Would not normally post a review here as it's mainly an autograph show but there were more card dealers than at the last Memorabilia . I saw Paul Hart and also Derek as well as at least one other stall selling sets. All looked relatively busy compared to Memorabilia and I was not able to chat to any of them as I needed to be on my way home by 12.00 on both days.

Did manage a nice chat with Carolyn Edwards who did not have any cards but was doing a brisk trade in prints of her superb Doctor Who artwork. I saw several people getting them signed by Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.

No question this show is way better than Memorabilia, unfortunately everyone else has realised it as well meaning the attendance jumped by about 25% from last year causing a few issues with popular guests.

I was lucky in that I worked out a plan beforehand, stuck to it, and also did not want any of the more popular guests . The only time I had a bit of a problem was right at the start on Saturday as I had assumed that Bella Ramsey would be really popular and also only there on the Saturday so went to where she was and joined the long queue. After a couple of minutes I looked at the person ahead of me and saw he was holding a Nightmare on Elm Street poster and realised I was actually in the insanely long queue for Robert Englund who was sitting next to her . I then went about three paces to my right and joined the MUCH shorter line for Bella .

Apart from Bella I also got signed photos from three other Game of Thrones actors ( Anton Lesser, Kate Dickie, and Lino Facioli ), John Leeson and Michelle Ryan from old and new Doctor Who respectively, Richard Wilson from lots of shows ( but I got his signature on an " Only When I Laugh " cast picture ), and the highlight for me Aimee Garcia , mainly because in talking to her she said they are hopeful another broadcaster is going to pick up Lucifer after Fox cancelled it.

Glad to see you had a good time, thanks for the review.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Glad to see you had a good time, thanks for the review.

I will bring the photos along on Wednesday, there are some good inscriptions on a few of the photos .

Great to know you had a good time. Cons seem to be increasing in popularity in the past few years especially UK ones. Thanks for sharing.

Showmasters are coming in for some right abuse on the internet for the way this show was run.

There are a lot of very furious people out there.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Showmasters are coming in for some right abuse on the internet for the way this show was run.

There are a lot of very furious people out there.

Oh whys that?

Triple-Frogs review seemed pretty positive?

I know there were some issues with some more Northern shows Liverpool/Manchester earlier in the year. And one out in Wales

They all went ahead in the end but some were cancelled, take over by another events company, put back on etc.

Are people furious over event management? Was it poorly organised?

I know people understandably get annoyed if services are not readily available wg WCs, ATMs, Food Courts etc.

Or if stars and signers pull out last minute or charge silly amounts for photos and autos (usually separately for each too).

They underestimated how popular certain stars were going to be, primarily Robert Englund, Ray Park, and Christopher Lambert. Also on the Saturday there were issues with the ticketing system which caused a lot of confusion. As I did not want an autograph from any of them it did not affect me.

I have been to a lot of shows over the years and honestly this one is better run than most. It's a really tough call on how popular each guest is going to be, as I said in my report I thought the big queue I joined was for Bella Ramsey when it turned out to be Robert Englund's.

The organisers also cannot cater for a guest taking his or her time with each person they meet, the staff can try and hurry them up but they don't want to upset the guest. I know Robert Englund in particular was talking to everyone he met.

The problem really is that as with a lot of other things the unhappy people who did not get what they want complain but you don't hear anything like as much from the satisfied customers. This gives a mis-leading picture to anyone who was not actually there.

There were just over a hundred guests signing autographs and the vast majority of those had no problems at all.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Triple-Frog,

Ah right. Thanks for explaining.

Yeah I've seen that at the few conventions I've been too (Only a handful in 20 years, I don't regularly travel for them).

I know when I met a few Red Dwarf people they tended to take at least 5+ minutes (probably more) with each person which is nice but of course the clock is ticking.

I think that they should have pre-signed (as in earlier not facsimile) photos to sell to those people who don't get through the line barrier in time. Charge them half the amount so they get an item but haven't met the star.

I think that would be fair. Then it would separate the generic autograph hunters from the true fans who want to meet the star.

Honestly though you'd think they'd be able to accurately estimate which stars would be most popular. Even if they only did a short online poll before hand like 'Who are you most looking forward to meeting at our convention?'

I always feel sorry for those 'stars' are nearly empty tables or who shut early.

But yeah lines are not 'defined' well enough. At my last convention not only were autograph lines merging but these then spread to mix with photograph opportunity lines which was mixed with meet and greet lines. Chaos.

This is what you get for the free labour of volunteers. Great they give their time but I don't think the conventions should be allowed to get away with their disorganisation that way. They only need to have better planning and a core dedicated - paid - staff crew.

Part of guests contracts is the signing of photos over and above what is done 'at the table'. These can be pre-ordered in advance or often made available through various associated dealers and companies. As for charging half the table asking price; never gonna happen! The signature is the thing.

yeah it was just a theory. but thanks for your insight.