****** LEGENDS FAN FEST A SUCCESS FOR THE FANS
- 08/15/2006 (12:49:26 pm)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
I would like your input!! KEEP THEM COMING…
Georgie, I went to the Capitol Wrestling Legends FanFest yesterday and want to thank one of the guests for his outstanding professionalism towards the fans. With a three-hour time slot slated for approximately 375 fans to get autographs, Robert Gibson knew that after the three hours was up and there were still fans in line that he had to leave in order to make a scheduled flight. Gibson then took it upon himself to walk down the remaining line of fans and sign for anyone waiting for him before leaving, realizing that they would not have made it through the line of other guests in a timely manner before reaching him.
Anyone else running a convention in the future should learn by his example, as not to short-change fans. Also, having fans line up by numbers was a welcome addition to this year's convention.
Thanks, and if nobody else submits digital pictures quicker, I'll have some of my pictures to share with you in a few days. Eric Shaffer
Hi Georgie!
This was my first fanfest. I'm so used to other kinds of conventions, but
this blew them all away. I haven't had so much fun at a convention than I
did this past weekend. Aside from the whole Bret Hart controversey (leaving
before everyone got his autograph-although he had to catch his plane.
Understandable. I didn't get one, and was very upset, but it passed over.
Everyone else in the autograph stage was more than awesome. I even got a hug
out of Sherri. Thats worth more than admission alone! lol) I think the
promoters did a FANtastic job (ok, bad joke sorry, lol.) with the
situations, and handled them all very well. The wrestlers, were more than
happy to take pictures and sign stuff in the hallways. I had the time of my
life, and these conventions are more than highly suggested. They are
recomended to the max. If your a wrestling fan, young and old, you'll love
it. It passed all my expectations and broke them. I really look forward to
the next one. Words can't describe the fun I had.
Chad E. Young
This was my first fanfest. I'm so used to other kinds of conventions, but
this blew them all away. I haven't had so much fun at a convention than I
did this past weekend. Aside from the whole Bret Hart controversey (leaving
before everyone got his autograph-although he had to catch his plane.
Understandable. I didn't get one, and was very upset, but it passed over.
Everyone else in the autograph stage was more than awesome. I even got a hug
out of Sherri. Thats worth more than admission alone! lol) I think the
promoters did a FANtastic job (ok, bad joke sorry, lol.) with the
situations, and handled them all very well. The wrestlers, were more than
happy to take pictures and sign stuff in the hallways. I had the time of my
life, and these conventions are more than highly suggested. They are
recomended to the max. If your a wrestling fan, young and old, you'll love
it. It passed all my expectations and broke them. I really look forward to
the next one. Words can't describe the fun I had.
Chad E. Young
Hi Georgiann,
First Let Me Say This Is Where I Get All My Wrestlers Appearences, Good Work.
Fanfest Was GREAT I Was VIP # 97 So I Was Able To Meet Everyone Early And Did Not Have To Wait In Long Lines.
Abdullah Was My Favorite Even Though He Was In The Lobby Charging For Autographs And Pictures,Even Stan Hansen Was Nice And Signing In The Lobby But No Pictures.
Bill Eadie (Masked Superstar) Was Proberly The Nicest.Talking To Everyone And Signing Every Item You Had From Demolition To Superstar To Super Machine Items.
I Would Love Greg Price To Come Back To Rockvile Or Even Baltimore Next Year.
I Had My Photo Opt With Abdullah The Butcher & Both Midnights Versions.
Thanks, David Dickens
Here is the link for Brett Schwan's Recap of the Weekend along with photo's. MAL
Hi Georgie Yeah I was there and like i told you on the phone when i called it was packed with people. I made my reservations for the hotel back in June and when i got there at 11AM they said no rooms were available but to comeback after noon when people might have checked out and they would get my room. I went back at 1PM and they said not to comeback till after 4PM.
When i came back Percy Pringle was checking into besides me and he can verify there problems as well because when he went to the room they gave him there was someone already staying in it. I was still in line arguing over my room when he came back and was pissed with the guy for doing that and whatever else he went thru before i got at the check in next to him. My wife has asthma and as a Hilton honor member I have it in my profile with them that a non smoking room is required. i even confirmed it before the trip. Of course they told me about there being no rooms left and that was the first problem of the weekend.
