There are two types of convention: genre-specific weekend conventions
and signing events. There used to be a time where genre-specific weekend
conventions were referred to as ‘conventions’, while signing events were
referred to as ‘signing events’. But, alas, signing events started putting the
word ‘convention’ in their title and everything got confusing. Therefore, for
the purposes of this review, I’m going to call them ‘weekend conventions’ and
‘signing events’. These terms aren’t technically
correct, as signing events often take place over entire weekends and also
include activities other than guests signing autographs (photos, talks, Q &
A’s, cosplay competitions, etc.), but I’m too lazy to come up with better
terms. Everybody clear?
Weekend
conventions are smaller and more intimate than signing events. The ones I’ve
attended before have ranged from 200-700 people, with 400 being the mean
number. They usually take place over a Friday evening, a Saturday, and a Sunday
(sometimes there’s no Friday evening), and you always get much more time
with the guests...if you’re willing to pay for it. If you attend a weekend
convention as a standard ticket holder, you can attend the talks and get an
autograph with the guests (bonus guests come with an additional charge), but
you can also do that at signing events. However, it’s rare that signing events
have parties at the night time. Sometimes, if you’re very lucky, the guests (or
some of them) will attend the parties and interact with you. They’ll dance with
you, have conversations with you, and maybe, if you’re very lucky, let you
grind against them on the dance floor, which is the case with someone I know.
Therefore, the first major difference between signing events and weekend
conventions is that weekend conventions are often smaller, more intimate, and
gift you the opportunity of spending more time with the guests. If you go to a
weekend convention as something other than standard, you get more perks. These
perks and ticket options vary from company to company, so I’ll discuss them
later when it’s relevant.
Signing events have some similarities with weekend conventions, such as
autographs, professional photographs, and talks, but they also have a few key
differences. Firstly, entry is cheap in comparison. Whereas you might pay £100
for a standard ticket to a weekend convention, a signing event may be £15
(note: that’s £100 to attend all the days of the weekend convention, whereas
signing events are usually paid for with individual days). Signing events are
much larger...especially with the growth of signing events in the past few
years. There are more signing events in the UK than ever before and they’re
only continuing to grow in popularity. I believe that both ‘MCM London’ and
‘London Film and Comic Con 2014’ topped 100,000 people over their respective
weekends. Due to this volume of people, you get less time with the guests. This
obviously depends on a few factors. Firstly, the size of the guest’s queue.
Secondly, the guest’s preferences and temperament. Some guests might not like
to talk much. Some guests might be shy and nervous...or some guests might talk
your ear off. It really depends on the person and the situation. Whereas a
weekend convention may have 5-10 guests, decent signing events can top 50 or
100. Therefore, you have a wider range of guests, covering a large number of
fandoms, and you’re only paying for the people that you want to meet. One of
the biggest downsides is that queues are way longer. Queues to get into the
building, queues to meet guests, photo queues...it’s all going to be much
longer on average than a weekend convention, which is why organisation is so important (we’ll get on to that topic later).
There are many more differences and similarities between the two convention
types, but I’ll address some of those later as they’re relevant. Plus, I’ve
written about a lot of them in depth during various convention reviews already,
so check some of those out for a more detailed analysis #CheapPlug.
Before the countdown begins, there is one last thing to mention. In my
experience there are three types of convention guest. I have labelled them and
given a brief description of each :-
· The Responder:
This type of guest is often polite and friendly. If you ask them a question,
they’ll happily answer. If you give them a comment, they’ll respond or smile
gratefully. However, they won’t carry the conversation forward, you have to.
Examples include David Yost, Andy Umberger, Lena Headey, Summer Glau, Jim
Parrack, Amy ‘Lita’ Dumas.
