Auto Assembly 2011 Announces Twelth Guest!!

[Andy Turnbull]

The clock is ticking and with just seven weeks to go until Auto Assembly 2011 we're moving into our rush period now for bookings so if you haven't already got your ticket for this year's event, then now is the time, especially as we are going to be making a lot of announcements over the next couple of weeks...

Starting things off, we are proud to bring you all news that we have now confirmed our twelth guest for the convention... but we're not going to tell you who it is right now! You can find details on our latest Youtube video here:-



We have also just uploaded the entry form and rules to our Cosplay Competition to the website and there is more about this in the video, but if you have already registered for the convention, head over to the site now and download the forms you need to get involved in what is going to be another great competition!

We have a lot more to announce over the next two weeks including activities taking place over the weekend, details on our script reading auditions, more guests, and a few surprises we have in store...

The convention is taking place over the weekend of 12th - 14th August 2011 at the Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre, Birmingham, England and tickets are available from the website now. For more details on the convention, to see a full list of all the guests and activities taking place over the weekend, or to book your tickets, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk

We hope to see you all in August!

The Auto Assembly 2011 Team

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: autoassembly.proboards.com
Email: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone]

Auto Assembly 2011 is sponsored by

Toyz And Gamez - www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
www.transformertoys.co.uk
www.transformersanimated.com
www.thetransformers.net
Science Fiction Collectables - www.sf-collectables.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
Xyber Toys - www.xybertoys.com
Moonbase 2 Podcast - moonbase2.libsyn.com

[Jaymz]

I'm not watching the video, who is it?

[Bogatan]

Yeah I can't face any more of them, some one please just type something. Please.

I don't mind if there are sponsor banners above below and either side of it, just let me read.

[Andy Turnbull]

James Roberts.

Andy

[Jaymz]

Neat, thanks Andy. I'd like to see Staz return one year, his sketches are tops.

[primenova]

Talking about Staz - Staz & Mike Collins are the only 2 artist i've sene on BBC programs. Staz was on Look North for working on US comics being in Wakefield & Mike was on DWC series 3. Also unrelated fact - it takes ages to get into Wakefield. 25 minutes to do 9 miles Castleford ot Wakefield Homebase av speed limit is 40mph on a655 - while Castleford to Leeds 14 miles takes 20 mintues av speed 30mph. I think it'll be great if we had another AA meeting like we had in Leeds few years back.

[Deleted]

As I think I've said before, without the videos and our sponsors, half of what we do at Auto Assembly won't be possible because of the sheer cost of running the convention and the videos are one way of maximising exposure for those sponsors. If it wasn't for sponsorship we wouldn't have David Wise this year and wouldn't have had Derrick Wyatt, Jom Sorenson, Bill Forster and James Roberts last year.

We are making announcements using "normal" press releases as well, but there are some things that we simply can't do that way because of the amount of information we have to convey or they just don't have the same amount of impact. A text release needs to be short for websites to pick up on it and they get lost very easily amongst other stories, but videos grab attention and that's what we need otherwise we are wasting our time announcing anything to be honest.

We have a LOT more announcements to come over the next two weeks and if it's short and simple, then it will be as a text announcement, but if it needs the impact of a video to grab attention and get coverage from the likes of Seibertron or TFW2005 then that's what we have to do.

At the end of the day, Auto Assembly isn't a business, but when it comes to our marketing we have to think like one and maximise every avenue for publicity that we can and make the convention more appealing to sponsors as possible.

[primenova]

It must be fun making the video with the sound effects at the start.

[Bogatan]

Jun 27, 2011 11:58:22 GMT @simes said:

As I think I've said before, without the videos and our sponsors, half of what we do at Auto Assembly won't be possible because of the sheer cost of running the convention and the videos are one way of maximising exposure for those sponsors. If it wasn't for sponsorship we wouldn't have David Wise this year and wouldn't have had Derrick Wyatt, Jom Sorenson, Bill Forster and James Roberts last year.

We are making announcements using "normal" press releases as well, but there are some things that we simply can't do that way because of the amount of information we have to convey or they just don't have the same amount of impact. A text release needs to be short for websites to pick up on it and they get lost very easily amongst other stories, but videos grab attention and that's what we need otherwise we are wasting our time announcing anything to be honest.

