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LFCC 2018: Highs and Lows


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Positives

  • Meeting Matt Smith, the Doctor I grew up with. A total legend, so down to earth, complimentary about my cosplay and drawings, and all-round an engaging man to his fans - I couldn't have asked for more from him, one of my favourite guests to date.
  • Meeting Peter Capaldi after 4 years of receiving a letter from him. His reaction was amusing when I showed him the letter, remembered my name throughout the day after showing said letter, and was complimentary of the poster I made for him to keep and the drawing I got signed. Like Matt, one of those unforgettable meetings.
  • Pearl Mackie: an absolute joy. So warm and bubbly, loved the drawing I got her to sign and was incredibly appreciative of the other poster I gave her to keep. Incredible guest indeed.
  • Getting a photo with David Tennant - despite the short few seconds I had to meet him, he was incredibly friendly, complimented my cosplay (whilst noting the fact I was boiling), for a big guest, he made time for everyone.
  • Talking to Ingrid Oliver about drawing - we spent a little while just discussing how I drew, how I've forgotten how to mimic the artstyle I used in her drawing and just being engaged - it never felt like a one-sided conversation.
  • Meeting Paul McGann for a photo - it was a small interaction, but he jokingly noted that I must've been warm, to which I could respond "I'm pretty toasty at the moment!" Nothing major, but it's moments like these that brighten up the day.

Mixed Feelings

  • Like some others have previously noted, Arthur Darvill was relatively quiet when meeting him. It was 3:20pm so I could understand he was tired and can relate, and at the end of the day, he signed my drawing with no problems.
  • The queue for getting Peter's line was a bit messy, and it took some time before the gravity of the situation was grounded. It was late in the day and tiring and some people around me were starting to get rowdy, but I was okay with it once Peter had guaranteed he'd stay for all, and was much happier once they started calling the line out in batches.

Overall Feelings

  • Given that this is my second LFCC, I was genuinely pleased with how the day went. A few clashes happened with my photo schedule, and I didn't quite get to meet and get the autographs in the order I wanted to, but this has been the best event I've personally attended (and of course, there's no bias because I'm a Whovian :whistling:).
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1 hour ago, Taggle said:

Lows: Unlike the Pearl Mackie queue, in which the blue shirts let in a couple of people right in front of me into the short queue, but wouldn't let me in, despite my VQ ticket being within the range ( which if I understand the new policy regarding 'extra help bands' and VQ'ing, meant I should have been allowed up to the front ?) Excuse was, "Pearl's manager say's no more".

So, from this, I deduce the new VQ rules relating to 'extra help bands' wasn't really being put into practice. In fact, there was a palpable feeling that the extra help bands have now become pretty much useless, unless you are also a Diamond Pass holder.

The first one was probably just bad luck. Once a guest or their manager closes a queue that is it. It is incredibly rare that they let even one more person squeeze in extra help band or not. Your second point is correct. Whether or not Showmasters have indeed changed to this new policy is impossible to deduce from this weekend as people’s experiences seem to vary wildly. The difference seems to be whether or not it was a “big” guest i.e. a guest with a separate sales desk. Any that had one we were moved up to at least there. Any of the others it was just a case of being allowed to join the queue like anybody else and no priority in the queue. As you say it begins to defeat the purpose of the extra help as some of these queues were longer than those of the “bigger” guests.

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1 hour ago, gk1964 said:

For sure - it is not a criticism of Arthur - as you say they may be mitigating circumstances, just a reflection of the experience.

I didn't find that at all with Arthur - he was cheery in a 9.30am photoshoot, joking and apologising when he quickly paused to drink coffee. Considering his play had had its final night the evening before, I was impressed how with it he was!

And then for the auto at 2.45 he was really chatty, eye contact and instigated conversation himself (based on the thing he was signing). He's easily now one of my best encounters ever.

