As knight con lost its way?

[heckyknight]

It looks like kitt is now way down the pecking order of heros as yesterday proved. I was disapointed by the lack of knight rider memorabilia on show there was non I could see apart from a few kitt's/ karr outside. Unless all the knightrider stuff was upstairs which I did pay £30 to go up stairs. It was just another sci-fi convention. It was poorly organised as only a handful of people could see anything.it was also dangerously overcrowded in the main entrance and at the parade. I think knightcon should have a re-think for next year if there is a next year.

[heckyknight]

Sorry above should have said didn't pay £30 for upstairs pass.

[KnaresboroughKnight]

Oh Jog on.... You got what you paid for.

[heckyknight]

Jog on is that the best come back you got. Or do I have a rather valid point, and to be honest I would have been more than pissed off if I had forked out £90 for me the wife and daughter to see the back of someone's head. Cause we could not get anywhere close enough to see the the hero's come out. I can also bet no one drove a kitt out in that line up. He used to be this sites hero. Shame.

[Admin]

If you came to any of previous Knightcons you would know that Knight Rider part was always separate and it was never open for public but since you didn't want to pay then you get only what's open for public. And parade is free and you never had to pay for it.

[heckyknight]

When it was in Halifax any joe public could see the knightrider memorabilia meet the stars have there picture taken with the stars and have the stars autograph watch the Glen A Larson video of him saying hi to us all. I know this as I have the pictures and autographs to prove it. So I don't know what your on about it as always been a private affair.

[Admin]

I'm talking about last three years at Xscape when you obviously weren't there. Plus it was clearly advertised as Knightcon - star cars and heroes event so I can ask you what you on about too? I'm sure Rob and Steve will answer to you after they recover from preparing the event for few months.

[KnaresboroughKnight]

Looked like a great event to me.

[Admin]

Yup to me too.

[heckyknight]

I came to the first one and I aired my views then too about going the wrong way. Which lead to Steve unfriending me on fb. But I was not the only one and I am still not the only one who agrees with my viewpoint. Maybe you should start Listening to the fans. Instead of doing it your own way. Just look at the turn out of kitt replicas. 23 in halifax which even beat the Americans vegas convention but only 10 tops this year. I think it should have been called star cars and hero's. There was no knightcon.

[Paul O]

Hecky, KnightCon criticism historically hasn't go down too well at all on here unfortunately,   but that said I thought I'd add my 2p to the debate anyway

I've been to every KnightCon since the start - beginning as a bunch of KR knerds in a car park (of which I am one!). I still remember how much I looked forward to seeing those cars for the first time! Over the years it gathered momentum and became bigger and bigger. But in truth, there is only so far you can stretch the Knight Rider theme before it becomes 'samey' and the numbers would ultimately to dwindle.

What I think Steve and Rob did was enhance the events to continue popularity and variety in Halifax with American cars and other 'star cars' but became apparent over a few years that the evolution of the event needed a bigger venue - the pub in Halifax was very full and it didn't get the exposure it could have had without ££££ of marketing.

Given the glitz and colour of Xscape, I think Rob and Steve hit the nail on the head with this move the following year, and I remember that first year at Xscape wondering if a bunch of Knight Rider cars at the back of a massive car park would be a touch embarrassing. I was totally blown away by what they had done, really pulling out all the stops and lord only knows how much these events are costing them each year. I know from experience that events of this nature take a hefty chunk of money as well as time.

Adding the 'heroes' was a great next-step to this, expanding the event whilst still acknowledging its Knight Rider roots. If you pay for the VIP evening, the night before, you'll get to meet all the knight rider replica owners, and hardcore fans from this very forum - to my knowledge its the only place you can get the VIP tickets. This is what you want if KR is the principal reason for you attending and you will find it very rewarding. The entrance fee for the experience really isn't much at all and is more akin to what you remember from the halifax days, albeit a bit more of an upmarket event.

Personally, I love the evolution of this event, and think Rob and Steve et al should be justly proud. I agree that the event would be lost without the KR cars and the chance for a private meet with the peeps from the forum. Having seen the KR replicas and memorabilia every year since the start of this forum though, I'm perhaps now more excited to see what else they have managed to come up with each year. The Star Cars and Heroes is the natural evolution of something that richly deserved to be more than a pub lunch.

Every event has its flaws - I'm sure Rob/Steve would agree. On the whole, its pretty fantastic. My constructive feedback, which I hope the guys would welcome, would be that the front of house was dangerously busy - I'd recommend feeding this back to the Xscape management as they should have enlisted much better croud control. Also, the heroes stage - next time if you can, make it bigger and higher off the ground. That will allow for a larger audience and a view from far at the back. As it was, I could see nothing from the rear and wouldn't go any closer with my 2 year old daughter as there were simply too many people in too smaller space.

