My experience and opinion of Knightcon 2011

[speedy]

Before I start I just want to hope that this post is constructive in all your views.

KC 2011 was pretty decent. The setting of the convention this time was much better than last year. It was held in a car park of a Premier Inn hotel in 2010 and space was kind of tight for a convention of this magnitude but Steve and the team have done a fantastic job of securing the Xscape shopping centre this time! There were plenty of KITT's to see and the atmosphere was terrific, but there were a few problems. Everything got set off course because of the celebs arriving late (which is fair enough, these things are common) but the crowd were left waiting for approx 45 mins to an hour for the Q&A to start. Out came 'The Hoff' which was brilliant and all, but I was told that the Q&A was not to go ahead after all, and that the next event to happen were the video messages to play in a movie theater. From the time I found out about this there was approx another two and a half hours to wait for that. We were all feeling very tired and we headed home, admittedly due to the weather as well.

I met Peter Parros and got his auto on my season 4 DVD set. There was a charge for autographs this time. £15 per celeb. I only got Parros's auto as I already had Scheffe's and Holden's and I didn't see the point in paying to have theirs once again. People may think this price was a bit steep but Steve and co were deeply disappointed in the financial returns side of things after last year's event concluded. It costs money to put this all together so I can see why they decided to start charging.

My friend only wanted a quick picture with Rebecca Holden and somebody told her that it wasn't possible and that she had to pay the £15 to get the professional photo shot. Nevertheless, Holden was polite and sincere throughout, or so I was told by my friend who wanted the pic with her. I have just seen pics uploaded on facebook of fans having photos with Rebecca and others that were NOT in the replica semi. In fact, they were next to the signing tables!! So I don't know what was going on there? I never spoke to Scheffe and Holden this year as I saw no point considering the massive amount of queues and the fact that the ones who were queuing were planning on paying to get stuff signed, and I didn't want them to get held up just because I wanted to have some interaction with them.

In the end, I will be truthful and say that it fell a bit short compared to last year's event but only because of the disorganisation and delays that interrupted the schedule. Also, and I'm sure there were others who DID know, but I didn't know about the charge for autos until they announced it today and my friends, who wanted stuff signed, were a bit disappointed that they couldn't since they never had the funds. That's not the point, just that we were uninformed in advance of this. If it was posted then I take the responsibility of not finding this information.

Anyway, and once again, the Knightcon team have done a good job this year and I look forward to what is in store next time!

[speedy]

I just heard that a Q&A session did happen so I'm annoyed at the misinformation. Perhaps charging an entrance fee to cover autographs and pictures could be planned for next year to try and cover costs? Also, what is this about the raffle not happening and the prizes being sold on Ebay?

[Paul O]

I'd echo your thoughts with regards the organisation. I would have loved to have seen the Hoff, but the communication wasn't great to say the least (although this might not necessarily have been the fault of the organisers). We found out about him coming purely by chance by a lady handing toy-fair flyers out as we were leaving.

The event was expertly prepared and really looked like a full scale show, however the delays where the celebs were concerned and the lack of announcements was a constant frustration - I left before the Hoff arrived as there were no updates as to what was happening and with a baby in need of feeding we had no idea how much longer we had to wait. I know a number of people did the same. Also, people were queing up outside the closed doors (where I think Rob's car was parked), as well as waiting around the stage area. As I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be this just added to the frustration (and to be honest, I was thoroughly p1ssed off at the time). It seemed that you had to be 'in the know' in order to find out what was really going on.

But saying that, it was a free public event so that's my moan over with. Celebs and timings aside, the rest was simply superb. The look-alikes and costumed sci-fi stars were a great addition - Darth Vader walking past with an army of storm troopers did actually look a quite scary!

I'll write an experience report with a stack of photos, as others have done and post it up later. But well done once again to Rob and Steve for arranging this. As I understand it, you make little or no profit from these events and the effort that has gone into this is mind boggling. A pinnacle Knight Rider event and thanks again for your efforts, a very enjoyable day indeed for this 80's TV nerd!