That said, thanks to some severe miscommunication between the blueshirts manning his auto queue, a lot of people ended up being very upset as somehow Arthur popping away for a quick 10 mins was converted into everyone in the queue being told he was done for the day (at 2.30pm). Some people walked off and I don't know if they ever checked later. Mistakes happen and crew apologised but try and triple check these things before closing a queue like that, as it causes unnecessary upset and makes the guest look bad without cause!

Finally, completely unrelated but my only big gripe with the whole weekend was the paid izombie talk - I was in the queue 15 mins before start time, and queue was unmoving/waiting for a good 10 mins before things started filtering. By the time I got in it had already started. If it's a paid talk I feel it's your duty to get people seated in time for start. You know how many tickets you sold, open the hall for seating early enough to process that. 

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Biggest high was definitely in the free game of thrones talk on the Sunday when they recreated the javelin/spear throw with a cosplayers trident and every funny moment from Staz Nair (sorry if spelt his name wrong) . Was probably the best moment of the con for me...apart from meeting David Tennant , Tom Welling and John Schneider

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On 30/07/2018 at 4:10 PM, Sassy1988 said:

Highs -

Being able to finally get to meet Matt Smith without needing to fork out tons of money to fly to America. He is my favourite Doctor in Doctor Who and has been for many years now. He was amazing too, very fan friendly and I even managed to get a hug from him which was definitely one of my biggest highlights of the day. I also love the Tardis photo I managed to get with him too and considering he is my favourite Doctor and to have a great photo with the Tardis in the background makes me even more happier as it to me (as he my favourite in Doctor Who) has more meaning in photos like this. Even at his Autograph table when we where getting rushed through as time was getting on and the Crew needed to hurry things up, he was still smiling and saying hi to fans. He managed to meet my expectations and surpass them, I freaking love this guy! :wub:

James Caan was amazing. When I arrived at his autograph table I was quite surprised to see it open queue so I went and got my autographs and he seemed pleasant enough, I even managed to shake his hand afterwards. At the photoshoot he was very nice too sticking his hand out to shake hands with people and thus I managed to get a very nice photo thanks to this, one in which I am really happy about and one of the members of staff who gave me my photo at the shoot told me that she liked the photo too 'Nice Shot' I think I remember her saying which gave me the impression she like the photo too, which really pleased me, more so when I often suffer with a lot of Anxiety and can easily become very sensitive over little trivial things. He was one of the biggest reasons I went to the event and thankfully he didn't disappoint. Also I want to mention for a guy at his age to fly from American for an event like this in hot humid weather and still try and please fans is something I want to praise him for, I have met a few younger guests who have unfortunately been much more colder to fans, so thumbs up to James superb guy! 

Daniel Shorago was great to meet too. Whilst I got my autograph with him he was also in the process of getting into full costume ready for his in-costume shoot, he was really fun and fan friendly often joking around, loved it! At his photoshoot I mustered up enough confidence to ask for a pose for the camera and one in which I'm really happy about too. I really wish Voice Actors where not so underrated at these events :( 

Chris Eccleston was a really top guy too. I for many many years now have been told that Chris doesn't like his fans and other bad things which I wont go into but when I got my photo with him he was great! smiley and accept different poses for the camera and handshakes too, managed to get a nice photo from him. I have learnt my lesson from listening to other people, if folk say negative things about actors just meet them anyway and make up your own mind on what they are like, you may be surprised at how friendly and different they can be at times..

The Crew where on point. Every time I asked a question they knew the answer and where to go, I have unfortunately been to other events in the past where the Crew where badly advised and thus I ended up missing out on stuff through it. The crew at the queues where great too always trying their best to organise everything with Batch numbers and such. Great stuff!

 

LOWS:

 

David Duchovny When I met him during the photoshoot, I'll admit I was getting rushed in as I had come in late for the shoot but I don't remember him once saying a single word to me, he did have his hand on my back during the photo which kind of made up for the lack of communication, but I cant help but feel like the shoot could of gone better and it may of done if I wasn't late for the actual shoot haha. At his autograph session he did seem rather tired and the person I was with mentioned after I had got my autograph that he did seem tired, he wasn't really looking at people neither. I did however manage to get a 'fist pump' with him, which helped me mood over him a bit. I didn't have high expectations when meeting him so I'm not too disappointing despite how things turned out, maybe he is just a genuine shy guy or just very reserved I have never really read up on feedback regarding him yet.

