Where have all the Heroes gone?

[James]

Not the song. But the cast of the entitled super power posse.

http://www.massiveevents.co.uk/eclipse/info.php?programmes

2 of the orginal cast have dropped out leaving just 4 for the convention. This isn’t too bad and not my point to the post, more over looking at the actual cost of the event. looking at the Gold Pass and what you actually get for your money. Is this worth it? And a secondary question. Could this be brought to a Red Dwarf convention? Would fans want a Gold Pass for our conventions? Obviously not at there price, but would you want something like this?

Topic

[pfm]

Ooh it’s a thread about a not-as-good-as-you-might-think television programme!

[Jonathan Capps]

> Ooh it?s a thread about a not-as-good-as-you-might-think television programme!

A not at all obvious attempt to start an argument, there.

[TheLeen]

> but would you want something like this?

Yes, absolutely.

> Obviously not at there price,

Correct.

[Jo]

but would you want something like this?

Well no not at the memorabilia type prices, no.
I don’t really understand what things you’d be offering for the extra money, what were you thinking about offering?

[TheLeen]

If it’s a cocktail party (or dinner) with the cast, I’m in there.

A free t-shirt is a good idea for those people who’d be getting a con shirt anyway will be tempted to buy the golden ticket.

Priority queuing for autographs and photos would usually be great, but not needed if it’s handled the way it was at last DJ, that worked really well (for me at least).

[Dave]

I’ve never been to a convention, but it seems that DJ is not like the others. There are umpteen Who, Trek, Buffy get-togethers but only one DJ.

Wouldn’t something like that create a them-and-us spirit at DJ?

[TheLeen]

Well, many people I met last DJ said afterwards in forums etc that

– they really go there to meet each other
– they have all the autographs and aren’t really thrilled by seeing the cast

So why not offer THEM a reduced, “just be there” fee while relative newbs, like me, who hasn’t met all of the cast members, or people who come from Japan or the USA or Australia and are really willing to spend a lot of money on their holiday experience, pay AND enjoy the full package?

As far as I can tell, it’s a bit them-and-us already anyway because not everyone can afford to go to DJ in the first place.

[Jo]

I think it’s a good idea in theory, and it works at the bigger conventions, i just think that currently DJ is too small an event for it to work properly.

A meal/drink with the guests for example… at DJ just wouldn’t work. There are not usually any days when ALL the guests are in the building at the same time. Chris Barrie for example (from what I’ve seen) usually turns up does the Q&A and autograph session and then leaves, doesn’t tend to stick around for meals/drinks.

Also the whole feel of DJ is much more relaxed and friendly than at these big events where you can’t get anywhere near the guests till you pay. There is no time to chat, It’s like a production line – pay – autograph/photo – move along please…
I love the fact that DJ is nothing like those events, you can approach the guests, chat to them get photos if they’re hanging around (as I have done in the past with Danny and Hattie) I think perhaps that by introducing “Gold” packages it could be a slippery slope, creating as Dave rightly points out a kind of divide between the normal attendees and the *Gold* attendees.

Priority queueing… can’t see it working when you’ve only got a few hundred people showing up. To be honest the numbering system that is already in place doesn’t always work – people just chance their arm and queue when they aren’t supposed to and it goes unchecked, if this was resolved then I can’t see any need for offering ‘Priority’ queueing as it works fairly smoothly already.

T-shirts/free gifts – Fine, but it would depend how much you were paying, if you charge say an extra ?50 or something then I can’t see it being worth it – just buy yourself a t-shirt.

Also you would have to limit numbers so how many would this be limited to? Usually at the larger events it’s around 100 places – that would have been nearly all the attendees of last years DJ. So around 10? 20?

I appreciate the fact that the extra money would be good for the fan club and as a result for DJ – more money = better/more guests, but it’s already been stated that most people would be more than willing to pay an slightly more for the registration fee – surely if everyone was paying ?15-20 more the fan club would benefit a hell of a lot more than 10 or 20 people paying ?50 more.

Ok I’ve gone on a bit there… I’ll go for my lunch now :oP

[Steve Harris]

On the face of it, it sounds quite a good idea but having thought about it I can see several draw backs…

Perhaps the biggest problem is the relaxed feel of DJ, in previous years many of the cast have mingled with the fans, had drinks at the bar and generally mixed with everyone. Perhaps not so apparent at last years, there were still opportunities to chat with the guests. Surely, if someone was paying a premium for guest attention they would be a tad miffed if the guests then appeared willing to mix with all and sundry. This, in my view would pressure the team to police the event,shackle the guests and completely lose the family-relaxed atmosphere.
I get the impression that where these American gatherings happen, a much more regimented approach is taken. Frankly, for the non-golden-ticket people, they may as well go to events like Memorabilia, shake hands, get an autograph and leave.

T’shirt freebies are all well and good, but any additional monies made on the tickets could be lost by removing the desire to buy souvenirs.

Overall, as a fan club event, it should be aimed at everyone there and alienating the poorer members seems to fly in the face of what a fan club should be…

[Tanya Jones]

I agree with the comments above; DJ is just too small an event for that sort of thing. Also, there’s a tradition of it being a fan gathering, where no-one’s better than anyone else, and anyone can talk to a guest if they want to. I think changing that would put a lot of people off.

[James]

Thank you everyone! I agree, it does seem a high price to get what we do as standard. Paying ?195 for little seems way too much and would create a divide in the fans. I’m always looking for ways to improve DJ, and I really value your in depth comments and solutions. I have been to a few of the conveyor events, its quite mad sometimes. You have to be early to get a ticket for autos, if you don’t get a ticket, you have to wait till the very last. Then you queue! 3 hours I spent one time for Tom Baker.

I will be still trying to keep prices as cheap as I can for the next DJ, but its a case of cost over attendance, and the added hotel bill on top doesn’t help. The Gold Pass seems a way to make more money for the organisation, of course they probably have to pay for the flights over. I think this probably makes the event itself, guests that normally would never attend.

We as a Fan Club have to do something like this on a smaller scale, get the guests you want to see. Tony Hawks for example, having the main cast is fine, we wouldn’t be without them, but when you’ve been to 5 DJ’s you need to see more. I think we have pay particular attention to provide more actual entertainment for the fans. keep this family feeling through out the weekend.

I wish we had the cash available that Heroes does, but as with Red Dwarf itself you have to be crafty and work with a small budget.

[pfm]

I like that you don’t even get the convention t-shirt and goodie bag unless you spend ?195 on the gold pass!

Maybe I would pay that if I got to have my own private cocktail party AND private photoshoot with Hayden Panettiere (I’d want the goodie bag and t-shirt too, of course…).

[Steve Harris]

Perhaps if Hayden Panettiere WAS the goodie bag….

[Tanya Jones]

Then ?195 would be tremendous value.

[Danny Stephenson]

>if Hayden Panettiere WAS the goodie bag?

she owns two :)

[James]

Danny come out of those dirty pillows!!!

[Author]

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