·
The
Groucho/Big Guest: There are two aspects to this category. Firstly,
you have the groucho. The groucho is there for monetary purposes or is
generally just having a bad day, or is a bit of an ass. If you meet enough
people, one of them is bound to be an ass! The grouchos aren’t interested in
conversations above a few words. They’ll say ‘hi’ (sometimes they don’t bother
with that), sign, say ‘bye’ (sometimes), and you’re on your merry way. Of
course, in certain situations this is relevant and expected, which brings me to
the second part of this category, the big guest. Some guests are going to be
insanely popular. Such as Stan Lee at LFCC ’14, who had an entire building to
himself basically. When you get a huge queue like that, the guest can’t take a
lot of time with everyone. If they did, many people would go home disappointed
at not getting to meet them at all. Therefore, the convention company and the
guest want to get through as many people as possible. If one was being cynical,
one could also mention that the more people a guest gets through, the more
money the guest and the organisation makes. You cannot have a huge guest and
expect to get above a minute or two with them, which is perfectly fair.
·
The
Conversationalist: This is easily
my favourite type of guest. They’ll answer your questions with a smile, ask
you questions in return, and are happy to chat for an extended period of time,
regardless of where the conversation leads or how long you’ve been talking.
Obviously, there has to be some cut-off
point if there is a queue behind you, but you leave the experience feeling
euphoric and like you gained a lot more than just the autograph you queued for.
Examples include James Marsters, Jonathan Woodward, DDP, Aimee Richardson,
Anthony Head, Ian McElhinney, George Hertzberg.
Keep these three categories in mind while I run through the countdown.
Comparing weekend conventions to signing events is unfair as they’re so
different. You can’t compare, say, a gold ticket for “Vampire Ball” to a
standard entry ticket for “LFCC”. They’re two entirely different experiences and trying to fairly compare the two would be difficult. Therefore, I’ve decided
to omit “Vampire Ball 6” from this list entirely. In 2014, I attended three
weekend conventions, which gave me the opportunity to adequately compare and contrast
all three of them. However, with just one being on the agenda for 2015, there’s
no point trying to compare “Vampire Ball 6” to anything else, so I’ll just say
that it was amazing and encourage you to check out the full review of the event
here. “Vampire
Ball 6” was given a respectable ‘final score’ of 9/10.
One final thing to note before the countdown! I’ve attended a lot of
conventions before starting this blog. When I used to attend these conventions,
I’d write up detailed reports of the day/weekend and send them to my friend
Jon. I’m currently in the process of looking through these reports, editing out
the swear words and snarky comments, and making them blog friendly. Keep an eye
out for them over the coming days. These will include my experiences of meeting
Norman Reedus, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Jason Momoa, DDP, Jon Bernthal,
Armin Shimerman, and many more!
Signing
Events – The Countdown
During the course of 2015, I attended six signing events. In
chronological order they were :- Cardiff Film & Comic Con (March), Stoke
Con Trent (April), Wales Comic Con 2015 Part I (April), Collectormania: Milton
Keynes (June), London Film & Comic Con (July), and Wales Comic Con 2015
Part II (November). For those keeping score, that’s 3x Showmasters events, 2x
Wales Comic Con events, and 1x Stoke Con Trent event. Rhymey goodness. Without
further ado, let’s dive in...
6th Place: Stoke Con Trent 2015
I believe that this was the 2nd ever “Stoke Con Trent” event
and it showed. While the event was successful and I enjoyed myself, there was
no doubt that some teething issues were still apparent. The talk stage was in
the middle of a crowded merchandise area where some of the guests were located,
there were no studio photos being offered, and there were certainly some
spacing issues. However, to give “Stoke Con Trent” their due, it seemed like
most people were having a good time. Since this event, “Stoke Con Trent” seems
to have gone from strength to strength, now running two events per year, with a
higher calibre of guest attending each subsequent event. It might be
interesting to go back in a couple of years to see the progress that has/hasn’t
been made. The downside was that there were only a few people I wanted to meet,
with a couple of those having to cancel before the event. This left just two
people on my meet list – one to meet for the first time and one to go and say
‘hi’ to again.