While arguing at check in and them searching for a room for me I missed all the photo ops that were taking place. Bobby Heenan, jim Cornette, Angelo Mosca, Nick Bockwinkel, Masked Superstar, Rick Martel, and after finally getting a room and putting our luggage away I was way too tired to go to the Q and A with Masked superstar and I wanted to eat something so i could check out the Q and A with Heenan and Cornette which was great as always.
I paid $109 for the VIP pass and $300 for photo's with all the stars attending. So far all i've received was the Q & A with Heenan and Cornette.
While walking through the autograph line, I told Bobby Heenan, Nick Bockwinkel, and Stan Hansen that they were a major part of why I attended and how much I was looking forward to meeting each of them and asked if they wouldn't mind doing the photo's when they were available and rested from the autograph session. Now I talked with both Alex and Chris who work for Greg Price if it was ok if I went ahead and made that photo request and if they would take the photo's that I had paid for. They said sure and when I showed up at the photo room with Mosca, Heenan, Bockwinkel all the photo guys were gone. Hansen was still in the hospitality area resting so Mosca and Bockwinkel said they would do it later when the photo guys came back. When I found the photo guy Chris he said they had a schedule to keep and were busy. The rest of Saturday went well minus no pictures with Dick slater, bunkhouse buck, or Superstar Graham that were also part of the package i paid for.
The Q & A with the Hart Foundation was pretty good except alot of people didn't get to ask questions because instead of them having a system of people in a line or giving out numbers they just had Chris Cruise running around trying to remember who raised there hands to ask questions.
Now for Sunday where things were out of control and a mess. It was adverstised as the first 100 people as VIP's got early admission to all the events and they were going to do the autograph stage in groups of 20 with them starting off at 1-20 then 21-40 and so on...............my number was 218 which meant 101 thru my 218 had no business being charged if they were only having limits for the first 100 as ticket holders.
At first on Sunday they weren't even going by number and it was first in line first served. Then when that wasn't working they went back to the number system. I was in line at about 1030am. for the autograph signing which was from noon to 3pm and at 3pm they announced that Bret Hart was leaving to catch a flight. Being friends with a lot of people in the business and partially in the business myself I asked someone to bring the 2 pics I had taken with him and one with him and Neidhart and have him sign them.. He said he had enough and wasn't signing anything else for anyone. I heard this outside the door where Bret was so I know it happened. Sherri Martel also left at some point but I didn't get to the autograph stage until after 5pm. They had people bringing in boxes of stuff to have signed like pics, dolls, posters, dvds, and other stuff. There was supposed to be a limit of 2 items per person except for VIP's who purchased the photo package as those items didn't count as part of your two items. The other major problem was that the photos weren't ready on time as they had problems with there printer and you would have to either leave the autograph line to keep looking for your picture or just do without those items being autographed.
Overall, it was great meeting and talking with a lot of the legends and the people that attended. I can even say that Greg Price seems like a nice guy but the event could have been organized better and he should give partial refunds to those that bought the VIP passes and the photo packages since we didn't get what he advertised in selling us and what we paid for. Ron
I also wanted to post the reply sent to Ron from promoter Greg Price:
Hello, Ron, and thanks for supporting fanfest weekend.
It is completely understandable that folks have complaints, and I like to followup and address those issues so that we may correct them in the future. I solicit input from everyone in an attempt to improve upon things. The Rockville fanfest was the fifth I have promoted and, I'd like to think, each time we've made some changes that have made things run a little smoother than the one before it.
To address some of the things you mentioned in your email to Georgie:
1. Check-in time at the hotel is either 3 or 4 p.m. Checkout time is 11 a.m. or Noon. So it's no surprise to me that no rooms would be available early until folks checked out and the rooms were cleaned. This is normal at every hotel everywhere. I don't know what your individual situation is, but just knowing that check-in time is later in the afternoon, if it were me, I would've left my luggage in the car, did what I needed to do to get my Photo Ops and the other stuff on Friday afternoon, and check into my room later. Surely, you can't fault me or anyone at fanfest for "making" you miss the Friday afternoon Photo Ops. That was a choice that you made and had absolutely zero to do with anything that I or any member of my staff had any control over.
