Dimension Jump XV

[Trena]

Well wasn’t that a nice, if amateurish event.

Topic

[Gwynnie]

Was it your first one?
It was mine, and I had an amazing time. Perhaps some things didn’t run according to schedule, but apparently they had much bigger numbers than they were used to dealing with. I thought that the organising team did very well to handle it, and the cast were lovely! (Especially Craig’s Q+A)

[ori-STUDFARM]

That was nice in the same way a sledge hammer is slightly tough. I loved every second of it….I didn’t even mind waiting for Chris Barry to finish yakking and get some signing done!!

[hummingbird]

> if amateurish

If by that you mean an event that’s not run by a big events company out to make loads of dosh and rip the fans off for every penny they can, then yes.

[Trena]

The scheduled events were good, the cast and FX team were on top form and happy to gabber away and then sign various obscure video slips.

The waiting around during long delays wasn’t particularly inspiring, regardless of the tenacity and genuinely helpful nature of the fan club team that ran the event.

I suspect Dimension Jump 2010 will be a much more tightly scheduled and more – professionally? – run affair.

[si]

Dimension Jump 2010. I can’t wait.

[Trena]

> If by that you mean an event that?s not run by a big events company out to make loads of dosh and rip the fans off for every penny they can, then yes.

Nonsense, take the Torchwood convention run twice a year by Showmasters. A close friend of mine is a devotee and has ensured me of its absolute value for money, tight scheduling and absolute plethora of events during down-time inbetween cast and crew talks and autograph / photography sessions.

Dimension Jump had a bunch of episodes and long waits while a partially functioning karaoke was constructed…

[Gwynnie]

Well, the karaoke was bad, and I’m sure they’ll know not to book that guy again. The DJ at the disco was awesome, though, so it made up for it.
And taking the word “professional” to mean doing something and being paid for it, then I don’t think it was, so you have to respect the fan club for that. There was a lot of waiting around but if you befriended every poor soul within a 5m radius then the time passed a lot more quickly!

[Trena]

I respect the fan club for the time and effort they put in, but it seems pre-planning went right out the window.

They had fourteen previous convention experiences to learn from and plan a good range of downtime and delay activities.

[Gwynnie]

But you’re forgetting that they normally only get about 100 people, not the 400 odd that turned up this time. Plus it won’t have been the same people running it for 14 DJs!

[Seb Patrick]

>I suspect Dimension Jump 2010 will be a much more tightly scheduled and more – professionally? – run affair.

You seem to forget that it’s not run by professionals. I mean, technically, it is entirely amateur. It’s run by a not-for-profit organisation, and nobody involved in the running of it gets paid a penny. That was the point being made above about it not being run by one of these companies – you refuted that with your point about the Torchwood cons, but as you said yourself they’re run by a company called Showmasters (who, I presume from their name, specialise in shows).

I’m not going to say this event was anything like perfect. But I think using the word “amateurish” in such a pejorative sense – even though technically the word is correct, I don’t think the usage applied – is a bit unfair. Especially considering how well most of the events, when they did get going, went – Craig’s Q&A was spectacular, and Richard O’Callaghan’s was pretty great given the time of night as well.

[Trena]

A little foresight goes a long way, especially with the increased numbers that were expected due to the success of Back To Earth. The knowledge that a few hundred punters who have paid fifty quid a pop to be there would make anyone planning such an event create a downtime schedule that could be offbeat and fun for all sitting around, drinking four quid lagers.

Luckily, a nice and not overly large woman became interested and got me drunk.

[hummingbird]

@Trena : Maybe you’d be better off going to the unofficial convention, run by a professional company, which classes fans according to how much they can afford (how nice it must be to be a third class fan!).
I seem to recall that you could get your Q&A, autographs and photo session for the trifling sum of ?150.

[Carlito]

> Cardiff Dimension Jump 2010. I can?t wait

Fixed.

;)

[Trena]

I guess it is a little unfair, but I’ve been absolutely spoilt by other conventions where the main events are on time, and if not, there is a solid amount of distractions and pre-planned bookings with the hotels and halls for the fans to pick up reasonably priced drink, food and various merchandise tidbits.

Both sides, the fan club and the hotel, can benefit greatly, regardless of its voluntary planning team.

[hummingbird]

Well then, on a positive note, why don’t you offer your experience to the fan club and help to organise the next one?

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

Trena, considering the amount of effort the fan club put into getting the con set up, unpaid in their spare time, I’ve got to say… you’re sounding like a bit of an ungrateful arse.