Top 3 Guests Of The Convention (Go To The Review Itself For Reasoning)
3rd: N/A
2nd: Spencer Wilding
(An absolute gent and very, very easy to get a long conversation out of)
1st: Aimee Richardson
(It was great to see Aimee and her Mother, Lesley, again. Aimee is something of
a friend, so it was nice to catch up)
FINAL SCORE FOR THE CONVENTION (OUT OF 10): 7
5th Place: Cardiff Film & Comic Con 2015 (Showmasters)
5th Place: Cardiff Film & Comic Con 2015 (Showmasters)
Much like “Stoke Con Trent”, I had high hopes for this event. However,
it was hit with an absolute shit-ton of
cancellations right before, including James Marsters (my favourite celebrity
I’ve ever met at present), Brenock O’Connor (Olly from “Game Of Thrones”), Iain
Glen (Jorah Mormont from “Game Of Thrones”), and Christopher Cousins. Even with
these taken into account, I still wanted to meet five people, but it definitely
took a little bloom off the rose, especially as James Marsters and Iain Glen
were the number one and number two people I was most looking forward to seeing.
However, what “CFCC” had that “Stoke Con Trent” didn’t was the experience of
Showmasters. Even the shittiest Showmasters events are pretty well organised
these days. The photoshoots mostly run on time, everything is usually laid out
in a way that you don’t get crushed, and you’re usually inside the building
fairly quickly. However, some things about the event did irk me. Firstly, I had
two studio photos and both turned out shockingly bad. Like, both in my top 5
least favourites ever bad, and I think part of the reason why was the lighting
and setup of the area in general. Secondly, the lighting in the Motorpoint
Arena does absolutely nothing for good photos at the autograph table. While
this isn’t Showmasters fault, it still needs to be taken into account when
reviewing the event as a whole because subpar photographs at the autograph
table can lead to a sucky time once you get home. The five guests I met at the
event were Dave Prowse (Darth Vader), Ray Park (Darth Maul), Daniel Portman
(Podrick Payne from “Game Of Thrones”), Bob ‘Hardcore’ Holly (wrestler), and
Samuel Anderson (Danny Pink from “Doctor Who”). Out of those five guests, four
offered photos at the autograph table, which was surprising in the case of Ray
Park. The only one who didn’t was Dave Prowse, which is fair when you consider
his age and the fact that he had a broken ankle at the time and was on
crutches. Out of those four photos at the autograph table, one turned out
great, two turned out mediocre, and one turned out awful. So, for those keeping
score, that’s 5/6 photos with the guests that absolutely sucked. Again, the
lighting in the arena is not Showmasters’ fault, but it still adds to or
detracts from a good experience. On the plus side for the event, all 5 guests
were varying levels of excellent and the Motorpoint Arena is a great place for
a convention, shitty lighting aside.
Top 3 Guests Of The Convention (Go To The Review Itself For Reasoning)
3rd: Ray Park (A very
friendly, talkative guy, who gets extra props for offering pictures at the
autograph table. Not many £25 guests do.)
2nd: Daniel Portman
(Great guy! Funny, friendly, had a long conversation, bonded over our mutual
love of wrestling, and bumped into him at ‘Yo! Sushi’ later in the day. Studio
photo and phone photo turned out shit, but I’m rectifying this at “LFCC” this
year.)
1st: Samuel Anderson
(One of the best guests I’ve ever met. Talked for ages, drew a little picture
on the 8” x 10”, drank vodka Slush Puppy with us...it’s just a shame the
picture turned out shit. Hoping to get this rectified soon. Would love to meet
Samuel again.)
FINAL SCORE FOR THE CONVENTION (OUT OF 10): 7
4th Place: Collectormania: Milton Keynes 2015 (Showmasters)
This event holds a special place in my heart because I attended it about
a week after I was kicked out of the house I was living in because the room was
needed for someone else. I was angry, I was hurt, I was furious, and I
desperately needed a distraction. So, quite spontaneously, myself and my friend
John decided to go, mostly for Nick Blood (Agent Lance Hunter from “Agents Of
SHIELD”) and Carice Van Houten (Melisandre from “Game Of Thrones”). Of course, following my string of bad luck
with cancellations, Carice cancelled just before the event. Oof, the pain. No
matter, there were still many, many people I wanted to meet. That was
definitely one of the big pros of this event – the guest line-up was fantastic
and I ultimately met thirteen people in one day, including seven studio photos.
