FeederFan
Townie
I've just been to Eclipse in London and I have to say there were some major disappointments. The guest talks were, as ever, a hoot, and it was so cool of Tony Head to appear the day after a US convention. Well done that man! My friend and I really enjoyed the day as a whole and everything seemed well organised.
The disappointment was with the autograph sessions. Like many others I bought a photo of Charisma to get signed. My friend bought one for herself and one for a friend. We were told that at the beginning Charisma was signing up to 3 items. By the time it got to us this had dropped to one. My friend and I both had our Watcher's Guides signed as we have lots of other autographs in them, so we had to pass on the photos. The queue was stopped completely not far behind us, so lots of people didn't get an autograph at all. There were some seriously p**sed off people complaining to the organisers afterwards, and I can't say I blame them. Many people had purchased items on the day to get them signed but couldn't, and refunds weren't allowed; some didn't even get to meet her. The organisers pointed out that there is no guarantee of getting everything signed, that you're paying for the photo, and Charisma's slot was only 2 hours. This was woefully inadequate and I lay the blame on the bad judgement and bad scheduling of the organisers. As for Charisma, maybe she was tired, but she looked fed up with the whole thing; it was a production line and she didn't even look up. The session with Danny, Robin et al was the opposite; the guys were friendly and chatty, and this was what you expected an autograph session to be like.
The second gripe is with Tony's session. I realise there was a vast number of people waiting to see him; all the Sunday attendees like myself plus the weekend attendees. However, by the time we left the end of the queue had only reached ticket numbers around 450; ours were 890 odd. It was announced that signings would only go up to 700. Again we had bought a photo each specifically for an autograph. So we ended up spending £50 on photos which went unsigned. Some people went away without meeting either of the 2 big stars. Tony is doing a some bookstore signings which I will now have to attend to stand a chance of meeting him. The flyer specifically states that only items bought at the shop will be signed, and not to even bother bringing personal items. I don't mind buying something there, but I begrudge buying yet another photo. In view of this fiasco I would expect the Eclipse organisers as a goodwill gesture to clear it with the shop to allow people who missed out today to get the autographs they were denied.
The disappointment was with the autograph sessions. Like many others I bought a photo of Charisma to get signed. My friend bought one for herself and one for a friend. We were told that at the beginning Charisma was signing up to 3 items. By the time it got to us this had dropped to one. My friend and I both had our Watcher's Guides signed as we have lots of other autographs in them, so we had to pass on the photos. The queue was stopped completely not far behind us, so lots of people didn't get an autograph at all. There were some seriously p**sed off people complaining to the organisers afterwards, and I can't say I blame them. Many people had purchased items on the day to get them signed but couldn't, and refunds weren't allowed; some didn't even get to meet her. The organisers pointed out that there is no guarantee of getting everything signed, that you're paying for the photo, and Charisma's slot was only 2 hours. This was woefully inadequate and I lay the blame on the bad judgement and bad scheduling of the organisers. As for Charisma, maybe she was tired, but she looked fed up with the whole thing; it was a production line and she didn't even look up. The session with Danny, Robin et al was the opposite; the guys were friendly and chatty, and this was what you expected an autograph session to be like.
The second gripe is with Tony's session. I realise there was a vast number of people waiting to see him; all the Sunday attendees like myself plus the weekend attendees. However, by the time we left the end of the queue had only reached ticket numbers around 450; ours were 890 odd. It was announced that signings would only go up to 700. Again we had bought a photo each specifically for an autograph. So we ended up spending £50 on photos which went unsigned. Some people went away without meeting either of the 2 big stars. Tony is doing a some bookstore signings which I will now have to attend to stand a chance of meeting him. The flyer specifically states that only items bought at the shop will be signed, and not to even bother bringing personal items. I don't mind buying something there, but I begrudge buying yet another photo. In view of this fiasco I would expect the Eclipse organisers as a goodwill gesture to clear it with the shop to allow people who missed out today to get the autographs they were denied.