would absolutely love the chance to get one auto aren't going to get anything. I'm sure it's something the actors don't love either.

Not that I'm saying dealers and that should be not allowed or anything. Just I can understand peoples frustration, and why autos should be limited to 5 across the board.

Exactly. Hit the nail on the head Blairy550. It's the amount of items and the fact the couldn't give a rats spam about who's behind them in the queue as long as their several million items are all signed.

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Yup once again I saw greedy resellers ruin peoples days by slowing down lines with their countless items. Pig sick of it. Fans turned away because by the time they are done with 100 items the actual fans dont even get one!

I have been told many times by many actors/musicians lare and small etc... they detest, hate, ruin or refuse dealers/sellers of any sort. If you are not a fan basically- go away, if you are out to make cash from them- go away.

The hate by many bigger stars towards reselling signatures is staggering for good reason. 

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24 minutes ago, RomeroSavini said:

 if you are out to make cash from them- go away.

The hate by many bigger stars towards reselling signatures is staggering for good reason. 

It's something of a black market, and a catch 22. Fans want the auto of a new big time actor and are prepared to pay, someone will take advantage and sell to them. Actor then sees someone is profiting then refuses to sign, so those already signed are a rarity and shoot up in value. Dealers then try harder, its become worth their while. At least at an event the actors are compensated for their time.

Limit them to 5 items they just bring 4 friends. Line is even slower.

James Earl Jones is apparently happy to sign a few for free, the more he signs the less they are worth. But unless you are lucky enough to meet him you're back to relying on a dealer again.

If Chris was fed up with dealers, are we sure they weren't for Showmasters Sales - the preorders. He's bound to have been a popular sale, and the £5 on top regular price is hardly anything when a guest is that much to start with. And they will already have paid.

Edited by TerraHawk
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Highs

  • Only had one photo op this year and it was with Nathalie Emmanuel on the Friday. Have to say it was very well organised, got through straight away with my diamond pass and everything was running on time.  Nathalie was a delight to meet and said "hello again" as I'd only met her about 10 minutes prior in her autograph queue.
  • My main worry was Gold pass holders getting let in late and losing the five minute advantage we get, but it turns I didn't need to worry. We were inside the venue at about 8.50 so this was even better.
  • Every single guest I met was very pleasant. Have to give a special mention to Zachary Levi, who I only decided to meet very last minute, but he was great and having a little chat with everyone whilst still keeping his queue moving fairly fast.
  • Managed to get a table photo with Isaac Hempstead Wright and Paul Kaye, which was a little added bonus whilst getting their autographs.

Lows

  • Some of the guest locations for signing seemed a little strange to me. Guests who wouldn't require such long queuing areas were placed against the back wall and then some guests who were incredibly popular were placed on the back to back signing areas and then their queues blocked the walkways.  I understand it's difficult to tell who is going to be popular and who isn't, just seemed a bit strange how the guests had been placed.
  • Sam Neill's autograph queue was causing a lot of congestion. The crew manning his queue seemed to let it spill way past the designated zone and it very badly blocked the area. One woman was particularly rude to me as I tried to squeeze through but there was no way round with having to cut through the line.
  • I understand not buying a diamond pass means you may miss an autograph but it was quite disappointing to see guests not signing for a lot of time they could have been. The first hour the convention was open i expected the likes of Peter Capaldi to be there and signing but he wasn't. I understand this could be due to transport issues but at other points during the day, when guests weren't on lunch, at photos or in talks, they still weren't at their tables.
  • Lack of signage was quite an issue, especially on the Sunday. When I came in to the convention I had absolutely no idea where Chris Eccleston's signing area was. It was quite a relief I didn't need a VQT and was only looking for him for a friend as I never would have found it without being told. 
  • I have to say the crew managing Peter Capaldi's queue were doing a good job in a tricky situation, it's just some things really didn't help the situation. For example, someone had wrote on the sign saying what diamond passes were being called in permanent marker, so the woman manning the end of the queue was constantly having to repeat herself to everyone who asked. As well as this, the red shirt in charge of the line on Sunday said he didn't know where they had got up to with diamonds so started from 0 and called it in batches of 10, which took for ever as the majority of people with low pass number had already met Peter on Saturday. Could have done with some better communication with the crew who had worked on the line on Saturday.
  • The girl in charge of Iwan Rheon's queue was being very strict with only letting diamonds in, despite no diamonds being around to be let in the queue and Iwan still being there to sign for about an hour. Eventually a red shirt did come over and got VQTs through and in to the line. Same again with just needing some better communication amongst the crew manning the lines.
  • In the first few minutes of the doors being open on Saturday, the girl sat at Rory McCann's payment table got very aggressive with people asking for VQTs. She started shouting at people saying it was her first time doing an event and wasn't sure whether she was allowed to give the VQTs out. Not sure why she had been left on her own if she wasn't sure on what she was doing, as the uncomfortable situation could have been avoided.