Furthermore, out of those thirteen people, eleven offered photos at the
autograph table, which is always a big bonus. Even if I’ve got a studio photo
booked with someone, I love getting a phone photo too because it acts as a
backup in case the studio photo turns out shit. Unlike “Cardiff Film &
Comic Con”, the studio photos turned out great here. I like all seven of them
to various degrees. Every single guest I met was fantastic and I had some
incredible conversations. So why isn’t this event higher? There are a few
reasons. 1) I had better conversations and more memorable experiences at the
other three that are ranked higher. 2) There were definitely some overcrowding
issues during the early afternoon. After 11am, entry to “CM:MK” is free.
Therefore, it gets rammed, and
because the convention takes place around the concourse, certain areas get
congested very quickly. Would I attend again? Yes. Does the event have areas
that need improving and rethinking? Absolutely.
Top 3 Guests Of The Convention (Go To The Review Itself For Reasoning)
3rd: Toby Sebastian
(So many guests at this convention were remarkable and a treat to spend time
with, but Toby stands out above the rest because of just how damn talkative he
was! I think it’s safe to say by now that the conversation is often the most
lasting impression I have of a guest. If someone is brusque, it’s memorable. If
someone engages with you and spends a good 5-10 minutes talking to you, it’s
very memorable.)
2nd: D-Von Dudley (Had
the longest, most humourous conversation of the day with D-Von and he couldn’t
have been friendlier.)
1st: Peter Ebdon (Head
and shoulders above the rest. Our conversation was long, interesting, deep, and
real. We talked about Veganism, snooker, his career, and what he needs to do
now to be in contention again. Total class act.)
FINAL SCORE FOR THE CONVENTION (OUT OF 10): 7.5
3rd Place: London Film & Comic Con 2015 (Showmasters)
Let’s give the Devils their due here. While LFCC 2014 was an absolute
clusterfuck from an organisational standpoint, especially the Saturday, LFCC
2015 showed marked improvements. Don’t get me wrong, there were still problems.
The 3rd floor bottlenecked and we were stuck there for 20 minutes
trying to get out, the building was bakingly hot because of all the people and
the July weather, but the great guest line-up made up for that. Showmasters
still have fundamental changes that need to be made to their flagship show,
which is why I can’t rank it higher, but overall the 2015 edition was a vast improvement over the 2014 addition.
However, they definitely need to put all the photoshoot areas on one floor if
possible. Getting from photoshoot to photoshoot quickly was a fucking
nightmare. Of course, LFCC will always be
a conveyer belt. You’ll always get less time with the guests, which sucks, but
is a necessary evil. You’ll always feel a bit like cattle. You’ll always be too
hot. You’ll always be exhausted and your feet will ache, but, honestly, that’s
part of the charm these days. If you want A-List guests, you should expect
A-List guest queues. The line-up was wonderful, practically everyone I met was
amazing, it was awesome to see some old friends again, and it was my second
favourite LFCC of the eight I’ve attended (second to 2013). I will definitely
be attending again in 2016. In fact, I already have my weekend tickets and
hotel booked.
Top 3 Guests Of The Convention (Go To The Review Itself For Reasoning)
I ended up meeting 17 guests over the LFCC weekend, while also getting
studio photos with a further 4 guests. Narrowing this down to three was
surprisingly easy because one guest stood out above the others on each of the
three days I attended the event. Peter on Friday, David on Saturday, and Rose
on Sunday.
3rd: Peter Shinkoda
(Peter was my wildcard guest. Due to the scale of the event and the amount of
people I needed to meet, Peter was initially a reverse. Alas, after Natalia
Tena, Charles Dance, Kurt Angle, and Emily Kinney all cancelled, Peter was
swiftly upgraded. One of the most genuine, honest, funny, heartfelt, humble
people I’ve ever met, while also holding a conversation better than almost
anyone. I’ve stayed in contact with Peter since this event. What a legend.)