[Kitt]

From my perspective these posts though positive in places some comments are a little disheartening..

The event was new to all of the Knightcon team all and a first time is not going to go without some speed bumps and the crew never know what to expect when it comes to going from 5,000-10,000 people at Halifax to 30,000 people at Xscape.

You only had to take a look around the event and tally it up expenses wise to see how good value things were.
Without any charges (which to be fair were good value compared to yourself footing the whole bill for the events expenses) you would have found that there would be no costume characters or cars or graphics, or stars, or electric atmosphere.
There were allot of gripes about signatures, would you prefer the guest to work for free?
It all takes money, if people are not prepared to support an event that has quite frankly bankrupt the organisers for your enjoyment, what motivation is there for them to produce 2012.

[speedy]

From my perspective these posts though positive in places some comments are a little disheartening..

The event was new to all of the Knightcon team all and a first time is not going to go without some speed bumps and the crew never know what to expect when it comes to going from 5,000-10,000 people at Halifax to 30,000 people at Xscape.

You only had to take a look around the event and tally it up expenses wise to see how good value things were.
Without any charges (which to be fair were good value compared to yourself footing the whole bill for the events expenses) you would have found that there would be no costume characters or cars or graphics, or stars, or electric atmosphere.
There were allot of gripes about signatures, would you prefer the guest to work for free?
It all takes money, if people are not prepared to support an event that has quite frankly bankrupt the organisers for your enjoyment, what motivation is there for them to produce 2012.

You mention about the cost of autographs, but did I not say that wasn't the issue, but that we were not told about this in advance? That was my point, it had nothing to do with having to actually pay for them. I'm more annoyed at being told that we were not allowed to take pics with the celebs except in the semi interior, but I have seen an absolute flood of photos of fans with them near the signings desks! Misinformation? That's putting it lightly. When you are holding a convention in a SHOPPING MALL then you should expect mass numbers of 30,000! You would have to be pretty simple if you expected otherwise.

And this may just be me, but I couldn't care less about the star wars, batman and other stuff they had there. I came for KNIGHT RIDER! Did it feel like a Knight Rider convention to me? Well, yes and no. It felt like a convention about the 80's in general with an EMPHASIS on Knight Rider. I didn't care for the sugar coating but if it made the experience better for others then who am I to say that I wasn't bothered by that? I found it frustrating at having to fight my way through the crowds to get back into Xscape because people wanted pics with a man in a Darth Vadar suit.

I vouch for charging an entrance fee to cover everything next year. As for value for money for this year, I'd be interested in your insight into what you thought was. Finally, while I didn't pay for a platinum ticket, I think that being notified that Hasselhoff was going to attend and that platinum ticket holders would have been given the opportunity to meet him would have swung a purchase for me. That would have been worth the £40 alone. So, as you can see, financially for the organisers, sometimes it's not a good idea to keep these things a secret.

[KnaresboroughKnight]

From my perspective these posts though positive in places some comments are a little disheartening..

The event was new to all of the Knightcon team all and a first time is not going to go without some speed bumps and the crew never know what to expect when it comes to going from 5,000-10,000 people at Halifax to 30,000 people at Xscape.

You only had to take a look around the event and tally it up expenses wise to see how good value things were.
Without any charges (which to be fair were good value compared to yourself footing the whole bill for the events expenses) you would have found that there would be no costume characters or cars or graphics, or stars, or electric atmosphere.
There were allot of gripes about signatures, would you prefer the guest to work for free?
It all takes money, if people are not prepared to support an event that has quite frankly bankrupt the organisers for your enjoyment, what motivation is there for them to produce 2012.

You mention about the cost of autographs, but did I not say that wasn't the issue, but that we were not told about this in advance? That was my point, it had nothing to do with having to actually pay for them. I'm more annoyed at being told that we were not allowed to take pics with the celebs except in the semi interior, but I have seen an absolute flood of photos of fans with them near the signings desks! Misinformation? That's putting it lightly. When you are holding a convention in a SHOPPING MALL then you should expect mass numbers of 30,000! You would have to be pretty simple if you expected otherwise.