Overall, I did have a very enjoyable weekend. Just a few things need to be taken in to consideration for next year.

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2 minutes ago, walker-within said:

 

  • In the first few minutes of the doors being open on Saturday, the girl sat at Rory McCann's payment table got very aggressive with people asking for VQTs. She started shouting at people saying it was her first time doing an event and wasn't sure whether she was allowed to give the VQTs out. Not sure why she had been left on her own if she wasn't sure on what she was doing, as the uncomfortable situation could have been avoided.

 

This I agree with. Either brief the staff better or don't put novices on the autograph desks. I had an awkward encounter with one guest due to the person on the desk not knowing how the autograph vouchers worked. Due to this, I felt that I couldn't speak to the guest properly and that I had to just walk off after getting my item signed.

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1 hour ago, autographfan said:

 

 

So would you rather have a world where we're paying more money to meet people (because the dealers haven't paid a shedload to meet them and paid for a big chunk of their appearance fee)? Would you rather not have a lot of the smaller guests there because they can't make a profit now the dealers have gone?

 

To some extent I understand the argument in "free" environments, such as stage doors, but complaining that someone has paid for multiple autographs and has got those autographs is utterly bizarre. 

I do understand the one positive point of having dealers there. It just doesn't make me hate them less when I'm behind one of them ;) . And admittedly for the busier guests, it just saddens me that a dealer walks away with 10 signed items he'll be selling, while a real fan missed out on meeting the guest. For example, I'm quite sure quite a couple of dealers got Meat Loaf items signed while people - even when they were early enough to get a low VQ ticket - missed out.

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9 minutes ago, dogsoldierspoon said:

I do understand the one positive point of having dealers there. It just doesn't make me hate them less when I'm behind one of them ;) . And admittedly for the busier guests, it just saddens me that a dealer walks away with 10 signed items he'll be selling, while a real fan missed out on meeting the guest. For example, I'm quite sure quite a couple of dealers got Meat Loaf items signed while people - even when they were early enough to get a low VQ ticket - missed out.

But if they're willing to pay for a diamond pass, why shouldn't they get priority over a fan with a VQ ticket?

And to play devil's advocate, if the dealer hadn't turned up with 10 signed items to sell, then 10 real fans who couldn't make it to the event will have missed out on getting their favourite actor's autograph...

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7 minutes ago, autographfan said:

But if they're willing to pay for a diamond pass, why shouldn't they get priority over a fan with a VQ ticket?

And to play devil's advocate, if the dealer hadn't turned up with 10 signed items to sell, then 10 real fans who couldn't make it to the event will have missed out on getting their favourite actor's autograph...

And of course in this case that still wouldn't have meant VQ 1-10 would have got their chance either, the guest would have just signed 10 less things.

Edited by TerraHawk
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Highs

Chris Eccleston getting a kick out of my Gallifrey University t shirt in the AM photoshoot, I still love that moment!

Steven Moffett saying that Gallifrey Uni was probably a bit s***.

Matt Smith's friendliness, even with him only coming to sign at around 5.40. He was really nice and wanted to chat!

On that note, I seen a wee lad (must've been about 10 years old) in front of us when getting his auto at the end of Sunday and Matt must've been his dream guest, the wee lad was so proud to have met him it looked like he was near in tears! And Matt was so dead on about it he gave him a hug. It's always great to see those moments, and a great swell of pride that we have the chance to do this, to meet guests like this, who we are the biggest fans of, and it pays off. I don't think that chap is ever going to forget that, and I don't think I will!

Also was glad to have gotten Moffett and David Bradley as 6pm came and went yesterday (Sunday). Full credit to them,  as well as Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi, for staying on past the end. (And sympathies to Arthur Darvill, by the time 10 to 6 came, he looked exhausted, drained and most likely couldn't wait to get finished!)

 

Lows

The queue for David Tennant's TARDIS shoot was a bit of a mess (or at least it came across as one), and bless the blue shirt who was trying to deal with it, along with the girl in the green tee and shorts (don't ask how I remember) I think it could've been handled better by attendees. I'm not sure what had happened as it seemed to have started before I got there, but it led to Diamonds having to be drip fed into the queue at a second queue feeding back past the mens beside the green screen area.

Missing out on Capaldi's autograph as he was always on the diamonds (and the fact we had gotten VQs on both days of over 300 didn't help matters either. :() (And yeah, it's not guaranteed to get his auto without that DP but that doesn't mean I can't be disappointed! lol)

Shoots overrunning and thus having a knock on effect didn't help a lot as it led to the guests not getting their diamonds done till after 6pm but it was handled very well from my perspective in the Matt Smith queue, filtering in the diamonds in purchase order and rooting out who and who wasn't DP holders would've helped out the queue situation.

