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Signs, signs, signs ---Please more signs - digital too


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Hi,

I've been coming to LFCC for quite a few years and love the guests and the event and appreciate the huge logistics,,,but

The one thing... the one big thing you guys could do above anything else is better signage for batch numbers and queueing in general.

In short, have some sort of LED/whatever signs above the photo areas. These would simply have the highest batch number showing.

For the popular guests the mob is sometimes so big it is impossible to hear what he crew members are shouting about batch numbers. In one queue, some bright spark simply held a piece of paper up with the batch number as it changed, well done that person.

I would love to see this extended to the autograph queues... simple LED.lit signage that would say, Guest Name, and VQ Number, these could be seen from further away without having to elbow your way to through the queue to see some poorly written whiteboard marker pen number.

If this is too much , then give the crew members megaphones so we can hear what they are saying.

Actually, just had another thought, howabout an app that has the list of guests, their VQ number and/or photo number. Kind of like what they do at theme parks.... this would save people wandering across the venue, creating a mob, if they could simply look at their phone for their slot.

Cheers,

Ian

Edited by imcaufieldholt
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*pssst* I think I did too, or the year before... you never know, one day....

I realise the app suggestion is expensive but, giant paper or megaphones might be the cheapest, if a tad annoying, and feel more like a market than it already is ;-) "roll up roll up, get your photographs here, 2 for a pound..." LOL

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36 minutes ago, imcaufieldholt said:

True. I don't really like the megaphone idea, but it was just a suggestion after a mild sense of frustration.

I really felt for the people with limited mobility, ie wheelchairs, who had to fight through really bad crowds at times.

Yes, I regularly set my electric wheelchair on “massacre mode” for LFCC, as in “if you get in my way it’s your own fault”...:lol:

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3 hours ago, imcaufieldholt said:

uch , then give the crew members megaphones so we can hear what they are saying

Ian

I have been to other events where they use megaphones and they dont work.. especially in an tightly packed noisy area such as at lfcc.  It just becomes a horrible whiney noise and you cant.actually hear anything.   We mamaged to keep an eye on the auto batch nos ok even in busiest auto area.   As long as those.boars are.up to date its good.   Also in photo area especially at.david tennants queue everyone started passing any info on back through the line down to the end as realised everyone couldnt here what crew was aaying as so many people there.  Only ao much sm can do and if we.all helped each other too like above would be great :)

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100% agree with this and actually logged on to post exactly the same.

 

This was our first time attending and our only frustration was exactly this. When we were waiting to be called forward for photos etc, it was impossible to hear what was being said.

 

Appreciate it would take some work to implement, but a virtual screen outside each queuing area with the numbers being called on (a bit like at a Dr's) would make a world of difference. Even as a temporary measure, just some signs with the numbers written on to be held up by those doing the calling would help massively

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LED signage at the most popular photo areas like a certain company that does photo ops for big events has would be extremely helpful. Megaphones don’t always work but were an absolute necessity at the green screen Smith & Eccleston Tardis shoots. The ladies in the end managed very well but when you have a health & safety nightmare scrum like that you need to give someone a megaphone. Given that the market has moved entirely towards photos I do think it’s the one area Showmasters could look to invest in-their photos are smaller than everyone else’s & the staff at the insanely busy shoots need LED signs or megaphones to help them do their jobs. It would make everyone’s lives so much easier 

Edited by Persephone1
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Here's a suggestion which costs zero money to implement:

Put the existing signs higher.

With hundreds and hundreds people milling around every photo booth (and thereby standing between YOU and THE SIGN) the only thing you can see on the sign is "Photo Booth" but NOT the letter designating it.  I was standing at "D" for at least 15 minutes when I should have been at "B," but all I saw was the top of a curvy letter which could have been either one.

Ditto for the signs around the main stage, telling different groups (Diamond, Gold, Everyone Else) where to queue -- there were a small piece of paper with very tiny writing on it.  If you hadn't scoped out the area before (between talk queues) you would have had no idea where you should be.  (BTW, I'd put tape on the ground for those queues, too.  They were near enough the photo areas that some queues overlapped and it was hard to tell who was waiting for what -- or to walk between the two different groups.)

If there was a dry-erase board on the wall of the Green Screen shoot telling us which batch was called, I didn't see it.  Again, this needs to be BIG and HIGH.  I understand the concerns about using megaphones in such a tight (and echo-prone) area, but the alternative solution is signage big enough and high enough for everyone to see.

Related aside:  I was at four different photo shoots Sunday.  They were all CALLING batch numbers, but I certainly didn't see anyone CHECKING batch numbers when people entered the queue.  I imagine that this was because they were just trying to manage their mobs and get people in as fast as possible, but it certainly allowed people to game the system and jump the queue if they wanted to.  I expect batch-checking would require (1) an extra volunteer at each photo shoot; and (2) batch numbers printed (ideally in really big type) not only on the printable PDF tickets, but also the e-tickets in the app.