Steven Seagal Was very reserved too and like David didn't really say anything, so perhaps another really reserved individual. I'm glad that from past events I do make an extra effort to lower expectations before these events now as it really does pay off when one guest unfortunately doesn't live up to expectations. I did manage to shake Steven's hand at the autograph table though.

Missing out on David Tennant, I tried to buy a DP when he got announced but it forever said 'Unavailable' so ended up sadly missing out on that, although I finally got the meet the best Doctor the very next day anyway which more than made up for it. I also managed to see Tennant signing autographs too whilst I was getting my autograph from Seagulls (I love calling him that haha) so its not like I never got to see Tennant xD I'll be very surprised if SM don't get Tennant back very soon considering how Eventbrite reacted to the outburst of his announcement lol

I now have around 6 lovely blisters on my feet from walking around in uncomfortable shoes lol (and yes I have counted them, I'm currently playing with them as I type )

 

Overall great event! I have enjoyed my weekend, got to meet guests I never thought I would and okay some seemed more reserved than others but I'm quite shy too so I can relate I guess lol. I love the photos and photo poses I got with the guests too. Thanks SM for an incredible and a fantastic weekend! :D

 

 

James Caan was amazing! He done well, was worried for the poor guy. I forget he's 78 and just recovered from a back op.  

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Starting with the lows (booo) 

could only manage 3 guests this year.. guest autos, photos and diamond prices are geting ridicoulous

Mods, camera crew please don't rush people when there about to have there photo taken, especially when they have payed alot of money. No matter what they say I will always take my time even when the crew are screaming at me. But I've seen this happen to many times with the con newbies.. not good

The highs 

Jason Mamoa what a top bloke

Sam Neil .. a gent, loved how he was so engaging with the kiddies 

James Caan you are amazing. I know with him turning up late it did mess up with my schedule... But you forget the man is 78! And just recovered from a back op, not to mention the con felt like a sauna. Couple occasions I caught him feeling uncortamble in his chair (you could see the poor guy was in pain) I did offer a back rub :) which made him laugh. 

 

 

 

 

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35 minutes ago, Ravogd said:

The first one was probably just bad luck. Once a guest or their manager closes a queue that is it. It is incredibly rare that they let even one more person squeeze in extra help band or not. Your second point is correct. Whether or not Showmasters have indeed changed to this new policy is impossible to deduce from this weekend as people’s experiences seem to vary wildly. The difference seems to be whether or not it was a “big” guest i.e. a guest with a separate sales desk. Any that had one we were moved up to at least there. Any of the others it was just a case of being allowed to join the queue like anybody else and no priority in the queue. As you say it begins to defeat the purpose of the extra help as some of these queues were longer than those of the “bigger” guests.

I was told by a red shirt that the new policy being put in place for those with extra help bands (ie now having to get a VQ ticket) was due to the feeling (or would that be complaints?) that there had been too much 'positive discrimination' in previous years which had led to queues being backed up, jammed etc. Funnily enough, there seems to be some negative expressions about the queuing this year which now can't be blamed on a few wheelchair users being bumped to the front etc. So, to be honest, based on there still being complaints, I don't think past queuing issues were caused by the occasional disabled person going to the front...we are still a minority after all. (in previous conventions, providing we legitimately had an extra help band, we didn't need to get a VQ ticket)

This new policy also now seems to be more rigidly enforced in paid talks too. Wheelchair users usually have to position themselves at the end of a row in the aisle and previous years there seemed to be no problem for us rolling up to the front in any empty aisle space. Now they are enforcing 'Diamond Pass only up front' policies it seems, so even if the aisle is empty up front (ie, no Diamond pass wheelchair users have occupied the disabled slot there) they won't allow non DP attendees to roll up there. Strange since there never was a visible problem with this before.

