Post Auto Assembly thread thing

[blueshift]

Hi guys, I thought it might be worth putting a wrap-up post together!

Here are my pics (not many I'm afraid!) imgur.com/a/eq1rP



Here are my thoughts! Overall I thought it was the best AA in ages!

The good
Toy Fu did really well!
Really great to see everyone again even if I wasn't at 100% the whole time, it felt like last year was just yesterday!
The con seemed to go very well this year with no delays or hiccups that could see
The presenting was a lot shorter and to the point which was welcomed (I am especially glad I didn't have to hear 'WAIT FOR IIIIIIT' about fifty times)


The Bad
No announcements about when any of the other programme panels were on, the only clue was a bit of A4 paper taped to a wall which I only noticed late on Sunday.
We didn't get any hats or party poppers on the Saturday night as we were on the chairs to the side, so bitterly wept at the 'has everyone got their hats' bit


The Ugly
No black pudding. COME ON, HILTON.

[duffism1981]

There was black pudding all weekend, it just seemed today there was white pudding instead.

I shall give my opinions when I am less of an emotional wreck.

Not when I was in. None on Friday morning, or Sunday or Today.

Andy

[blueshift]

Aug 11, 2014 20:59:58 GMT duffism1981 said:

There was black pudding all weekend, it just seemed today there was white pudding instead.

It was wall-to-wall white pudding at every single breakfast serving I was at, unless they got it out the moment I left!

[duffism1981]

I am guessing it may have been different depending on which room you were having dinner in. Thursday and This morning I was in the main dining area, where as Friday and Saturday I was in the room opposite. I had breakfast after 9am every morning, so it is possible when you were in earlier they only had white pudding prepared.

[Bogatan]

Aug 11, 2014 21:01:12 GMT blueshift said:

Aug 11, 2014 20:59:58 GMT duffism1981 said:

There was black pudding all weekend, it just seemed today there was white pudding instead.

It was wall-to-wall white pudding at every single breakfast serving I was at, unless they got it out the moment I left!

Thats exactly what happened.

Black pudding aside, I really enjoyed the white pudding, my assessment is much the same as Matts. Nothing went horribly wrong and everyone seemed a little happier than last year.

In a development that will make Karl either very happy or very angry, Toy Fu ran exceedingly smoothly particularly during set up which is usually the time he is ripping out his hair (normally at my utter lack of organisation)

Announcements for panels were annoyingly handled. Panels starting in the dealer room got repeatedly announced in advance as if anyone could miss them when they started, but I don't remember any announcements for what was happening in the other room and as Matt said one A4 schedule stuck to a door wasn't very noticeable or helpful.

3rd party panel seemed a big hit, but crossed the line into hard core sales pitch a few to many times (I know hasbro panels at Botcon do exactly the same,) but I found the background, informative sections more interesting than the heres whats coming out next, order it now sections.

[blueshift]

Aug 11, 2014 21:15:41 GMT Bogatan said:

Black pudding aside, I really enjoyed the white pudding

It's not the same!

Will I have to wait another year for a go at eating black pudding?!?

[Andy Turnbull]

Glad you liked it guys.

It was indeed much smoother and things ran much better, the announcement of stuff in the other room won't be an issue next time. We already have that in hand.

I actually had FREE TIME.

That's right - FREE TIME.

Fanzine panel despite not being announced went well, and has kickstarted a quite kick ass thing for next year. More details to come soon guys.

Andy

[duffism1981]

I did ask about this at the desk they had at the main lobby and I was just told that they were sent out via email. I was still expecting a paper schedule like we all got last year.

[Bogatan]

Oh and my Tako Tank drawing from Nick is amazing.

[Andy Turnbull]

Oh it was amazeballs.

Andy

[Philip Ayres]

We need a picture!

[Rich]

This was my first AA for a while and I thought it was probably the best one I've been to. As a result, the convention ticket felt very good value. Andy T, please pass on my thanks to the team and take a pat on the back yourself.

As mentioned above, the shouting and yelping on stage seemed to have been scaled back and this was very much appreciated. The big Sat night seemed well handled, at least the first half, which I was at. The general presentation of the convention was very good - the posters and music etc - and the small touches - the beer mats and cakes and hats and Swerve's diner etc all added up to more than the sum of their parts.

The venue is very nice. Personally, I'd prefer a city centre location (I know this isn't possible), but most people seem to want to maximise their convention time and this hotel allows them to do that while being big enough to make it possible to escape the hurly burly.