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30 minutes ago, Pir8Jenny said:

 

Related aside:  I was at four different photo shoots Sunday.  They were all CALLING batch numbers, but I certainly didn't see anyone CHECKING batch numbers when people entered the queue.  I imagine that this was because they were just trying to manage their mobs and get people in as fast as possible, but it certainly allowed people to game the system and jump the queue if they wanted to.  I expect batch-checking would require (1) an extra volunteer at each photo shoot; and (2) batch numbers printed (ideally in really big type) not only on the printable PDF tickets, but also the e-tickets in the app.

I always just assumed their machines told them XD that"s probably wrong :P

In reply to the topic of screens and apps, I like the idea, but I wouldn't want to be in SMs position when they all break ;)

One thing I would also say, is that the screens have to be REALLY well positioned. I went to one con in america that used screens; they only had one (similar to what Lady Temp is saying I think) so everyone bunched around it. This caused issues like we sometimes see at LFCC with the whiteboards. No one could get to the screen to see it. To fix this, they moved the screen into the roped off photo area, and gave it it's own space, but then it was too far away, and too damn hard to read! If done poorly, it could just cause the same issues

 

Edited by tenaciouspirit
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I was at the green screen photo shoot area a couple of times yesterday. It really needed a sign/wipe board  on the end of a stick that can be held up high so that the back of the crowd can see it. That saves the staff from shouting themselves hoarse!

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At a certain other show I can't mention, they often get the people queueing to hold signs to show where the end of the line was, if it was cut off currently, the state of play with number of people already in line and so on.

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That other show you can't mention is so badly organised. They don't even know the concept of 'virtual queue' tickets. So you have to just stand in the queue for the guest to be free. At least with Showmasters I can get a VQ ticket then relax a bit, have a look around the stalls.

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2 hours ago, tenaciouspirit said:

I always just assumed their machines told them XD that"s probably wrong :P

In reply to the topic of screens and apps, I like the idea, but I wouldn't want to be in SMs position when they all break ;)

One thing I would also say, is that the screens have to be REALLY well positioned. I went to one con in america that used screens; they only had one (similar to what Lady Temp is saying I think) so everyone bunched around it. This caused issues like we sometimes see at LFCC with the whiteboards. No one could get to the screen to see it. To fix this, they moved the screen into the roped off photo area, and gave it it's own space, but then it was too far away, and too damn hard to read! If done poorly, it could just cause the same issues

 

I don't know what the scanners tell the crew but they certainly get some info, when I was queuing for the Smith shoot the lady in front had her QR code scanned on the phone and the crew member was able to tell her based on the info that came up that she was at the wrong shoot.

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4 hours ago, imcaufieldholt said:

True. I don't really like the megaphone idea, but it was just a suggestion after a mild sense of frustration.

I really felt for the people with limited mobility, ie wheelchairs, who had to fight through really bad crowds at times.

I’ve also made all of these suggestions a few times, on here and in person.

I don’t like megaphones as a first choice either, but the point is that if the chosen method is to use voice, then the voices need to be able to be heard, thus louder, thus megaphone.

The other thing would be big (and I mean big) ‘Golf Sale’ style placards  on sticks with the name and number written on, and held by the queue pusher at the back of the line, Thus showing where the end of the line is/where the queue is cut.

SM have made some of the signage bigger over time (photo areas in particular) and still have really good guest posters, the thing is some of them need to be higher up so as not to be obscured by the crowds. The guest image posters are pretty much spot on for that IMO.

One last thing... the washing line props which they currently use to hang the boards on are extendable. Several of the crew didn’t know this, so the signs were not set at the highest possible level. Granted some poles had seized up and it’s a faff extending and retracting it, and the signs are still too small, but if we’ve got to work with what we’ve got, let’s use it’s full functionality.

Edited by Nick
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The signage was better this year.  I appreciated the use of poles at the front of the areas for signers with VQT systems in place, which had a laminated card hanging from the top with details of the VQT number or whether said guest had gone for a shoot/break (often with estimated return times), so you could see it over peoples' heads.  I'm sure that was new as I don't recall seeing that last year.  The card with the price was lower down, but you could see that once you knew to join the queue and got closer.  Having the photoshoot schedules printed out in various locations was excellent (I think that started last year, so good to see this continue). 

