Basingstokecomiccon Reviews 4

I was looking forward to this event, sadly, it was a disaster waiting to happen. It was over subscribed, meaning the event was overcrowded. Disability access was poor, those that needed to use access had to walk a long way, not good if you were less able. Disabled attendees were poorly served. The autograph queue was a mess, one disorganised line for 8 guests.the accessibility queue for Disabled attendees seemed to be an after thought and were placed to one side. As a former Health and Safety manager I would have shut the event down, as it became inherently dangerous for all. Understaffed, overcrowded, overshot, poor signage. If something were to have happened people would have been hurt or killed. The good stuff. The guests were amazing, Srargate was well represented. I understand the talks were great, but couldn't see any of them cos we were waiting for autographs. What staff there were was fairly helpful despite difficult conditions. Big shout out to the guests who stayed on after the event was due to end to ensure those who wanted autographs got them.

Worst convention I have ever been to and that was previously a title held by Galacticon in Seattle when they didn’t sell enough tickets to get all the guests.

This convention was oversold, had too many guests to comfortably get around, was in the worst venue for such an event from the point of disabled access and the owner and accessibility team refused to listen to disabled people with our complaints.

People were literally passing out in the main hall because it was too hot.

They couldn’t organise a drinking session in a brewery

The venue was too small for the event, and was way over subscribed. The signage was non existent, meaning that some facilities such as the quiet rooms were under used by those who would benefit the most. Attendees were not told how to queue for autographs, leaving many caught up in a single maze type line, that led nowhere, resulting in people missing out on the autographs they had paid for.
There was little choice of food, much of which was too expensive. Apart from purchasing expensive bottles of water, we only found one drinks fountain at the end of a long corridor.
Disability access was poor. I struggle with standing and walking long distances. To get to the autographs you had to go the full length of the hall, down a slope, then back the length of the hall to the autographs. Between this and the long queues, we missed all the talks, which was a shame as I hear they were brilliant, as well as visiting the vendors later in the day.
What went right. The guests were amazing. I understand it was the first time so many Stargate actors had been to one event together in the UK.
The staff who were there really tried, for the most part to help as much as possible, and I felt for them as people struggled with the heat and lack of direction, and became annoyed as they missed out on what they paid for.
On the whole we managed to get what we paid for but without a radical rethink around venue, numbers, and staffing I don't think this event can continue in its present format.

Awful event
Oversold
Rude teams members towards disabled visitors
Way over capacity