 

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11 minutes ago, AmbroseGirl said:

Starting with the lows (booo) 

could only manage 3 guests this year.. guest autos, photos and diamond prices are geting ridicoulous

 

 

 

 

 

Take a look at the five tiers of ticketing available for October's Star Trek convention at the NEC, that's even worse..

Does anyone know or have an idea of what the ratio of DP tickets to standard tickets available was though?

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6 hours ago, AmbroseGirl said:

James Caan was amazing! He done well, was worried for the poor guy. I forget he's 78 and just recovered from a back op.  

 

Oh really? I had no idea he had just recovered from a back op. Every time I saw him he did appear to be enjoying himself which was great to see, so if he was in any pain he was certainly good at hiding it when I got to see him.

But yea he was amazing, both him and Matt Smith made my day when I met them on Sunday, was really great to be able to meet them!

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6 hours ago, Taggle said:

I was told by a red shirt that the new policy being put in place for those with extra help bands (ie now having to get a VQ ticket) was due to the feeling (or would that be complaints?) that there had been too much 'positive discrimination' in previous years which had led to queues being backed up, jammed etc. Funnily enough, there seems to be some negative expressions about the queuing this year which now can't be blamed on a few wheelchair users being bumped to the front etc. So, to be honest, based on there still being complaints, I don't think past queuing issues were caused by the occasional disabled person going to the front...we are still a minority after all. (in previous conventions, providing we legitimately had an extra help band, we didn't need to get a VQ ticket)

This new policy also now seems to be more rigidly enforced in paid talks too. Wheelchair users usually have to position themselves at the end of a row in the aisle and previous years there seemed to be no problem for us rolling up to the front in any empty aisle space. Now they are enforcing 'Diamond Pass only up front' policies it seems, so even if the aisle is empty up front (ie, no Diamond pass wheelchair users have occupied the disabled slot there) they won't allow non DP attendees to roll up there. Strange since there never was a visible problem with this before.

 

Yep, it's been said on this forum that the policy was changed due to misuse of the extra help bands (and perhaps some unscrupulous carers?). But it basically meant unless the guest wasn't busy it was extremely difficult (or impossible) to get their autograph.

Thankfully I had a diamond pass for David Duchovny (it was *fun* trying to navigate his queue in my wheelchair!), but I got pretty stressed out trying to get Jewel Staite. Especially when the first blue shirt wrongly told me I didn't need a VQ ticket - and then basically ignored me later on! I was very relieved when another blue shirt managed to slot me in, but she wasn't really supposed to. Since I'm already sitting down I don't mind having to queue - but having to fight the crowds to attempt to get a VQ ticket is basically impossible for me. Plus my partner (who was my carer) and I are both autistic, so neither of us are fond of disagreeing with anyone, or being stuck in a busy area not knowing what's happening :(

The lift situation oddly seemed to be worse than last year. It would be extremely helpful if they could allow us to use the two lifts in Olympia West - to save trying to get from one side of the hall to the other. I'm sure one of the Olympia West lifts (the one to the main stage/autograph area) was accessible last year, and there was also another lift at the Gold Pass entrance. I was puzzled why they didn't use those this year. Also allowing those with extra help passes to exit through other doors (e.g. the front entrance or Gold Pass entrance) would have been helpful - I was knackered trying to get back to Olympia West! 

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4 minutes ago, phoebemonkey said:

Yep, it's been said on this forum that the policy was changed due to misuse of the extra help bands (and perhaps some unscrupulous carers?). But it basically meant unless the guest wasn't busy it was extremely difficult (or impossible) to get their autograph.