And this may just be me, but I couldn't care less about the star wars, batman and other stuff they had there. I came for KNIGHT RIDER! Did it feel like a Knight Rider convention to me? Well, yes and no. It felt like a convention about the 80's in general with an EMPHASIS on Knight Rider. I didn't care for the sugar coating but if it made the experience better for others then who am I to say that I wasn't bothered by that? I found it frustrating at having to fight my way through the crowds to get back into Xscape because people wanted pics with a man in a Darth Vadar suit.

I vouch for charging an entrance fee to cover everything next year. As for value for money for this year, I'd be interested in your insight into what you thought was. Finally, while I didn't pay for a platinum ticket, I think that being notified that Hasselhoff was going to attend and that platinum ticket holders would have been given the opportunity to meet him would have swung a purchase for me. That would have been worth the £40 alone. So, as you can see, financially for the organisers, sometimes it's not a good idea to keep these things a secret.

With regards to the photos - Being on the table with Rebecca as her minder I can tell you first hand exactly what happened.
Yes we were telling people to wait for photos, why? You all saw how long the queue was for autographs. If every person that came along had a photo we would have all still been there tomorrow morning... Some people asked, were told that it wasn't possible and politely moved along. Some however asked, were told no, asked again, then again .. made the guests feel a little 'uncomfortable' who then agreed simply to move them along. Others cheekily jumped into shot and took one anyway with total dissregard for the rules.

As for the 'organisation'. Cummon, seriously now people - No-one had to pay to be there. It was a FREE event, you all saw how MASSIVE it was. The whole event was run by a small group of fans, were not PR experts or event organisers by trade, just a small group of people that can be bothered year after year to try and put something together. Certain members of the team had next to no sleep over three days, how do you think all the displays were built, magic Fairies and Imps maybe!? Please consider the fact that your picking holes at an event that could have cost everyone there nothing to gain entry to. Yes some chose to buy Platinum tickets, they got to spend time with David and all the other VIP's - I'm sure they enjoyed what will be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
To those griping about DH. There was never any official confirmation that he would be there. Yes he told everyone on Twitter that he would be there, did everyone take that as a 100% confirmation, no, theres no way anyone could. As for claiming you would have bought a ticket if you knew David would be there.... at no point did anyone claim he would be there so how could tickets be sold on that basis? David could have easily decided to leave after the public address, as it happened he chose to spent some time with the platinum ticket holders - They supported the event and came out on top, fair play to them I say! All that aside, they got to spend quality time with the rest of the cast/crew VIP's, that alone was worth the price of the ticket.

I class Rob, Steve & the rest of the Knightcon team as a top group of people, people willing to give their time for free or at their expense to give the fans something to enjoy. Please consider that next time you gripe at a free event.

[Kitt]

I vouch for charging an entrance fee to cover everything next year. As for value for money for this year, I'd be interested in your insight into what you thought was. Finally, while I didn't pay for a platinum ticket, I think that being notified that Hasselhoff was going to attend and that platinum ticket holders would have been given the opportunity to meet him would have swung a purchase for me. That would have been worth the £40 alone. So, as you can see, financially for the organisers, sometimes it's not a good idea to keep these things a secret.

Think about what your saying here...your saying....charge people to enter Xscape.
So those who have come to do other things other than a knight rider event should pay then pay again to do what they want to do in the center for free on a daily basis.
You cant even enforce something like that, entrance fee's were discussed.

So the people that haven't come to see knight rider and all the kitt's should just like the cars and lump it? no variations just rows upon rows of kitt's?

No one from the knightcon team confirmed the hoff, simple reason being people would have felt let down if he didnt show.
You guys were lucky to even get him for the time he was there tbh.

Perhaps we should leave it to you for 2012..