But you know what? I've had a brill time! I've enjoyed the event, I've enjoyed meeting the guest's and and I enjoyed getting to meet some of the people from on here! (Was great to finally meet Raylenth, Chris1970, R4, broo, Stassy, a bear sighting or 2, smithy, EllaBlair, NerdWho, BatFlash, RomeroSavini, law-dono [and he was before we even left Belfast! lol] and even if we didn't get a hello from VikingGrrrl, it really was great to get to meet you all, and I really mean that! And I'm sure I've probably forgotten 1 or 2 people there, but it's all a bit of a blur at the mo, so I'm sorry if I've left you out) (There was also a guy in the Eccleston auto queue and an American in Eccleston's AM photoshoot who said they recognise me from on here but don't comment very often, so if you're reading this: "Hello again!" ^_^)

Edited by wjbleming
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No real lows - I thought it was a great event. Highs all round.

We got around to all the guests we wanted to and had a great day on Friday. In some ways wish I had attended on Sat and Sun as well but I was worried about the volume of people and the heat.

I would say, though of course nothing will change, that the venue has extortionate prices for food and drink....! I am all for everybody making some money but £2.50 for a can of drink....

Also, is it me or is the number of stalls diminishing? I am sure the gap between them is getting wider? Also, could probably do with a bit more variety on the stalls? Where was Arrow DVDs this year? I thought that was cool last year! Shame...! 

All good though, well done SM!

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Highs

The fantastic guests I met, they were all lovely. I won't go into too much detail here as I already have in other threads but will just reiterate that SM got some great guests for the event that genuinely seemed to enjoy meeting their fans. The MVP's being Tom Welling, Rose McIver and Rahul Kohli who as far as I could tell took time to speak to everyone that went to get their autographs.

The amazing crew who did so well under what must have been a lot of pressure at times! All of the crew members I spoke to were great, special shout outs to the lady running Rose McIver's autograph queue who was friendly and informative. The guy running photo area C was brilliant, explained to everyone clearly what was happening and had a sense of humour, and the lady on photo area E who kindly helped me out when I had a clash. Sorry I didn't catch anyone's names but thank you to you all!

The layout was great, photo shoot areas were spaced out well and there was plenty of room to move around on the ground floor to browse the stalls.

The queue for entry in the morning was run very well, didn't take long to get into the building at all which I was concerned about as I couldn't get there until after 9. Diamond pass collection was also quick and easy.

Lows

As many have mentioned here already, the photo areas could really do with some microphones for the crew and/or large whiteboards to write the current batch numbers that have been called. I felt terrible for the crew that were shouting to get the information across but I still couldn't hear them as there were so many people in front of me which made the areas very noisy.

The heat! Not something SM have control over I know but the air conditioning was lacking in some areas and as someone who doesn't deal well with the heat I was a little uncomfortable at times. Was lucky I bought my hand held fan with me!

A few of the 'smaller' photo shoots let everyone queue at once rather than calling batch numbers which I was a little peeved about as I had batch 1 or 2 but ended up right near the back of the queue and there was no way all those people in front of me had the same or a lower batch than I did. Please call all photo shoots in batch order even for guests with a 20-30 minute slot, it really helps especially if people have a potential clash.

My day overall was brilliant though and I want to thank SM again for an amazing show. I will defintely be back next year! 

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Highs Meeting my Doctor Tom Baker so nice and Mark Henry going above and beyond with my son I could never thank him enough also having a great chat with Lance Guest all the guests I met where great  99% of showmasters where fantastic 

lows sm needs to work on auto queue bigger signs for info at queue and of course the yearly con bashing in forums because they didn’t get experience they wanted 

Sm work on making LFCC better every year Queues before opening where fantastic this year as someone who used 3 different ones depending which member of the family was going I am already looking forward to next year where I know SM will bring more improvements 

Thanks to all at SM

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There was at least one low for me, which has never happened before to me. I had been in the eccleston Queue waiting for signing, realized that I had Capaldi talk, so legged it to the main stage room. Bumped into the Capaldi talk queue. To which an American lady turned round and yelled for me to get to the back of the Queue which was already tailing into the autograph hall. To which I replied along the lines of no need to be like that, that was a bit rude as I walked through the queue and followed the queue along (Buy this point it had snaked almost to the signing tables near where the top loaders and exclusive prints were) Not long after that the queue got sorted. 

Apart from that everything else I enjoyed. 

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HIGHS:-    Lance Henriksen-- Chatted to everyone and stayed late to make sure everyone in queue got autograph.. My vote for guest of the convention.