Thankfully I had a diamond pass for David Duchovny (it was *fun* trying to navigate his queue in my wheelchair!), but I got pretty stressed out trying to get Jewel Staite. Especially when the first blue shirt wrongly told me I didn't need a VQ ticket - and then basically ignored me later on! I was very relieved when another blue shirt managed to slot me in, but she wasn't really supposed to. Since I'm already sitting down I don't mind having to queue - but having to fight the crowds to attempt to get a VQ ticket is basically impossible for me. Plus my partner (who was my carer) and I are both autistic, so neither of us are fond of disagreeing with anyone, or being stuck in a busy area not knowing what's happening :(

The lift situation oddly seemed to be worse than last year. It would be extremely helpful if they could allow us to use the two lifts in Olympia West - to save trying to get from one side of the hall to the other. I'm sure one of the Olympia West lifts (the one to the main stage/autograph area) was accessible last year, and there was also another lift at the Gold Pass entrance. I was puzzled why they didn't use those this year. Also allowing those with extra help passes to exit through other doors (e.g. the front entrance or Gold Pass entrance) would have been helpful - I was knackered trying to get back to Olympia West! 

Yes, there is that strange thing where people assume that because you are sitting in a chair, it's all 'easy'. Depends on the disability though. And big power chairs in tight, packed queues is always a bit of a worry, as they can really hurt if you bump the back of someones legs with the footplate or maneuver a little bit too much with the joystick. And accidentally rolling over someones foot in a densely packed area with 70kg or more of powerchair hurts a lot more than a manual wheelchair !

But yes, I was lucky to get Sam Neill on the Sunday morning because despite his queue being closed, those left in it were not that many so the blue shirt waved me in. The Saturday VQ ticket I got numbered 751 was just a joke. Likewise, I got waved in on Jewel Staites queue on the Friday afternoon whereas earlier it had been no go. Funnily enough though, had I needed to, it would have been much easier to get her on the Sunday as she had been moved round to the Central Kitchen area and no longer had a separate pay desk.

I'll still maintain though that any perceived misuse of the bands in previous years was not adversely affecting the queues in the way that dealers do seem to be doing now (based on numerous comments about that!), so we have been penalised for very little improvement in the system it seems. And no longer allowing us to go up front in empty aisle spaces in paid talks seems a little too authoritarian. (I couldn't get any photos from the Capaldi talk because of that because hey, I can't raise my arms, so couldn't lift my camera up above knee height to clear all those people in front of me, now we are relegated to further back irrespective..damn!)

The two larger lifts at Olympia West, although they go to the ground floor, if I recall correctly, that part of the ground floor is not directly connected to the main halls, so you need to go out onto the street ?But yes, given there were only two usable lifts, both of them being small, that makes for real problems at times..

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11 minutes ago, Taggle said:

Yes, there is that strange thing where people assume that because you are sitting in a chair, it's all 'easy'. Depends on the disability though. And big power chairs in tight, packed queues is always a bit of a worry, as they can really hurt if you bump the back of someones legs with the footplate or maneuver a little bit too much with the joystick. And accidentally rolling over someones foot in a densely packed area with 70kg or more of powerchair hurts a lot more than a manual wheelchair !

But yes, I was lucky to get Sam Neill on the Sunday morning because despite his queue being closed, those left in it were not that many so the blue shirt waved me in. The Saturday VQ ticket I got numbered 751 was just a joke. Likewise, I got waved in on Jewel Staites queue on the Friday afternoon whereas earlier it had been no go. Funnily enough though, had I needed to, it would have been much easier to get her on the Sunday as she had been moved round to the Central Kitchen area and no longer had a separate pay desk.

I'll still maintain though that any perceived misuse of the bands in previous years was not adversely affecting the queues in the way that dealers do seem to be doing now (based on numerous comments about that!), so we have been penalised for very little improvement in the system it seems. And no longer allowing us to go up front in empty aisle spaces in paid talks seems a little too authoritarian. (I couldn't get any photos from the Capaldi talk because of that because hey, I can't raise my arms, so couldn't lift my camera up above knee height to clear all those people in front of me, now we are relegated to further back irrespective..damn!)

The two larger lifts at Olympia West, although they go to the ground floor, if I recall correctly, that part of the ground floor is not directly connected to the main halls, so you need to go out onto the street ?But yes, given there were only two usable lifts, both of them being small, that makes for real problems at times..