2nd: David Bradley (I
didn’t know what to expect with David because A) He was only there for one day
so would be incredibly busy, and B) He always plays assholes. I am happy to
report that David is overwhelmingly upbeat and friendly. Even with his queue
rammed and his exhaustion obvious, David talked to me for a solid 5 minutes
while everyone behind was getting restless. Every time I started to leave,
David would continue the conversation. Totally exceeded my expectations.)
1st:
Rose Leslie (What a sweetheart. Due to pick-ups with “The Last Witch Hunter”,
Rose had to cancel on the Saturday of LFCC. However, she was still coming on
the Sunday, resulting in two days worth of photoshoots being crammed into one
day. Plus, one day to get through as many autographs as possible so people
didn’t go home disappointed. All of this on very little sleep and with jetlag.
Yet, I saw Rose five times that day. Every single time she had a massive smile
on her face. She was warm, caring, and made everyone feel special. Thankfully,
I met Rose quite early in the day, which was before she was being rushed by her
crew member because there were still loads of people to meet, so I got a
lengthy, wonderful conversation with Rose. Just a beautiful soul.)
FINAL SCORE FOR THE CONVENTION (OUT OF 10): 8.5
2nd Place: Wales Comic Con 2015 Part I
Choosing between the two 2015 editions of “Wales
Comic Con” was hard. The venue was the same for both, the atmosphere was the
same for both, both were excellently organised, both had stellar guest
line-ups...honestly, it’s hard to find a bad word to say about “Wales Comic
Con” these days. Everything just works. I love the talk halls, I love
the venue, I love the layout, I love the studio photo building, I love the
obvious passion that goes into the events, and, most of all, I love the fact
that you can feel that this isn’t solely a money-making venture for
Jaime and the team. They care so much about putting on a good event and it
shows. They listen to customer feedback, which is rare in this industry, and
every time I attend one of their shows it gets a little better. I’ll certainly
be at both 2016 editions of “Wales Comic Con”, and as long as they keep holding
the events, I’ll keep attending. It’s that perfect balance of being big enough
to get great guests, while also just about small enough so that you get a
decent amount of time with all of them. Almost all of my best experiences with
guests have been at “Wales Comic Con”, and almost all of my best conversations
have been as well. Absolutely faultless, and I say that with all sincerity. So
why is the part I edition ranked lower than the part II edition? Simply, with
“Wales Comic Con” being so good at the fundamentals by this point, what
differentiates one event from the other is solely down to interactions with
guests and the line-up. Both editions had strong line-ups (with the first
edition of 2016 having the most guests I’ve ever needed to meet at one
convention in my life!), but the interactions I had at Part II slightly
outweighed the interactions I had at Part I. That’s it. It’s that simple. Also,
bonus point to Part II for having a “Game Of Thrones” group photo shoot. For
the second year in a row (that’s both years I’ve been doing this), “Wales Comic
Con” has taken the number one and number two spots for signing events. Kudos to
Jaime and the team. You’re doing an incredible job.
Top 3 Guests Of The Convention (Go To The Review Itself For Reasoning)
3rd: Conan Stevens
(For a guy who’s 7’1” and incredibly intimidating to look at, Conan couldn’t be
a nicer guy. We’re both former wrestlers (with Conan’s former boss, who fired
him, Eric Bischoff, sitting at the next table), both big fans of “Game Of
Thrones”, both have read the “A Song Of Ice And Fire” books that the show is
based off of...basically, we had a lot to talk about. And we’ve stayed in
distant contact since the event. The most surprising guest of the event for
me.)
2nd: Kerry Ingram (I
met Kerry at “Wales Comic Con” the previous year and stayed in touch with her,
so seeing her again was great and gave us the opportunity to catch up and also
discuss the coming season of “Game Of Thrones”...and she still didn’t tell me
about Shireen’s toasty end!)
1st:
Nicky Brendon (One of my favourite guests ever and someone who was really struggling
at this time. Before the event, I reached out to my Buffyverse family and asked
them to send me gifts and words of comfort for Nicky if they so wished, and
they responded in droves! So, during the event, I gave Nicky a sack full of
cards, gifts, letters of encouragement, and words of support, which led to the
most real conversation I’ve ever had at a convention and one of the most real
conversations of my life. We discussed his battles with depression and
attempted suicide, my battles with depression and attempted suicide...it was
incredibly touching and emotional on both sides. I’m so pleased to see Nicky
doing well now.)