My favourite bits were the panels in the smaller room - the 'talks' felt much more like a conversation and it was nice for everybody (guests and fans) to be able to hear. The best one was the DH one in which Nick took the lead at times, so there's still a place for somebody to 'lead' - it could just be somebody who would be there anyway. They'd just need to know their job is to take a back seat if at all possible. But all of the talks were at their best when it was just people asking questions (without the need for mics) and commenting; fan opinions often seemed to produce more interesting guest comment than inane, contrived questions, witness the following exchange:Q-'Livio, if you were a transformer, which transformer would you be?' A. 'Errr. I don't know. Which would you be?' Q- 'Hmm, I've never really thought about it.'

Alex Milne (and Livio to a lesser extent) seemed a bit unsure what to do in his talk so I think he would have appreciated somebody to say 'fan comments are fine' and to set a loose agenda. The talk went went well, but i'm not sure how much Alex enjoyed winging it. Maybe the drawings the artists do in their panels could be given out using raffle tickets or something (ie you get a ticket as you go in) as I found the begging a bit uncomfortable.

Slight changes aside, these talks were much better than the big panels. I know there's the new bigger room next year and I know the convention atmosphere debate is a perennial but I'm very much on the 'keep the talks separate' side and I'd love to see a voice actor in this setting. I felt the main hall atmosphere was good throughout and didn't need the prop of the panels: the dealers were numerous enough and seemed to have enough stock to create a buzz and business still seemed busy on the Sunday, which never seemed to be the case in the past.

I hope I'll be back next year!

It was, of course, great to see lots of old faces and a couple of new ones. Hopefully I'll see you all Bobcon.

[Dezzeh]

As always, there was no time to meet up with any one or say hi or any of that jazz. Only going up for the day, with a 3 month old child in tow was not as smart as it sounded when I first decided.

Next year I will be booking well in advance and staying for the whole thing!

As for the convention, it was a bit of a shame that the only panel I wanted to see was on a sunday, I've seen enough comic panels by now that nothing is really new any more.
Everything seemed to flow together nicely, and as usual my only complaint is the dealer room still being in the same place as the main panels. It really needs its own seperate room now, hey ho!

[Deleted]

Had a wail of a time! The shopping was great but meeting up with so many people whom I've only ever conversed with on this board was worth the ticket price and (associated accommodation) alone. I totally underestimated how busy the you guys would be but not having a six-month-old in tow as I did last year meant I made of loads of new friends in between bouts of toy hunting. I'm still none the wiser about who's who in the wonderful world of the Transformers but at least I've put a few faces and real names to cyber-names (that's got to be ShockProwlism).

Thanks again for taking me under your wing but one of you in particular owes me your next child for allowing me to buy Mach Kick from the Toy-Fu store...

EDIT: As an aside, I'll likely be a lot less present on these boards for a while my new job has a) a requirement for me to do some work and b) no open source internet access (along with a wholesale ban on mobile phones). Whilst I'm still stuck between homes, I only have my phone for internet access and that's patchy at best. That Scorponok review will have to wait.

[Philip Ayres]

Aug 12, 2014 15:05:00 GMT @sifu said:

Thanks again for taking me under your wing but one of you in particular owes me your next child for allowing me to buy Mach Kick from the Toy-Fu store...

As ever, this will help you:



(note the big panel underneath has been removed)

[Bogatan]

Aug 11, 2014 21:53:48 GMT Philip Ayres said:

We need a picture!

not great camera phone pic, but still the awesomeness is clear.

[legios]

Sounds like everybody had a pretty good time at AA, which is good to hear.

Aug 11, 2014 21:15:41 GMT Bogatan said:

In a development that will make Karl either very happy or very angry, Toy Fu ran exceedingly smoothly particularly during set up which is usually the time he is ripping out his hair (normally at my utter lack of organisation)

Not to worry. I am exceedingly happy to hear that all went smoothly and efficiently. T'is great to know. Looking forward to hearing what was made For The Cause.

Karl

[Philip Ayres]

Oh wow that's amazing!

[Benn]

That is indeed a fine bit o' tankage.

[inflatabledalek]

A very nice convention, and very much the year of the top quality non-official stuff, from a Lost Light cake through fanzines (though I'm not sure if that's the right word for the actual proper book thing Kris Carter did) through pros like Roche and Roberts selling stuff wot they've done on the side to some really nice Third Party stuff.