Indeed. 

I don’t think Jewel Staite had a separate pay desk on Saturday either - she was opposite the cafe bit when I saw her. There really wasn’t much room to queue so the blue shirts were having difficult organising people. Didn’t help that nobody knew what VQ she was up to! At one point I got offered number 400, which was pretty useless. 

Apparently there was “a lot of abuse” of the system, but I don’t think penalising those of us who actually need the extra help is useful. Sadly there will always be people who take advantage - but that’s not our fault! 

If I remember rightly, last year as well as the lift in the Gold Pass entrance area (or an area similar, the Olympia’s confusing!), the one at Gate H (near the Diamond Pass collection) was also in use at least some of the time. The two lifts we had this year seem to be the smallest in the building! 

Also - while I remember, did anyone notice if there were multiple left luggage areas open? The only one we found this year was down a steep flight of stairs - I was glad my partner could go down for me! 

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Highs:

Being able to achieve all my photos and having this opportunity to meet as many Doctor Who actors was fantastic. 

Lows: 

Went to get photo at Sam Neill AM, which was my plan (Batch 1) as PM was to be busy, on Sunday and after racing to get there by 12:10 was told he had left as queue died down. He was meant to be there until 12:20. Not cool, crew. Timings are important. Trust was broken then further when I managed to get David Duchovny PM and get my photo but I heard they were going to cut off the Photos and there was still 15mins left on the schedule!!! 

Scrambling through crowds of people to join the queue, Jason Momoa and Matt Smith!!! My apologies to anyone I may have bumped or grazed in my effort. When you arrive at an area and can not see or get to crew for information you are quickly reminded how bad, year after year, communication is at these events. Putting volunteers under pressure doesn’t seem right.

More of a comic con regret, Missed out on Tom Baker because I could not get there for Friday but I seem to still feel bad even though I managed all other Doctors on Sunday. It’s because a photo by SM will complete my collection along with a photo with Sylvester McCoy with me wearing the same t-shirt.

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Highlights: 

  • The overall event in itself is amazing. Truly one of the events of the year for me, my hotel for next year is already booked. So that says a lot ;) 
  • The queue to enter on  Saturday was well organised and very precise. It was orderly and we all went in in less than 5 minutes.
  • Overall the heat wasn't as bad as last year (my personal opinion) upstairs in the guest signing area, it was manageable and not too unpleasant. Mind you, I was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt so, I can't relate to the cosplayers.
  • Meeting the fabulous guests present at LFCC, I had not a single bad experience. 
  • The guest list from this years LFCC, most impressive, although I'm not a Whovian,  I was very impressed with the huge names they were able to get from Dr Who, 8 doctors no less! Also for me there were absolute dream guests in attendance. 
  • Only one cancellation for me, so I was very lucky!
  • the blue seating area in the middle of the great hall, great idea! An oasis to just calm down and have seat. 
  • All the crewmembers I've spoken to were lovely and very helpful. 
  • the location (signing area) of the guests was overall well done.

Some thoughts

  • The first photoshoot for David Duchovny went not so good, they started with Diamond passes as they should, but they just let every Diamond pass holder in the queue at once, no calling of their numbers, it was chaotic. Why bother giving the Diamond passes  numbers then? 
  • I do believe that some of the major names should've had a separate booth for signings. Peter Capaldi, Sam Neill...Although I realize this isn't always possible ofcource.
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1 hour ago, Kurdamoni said:

 

Some thoughts

  • The first photoshoot for David Duchovny went not so good, they started with Diamond passes as they should, but they just let every Diamond pass holder in the queue at once, no calling of their numbers, it was chaotic. Why bother giving the Diamond passes  numbers then? 
  •  

The number on the pass is mostly just for auto's which are called in number order.  For photo's everyone does generally just get called up at once for each type