Other than that, another superb job well done - some of the auto-icons there were a real sight to behold.

Congratulations, and thank you once again from me.

[KOTPKITT]

heckyknight has been to a couple of previous KnightCons and to be honest i am a bit vague why he would come to this one as last years was "shit"

if Heckyknight wants to do his own event and send me an invite that would rock

[KOTPKITT]

i didnt remove you on fb because of your "opinion" i removed you because your a trouble maker

[Tony Westwood]

Hi Hecky,

I understand what you are trying to say, but please try to understand that the Xscape event is a totally different ball game to our days in a Premier Inn car park in Halifax, and certain things have HAD TO change because of this fact.

I am not part of the team that puts this all together, so please do not think that I am making up excuses for myself or anyone else, but there are certain factors involved in the planning stages that those of us who are not involved do not see.

One such factor that I am aware of is that the owners of the venue at Xscape have made it clear to Rob & Steve that they are only interested in providing the venue for the "Star Cars & Heroes" event NOT for KnightCon as it was, and want more of the non "Knight Rider" stuff.
Rob & Steve could have just agreed to their demands and just merged KnightCon into the event that Xscape want, but rather than dropping the "KnightCon" event and just having KITT replicas as part of the main show Rob & Steve have managed to keep it as a seperate event within the bigger public "Star Cars & Heroes" event, and kept all the KnightCon stuff upstairs in a restricted area which is accessible when you buy the Platinum passes at £25 to gain access to the KnightCon event area upstairs.

Yes this means that the displays are no longer free, and yes it does add up when you bring people with you (I purchased 3 tickets again this year so trust me I know, but at least I didn't have to pay out £200 in petrol this year just getting KITT there and back because KITT is still being restored).
However, the money raised by the ticket sales is used for things like flying the VIPs over from the USA to come and join us, and that is not cheap, so we can't really grumble about being asked to help finance it can we?

I suppose Rob & Steve COULD have told the owners of Xscape to shove it and gone back to Halifax with "KnightCon", but if you saw our last year there it was already getting too big for that venue, so what could they do realistically? Big venues want more control, so "The Devil" has to be paid as it were.
Rob & Steve do the best job they can with the event that the owners of Xscape want.

Has it lost it's way? Maybe, who can say? A lot of us have said that we miss the intimacy of the old days at Halifax Premier Inn, and that we feel as if KnightCon is getting suffercated by the bigger show (a bit like vineweed choking a Rose bush), but that is just our opinion.
Different people want different things, so who can say which direction KnightCon should be going...... Only Steve & Rob. KnightCon is THEIR event, they are the ones who bust a gut to lay it on each year, and only they have the right to say what direction their event should go next.

If we do not like the direction their event goes in, and do not want to support it....  then we do not have to attend.

Hope this helps,

[SKIMODE]

You know what guys, after reading and hearing everyones comments here and on facebook, I now feel that when Steve and myself have recovered from this years event (which we absolutely put our hearts and souls into) we will be making an an announcement

[Lone_crusader]

We personally had a wonderful time

[KnaresboroughKnight]

Sorry to say it, BUT there are way too many KR fans living in a dream world. Why don't all you moaning muppets go hire the local Scout Hut, take your KR box set and watch them on loop for the day? If you get bored you could always go outside and run around making 'brum brum brum' sounds?
You are simply crazy to think that a Knight Rider only event is a viable event option in 2013. The show ended before some of you were born, the re-boot died a stinky death and to top it all off we are currently stuck in the middle of a slow recovering recession.

Sure the event probably wasn't perfect, but which is!? From the sounds of it ALL the non KR fans really enjoyed it, all you are doing is pushing the organizers away from bothering supporting Knight Rider at all at these events.

You moaning sods are like spoilt kids "We want more Knight Rider!" .... I mean, it's not like you weren't offered a Friday night of JUST Knight Rider or the chance to visit a pure Knight Rider only section of the event..... oh hang on, THATS RIGHT, you want and expect everything to be free... jeez silly me, I forgot that part.

Moaning, tight arse plonkers.

[Tony Westwood]

You moaning sods are like spoilt kids "We want more Knight Rider!" .... I mean, it's not like you weren't offered a Friday night of JUST Knight Rider or the chance to visit a pure Knight Rider only section of the event..... oh hang on, THATS RIGHT, you want and expect everything to be free... jeez silly me, I forgot that part.

Moaning, tight arse plonkers.

You REALLY are as subtle as a sledgehammer aren't you Chris?  