But yes, photo areas were still a bit problematic at times, meaning one had to wriggle through the throng to ask a crew member what was happening.  It's getting better, but I agree that the area letter needs to be higher - I was sure I was waiting at E at one point before realizing it was F.  So that and having something on which to write guest names and batch numbers that one can hold high above the crowds would be excellent.  Someone (not sure if it was a crew member or not) was doing that in G or thereabouts and it meant I could see what was happening without having to fight my way closer.

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10 minutes ago, CosmicAvatar said:

The signage was better this year.  I appreciated the use of poles at the front of the areas for signers with VQT systems in place, which had a laminated card hanging from the top with details of the VQT number or whether said guest had gone for a shoot/break (often with estimated return times), so you could see it over peoples' heads.  I'm sure that was new as I don't recall seeing that last year.  The card with the price was lower down, but you could see that once you knew to join the queue and got closer.  Having the photoshoot schedules printed out in various locations was excellent (I think that started last year, so good to see this continue). 

But yes, photo areas were still a bit problematic at times, meaning one had to wriggle through the throng to ask a crew member what was happening.  It's getting better, but I agree that the area letter needs to be higher - I was sure I was waiting at E at one point before realizing it was F.  So that and having something on which to write guest names and batch numbers that one can hold high above the crowds would be excellent.  Someone (not sure if it was a crew member or not) was doing that in G or thereabouts and it meant I could see what was happening without having to fight my way closer.

They’ve both been done for a number of years but the schedules were in better locations than sometimes/had more space around them for folk to stop and look. They are also on A0 (I think) size, which although hikes the print cost for SM is much appreciated as they are much clearer. 

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2 hours ago, Nick said:

They’ve both been done for a number of years but the schedules were in better locations than sometimes/had more space around them for folk to stop and look. They are also on A0 (I think) size, which although hikes the print cost for SM is much appreciated as they are much clearer. 

 

Sorry, yes, the cards with VQ details/guest status have been around for a fair while, but this is the first time I remember seeing them so high up so it was easier to see the details from a distance (although it's possible I'm being senile on that score too ;) ).  And agree, the photoshoot schedules seemed to be in better (and more?) locations - I found it really easy getting close to double-check stuff.

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10 hours ago, imcaufieldholt said:

Hi,

I've been coming to LFCC for quite a few years and love the guests and the event and appreciate the huge logistics,,,but

The one thing... the one big thing you guys could do above anything else is better signage for batch numbers and queueing in general.

In short, have some sort of LED/whatever signs above the photo areas. These would simply have the highest batch number showing.

For the popular guests the mob is sometimes so big it is impossible to hear what he crew members are shouting about batch numbers. In one queue, some bright spark simply held a piece of paper up with the batch number as it changed, well done that person.

I would love to see this extended to the autograph queues... simple LED.lit signage that would say, Guest Name, and VQ Number, these could be seen from further away without having to elbow your way to through the queue to see some poorly written whiteboard marker pen number.

If this is too much , then give the crew members megaphones so we can hear what they are saying.

Actually, just had another thought, howabout an app that has the list of guests, their VQ number and/or photo number. Kind of like what they do at theme parks.... this would save people wandering across the venue, creating a mob, if they could simply look at their phone for their slot.

Cheers,

Ian

yes yes yes please

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some sort of signage for photo shoot areas would be really appreciated. Is a v noisy area and some of us are getting older now and just can't hear - I half expected the 'cheesemakers' to be called at the back of one shoot ;-). I hate barging my way to ask someone near the front to find out what is going on. I feel for the people calling because they must have no voices left after the weekend

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10 hours ago, imcaufieldholt said:

Hi,

I've been coming to LFCC for quite a few years and love the guests and the event and appreciate the huge logistics,,,but

The one thing... the one big thing you guys could do above anything else is better signage for batch numbers and queueing in general.

In short, have some sort of LED/whatever signs above the photo areas. These would simply have the highest batch number showing.

For the popular guests the mob is sometimes so big it is impossible to hear what he crew members are shouting about batch numbers. In one queue, some bright spark simply held a piece of paper up with the batch number as it changed, well done that person.

I would love to see this extended to the autograph queues... simple LED.lit signage that would say, Guest Name, and VQ Number, these could be seen from further away without having to elbow your way to through the queue to see some poorly written whiteboard marker pen number.

If this is too much , then give the crew members megaphones so we can hear what they are saying.

Actually, just had another thought, howabout an app that has the list of guests, their VQ number and/or photo number. Kind of like what they do at theme parks.... this would save people wandering across the venue, creating a mob, if they could simply look at their phone for their slot.

Cheers,

Ian

A million times YES. 

LED signs for photo shoots and especially VQ info would be brilliant. The current VQ signs are small, difficult to read sometimes and not always updated. It must be possible to do something more modern, without a huge investment. Even if it is a huge investment, it’s something SM could utilize at all their shows for years to come.

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