2. You said: "It was adverstised as the first 100 people as VIP's got early admission to all the events and they were going to do the autograph stage in groups of 20 with them starting off at 1-20 then 21-40 and so on...............my number was 218 which meant 101 thru my 218 had no business being charged if they were only having limits for the first 100 as ticket holders."
You're confusing things a bit here, Ron. It was advertised that ALL VIPs get early access to each day's activities. VIPs get in at 9am each day, whereas Single-Day ticket holders get in at 10am. The "first 100 limit" was on Photo Ops. We were limited to taking 100 photos with each legend. The "first 100 limit" had absolutely nothing to do with the Autograph Stage.
3. You said: "At first on sunday they weren't even going by number and it was first in line first served. Then when that wasn't working they went back to the number system."
That's completely untrue. We NEVER deviated from the same system we used all weekend on the Autograph Stage.
4. You said: "I was in line at about 1030am. for the autograph signing which was from noon to 3pm..."
Well, Ron, with the number system we used, there was no reason to line up at all until your number was called. It just makes no sense to lineup early in a situation when you're being called by number.
5. You said: "and at 3pm they announced that Bret Hart was leaving to catch a flight."
Again, that's completely untrue, Ron.
The main reason there was a logjam on Sunday was because we had several older legends that simply move a lot slower than others. Frankly, I was surprised to see the ailing physical conditions of a few of these guys and, had I known this in advance, would have done things a little differently. I tried changing the flow of the lines to help the situation, but that didn't help. At 2:15 (knowing Bret Hart had a 5:00 flight to catch,) I moved Bret in front of the Autograph Stage to a single table and began to literally push as many people through his table to get as many people as possible the opportunity to get their stuff signed by Bret.
Bret stayed until 3:30, the absolute latest he could stay and still have a chance to catch his flight.
If you had #218, there is no way you should NOT have made it through the line. We made it up to 300 or 320 in our announcements. If you were standing way back in the line and we called 200-220, that was your turn. I don;t know what happened but I do know that folks were lining up for no reason. The whole numbering system we used was to try to prevent someone from standing in line for hours.
6. You said: "Sheri Martel also left at some point but I didn't get to the autograph stage until after 5pm."
Sherri left the stage right at 5 pm because she had a 7pm flight out of Baltimore. Similar situation to Bret, she had to go. Again, Ron, I just don't know why you didn't make it through with #218. If you were in line at 10:30 as you said, there is no way. It just doesn't make sense.
7. You said: "They had people bringing in boxes of stuff to have signed like pics, dolls, posters, dvds, and other stuff. There was supposed to be a limit of 2 items per person except for VIP's who purchased the photo package as those items didn't count as part of your two items."
Ron, you have to realize we had 9 guys signing autographs at the same time. With a 2-per person limit, that's 18 items to carry, not including the Photo Op photos. Not everyone gets photos signed. Some folks want figures signed, some want belts signed, some want dvds signed. So that's why some needed boxes or backpacks to carry all 18 items.
8. You said: "The other major problem was that the photos weren't ready on time as they had problems with there printer and you would have to either leave the autograph line to keep looking for your picture or just do without those items being autographed."
There was a problem with the printers on Sunday Ron, but again, there was no line to leave, as we were calling folks by VIP numbers.
9. You said: "Overall, it was great meeting and talking with a lot of the legends and the people that attended. I can even say that Greg Price seems like a nice guy but the event could have been organized better and he should give partial refunds to those that bought the VIP passes and the photo packages since we didn't get what he advertised in selling us and what we paid for."
Ron, you chose to stand at the front desk and argue on Friday afternoon instead of getting your Photo Ops. You have no one but yourself to blame for that. Think about it.
And for the life of me, I can't understand why you wouldn't have been able to get through the autograph line on Sunday with number 218. Like I said, we make it up to 300-320 before Bret Hart had to leave, and then all the other talent stayed around for another 2 hours to finish signing for everyone. I just can't imagine how that could happen to you unless you completely disregarded all of the announcments and chose to stand in the line you were in.
I'm sorry that you feel me or my staff may have caused any of your problems over the weekend. Aside from the printer issues on Sunday, I believe that most everything was handled in the best way possible.
Thanks, Greg Price
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