[speedy]

I think the explanation for the photos is fair and understandable. I also didn't consider the fact that Hasselhoff is one of those people who can either leave you high or dry, so that's another good point! But this attitude of "be grateful, this wouldn't have happened had we not bothered" is disappointing. How about actually taking the points on board to try to make improvements for the future? Isn't that more positive? I think so. To me, that would be the sign of somebody or a group of people who would WANT to get things right! "Holes?" These are not just holes to the fans who made the effort to turn up. You should be grateful to those who made the effort to come just as we are grateful that you guys put this on. What about those that spent hundreds that travelled from other countries to be there? In the end, if you can't take criticism then you are just destined for failure. No if's or but's about that one. We're right behind you as of now but we can just as easily turn the other way if we are just told to shut up and lump it. If I'd have known this was the sort of attitude that would be received then you would have had another spare Knightcon t-shirt and program to try and sell on as "leftovers."

As for charging people entry fees at the Xscape, yes, I agree. It's most likely impossible. So why hold it there next year then? Kitt, you suggested that I should hold one. May I suggest you stop looking at it from a one dimensional point of view? That's a bit childish to come out with such a typical line as that and not really productive, to say the least.

My original post was meant to be constructive but the replies are disappointing to say the least, especially as we are being seen as "griping" rather than making points to give to you guys to take on board to make improvements and the best experience possible for the FANS! Pay the £60 petrol for me next year then, eh? I'll take a word what "kitt" said earlier and use the word, "disheartening." I think that fits very well.

[KnaresboroughKnight]

I think the explanation for the photos is fair and understandable. I also didn't consider the fact that Hasselhoff is one of those people who can either leave you high or dry, so that's another good point! But this attitude of "be grateful, this wouldn't have happened had we not bothered" is disappointing. How about actually taking the points on board to try to make improvements for the future? Isn't that more positive? I think so. To me, that would be the sign of somebody or a group of people who would WANT to get things right! "Holes?" These are not just holes to the fans who made the effort to turn up. You should be grateful to those who made the effort to come just as we are grateful that you guys put this on. What about those that spent hundreds that travelled from other countries to be there? In the end, if you can't take criticism then you are just destined for failure. No if's or but's about that one. We're right behind you as of now but we can just as easily turn the other way if we are just told to shut up and lump it. If I'd have known this was the sort of attitude that would be received then you would have had another spare Knightcon t-shirt and program to try and sell on as "leftovers."

As for charging people entry fees at the Xscape, yes, I agree. It's most likely impossible. So why hold it there next year then? Kitt, you suggested that I should hold one. May I suggest you stop looking at it from a one dimensional point of view? That's a bit childish to come out with such a typical line as that and not really productive, to say the least.

My original post was meant to be constructive but the replies are disappointing to say the least, especially as we are being seen as "griping" rather than making points to give to you guys to take on board to make improvements and the best experience possible for the FANS! Pay the £60 petrol for me next year then, eh? I'll take a word what "kitt" said earlier and use the word, "disheartening." I think that fits very well.

Be tactful though eh!? You are still essentially complaining about a FREE event that cost everyone involved a lot of time effort (and in some cases) money.

[Knight Focus]

Speedy, please understand, the people who are responding to your critisisms are the ones, along with myself and others, who invested their time and efforts to bring you this event so you can understand if they're being a bit defensive.
Steve and Rob spent the whole year planning the event, Steve had a full head of hair before he started the planning, and Rob dyes his hair!!
Due to the very nature of the event, things don't go to plan. When people are queuing for autograph, you can't very well say, " we'll have to stop there." So things can run late.
Also, you mention that there was 30,000 people because it was held in a shopping mall. Wrong! We were told that on the day, they broke all the records for sales and attendance because of the event! We go there frequently on weekends and I've never seen it that busy, even at Christmas!
You are entitled to your opinion, but if you listen very carefully, you won't hear many others complaining!

Mike

[Paul O]

I think it is intended as constructive feedback (mine certainly was). I have co-organised several events for no profit and fully understand the momumental time, effort and stress involved in making something like this happen.

Whilst praise is always welcome and warms the cockles greately, it is the critique that helps to make future events even better, and I hope that Rob and Steve take my comments in the spirit that they are intended. Certainly this helped me when we planned further events and whilst the troops were quick to defend, we gleaned much from this type of feedback.

