Wales Comic-Con - Telford Take Over - review
Saturday:
So arrived the Telford take over wales comcicon event my last con of 2019. The guest list had a good range of stars and having been to wales events before I was hoping that the previous issues had been resolved with a venue change, so I looked forward to seeing what the new venue had to offer.
I had an early bird weekend ticket and arrived about 2 hours before opening to be in the queue. I was awake so would rather be in a queue near the start than come later and be taking longer to get in. They moved us inside about 9:30 and started to check tickets and give out the wrist bands ... then nothing . We waited and waited ... about 20 past 10 once we had spoken to the staff ( they were told we were the 11am entry tickets ) and all the vip had been allowed in we finally entered the con.
I only had a few autos to get and didn’t have a photo session for a little while so I wanted to maximise my time by getting as much done as possible first thing.
I entered Micheal rookers queue and waited ... and waited and in the end I had to give up after 45 mins as I had my photo shoot. Very few guests were there. The main exception was Matt Smith who was there signing away. I later found out that due to a traffic accident the guests were stuck and they had to then walk to the venue. Not the events fault but there was no communication on the lines... which is part of the overall issue with this weekends event - staffing. But I’ll come on to that later.
Photo 1 Brandon Routh - this was a last minute addition to my weekend and my friend Mel and I went for an action pose . Has a very brief exchange about crisis and yay he still had the grey hair so it counts as a kingdom come superman pic. I just wish I had brought my superman T-shirt.
I’ll come to the overall photo studios feedback at the end but overall other than some over running they all ran smoothly.
Photo 2 James Purfoy- nice warm chap asking names and appreciative when spoke of his work.
I then had a couple of hours window from photos so I went back to collecting my autos.
Most of the guests I wanted didn’t have too long queues and was quiet brief a wait.
Guest meet - Bradley Pierce . We had a brief chat about his work on Jumanji and that he had written a treatment for a sequel where they were the grown ups now. But it’s never went anywhere. Working with Robin Williams was a delight and he was like a loving uncle . Got a selfie and and auto for my friend ( which he had to redo as he put the wrong character name)
Guest meet - Joe Pantoliano. Such a warm gentleman taking his time with those around , how he loved making the matrix and how it was Carrie Ann moss that recommended he did momento. That he knew there was something special about Christopher Nolan and his vision. Got a selfie and auto for a friend and ... yep again he wrote the wrong character name so had to do a redo
Guest meet - Silas Carson Met him for a friend he loved the Star Wars trading cards and took an interest in them. Nice guy
Guest meet - kel Mitchell he was empty at his desk so few of us went up to him to chat and get a friends auto. He was nice and had a brief interaction about kenan and kel and mystery men . I then went to have my photo shoot with him and of course I had to take in some orange soda.
Guest meet - Ahmed Best I’m not a big Star Wars fan but even I know you’re meant to hate Jar Jar Binks but Ahmed was Very sweet.
Photo op- Chad Micheal Murray . All the women around me were swooning and it’s not hard to see why. He was taking his time with all and asking names and being genuinely lovely to all he met.
Photo op- John Ross Bowie . Another guest who was taking his time , asking names and being pleasant .
Photo op - Rose McGowan . She was quiet pleasant but I didn’t get much of a reaction from her
Guest meet - donal logue . This man , he is so lovely . He went down the line shaking hands and chatting to people. When it was my turn he was distracted by the parrots and had to hold one. He was so engrossed by it all and was a nice moment to watch. Spoke about his Gotham character and the great lines he had and he signed my pop . His photo shoot was the last one I had that day but he remembered me and was a nice interaction.
Photo op- Christopher judge . Was brief but he was warm and had the biggest smile and a distinctive dress style.
Photo op- Iwan Rheon I thought it best to go for a fun photo so I asked him to pretend to be holding scissors and ... well look at the photo . He found it funny
So overall Saturday ... so far it sounds good doesn’t it ? Overall it was but there were some issues . Photo shoots over running - this isn’t something new for wales or any signing event. But there was no staff or signage to help update attendees. We had to keep going back and forth all day wondering if we were going to miss them etc
The only other issue really is staffing, this has always been an issue and this time it felt worse. There was no one anywhere and those few that were there were either stretched thin or were not given the correct info.
Being told not to give out vq tickets until later but then by the time lines were forming it was too late for people to get decent numbers , but then again they couldn’t enforce them easily as there was no staff there to over see it .
Staff giving conflicting info regarding what you can and can’t do with vip tickets - some let you join the end some let you jump to the front.
I heard that there were many that dropped out last minute and some that didn’t even come back for day 2 . The big issues is that these volunteers do not get anything for helping, they have to pay for own hotels, autos , photos etc. So there is no incentive for them to push themselves and work the long hours etc.
Until this aspect is fixed this event is going to continue to struggle.
The venue - perfectly set out for me, clear areas and good spacing. The only issues were when things bottlenecked- auto/photo lines but again this wouldn’t have been an issue if had enough staff
Photo studios and photo collection - other than a few over running studios there were no issues , printing was quick and easy . Tho some photos aren’t as crisp quality as others.
