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Latest Update - 28th March 2020


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  • Showmasters Admin

Hi Everyone

With the world in flux at this time we just wanted to make clear our plans for this years Summer LFCC and Winter LCC and bring you all up to date with where we are as a company and how things are going in general.

First off we plan to run London Film and Comic Con on July 24th, 25th and 26th. We will be keeping an eye on the spread of the virus over the next weeks ahead and will keep you informed of any changes. We should hopefully know where we are all at by the end of May or beginning of June.

We will say,however, that this Summers LFCC will have a reduced footprint as some of the film releases that we had planned to have at the event have been moved and some of the other activities we had planned would need a greater run in time than we will have had this year. This means we will not need as much space as previous years. Also, other events that are held in the same venue are needing help to change their earlier dates, so giving up some of the rooms we use to help others just seemed to be the right thing to do this year!

We had planned to announce at this years LFCC Summer our winter date for London Comic Con 2020, but with all the rearranging of dates going on we feel it’s better to announce this event now so other events can avoid it! So London Comic Con Winter will be held on 21st & 22nd of November at Olympia and we plan it to be a big event with some of the big film activities we had planned to bring to LFCC in the summer now moving to our winter event in Nov! So there is lots to still look forward to, the web page and facebook page will be live soon.

We want you all to know that Showmasters is in a good solid place! We are a stable and sensible company so we will be with you through this and afterwards. All our main office staff are still employed and they will be until this passes. They have all been sent home to protect themselves but they are all ready to get going as soon as it’s safe and sensible to do so. The thing that makes us very different from many of the big events companies, and we think is one of our biggest assets, is we are all dedicated fans! We don't run Showmasters and Massive Events to just make lots of money. We do it to meet the guests we want to meet and run amazing events we can all be proud of and share with other fans.

So, we very much look forward to celebrating with you the passing of these harsh times with some incredible guests announcement as soon as we are all in the clear! We have been talking to guests that we have wanted to bring to our events and as filming has stopped now and these productions will take much longer to get going again than normal due to the lack of studio stages, it is looking very promising and we are working to lock down some of the guests ASAP, so that will be exciting and give us all something to look forward to on the guest front.

So our message to you is stay safe, take care of your family and we will see you all soon where we can once again create some fun times and amazing memories together.

Take really good care of yourself and your loved ones.

Stay safe

Jason and the Showmasters family

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Amazingly concise & thorough update, thank you Jason. Big love to you & the entire Showmasters family.

I have an underlying health condition & have been indoors for 3 weeks already with another 9 to go.

Unlike those who go to every single event, this is my only comic con event every year due to my health (kidney failure), which I really start to look forward to as soon as Christmas is out of the way. Not everyone can attend every event & this is a break from reality for us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the hard work you put in year after year to put on this event (& others) & really hope to thank you in person in July. ^_^

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Totally understand situation and reason but i am having 2015 flashback nightmares ... where we didnt have full olympia and it was insane.  Although know what you mean re small capacity neded etc but still gives me flashbacks lol.

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On 3/28/2020 at 6:22 PM, HeartDT said:

Totally understand situation and reason but i am having 2015 flashback nightmares ... where we didnt have full olympia and it was insane.  Although know what you mean re small capacity neded etc but still gives me flashbacks lol.

LIke you i'm hoping a reduced footprint, might potentially lead be a reduced footfall

Edited by Mfahey79
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My initial thought was the 2016 Spring LFCC.

I only went for one day and got everything done before lunch. I only stayed for the afternoon cos I was cosplaying.

I feel it might be similar to that.

 

I do remember the 2015 LFCC, where only the National Hall was used for the Ground Floor, and the Grand area wasn't used for Level 1, but Level 3 was used.

And I do remember the chaos back then. I'm sure Showmasters have got something planned so as not to make a repeat of this.

Have noticed there's no further news for the YALC event, but I assume that's still going ahead.

 

With these in mind, I might only go on the Friday and Saturday as I have no other plans for the Sunday.

But we'll wait and see...

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  • 2 weeks later...
8 minutes ago, Drew said:

Surely it’s time to cancel this and start issuing refunds now?  The chances of this going ahead are nil ☹️

As the statement says, no one knows what the situation will be like by the end of July. I'm sure Showmasters know what they're doing and will cancel the event if necessary, but right now it's not a certainty that it'll need to be cancelled.

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9 hours ago, The Friendly Dalek said:
9 hours ago, Drew said:

Surely it’s time to cancel this and start issuing refunds now?  The chances of this going ahead are nil ☹️

As the statement says, no one knows what the situation will be like by the end of July. I'm sure Showmasters know what they're doing and will cancel the event if necessary, but right now it's not a certainty that it'll need to be cancelled.