FINAL SCORE FOR THE CONVENTION (OUT OF 10): 9
1st Place: Wales Comic Con 2015 Part II
There’s not a great deal to say here that wasn’t said above, so I’m just
going to congratulate “Wales Comic Con”. Somehow, some way, “Wales Comic Con”
managed to take the worst weather I’ve
ever experienced at a convention and make something beautiful. It’s the
embodiment of the phrase ‘turning chicken shit into chicken salad’. It was windy,
it was pouring with rain, umbrellas were snapping, everyone was soaked,
everyone was getting colds, but damn it, it was an amazing event! The line-up
was phenomenal, the atmosphere was sublime, and my photos even turned out great
considering I looked like a drowned rat. All of them in fact! The only downside
to “Wales Comic Con” is that they keep raising the bar, making it harder and
harder for them to live up to the standards they’ve set. Will the first part of
2016 live up to the hype next month? I certainly hope so.
Top 3 Guests Of The Convention (Go To The Review Itself For Reasoning)
Nope, not choosing. It’s
impossible to pick just three. So, I’m making a top five, plus a bonus guest.
Bonus: Tad Looney of “Four Star
Mary”. “Four Star Mary” played the aftershow party and I had the opportunity to
talk to the band after the gig. I talked to Tad about my history with the band
and how they were my best friend’s favourite band growing up. We talked about
my best friend passing away, Tad asked how I was coping...it got really deep.
He cried, we hugged, it was magical.
5th: Kate Dickie (A delightfully
warm woman, with no hint of the madness and psychoticness of Lysa Arryn in
sight. Disarmingly friendly, chatty, appreciative, open...nothing but good
things to say about Kate.)
4th: Chris Jericho (A
childhood hero that lived up to the hype, which doesn’t happen often, quite
frankly. Chris was only at the event for a couple of hours. Once you take photoshoots
out of the equation, he had perhaps an hour and a quarter at the autograph
table. Yet, we have a nice little conversation and he seemed genuinely
interested and appreciative. With the time constraints available, you could ask
for nothing more. One of my favourite wrestlers I’ve met.)
3rd: Mark Stanley
(Such a great guy! Concerned at how soaking wet I was, insightful, funny,
talkative, only £10, photo at the table...one of the best guest encounters of
my life.)
2nd: Ian Beattie (One
of the funniest people I’ve met in my life. Loud, over the top, painfully
hilarious, great stories, talks for ages...meet him. Meet him now.)
1st: Ian McElhinney
(If James Marsters didn’t exist, Ian would be my favourite convention guest.
This was the 2nd time I met Ian and the 3rd has already
been lined up for 2016. He’s like a wise grandfather. I’ve had 1x 15-minute
conversation with Ian and 1x 10-minute conversation. I cannot do Ian justice.
Just go meet him. Especially if he’s at a convention with Ian Beattie.)
FINAL SCORE FOR THE CONVENTION (OUT OF 10): 9
So, there we have it. The countdown is complete, the rankings have been
assigned, and “Wales Comic Con” comes out on top again. Now, the big question
is will 2016 be as memorable as 2015? I’m actually expecting it to be even
better. I’ve already got two weekend conventions lined up, both of which are
Buffyverse based – “Prophecy” and “Vampire Ball 7”. In addition to those, I’ve
already attended “LFCC Spring” in February, with at least six more signing
events scheduled for the year – “Wales Comic Con 2016 Part I”, “Em-Con”,
“LFCC”, “Bournemouth Film & Comic Con”, “Wales Comic Con 2016 Part II”, and
“Gloucester Comic Con”.
Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting me, and thank you for
making it to the end of this recap. Virtual hugs and cookies for all!
If you have any convention related questions or simply want to talk
about your own convention experiences, please drop a comment below! Oh, and
sharing this on social media is also greatly appreciated!
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