Sunday
I arrived about 9:30 and there was no queue ... everyone had already been let in , this i am
Also told included the 11am general entry .
The event was noticeably quieter which worked well for it. There was again some photo shoot delays but other than that everything seemed to flow well and everyone seemed a lot calmer all around.
Guest meet: Tom welling as soon as I walked up to him he mocked my Batman T-shirt saying “Batman’s shit” he was very warm and making jokes , said that Smallville was long and he didn’t appreciate his time on the show until later. Spoke about crisis and he said it’s going to be great. He enjoyed his role on Lucifer. I had to go back as I left my pen at his desk and he joked that he wanted to keep it and wasn’t happy I remembered. A very fun meet
Guest meet sean Gunn, I’ve met sean a few times now and he’s always very accommodating and friendly, looking forward to guardians 3
Guest meet Micheal rooker . He really enjoys the fan interactions. Loving the quotes he was writing and that he loves that he’s gotten to play so many memorable characters like Merle and yondu- and does it ever get old when he says the marry Poppins line ?
Guest meet Rose McGowan . I managed to get her autograph for a friend who had drawn her a picture to sign. She lived the drawing but there still wasn’t much of an interaction other than her agent telling people off for taking photos - although there were no signs to say you couldn’t. Tho I did find it interesting that she put on auto certificate stickers on each item she signed.
Guest meet John Ross Bowie got him to sign a friends dvd he was fascinated by the other names on there and we spoke about his time on the show and he loved he got to be the antagonist for a change
Guest meet Zachary Levi - has a brief catch up and reminisced about the time he made us all subway sandwiches
Guest meet James ransome . Was a quick meet even tho no queue. He was ok but seemed distracted.
Guest meet John Challis was a quick meet to he this book signed for a friend but he’s always love
Photo op - Lee pace - wow he is tall. I never thought he was that tall. He was quiet but nice to finally meet
Photo op- Alex Kingston she wanted to have fun and do some 70s dancing ... it sure you can tell in the photo tho.
Photo op -Erica Durance. She looked lovely but was a quick meet
I then had spare time to look about and take some photos of the props etc it was a bit sparse for things to do but no diff that other signing events.
Overall 8/10
Good - new venue and layout
Bad - lack of staff, high selfie prices with most £20+ and many were the same price as photo shoots £65 !!! This is not a good trend and makes it feel more money money money than a fan interaction.
Saturday:
So arrived the Telford take over wales comcicon event my last con of 2019. The guest list had a good range of stars and having been to wales events before I was hoping that the previous issues had been resolved with a venue change, so I looked forward to seeing what the new venue had to offer.
I had an early bird weekend ticket and arrived about 2 hours before opening to be in the queue. I was awake so would rather be in a queue near the start than come later and be taking longer to get in. They moved us inside about 9:30 and started to check tickets and give out the wrist bands ... then nothing . We waited and waited ... about 20 past 10 once we had spoken to the staff ( they were told we were the 11am entry tickets ) and all the vip had been allowed in we finally entered the con.
I only had a few autos to get and didn’t have a photo session for a little while so I wanted to maximise my time by getting as much done as possible first thing.
I entered Micheal rookers queue and waited ... and waited and in the end I had to give up after 45 mins as I had my photo shoot. Very few guests were there. The main exception was Matt Smith who was there signing away. I later found out that due to a traffic accident the guests were stuck and they had to then walk to the venue. Not the events fault but there was no communication on the lines... which is part of the overall issue with this weekends event - staffing. But I’ll come on to that later.
Photo 1 Brandon Routh - this was a last minute addition to my weekend and my friend Mel and I went for an action pose . Has a very brief exchange about crisis and yay he still had the grey hair so it counts as a kingdom come superman pic. I just wish I had brought my superman T-shirt.
I’ll come to the overall photo studios feedback at the end but overall other than some over running they all ran smoothly.
Photo 2 James Purfoy- nice warm chap asking names and appreciative when spoke of his work.
I then had a couple of hours window from photos so I went back to collecting my autos.
Most of the guests I wanted didn’t have too long queues and was quiet brief a wait.
Guest meet - Bradley Pierce . We had a brief chat about his work on Jumanji and that he had written a treatment for a sequel where they were the grown ups now. But it’s never went anywhere. Working with Robin Williams was a delight and he was like a loving uncle . Got a selfie and and auto for my friend ( which he had to redo as he put the wrong character name)
Guest meet - Joe Pantoliano. Such a warm gentleman taking his time with those around , how he loved making the matrix and how it was Carrie Ann moss that recommended he did momento. That he knew there was something special about Christopher Nolan and his vision. Got a selfie and auto for a friend and ... yep again he wrote the wrong character name so had to do a redo
Guest meet - Silas Carson Met him for a friend he loved the Star Wars trading cards and took an interest in them. Nice guy
Guest meet - kel Mitchell he was empty at his desk so few of us went up to him to chat and get a friends auto. He was nice and had a brief interaction about kenan and kel and mystery men . I then went to have my photo shoot with him and of course I had to take in some orange soda.