There were a few people (colleages and fellow car nuts) who also commented on the same thing - the communication was a little lacking. The fact it was a free is a mute point - these comments would have been the same regardless and hopefully will assist the organisers in knowing where to concentrate in subsequent years (if there are any).

And on that point, due to the expertly crafted show that they have put on over the past couple of years if there are to be future events, I would happily pay for a day-pass in future - I think its high time these guys were rewarded for their efforts.

I personally haven't paid anything at these events as yet but have helped out in a limited capacity and I'd like to reiterate that this event was absolutely amazing - there can be no question of this. Rob, Steve et al should be thoroughly proud of a justifiably excellent job well done.

Knight Focus, I would agree with you on the records -I have never seen Xscape so busy!!

[KnaresboroughKnight]

I think it is intended as constructive feedback (mine certainly was). I have co-organised several events for no profit and fully understand the momumental time, effort and stress involved in making something like this happen.

Whilst praise is always welcome and warms the cockles greately, it is the critique that helps to make future events even better, and I hope that Rob and Steve take my comments in the spirit that they are intended. Certainly this helped me when we planned further events and whilst the troops were quick to defend, we gleaned much from this type of feedback.

There were a few people (colleages and fellow car nuts) who also commented on the same thing - the communication was a little lacking. The fact it was a free is a mute point - these comments would have been the same regardless and hopefully will assist the organisers in knowing where to concentrate in subsequent years (if there are any).

And on that point, due to the expertly crafted show that they have put on over the past couple of years if there are to be future events, I would happily pay for a day-pass in future - I think its high time these guys were rewarded for their efforts.

I personally haven't paid anything at these events as yet but have helped out in a limited capacity and I'd like to reiterate that this event was absolutely amazing - there can be no question of this. Rob, Steve et al should be thoroughly proud of a justifiably excellent job well done.

Knight Focus, I would agree with you on the records -I have never seen Xscape so busy!!

All fair points.......... in the case of the first post, just leave it a week or so eh!? The OP was made pretty much the day after the final bits were packed up - theres a time and a place for feedback of this type, 24 hours after end of the show is not that time in my opinion.

Just a quick observation from all of this. The people the seemed to get the most from the event were the ones that mingled, that discussed and met up with others. Those that turned up expecting to be 'entertained' sadly missed the point of the event it would seem.

[speedy]

Knight Focus, I didn't come up with the 30,000 figure? Kitt did and I went along with it. Also, I don't go along with the masses. I have my own thoughts and feelings on things. Every one of us is an individual but there are far too many who just go along with others and fail to think for themselves. I am no such person! Just because one or a group of people had a positive experience doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to express my negative one.

This "be grateful for the event" is really becoming repetitive, unoriginal and self defeatist! How about you also be grateful to those who spent quite a bit of money on travel expenses to get there? But I guess that doesn't matter, does it? That's how much you think of your audience...the ones that supported you in the beginning. I'm wearing my Knightcon t-shirt right now (first time I've worn it) but pardon me if I don't feel any kind of pride right now with it. I'm grateful to the KITT car owners who turned up to make the event possible. Without the cars, there wouldn't have been an event, so I thank them for coming out and driving their cars there for us to look at them. I'm also grateful to Steve and Rob for putting on another Knightcon event. I'm even thankful to Chris Jones and everybody else that I saw doing their part on the day. But with that comes criticism and I'm not going to keep hush over that because some want to sweep it under the carpet. Get with reality!

And before somebody else challenges me to put on a KR event for myself, I have this to say. I have no desire or ambition to organise one. I have my own individual ambitions that I prefer to work toward make happen. That doesn't mean that I don't have the right to criticise conventions that others organise. As an example, you don't get people saying that football fans cannot criticise professional footballers because they are not one themselves.

It would have been better had you replied like this. "Thanks for your post. We understand that not everything went according to plan on Saturday but that's the nature of these events. We will take your points on board in order for us to try to continue to improve in future Knightcon conventions." See.... not hard is it? But I guess I expected too much.