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

hummingbird said it better, actually… :)

[Trena]

I dunno, they seem a bit cliquey and perhaps wary of knobby outsiders with a grumble or three to broadcast.

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

[hummingbird]

It was my first DJ and I only knew people from posting on this site.
I found everyone – without exception – very friendly. It’s one of the friendliest events I’ve been to.

The fan club people were busy – of course they were – but I never found them cliquey.

Did you even try talking to them? I mean, apart from when you were grumbling?

[Trena]

They were by all accounts, very nice and helpful people.

But some upstart jumping in with a bunch of ideas, demands and plans, how would you react?

I’d punch myself…

[Jonathan Capps]

FAN CLUB: The team’s well aware of how everything went over the weekend and what we’d like to work on and improve.

G&T: You’re talking like a prick.

[TheLeen]

I have got suggestions for next time and I shall send them to the fanclub when I’m a little less… tired.

[Jonathan Capps]

> I have got suggestions for next time and I shall send them to the fanclub when I?m a little less? tired.

Yup, we had loads of excellent feedback from people with regards to how to improve next year and Jo, Ian and I already have a decent sized word document with the beginnings of ideas to enhance and improve, including everything that Trena has mentioned.

The post-event DJ site will be launched tomorrow, by the way, with a nice survey to direct your suggestions at.

[Trena]

I have a ton of ideas, from vague to detailed.

I’m talking like a prick, apparantly.

[Jonathan Capps]

> I?m talking like a prick, apparantly.

I dunno, I’ve heard plenty of negative comments this weekend and from the start of reading yours you had my back up in a way they didn’t, despite the fact you were complaining about the things that we’re most wanting to focus on next year. I think you’ve been patronising and dismissive, which isn’t the best way to get yourself heard.

[Trena]

As long as major improvements are made for next years event, then I’m sure it can be a wholly positive and long-running event, especially as we have new episodes to look forward to and a growing fan base.

I, along with many others, just want to see Dimension Jump be a convention that can attract many people and also compete with some of the best events out there, and at the same time keep its personal, reasonably priced and fan-prioritised nature.

Not once have I been patronising or dismissive, and being called a prick isn’t a reliable way to endear yourself to a concerned and completely grateful person who, regardless of the downtime, had a cracking time at the convention.

[Jo]

They were by all accounts, very nice and helpful people.

But some upstart jumping in with a bunch of ideas, demands and plans, how would you react?

I?d punch myself?

So… you accuse us of being cliquey because?

I appreciate that, especially with the autograph session on Saturday, there was a lot of waiting around and we tried our best to make the queuing as short as possible on Sunday. But we had nearly 400 attendees who all wanted to get autographs and photos with the cast members who attended there was only so much we could do. Yes, the time it would take to get everyone through was underestimated, I admit that and we apologised on more than one occasion for this. Will we learn from this experience? Yes, absolutely!

You say we have 14 events worth of experience in holding Dimension Jumps and should have learned by now? But that’s not entirely true. The Official Red Dwarf Fan Club as an organisation has a history of putting on these events, but the team is not the same now as it was in 1992, the team is not even the same now as it was for DJXIV and this DJ was the busiest in 12 years.

While other events may be a little more slick and polished, the way we run DJ means that we can offer 7 Red Dwarf cast members plus the 5 FX boys – all doing Q&As, signing autographs and posing for photos – all for a maximum entrance fee of ?65. We *could* speed up the queues by charging for photos or indeed banning them altogether, but this would be completely at odds with the philosophy of an event run by fans for the fans. If we were to make this a more ‘professional’ event then not only would it cost the attendees much more, but it would change Dimension Jump into a completely different event.

The guests and fans alike enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere at DJ. At our event, if Hattie decides to have a dance at the disco, attendees can join her. Or if Craig plays a few impromptu tunes on the piano, anyone can watch. We don’t segregate attendees based on how much they can afford to pay.

We are more than happy to take on board feedback and will try our best to work on any valid issues raised. If anyone has any ideas for us then please fill in our DJXV survey and let us know.

[Jonathan Capps]

I’ll apologise for the prick comment (not quite found the right Fan Club/G&T balance right on here) but you’re still being patronising and dismissive and not doing a great job endearing yourself to us while making your comments.

[Trena]

You’re assuming I want changes in terms of pricing, cast access and so on…

I really do not, not in the slightest. The clique remark was a joke and I knew as soon as I typed it in, it would be pounced on, even with a joke aimed at myself at the end of that post to make that obvious.