We have a LOT more announcements to come over the next two weeks and if it's short and simple, then it will be as a text announcement, but if it needs the impact of a video to grab attention and get coverage from the likes of Seibertron or TFW2005 then that's what we have to do.

At the end of the day, Auto Assembly isn't a business, but when it comes to our marketing we have to think like one and maximise every avenue for publicity that we can and make the convention more appealing to sponsors as possible.

I was finally able to watch the latest video today

( I wasn't been difficult, I couldn't watch it last night as I was watching stuff with a group who wouldn't have been happy with me pausing it for 10 minutes or playing it over the program, but I could have read even a long press release type document while still half paying attention to the TV and not disturbing everyone else)

The video is fun but the news content could easily fit a 3-5 minute clip. I was entertained and got the info so mission accomplished, but I'm already (or will be) spending a lot of money to attend and very excited about it so don't consider it a chore to learn the latest news so I wouldn't be bored into not watching by a simpler shorter version.

I don't mind video announcements but the last three I've been aware of totalled over 42 minutes and the only information contained was AA Europe David Wise and James Roberts attendance.

There just isn't enough news content in there to spend 42 plus minutes watching. A video update under 5 minutes and I'll probably watch the whole thing during a commercial break or what ever. 10 minutes or longer at best I skim through and almost certainly miss the sponsors you're concerned about promoting.

As for the sponsors if you want them really to be noticed a 2-3 minute credit sequence probably isn't the best approach, How many people sit trough credits if they have a fast forward option? Better having a news style banner across the bottom during the main body of the video which as well as the sponsors could also have other useful information like previous news updates, guests, links etc.

As I said I'm not trying to be a pain, but if the current approach is actively putting off people from watching the videos (which seems to be happening here at the very least) then its not helping attendees or sponsors.

[Deleted]

I think it's probably not fair to group the Auto Assembly Europe announcement video in with all of our others as it was something very unusual for us and a lot more than just an announcement. With that video, we were doing something that was very much a landmark for us, celebrating over a decade of Auto Assembly itself and the expansion into a new territory so the whole concept of the video was to produce it in the style of a news and documentary / shoot-style interview production.

We definitely wanted to capture a "snapshot" of what a lot of us were feeling at the time about the venture and share that with everyone but I do take your point on board. I do have one or two ideas of how we can adapt things near the end of the video how things *might* work but because of some of the sponsorship deals we have in place we do need to keep the sponsor screens the way they are, but I may be able to adapt the end of the video to add more content to the end part in addition to the teasers we are adding at the very end now to all of them.

Watch this space...

[Bogatan]

True it wasn't a standard video update, so I maybe shouldn't count it to, but the problem is in order to know that I either had to watch it all or find someone who had.

If the big announcement was something major relating to this year event, for crazy examples an exclusive toy or the entire cast of DOTM attending then I probably want to watch it. If its basically a business/organisation expansion (by no mean a bad thing) then I am probably less likely to sit and watch it all. (in the same way I'll sit and watch a presentation at Botcon about future toys, but probably wouldn't sit trough a a presentation about Takara and Tomy merging even though in the long run it might mean more cool stuff for me) But with the current system I have no choice but to watch in order to find out which of the two it is. So for that reason I do kind of feel right including it in the last 3 videos.

[Jaymz]

Jun 27, 2011 15:07:48 GMT Bogatan said:

As for the sponsors if you want them really to be noticed a 2-3 minute credit sequence probably isn't the best approach, How many people sit trough credits if they have a fast forward option? Better having a news style banner across the bottom during the main body of the video which as well as the sponsors could also have other useful information like previous news updates, guests, links etc.

Yeah, totally this. I'm hardly a major concern as I go to the convention anyway without really worrying who the guests are, but if I see a video that's over 5 minutes long, then I'm not watching it. And if I did, I'd skip the credits. I think a banner style for the sponsors would work much better, don't even need to see Dave's face for the video, can just be sponsor graphics with a voiceover for the announcement.