Paul-O has it spot on! My original post was constructive but I don't feel I have had constructive replies, and because of that I fear for the quality of future Knightcon's. Perhaps next year I'll instead save up the £60 it cost in petrol for any future release of Knight Rider on Blu Ray if that's the attitude that flies around here.

The timing of my original post is irrelevant. It still would have said what it did so that's redundant.

In the end, YOU choose whether you want to turn the criticism into something positive or whether you want to sit there and feel sympathy for yourselves every time a critical post is made. I know what reaction I would adopt. In fact, I have to because of the job that I personally do but that's another topic altogether. That's it. I have nothing else to say on the matter. It's in your hands.

[KnaresboroughKnight]

*sighs*

[J-Knight]

Knight rider rules btw.

[KnaresboroughKnight]

Its Kniiiiiiiiiiiiiiight Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiider!

[Kitt]

I think you need to re-read your original post, just comes across as well this was crap that was crap, im not happy but I didnt tell you this on the day i thought id leave it till a day after when its to late to do anything about it, but yeah anyway's you did a good job...am I wrong here?

[KnaresboroughKnight]

No Stu, your bang on. He's just being an arse for the sake of being an arse....

Sorry, but you are.

And whats daft is back when KC was first announced you were giving Rob & Steve support saying you were suprised that the event was on this year after the abuse they recieved from people complaining after the event.... hmm

[SKIMODE]

i really think we should stop this here, these are Speedy's opinions,

i am sincerely sorry we did not produce the event to the level Speedy wanted, we will of course take on board his and anyone elses "constructive" criticisms. and I genuinely hope speedy enjoys his copy of knight rider on blue ray next year

[KnaresboroughKnight]

... sorry Rob, I've been on the Redbull since 4pm... :-P

[speedy]

I think you need to re-read your original post, just comes across as well this was crap that was crap, im not happy but I didnt tell you this on the day i thought id leave it till a day after when its to late to do anything about it, but yeah anyway's you did a good job...am I wrong here?

I've just re-read my original post and there was PLENTY of positivity contained within. I banged on about how good it was to meet Parros, getting his auto, the better setting. The only things I really criticised were the screwed up schedule and the photo situation. And people here still threw a hissy fit over that. I think you should re-read it again and take notice of the positive aspects of my post as well as the negative. You know full well it wasn't wrote in the context of "everything being crap." I think me and you both know that's false. Actually, the photo situation was about my friend, not even me! So, take that away and you will probably find one negative thing concerning my own experience.

And yeah, I supported Steve and Rob's decision to make another Knightcon. Not sure what relevancy that point has. I'm not being two faced or back stabbing them by saying this year was "crap" because it wasn't. In my original post, it was stated that the day was good. I was explaining the good AND the bad of my and my friend's experiences. I wouldn't call it "complaining." Critical, but not complaining.

Anyway, I'm not going to budge on my opinions because certain situations happened and I can't change that, unfortunately. Things happen and that's life, isn't it.

[stue]

as somebody who deals with client/service user feedback on a daily basis may i suggest that feedback in its first instance be confidential i.e sent as a private message.i didnt attend the event but from the videos and pictures ive seen it looked great and if i had of gone the inclusion of all the other tv/film subjects could have only enhanced the experiance for me,im a true child of the 80's what can i say.i hope this doesnt carry on as it seems discussions turn in to arguements far too often.peace all

[Kitt]

I agree with you Stu, Steve and Rob are both good friends of mine and worked damn hard on this event, Things didn't always go to plan, but the majority of the public were happy to wait as were the ones that came up and ASKED about delays.
You don't eat a meal then go back the next day to complain it was to cold, nor do you shout it out in the restaurant for everyone to hear you take it to the people concerned in confidence.

[SKIMODE]

come on guys, please stop this now, lets just take on board these constructive criticisms and start talking about how amazing the event was!

Because that is what its all about!! good times with friends!

thanks!

[speedy]

Yep, I agree with Rob.

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