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Highs

  • Christopher Eccleston - I'll be honest, I was a bit nervous to meet Eccleston as he hadn't done conventions before. He was also my first Diamond pass that I had ever bought so I knew I'd spent a lot of money to get the opportunity of meeting him. He was so friendly and seemed to be having a good time interacting with the fans. I hope that as a result of LFCC 2018 he will attend more conventions in the future.
  • Matt Smith - I never thought that I would be able to meet the likes of Matt Smith in the UK. He seems to do a lot of conventions in America so I thought I would have to travel to get the opportunity but Showmasters delivered! I purchased my second Diamond pass ever in order to meet him and it was well worth it. Such a genuinely nice guy to meet and full of energy.
  • David Tennant - It is because of David Tennant that I had both the best and the most stressful part of the convention. I was sat in a cafe in Central London when he was announced and I couldn't believe my eyes. As much as I love a lot of the Doctors, David Tennant is my Doctor. With a very low battery on my phone and the website crashing it was very stressful but I managed to get my third Diamond pass (before this year's LFCC I had never had a Diamond pass before and I ended up with three!). 
    Meeting David Tennant has to be the best moment I have ever had at a convention. They always say never meet your heroes but he was everything I hoped for and more. It's also worth saying that although getting the pass on the website had its problems, meeting David on the day wasn't stressful in the slightest thanks to the organisation and the crew that were with him. 
  • Steven Moffat - For such an important part of Doctor Who production, he was a thrill to meet and such a reasonable price. It was nice that someone who I expected to pay much more for an autograph from was more accessible.
  • Other convention goers - When I came to my first LFCC in 2014, I was very shy and didn't really speak to anyone. A mixture of getting older and becoming more used to the convention environment allowed me to speak to some amazing fans of Doctor Who, including the guy who has every living Doctor's signature tattooed on his arm from the Graham Norton show in 2013!
  • Olympia - The building and layout is perfect for the convention. The natural light is really appreciated and in the heat over the weekend, I thought it managed really well.

Lows

  • Diamond Pass Chain - I hadn't had a Diamond pass before this year so I didn't really know what to expect regarding the quality of the passes themselves. I loved the plastic card with the photographs of the stars on but the chain that came with them kept coming apart during the convention which I found quite worrying. I didn't want to lose something that I had spent so much money on! I ended up buying a lanyard from a stall to keep them secure around my neck. Something that I had thought of that Showmasters could improve on is making the Diamond pass cards debit/credit card sized. This would mean that they could be kept in a wallet or purse during the convention (and afterwards if people wanted to!) but they would also save on plastic. Given the amount of passes I saw around people's necks over the weekend, I bet a lot of plastic would be saved!
  • The Number of Diamond Passes - As I have said, this was the first year that I have bought Diamond passes and I was surprised at how many were sold per guest. I know that Showmasters has to make a profit to keep doing these conventions for us but I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to get the autographs I had been guaranteed on purchase. Although Matt Smith was great to meet, it did feel very rushed, especially as I had spent so much money on meeting him. Similarly, there was talk in the queue for Christopher Eccleston that he might not get through all his diamond passes and we may get a refund. Thankfully this didn't happen but the thought of it was both sad and stressful. 
  • Steven Moffat's Queue - I must stress that the crew managing Moffat's queue were really kind and helpful but I think he could have done with being put in a different place. I could tell by the reaction of his announcement that he was going to be popular so I think it would have been better if he was placed alongside Matt Smith against the back wall like Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford. This would have given the crew much more space to manage the queue.
  • The Number of Doctor Who Guests - I only really attend conventions for Doctor Who guests (with the odd Star Wars and Harry Potter guest thrown in). I worry that because there was so many Doctor Who guests this year that there might not be as many in the next few years. I know that getting 8 Doctors at one convention won't happen again for a long time (if ever!) but I hope that this year being such as amazing convention for Doctor Who fans will not mean that Doctor Who is given a back seat for a while.

Overall though, thank you to Showmasters for an amazing convention!