My post thoughts video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBPVBzqBsVc

[chrisl]

Glad everyone had a good time - absolutely gutted I missed a fanzine panel by Matt & Andy though

One day, I will be there....

[Llama God]

As my first ever Transformers convention proper, I had a great time. There was just enough going on, and (for someone who wasn't running or organising anything) there seemed to be a relaxed atmosphere, which was really nice.

The only way I think it could be improved would be if, as has already been suggested, the panels weren't in the same room as the dealers, etc. There were more than enough people lurking around in that room, between people browsing and buying stuff to the gaggle of squealing fan girls ever-present at James and Nick's desk (and yes, I was one of those squealing fan girls), to create a decent atmosphere. As someone who has trouble focussing when there's a lot of loud stuff going on, that'd be appreciated. But other than that I think that the whole thing was really well handled.

My biggest regret really is making less of an effort to actively stalk people from these boards. But then that'd would've just been weird, so it's probably best that I didn't. It was good meeting those that I did meet, though...

Oh, and I managed to experience both black and white pudding. Clearly someone, somewhere was looking out for me... ;-)

[Philip Ayres]

Aug 13, 2014 9:14:25 GMT Llama God said:

The only way I think it could be improved would be if, as has already been suggested, the panels weren't in the same room as the dealers, etc.

I think you'll find this complaint has been made every year the convention has been run!

The overcrowding it generates makes it nearly impossible for me to go as that many people milling about is bound to knock me over.

[Llama God]

It's also a complaint that's valid for plenty of other conventions. I can see why people go for that sort of set-up, and there are pros and cons to both approaches...

[Deleted]

Aug 13, 2014 9:14:25 GMT Llama God said:

My biggest regret really is making less of an effort to actively stalk people from these boards.

Conversely, I actually stalked you throughout the course of the weekend as you were pointed out to me on Friday. Let's be honest, you're quite easy to spot in a crowd.

I kept waiting for a good chance to go and introduce myself, minimising the social awkwardness that comes with such ventures, but saldy I didn't come across one. The closest I got was actually when I was saying my good-byes and you came over to speak to Andy. At that point it would have been weird to say, "Hi! I'm Sifu Steve. Seeya later!"

[primenova]

One thing we didn't have this year was the repeat "net" stuff. I was expecting to see How to ride a Dinobot on the screen. I know after its been repeated over the 2 days it does get boring.

[Llama God]

Aug 13, 2014 11:37:05 GMT @sifu said:

Conversely, I actually stalked you throughout the course of the weekend as you were pointed out to me on Friday. Let's be honest, you're quite easy to spot in a crowd.

I kept waiting for a good chance to go and introduce myself, minimising the social awkwardness that comes with such ventures, but saldy I didn't come across one. The closest I got was actually when I was saying my good-byes and you came over to speak to Andy. At that point it would have been weird to say, "Hi! I'm Sifu Steve. Seeya later!"

Awww, damn. Being the professional celebrity stalker that I am, I wouldn't have found that dodgy at all. Would have been good to properly interact with you. :-)

[Kingoji]

Aug 12, 2014 19:40:49 GMT Bogatan said:

Aug 11, 2014 21:53:48 GMT Philip Ayres said:

We need a picture!

not great camera phone pic, but still the awesomeness is clear.
*snip*

Okay, well that explains why Nick didn't get anything else done all weekend!

[blueshift]

Aug 13, 2014 9:14:25 GMT Llama God said:

The only way I think it could be improved would be if, as has already been suggested, the panels weren't in the same room as the dealers, etc. There were more than enough people lurking around in that room, between people browsing and buying stuff to the gaggle of squealing fan girls ever-present at James and Nick's desk (and yes, I was one of those squealing fan girls), to create a decent atmosphere. As someone who has trouble focussing when there's a lot of loud stuff going on, that'd be appreciated. But other than that I think that the whole thing was really well handled.

I like the dealers being in the same room as the panels, though that is slightly selfish as it means I can be on the Toy Fu stall and still hear what is going on!

Other cons I have been do where they separate out Panels and Dealers seem to be much lower footfall/sadder places though. It is really nice having most of it in one room.

[blueshift]

Aug 13, 2014 11:46:07 GMT primenova said:

One thing we didn't have this year was the repeat "net" stuff. I was expecting to see How to ride a Dinobot on the screen. I know after its been repeated over the 2 days it does get boring.

Oh man, yes, I was so happy not to have to watch the same youtube videos a thousand times