Yah, there is still over 14 weeks to go, the chances are absolutely not 'nil'. It would be foolish (and costly) for SM to cancel the event until they have to. 

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2 minutes ago, Sebster118 said:

A friend of mine mentioned that one aspect to consider is the flights between here and the US.

In the event they're not happening, a number of guests could cancel.

Hopefully, the situation will have improved by then.

If you look, there are actually plenty of flights between the US and the UK happening right now. It's a bit worrying actually.

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On 3/28/2020 at 1:01 PM, Starbuck73 said:

Amazingly concise & thorough update, thank you Jason. Big love to you & the entire Showmasters family.

I have an underlying health condition & have been indoors for 3 weeks already with another 9 to go.

We're pretty safe in Devon. Considering how close I was to having a cosplayer sneezing on me at the Spring event, I think I'll give the summer event a miss this year.

Edited by TerraHawk
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11 minutes ago, MrsCorleone said:

Update from Germany. All events are cancelled until 31.08.2020 ..I think this is it for LFCC 2020 in july, as the Uk is affected much more than we are so far.

We also have a different government with different ideas on how to deal with the situation. It's very possible that the July date might not be possible, but let's just wait and see what happens. No need to get people upset unless it's needed.

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13 minutes ago, MrsCorleone said:

Update from Germany. All events are cancelled until 31.08.2020 ..I think this is it for LFCC 2020 in july, as the Uk is affected much more than we are so far.

I don't think anyone will be surprised it LFCC is cancelled/postponed to be honest, but time will tell.

Edited by Raylenth
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50 minutes ago, Wrong Name said:

We also have a different government with different ideas on how to deal with the situation. It's very possible that the July date might not be possible, but let's just wait and see what happens. No need to get people upset unless it's needed.

Its not making people upset. Its about spreading the world news and stay informed. And its also about booking hotels, booking flights... and being a little realistic ;)

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11 hours ago, MrsCorleone said:

Its not making people upset. Its about spreading the world news and stay informed. And its also about booking hotels, booking flights... and being a little realistic ;)

I disagree as I have seen people on here panic over far less in the years I've been on here. And I think people are aware of the world news without coming on this forum! The most sensible way of dealing with this is waiting for the official word, otherwise it's just speculation.

Edited by Wrong Name
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1 hour ago, Wrong Name said:

I disagree as I have seen people on here panic over far less in the years I've been on here. And I think people are aware of the world news without coming on this forum! The most sensible way of dealing with this is waiting for the official word, otherwise it's just speculation.

I agree with Sam.

 

 

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I'm having mental images of the photo shoots being modified to require face masks and standing two meters apart.  

(Yeah, I'm not expecting this to go ahead either.)

I still have a flight and a hotel.  Both can EASILY be postponed -- at the present moment, the hotel is offering only rescheduling, not (fee-free) cancellation.

So, for me, the ideal situation would be that if the event is cancelled, it would be accompanied by an announcement of definite dates for Summer 2021 -- so that I could reschedule everything for next year.

(Despite being an American, I DO realize that the world does not revolve around me.  But if you could announce future dates sooner rather than later, it would be helpful.)

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I think with so many other events being cancelled or postponed, people are right to be worried, particularly the BIG US one that has never been cancelled in its 50 years.

Events in August now being cancelled... maybe time to call it...?  At least give plenty of notice (unlike another company I could mention, but won't). :whistling:

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On 4/17/2020 at 11:29 PM, Pir8Jenny said:

I'm having mental images of the photo shoots being modified to require face masks and standing two meters apart.  

I've had that image too.  I did go to LFCC Spring, but it was a stressful experience wondering whether I'd put myself at risk, and that was before this wretched virus really took off.  Wondering how to cope with full-on social distancing at LFCC (especially with reduced space) is not a comforting thought.  (Can you imagine how the entry and photoshoot/auto queues would look?)  I understand SM not wanting to cancel prematurely, but I'd rather it be cancelled than go ahead and me having to miss it for safety's sake.  This thing is not going away any time soon.  Oh, well.  We'll just have to wait and see.  So depressing, though.

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9 hours ago, Starbuck73 said:

I think with so many other events being cancelled or postponed, people are right to be worried, particularly the BIG US one that has never been cancelled in its 50 years.

Events in August now being cancelled... maybe time to call it...?  At least give plenty of notice (unlike another company I could mention, but won't). :whistling:

It's down to insurances and venue issues.  They can't just cancel or warn people that there's X% chance of it not going ahead as at this point factors are still unknown.

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