SFX Weekender 3 - Your feedback.

[SilverFox67]

Just on the subject of location, Prestatyn trumps Camber Sands - and I live just outside London. Travel time was roughly double, but then I didn't have to pay "the Man" to cross at Dartford. Also Camber Sands is desolate - I'm mean there really is nothing there. At least at Prestatyn there was a couple of eating options and a v. big Sainsbury within 10 minutes drive. And just in terms of pure 'reach', it's easier for a great breadth of locations to get to... my penny's worth...

[Yodd]

Originally Posted by runalong

The pub quiz was clearly stated on the schedules sent out and around the venue to be in the screening zones.

Obviously a mistake on my part this one, but an awful lot of other people made the same mistake. As noted elsewhere on here, boards up around entrances saying what is going on would have greatly helped.

[Cougar]

Originally Posted by Northern Raith

There was no instructions to only have one person per party (unlike previous years)

Well, there was, it was in the documentation you were sent. If you didn't read it, that's not really an organisational fail. Also, if you'd been there previous years, you should've known that anyway.

[SilverFox67]

Just on the subject of location, Prestatyn trumps Camber Sands - and I live just outside London. Travel time was roughly double, but then I didn't have to pay "the Man" to cross at Dartford. Also Camber Sands is desolate - I'm mean there really is nothing there. At least at Prestatyn there was a couple of eating options and a v. big Sainsbury within 10 minutes drive. And just in terms of pure 'reach', it's easier for a great breadth of locations to get to... my penny's worth...

[Neurie]

They won't give me a refund even though one of the girls I was meant to go withs mother died so she had to go to her home country to sort out a funeral/estate/etc and the other is in a plaster cast due to being hit by a car do can't travel.

I had a thoroughly miserable time there on my own, not to mention the TV in my room was busted when I first went in, was analogue only receiving 4 channels(not even the SFX one) and had a huge chunk knocked out of it by the previous tenants(making it a health code violation as well).

I had to queue for 4 hours for 1 signature meaning I had to miss the others as they were only VIP or would end before I could I get any others.

Chic Fiesta(or who ever organized it said as it was withing the 56 days even with the exceptional circumstances they would not refund me for the gold star accomodation so I am now £160 out of pocket.

To top it all off the whole event was over attended, they gave/sold too many tickets and were over capacity as well as really badly organized. This has put me off ever going to a SFX event ever again and I will tell any one who asks me just how bad the event really was.

£160 is not the sort of money any one can afford to just throw away nowadays, I am extremely disappointed with SFX and their organizers.

[Cougar]

I'm genuinely sorry for your issues outside of the event, and that you didn't have a good weekend when you got there, but,

You couldn't get a refund for problems that weren't the organisers' fault; you had a miserable time "on your own" in one of the friendliest places I've ever been to; you were missing a couple of TV channels; and you *chose* to queue for four hours.

They were "oversubscribed" for the amount of staff laid on, and an event where a considerable number of guests couldn't make it due to a train derailment meant that there often wasn't an even distribution of visitors, I'll give you that.

But saying "how bad the event really was" makes me wonder if we went to the same gig.

I think perhaps Chic should have refunded the lot; that's 'extenuating circumstances' as far as I can see. Not sure why they didn't and that's a poor do. I'm sorry that wasn't the case.

[Emmzi]

I agree, your friends should have taken out a few quid's travel insurance! That really isn't down to the organisers. I don;t know any convention that would foot the bill for your hotel accomodation just as a goodwill gesture.

[SgtAngua_CW]

Right. I've had to stop reading, it's giving me a headache.

There are so many things I disagree with being said here. And then there are those like Stumpy, Fonz, Nahp, Chicalem, Silverfox and Breyah, who I want to hug until they stop breathing. In a good way.

I agree with everything they said.

I told myself that everyone is entitled to their opinion (which they are). I said I would not get the rage (I have).

And it's because of one person in particular. Step forward, Fixatedon.

I appreciate that you may prefer someone who is experienced and confident on a stage to introduce and moderate the guest Q&As.

And despite the fact that you sort of took it back, saying that the SFX team are charisma free is NOT OK.

These are people who have worked tirelessly all year to create an event that everyone can enjoy and feel part of. They are not, however, performing monkeys. They are lovely, dedicated and, above all, geeks. Just like us.

I have spent the last few years getting to know these guys and I will not have anyone besmirch their characters. As you know, they do not spend a lot of time on a stage, they're far too busy ensuring we have a fantastic magazine to read each month. I know that they all feel privileged to be able to moderate these events, especially if the guest is someone who is an icon to them personally. Nerves are always going to be on display. Deal with it.

I love the fact that they have this opportunity - we read their interviews in the mag, this is just seeing it live. So this is me, saying I STRONGLY DISAGREE with your comment. I have the greatest admiration for this team and long may it continue.

ALSO, if the 'lady' who feels it was alright to go up to Ade Hill and YELL IN HIS FACE about Tony Head not turning up is on this forum, you should be ashamed of yourself. My friend saw it, and if I'd been there your ears would have been red raw from the lecture I'd have given you.

Right, breathe out. Now, how's everybody? Alright? You all look nice.