Guest meet - Ahmed Best I’m not a big Star Wars fan but even I know you’re meant to hate Jar Jar Binks but Ahmed was Very sweet.
Photo op- Chad Micheal Murray . All the women around me were swooning and it’s not hard to see why. He was taking his time with all and asking names and being genuinely lovely to all he met.
Photo op- John Ross Bowie . Another guest who was taking his time , asking names and being pleasant .
Photo op - Rose McGowan . She was quiet pleasant but I didn’t get much of a reaction from her
Guest meet - donal logue . This man , he is so lovely . He went down the line shaking hands and chatting to people. When it was my turn he was distracted by the parrots and had to hold one. He was so engrossed by it all and was a nice moment to watch. Spoke about his Gotham character and the great lines he had and he signed my pop . His photo shoot was the last one I had that day but he remembered me and was a nice interaction.
Photo op- Christopher judge . Was brief but he was warm and had the biggest smile and a distinctive dress style.
Photo op- Iwan Rheon I thought it best to go for a fun photo so I asked him to pretend to be holding scissors and ... well look at the photo . He found it funny
So overall Saturday ... so far it sounds good doesn’t it ? Overall it was but there were some issues . Photo shoots over running - this isn’t something new for wales or any signing event. But there was no staff or signage to help update attendees. We had to keep going back and forth all day wondering if we were going to miss them etc
The only other issue really is staffing, this has always been an issue and this time it felt worse. There was no one anywhere and those few that were there were either stretched thin or were not given the correct info.
Being told not to give out vq tickets until later but then by the time lines were forming it was too late for people to get decent numbers , but then again they couldn’t enforce them easily as there was no staff there to over see it .
Staff giving conflicting info regarding what you can and can’t do with vip tickets - some let you join the end some let you jump to the front.
I heard that there were many that dropped out last minute and some that didn’t even come back for day 2 . The big issues is that these volunteers do not get anything for helping, they have to pay for own hotels, autos , photos etc. So there is no incentive for them to push themselves and work the long hours etc.
Until this aspect is fixed this event is going to continue to struggle.
The venue - perfectly set out for me, clear areas and good spacing. The only issues were when things bottlenecked- auto/photo lines but again this wouldn’t have been an issue if had enough staff
Photo studios and photo collection - other than a few over running studios there were no issues , printing was quick and easy . Tho some photos aren’t as crisp quality as others.
Sunday
I arrived about 9:30 and there was no queue ... everyone had already been let in , this i am
Also told included the 11am general entry .
The event was noticeably quieter which worked well for it. There was again some photo shoot delays but other than that everything seemed to flow well and everyone seemed a lot calmer all around.
Guest meet: Tom welling as soon as I walked up to him he mocked my Batman T-shirt saying “Batman’s shit” he was very warm and making jokes , said that Smallville was long and he didn’t appreciate his time on the show until later. Spoke about crisis and he said it’s going to be great. He enjoyed his role on Lucifer. I had to go back as I left my pen at his desk and he joked that he wanted to keep it and wasn’t happy I remembered. A very fun meet
Guest meet sean Gunn, I’ve met sean a few times now and he’s always very accommodating and friendly, looking forward to guardians 3
Guest meet Micheal rooker . He really enjoys the fan interactions. Loving the quotes he was writing and that he loves that he’s gotten to play so many memorable characters like Merle and yondu- and does it ever get old when he says the marry Poppins line ?
Guest meet Rose McGowan . I managed to get her autograph for a friend who had drawn her a picture to sign. She lived the drawing but there still wasn’t much of an interaction other than her agent telling people off for taking photos - although there were no signs to say you couldn’t. Tho I did find it interesting that she put on auto certificate stickers on each item she signed.
Guest meet John Ross Bowie got him to sign a friends dvd he was fascinated by the other names on there and we spoke about his time on the show and he loved he got to be the antagonist for a change
Guest meet Zachary Levi - has a brief catch up and reminisced about the time he made us all subway sandwiches
Guest meet James ransome . Was a quick meet even tho no queue. He was ok but seemed distracted.
Guest meet John Challis was a quick meet to he this book signed for a friend but he’s always love
Photo op - Lee pace - wow he is tall. I never thought he was that tall. He was quiet but nice to finally meet
Photo op- Alex Kingston she wanted to have fun and do some 70s dancing ... it sure you can tell in the photo tho.
Photo op -Erica Durance. She looked lovely but was a quick meet
I then had spare time to look about and take some photos of the props etc it was a bit sparse for things to do but no diff that other signing events.
Overall 8/10
Good - new venue and layout
Bad - lack of staff, high selfie prices with most £20+ and many were the same price as photo shoots £65 !!! This is not a good trend and makes it feel more money money money than a fan interaction.