The waiting during autographs is inevitable, all I want is a good range of activities to be launched and utilised in periods of delay, technical or personal in terms of cast delay or in times of downtime i.e autograph signing and inbetween cast appearances.

I’ll refer back to my previous post as well.

My appreciation for Dimension Jump is unbounded.

Jonathan, I suggest you find peace with your opinion of me, I don’t want to continue an argument you started, thank you.

After all, I’m in the process of building a model of Red Dwarf, I’m considering having it signed by everyone and perhaps auctioning it at the event for a good charity… perhaps the charity or charities that Danny John Jules actively participates in.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Jonathan, I suggest you find peace with your opinion of me, I don?t want to continue an argument you started, thank you.

My initial reaction was based on the cliquey comment as I saw no evidence in that post that it was a joke aimed at you. Sounded very much like an unfair and inaccurate dig, so you should understand why I was annoyed.

I’ve never said your concerns aren’t accurate, but my comments about your initial tone stand, hence my even worse tone. I apologise, anyway.

[Trena]

Cliquey sod.

[Jo]

The waiting during autographs is inevitable, all I want is a good range of activities to be launched and utilised in periods of delay, technical or personal in terms of cast delay or in times of downtime i.e autograph signing and inbetween cast appearances.

See, now this I can work with and as Cappsy has already mentioned, we spent our train journey home typing up a massive list of things to work on and new ideas for last time. More things to occupy attendees in between events and during autographs being among them.

The majority of people I spoke to on Sunday and Monday had a great time despite the queuing issue and delays, I hope that this is indeed the case with you. Unfortunately some problems arose which we couldn’t foresee and could do nothing about (Bobby being late, for example) but I also accept that there were some things that we could maybe have handled better and we will endeavour to fix these things for DJXVI.

On a personal note, your comment about the team being cliquey may have been a joke, but it doesn’t read as one and it was what prompted me to post. This was my first DJ on the fan club team and it was a very different experience to my previous DJs. I hardly stopped all weekend, literally running all over the place, I barely found any time to speak to some of my best friends or even my own brother who attended the event. I really tried my hardest to keep everyone as happy as was possible, chatting to attendees, dealing with any problems which arose and all the time trying to be as approachable as possible. You can see why an unfounded comment such as yours, joke or not, would provoke a response.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Cliquey sod.

Oh you.

[TheLeen]

Jo, how many characters are allowed in the comment field of that survey? Cause I think I wrote a wall of text. And I totally FORGOT to include this:

Scheduling updates per twitter please! So that you’ll know even when you’re in the autograph queue! If you have a proper phone (which I haven’t, but oh well)

[Jonathan Capps]

> Jo, how many characters are allowed in the comment field of that survey? Cause I think I wrote a wall of text. And I totally FORGOT to include this:

Don’t worry, the form would tell you if you broke it with all your text!

[Trena]

I’m more than happy to offer my services to the team. When I get involved with projects, I do tend to become very focused and perhaps overly determined to plan out everything in gratuitious detail, so my apologies are also offered to those offended by any misinterpretation of my remarks.

You, along with the rest of the team were nothing short of amazing to marshal in and keep the convention running for nothing more in compensation than the love of the show.

[TheLeen]

Thank you Cappsy!

[Liam Fretwell]

I didn’t know I was part of a clique! Joy behold!

[Trena]

I wish I was part of a clique, I’d broadcast my daily diatribe in a completely viewerless blog and rant on regardless of threats of actual physical violence.

Much like I’ve doing since I was seventeen.

*Punches himself*

*Twice*

[Dave]

The clique shall inherit the Earth.

[Trena]

Boots perfume counter staff are always dependable when an emergency clique is needed, and they smell just awful.

[Joey TORDFC]

A beardy clique.

[Trena]

Born to clique.

[Liam Fretwell]

You and your beard fetish Joey!

[Gwynnie]

Not another beard thread ;)
Well. I thought DJ was awesome. So, no complaining! And the next one will be even better, although I won’t be able to attend :(

[hummingbird]

> although I won?t be able to attend :(

Oh noes!

[TheLeen]

Seriously, Gwynnie? Uhm… objection!

[Seb Patrick]

Presumably this will have something to do with being in Japan?

Also, newsflash: DJ isn’t the only necessary excuse for getting together. It’s a good way of meeting awesome people, but you don’t always have to wait until the next one to see them again.

[redhead85]

Was lovely meeting Cappsy and Jo the other day – would be nice to have a larger London gathering to meet more new RD peeps

[Author]

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