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10 hours ago, Taggle said:

And no longer allowing us to go up front in empty aisle spaces in paid talks seems a little too authoritarian. (I couldn't get any photos from the Capaldi talk because of that because hey, I can't raise my arms, so couldn't lift my camera up above knee height to clear all those people in front of me, now we are relegated to further back irrespective..damn!)

 

I guess the argument would be diamond passholders expect to be in the front section as its part of the perks with the pass. Usually at the weekend style hotel based events for talks wheelchair users are given spots at the front of their ticket section - so here if you didn't have a diamond pass I'd expect you to be given a spot at the front of the non diamond section. But it would be helpful if you had all the rules in advance

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1 hour ago, Raylenth said:

The number on the pass is mostly just for auto's which are called in number order.  For photo's everyone does generally just get called up at once for each type

Yeah and I'll be honest for the bigger shoots they shouldn't. It would be far more controlled if they called diamonds 1-50 etc. That is eventually what they did for the Tennant Tardis shoot.

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At the Peter Capaldi talk I was front row as a diamond pass holder and there was a wheelchair in the front row. I have no idea if the wheelchair holder, or their companion who was next to me had a diamond pass, it didn't even occur to me to check. If there is a space there I don't care if they bring the wheelchairs right up to the front, it's not like the wheelchairs would be taking up one of the diamond pass seats unless their carer sits there. 

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3 minutes ago, EllaBlair said:

At the Peter Capaldi talk I was front row as a diamond pass holder and there was a wheelchair in the front row. I have no idea if the wheelchair holder, or their companion who was next to me had a diamond pass, it didn't even occur to me to check. If there is a space there I don't care if they bring the wheelchairs right up to the front, it's not like the wheelchairs would be taking up one of the diamond pass seats unless their carer sits there. 

People do kick off though. I was at one delayed shoot and the amount of moaning I heard about extra help going first (which of course they always should) rather startled me. 

Edited by Persephone1
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11 minutes ago, Persephone1 said:

People do kick off though. I was at one delayed shoot and the amount of moaning I heard about extra help going first (which of course they always should) rather startled me. 

Oh I know, I am one of the people who had an extra help wristband though I don't use a wheelchair (certainly wished I had one at some points this weekend!). The majority of people who I saw were more than happy to let me go ahead in the photo shoot queues, and before entering Meat Loaf's queue I had some people help me find the extra help queue after being told to go to the back of the regular queue which I'm very grateful for. Most people in my experience are more than happy to help/are understanding but yeah some people are just jerks. Check out the Saturday queue thread if you want to see an example of the latter.

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19 hours ago, AmbroseGirl said:

James Caan was amazing! He done well, was worried for the poor guy. I forget he's 78 and just recovered from a back op.  

I had heard stories of James all weekend about how he was difficult and got into arguments and that he would never be invited back...!

 

I met him twice, once for an auto and once the photo and both times I thought he was great and when I walked around and saw him he seemed in great spirits too,

 

Not my main reason for attending but as far as star power, you can't get much bigger than him

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20 hours ago, Chris164 said:

Positives

  • Meeting Peter Capaldi after 4 years of receiving a letter from him. His reaction was amusing when I showed him the letter, remembered my name throughout the day after showing said letter, and was complimentary of the poster I made for him to keep and the drawing I got signed. Like Matt, one of those unforgettable meetings.

 

I've wanted to send Peter something for a while now, may I ask where you are able to find an address from the agent, or something along those lines?

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1 hour ago, Persephone1 said:

Yeah and I'll be honest for the bigger shoots they shouldn't. It would be far more controlled if they called diamonds 1-50 etc. That is eventually what they did for the Tennant Tardis shoot.

They did it last year for John Cleese too and for Famke Janssen en Jeremy Renner the year before! 

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6 minutes ago, Kurdamoni said:

They did it last year for John Cleese too and for Famke Janssen en Jeremy Renner the year before! 

I think the general line is it may be done for the busy shoots. Emphasis 'may.' 

I've put it on my list. Looks like it's time to tighten the wording a bit.

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