[Admin]

You moaning sods are like spoilt kids "We want more Knight Rider!" .... I mean, it's not like you weren't offered a Friday night of JUST Knight Rider or the chance to visit a pure Knight Rider only section of the event..... oh hang on, THATS RIGHT, you want and expect everything to be free... jeez silly me, I forgot that part.

Moaning, tight arse plonkers.

You REALLY are as subtle as a sledgehammer aren't you Chris?  

You just reminded me of this lol

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[jasper1978]

TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING !!!!

[Admin]

TRUST ME, I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING !!!!

 and most of the time he didn't know  

[Newcastle knight]

I had a great time, i know there were a few concerns from people about the cars not being barriered off etc, mine got scratched but i didnt spit my dummy out, simple solution to that is if its on next year, but barriers around the front of the KITT's again, problem solved, i dont get why there has to be a big long debate about it.

Im really into the whole costuming thing now and im a member of the Universal Alliance so there were a load of the guys in costume in the parade that i know and had traveled down from Newcastle too which was great.

I go every year to meet up with my mates off here, have a good laugh etc. Knight Rider is my big passion, but i also have other interests which just happens to be films and cars, KnightCon brings it all together so i cant complain !

Well done to the KnightCon team once again for all the hard work you have put in

Scott

[pbryant_knight]

Has Knightcon lost it's way?? the answer is........Yes. This event WASN'T Knightcon!! Simple as!!

However........The only thing that has caused this thread to be made, and comments made, i think was the naming of the event. Personally, i think the emphasis has moved away from Knightrider. The event should have been called simply "Star Cars and Heroes".

last year and this year ther KITT replicas have been pushed further back away from the main exhibits and newer, More popular pieces take more focus. Last year, KITT and Convertable KITT were the headliners on top of the red carpet. They were replaced by the Batmobile and Transformers cars this year. Last year, ALL the KITTS had barriers around them, this year they went around the other one's which unfortunately meant that several of the KITT replicas suffered damage.

I enjoyed the event, i really did. For me, it's always been about meeting up with the Knight Rider fans and replica owners who i now regard as friends. For me it's all about the crack. Good friends having a good time. That's what the event holds for me. The Friday night and Sunday morning are integral parts of the event for Knight Rider fans. Those that purely turned up for the Saturday will have missed ALL of that.

To say that Knight Rider can't have it's own event now though.........I don't agree. The true fans that attended the first one...and the second....and the third...and the fourth.........would still go regardless. EVERY other Sci Fi show has had events since they disappeared. Star Trek, Quantum Leap, Star Wars, Stargate, Doctor Who, etc.

I think that Knightcon could still be an event on it's own and run along side this one if need be.

When Scott (Newcastle Knight) started this way back (in 2006 i believe) with Knights at the Rock, no one in the UK had even thought of getting together to celebrate Knightrider. we all just met up, had a great time talking about our cars and builds and the show in general. There was a Memrobelia room upstairs that Scott set up and invited all the fans to bring their own pieces for display. This then evolved into Knightcon, then Knightcon with special guests, Then Knightcon and Star Cars, Then Knightcon with Star Cars and Heroes.
I still have my Replica Best Of Show trophy from Knightcon '07.

The thing is, it's now Rob and Steves show. And no matter what you think, It always turns out to be a great event, Knightrider based or not. They put a hell of a lot of effort into this that i think some people take for granted.

The only thing i would have liked is a 4 foot gap cordened off near the stage so that people with the VIP passes who paid to be at the event in general could get a front row seat for the show. That is the only criticism i have. I ended up videoing someone's iPad most of the time when they held the huge thing up infront of my phone!!

Peter

[Hudds-Bonnie]

Well, Me, Tim and Sy had an amazing time.

People seem to forget that the day event is free, where as a lot of places charge to get in when there's an event.
They make no profit from the public day do, so we are more than happy to pay for the night do, which is ALL Knight Rider (For those whining that there wasnt enough) plau a meeting with the lovely Rebecca.

I will agree that the event was crowded at times, but that wasnt the fault of Rob or Steve, nor could anything be done about it.. its a public event at a public place.

We thought it was amazing and really appreciate the effort that is put into the event year after year.

I havent been disappointed since the year I started coming and every year theres a new car, a new costume and the same friendly faces... Thanks for putting it on guys

[weerab]

i personally came down from glasgow to this event ever since it started in castleford,it has lost a bit of momentum on the K R scene a bit,but still a good day as i am a total car nut and i love american cars,,,,but when some people on this ( and you will know who im talking about) to come on this and rant that people just want knight rider stuff,well feck me,this IS a knight rider site and forum,thats why we are on it,,but to be called a tight arse moaning plonker for wanting more knight rider stuff,,well all i can say about that is ADMIN you need to keep these people and there mouth on a leash,,mouthy fecker

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