I had an absolute blast this weekend (my feet are really not happy with me). The guests and panels were always fascinating and absolutely hilarious. Just a Minute had me crying with laughter. I'd really like to see Sarah, China and Joe do some sort of stand up tour! I'm sure I'm not alone. Despite never having gotten round to reading any of China's novels, he is fast becoming one of my favourite people.

Some of my highlights are things that weren't scheduled - one being, and it's possible I may have mentioned this to you all, in person, over the weekend, that our quiz team not only came fourth but BEAT THE CHILDREN OF THE LLAMA GOD!!!! That alone was worth the cost of my ticket! I'm having plaques made.

Tony Lee was charming while I gushed a little at him. Toby Whithouse didn't mind when I dribbled slightly on his jacket while getting my photo with him *draws loveheart round Toby's name*. A gentleman dressed as Wash sat with me while watching The Thing and shared theories on the plot.

Also, thanks to Dr Hoof, also known amongst the masses as @MumofBabyDavros, for organising a group of us doing a female take on the Doctors. Serendipity must have been paying attention as we had been missing our Sixth Doctor. Then it was announced that THE Colin Baker was attending. Not only did we find a female Sixth Doctor to complete our girly photo, the gentleman himself was more than happy to pose with all of us (and a very excited Dave the Dalek)! So how about that then? Money couldn't buy it.

I even had the opportunity to thank Robert Rankin for not only yet another fantastic ceremony from his good self and his fabulous lady wife, but also for his moving speech last year on presenting Terry Pratchett with his award. His beautiful words resounded across a room where you could literally hear a pin drop and it left me with tears pouring down my cheeks. Which almost happened again this year with the creation and presentation of the Elisabeth Sladen Award.

So yes, I had a brilliant time. Two newbies in our group were also blown away by it all. And I will be back next year.

I suppose the few niggles do need to be addressed, but many others have already done so. Therefore I'd like to make a few suggestions:

The check-in calamity - open check in at 12pm instead of 5pm. Those who are only a few hours away can then get through and settled before those of us with longer journeys arrive around tea time.

The timeslot system - I actually think that this is a good system when working properly. But there are a few things:

I suggest the desk remain open the same time as check in so people can flow through and get everything they need. There should also be more than one person manning it. Poor Clare had to endure a lot of abuse pretty much single handedly and never once let her smile falter, I salute her. She did her best with a confusing system and needed more hands.

Having everyone collect their own ticket was never going to work. Queuing for 2 hours to get a ticket for a queue was bad enough without only being able to collect your own instead of your entire group's.

You can do everything online, so why not book your timeslots online, and print them off to bring with you? It would cut down on massive lines, people would find it easier to get what they want. To cut down on problems with guest cancellations for this, only activate this a few days before the event, maybe? Or give people a 1st / 2nd / 3rd choice, then email tickets to them? Just a couple of ideas.

I heard many people saying we should be given a timeslot when we check in, other cons do this. I dislike this idea. It's our weekend, we should be able to plan what we want to do, as much as possible.

The signing queues - VIP really needs to mean VIP. This must be sorted. Russell and his team did a great job under incredibly stressful circumstances, and deserve praise for that.

I also feel that the first year had the best queuing system - all the guests were there, you went along the line and out the other end - job done. I know this would be affected by availability of guests, but sometimes simplest is best. Perhaps.

Pontins do need to raise their standards - the food was poor quality and limited. I don't spend much time in the chalet but a couple of minor niggles: can someone move the toilet paper dispenser so we don't have to lean to the side to pee, and the new leather sofa bed is nice but too small for two people. Donna and I have known each other for years, but that's the closest we've ever been!

Those are my only issues, and they aren't that major - as long as I'm enjoying myself I'll keep coming back.

Phew, that was a lot of words, wasn't it? Is anyone still reading? Hello? HELLO???????

[thornbush8]

Loved it, had a great time, thanks to all involved. As one of our group said.. I'd come to this just for the people, the talks and movies are a bonus.
The people moaning about the accomodation- you forgot Camber pretty fast ! our chalet here was way better than Camber, no holes in the carpet, didn't stink etc. As for it being cold, what did you expect on the Wales coast in Feb - hardly the SFX team's fault is it ? Ditto the train de-railment. Things happen that are out of their control and you can't have 'stand by' guests just in case of earthquakes or whatever
Signing problems do seem to be an issue, but didn't bother with them : with each guest signing for an hour or so theres bound to be queues. If that's your thing, head to a dedicated signing con like Memorobillia where they are signing for 6 hours or so, much shorter waiting - maybe putting tv's in the signing area feeding from the main void would help though.
Complaints wise, it's prety much all Pontins, some very unhelpful staff, and poor timed locking of areas. I was told I couldnt go back into the pub as it was closing, I explained I had left loads of posessions in there and was still told 'no' ( I ignored him and got them anyway...) Lack of any wifi was a pain, meaning their card reader took forever to take a room deposit on the thursday. queuing for an hour and a half after driving from the south coast was a pain.
Very minor gripe - the sing along would have been much better with subtitles on, so everyone could join in, not just those who knew it backwards.
Booked up for next year, see some of you there, hopefully with lessons learned

[DanteLucien]

Shit I forget to mention one other awesome moment.

Getting a hug from Dave Bradley.