                 Catherine Mary Stewart-- Amazing and friendly Lady.. At photoshoot opened my arms and said"Give us a hug Reggie(character name from Night of the Comet)" she laughed and gave me a great big hug and my fave pic from whole convention

                Sabrina Gennarino- lovely and chatty, Had met Pollyanna Macintosh at Gatwick Airport on the Friday and showed her pic of me and her and they obv friends as chatted lots about that.. Brill

               John Schneider--pics with all and a total southern gentleman although now my wife and her friends are crushing major on him lol

              Every other guest apart from one-- all were great. Specially Caroline Munro, Adrienne Barbeau, Tim McInnerny and Jewel Staite

            Crew member on Sunday at Point C(was his birthday) he was excellent and kept all going great

 

LOWS:-

            James Caan--- Didn't even acknowledge I was there .. signed photo and pushed to front then looked for next one.. RUDE!!!!! probably sell it on ebay now

            Staff at point D on Sunday ….Guy supposedly shouting out who was to queue... couldn't hear him and when went forward was an idiot!!! if wasn't deperate to get photoshoots would have punched him for his attitude!!

THE HEAT!!!! had to change t-shirt 3 times so didn't stink out guest at photos!!

 

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Highs - 

Getting to speak briefly to Meatloaf, I always go into photo sessions with low expectations - just acknowledging existence is usually enough for me. He went above and beyond, clearly in pain but totally seemed to want to make the whole experience something to remember for everyone.

The 'Allo 'Allo cast, I wasn't expecting them to be in costume all day, especially in that heat! True stars, another fantastically fun photo session and they always seemed to be smiling when we passed by their tables.

A hug from David Duchovny. I don't need to say anything more I think!

 

Lows - 

A personal low - the David Tennant announcement coming when I was physically and financially broken. Great guest and well done for getting him, but totally the wrong timing for me. Heart breaking (but as we were saying after the DD photo maybe now y'all have gotten him to come out and play once we may get him back in the future *crosses fingers*)

I'm going to echo the Miranda Richardson comments, totally felt like a waste of my birthday money buying that photo session (even going by my admittedly very low expectations!), I hate my photo, HATE it. It felt so awkward I couldn't get close so it looks more like an over the table photo. (plus side, had some lovely chats to people waiting for that session so there was a positive at least!)

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Pretty quiet year for me, 6 photos and 6 autos, all done with very little stress. Cancellations hit hard this year for me. But still had a blast. 

Highs

Peter Weller, even thou his queue was slow on Saturday, he took his time with each person and even fed out some bits of trivia, which was pretty cool.

Guys running photo D on Saturday, such a innovative way of getting batches situated in gaggles of blocks instead of mass crowding

Lows

Lack of free talks on the Sunday. By 1pm I had everything done and lapped the building a few times. Lack of talks really put me out of being able to do anything,

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3 hours ago, RomeroSavini said:

Yup once again I saw greedy resellers ruin peoples days by slowing down lines with their countless items. Pig sick of it. Fans turned away because by the time they are done with 100 items the actual fans dont even get one!

I have been told many times by many actors/musicians lare and small etc... they detest, hate, ruin or refuse dealers/sellers of any sort. If you are not a fan basically- go away, if you are out to make cash from them- go away.

The hate by many bigger stars towards reselling signatures is staggering for good reason. 

I hear you my friend, each and every con my hatred for dealers gets worse and worse. This year though I got “dealered” too right by the payment desk after waiting 40 plus minutes in line with a VQ in the high 30’s. I then got a less than enthusiastic guest meeting straight afterward...

anyway - calm, think happy thoughts - I’ve already had a warning about my language toward dealers on the forum!

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1 hour ago, Ricksta said:

I would say, though of course nothing will change, that the venue has extortionate prices for food and drink....! I am all for everybody making some money but £2.50 for a can of drink....

 

There's a Tesco Express across the road.  You're allowed to leave and return.  Just make sure your hand gets stamped.

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Highs: meeting sam neill, childhood dream come true. My photo isn’t the serious hug one like everyone else’s but instead we look like people walking down the aisle holding hands (had surgery on my right hand so couldn’t shake his hand when he offered it so he held my left and said to go with it lol) 

lows: sam neill was my goal and reason for attending so had slot of spare time after photo/auto. I got John Schneider (amazingly friendly) and David Duchovny for my Mum but other then that no one else as queues to long etc. Meant I had to kill just under 6 hours around stalls etc before sams talk and tbh I found most of them boring. Funko pops and other similar items can get anywhere on high street. Maybe do more unique stalls? 

Also lack of seating areas, water fountains etc 

Finally the gold pass guy stood behind me in the morning refusing to leave the DP queue and moaning for 30+ mins to crew that sam was late. Yes you had a shoot to get too, yes SM should have foreseen the bike event but moaning non stop at crew stresses them and annoys those around you. Should be happy you were 11th to get him as you technically were done a solid by being allowed in the queue at all 

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