TWO REPORTS FROM TURNBUCKLE CONVENTION
- 08/26/2007 (2:44:11 am)
- Georgiann Makropoulos
…….
Hi Georgie,
Haven't seen any reports on Day 2 of the Turnbuckle Promotions show, aside from the pictures you posted earlier. I just got back from NYC and figured I'd send you a bit of a report.
I must admit, when I read the first report on your sit-e before we left this morning, I was mortified. I was expecting a gigantic mess which would've invariably had ended with me demanding my money back.
Thankfully, that didn't happen.
All in all, we had a much better time than we anticipated. Everybody was super nice and personable, with the top honors going to Nora Greenwald (aka Molly Holly), Terry Funk, Al Snow (who commented on my David Hasselhoff t-shirt by stating that the Hoff was a national treasure, but still no Patrick Duffy, LOL), Christian Cage and, believe it or not, Mr. Vince Russo. The lines were well-organized, for the most part, and everybody I saw seemed to get everyone they wanted and, in the case of myself, my cousin and her boyfriend, even more than that.
The only talent who seemed disinterested and acted like they didn't want to be there was Christy Hemme, but I've heard she's a sweetheart most of the time, so maybe she was having a bad day or something.
A few words of advice for Mr. Blaustein, though, just in case he decides to make this an annual thing...
Organize your ticket orders more. When we arrived, we had a bit of a situation getting our tickets at the door. Both myself and my cousin's fiancee ordered VIP tickets, yet, at first, they could find no record of our order. The only thing they actually had record of was the General Admission ticket I won for my cousin through the Chatterbox ::thumbs up:: THANKS, GEORGIE! :) Anyway, after a while, they did find proof of our order, but that twenty minutes of confusion could've been twenty minutes where we could've been enjoying ourselves with the stars.
No more bait and switch. At the last minute, Captain Lou Albano and the Samoans all of which, with the exception of Rikishi, were supposed to be included on the VIP guest list, were suddenly made non-VIP, meaning VIP ticket holders had to pay extra for their autographs. This disappointed me greatly, as I bought a Classic Superstars figure specifically for the Captain to sign.
Pick a time and stick to it. People who were supposed to sign in one session were inexplicably switched to another, which, for the most part, didn't bother me. However, when it came to Hall, Nash and X-Pac, it infuriated me. They were supposed to come out starting at 5 pm, so we planned our day accordingly. We were working with a tight schedule, as we had a specific time to be back at Port Authority for our bus. They were switched to 6:30pm and nobody had any answers why. Needless to say, we didn't get to meet any of them. Now I understand sometimes promoters need to rearrange time because of the talent, fire regulations, etc., but it would've been nice if Blaustein & Company actually told fans why the switch was taking place, rather than just spring it on us all of a sudden with no rhyme or reason attached.
Finally, for the love of God, don't invite Virgil. That man almost single-handedly ruined the event for us. He was practically shouting at people to come over and buy merchandise from him. I understand a lot of these former wrestlers make their living doing this, but doesn't he realize we'll come to his table if we want something signed by him? Virgil was downright annoying (and, in one case with my cousin, downright scary) with how he was conducting himself at the convention.
If Mr. Blaustein plans another convention, we will most certainly attend. We are so glad this day didn't turn out as we originally thought it would. Thank you to everyone involved in the Turnbuckle Promotion event.
Rob & The Crew
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Dear Georgie,
Here is our report on the Lynbrook show
My friends and I went to the Friday festivities, I mean Debaucheries. We got there around 12:30-1pm and was surprised that not every one was inside. Apparently they had a line for standing outside, then once you got in, you had to wait to pickup/purchase your tickets. To our chagrin, there was a third and fourth line to get into venue room, and one for the talent receptively.
Here is our report on the Lynbrook show
My friends and I went to the Friday festivities, I mean Debaucheries. We got there around 12:30-1pm and was surprised that not every one was inside. Apparently they had a line for standing outside, then once you got in, you had to wait to pickup/purchase your tickets. To our chagrin, there was a third and fourth line to get into venue room, and one for the talent receptively.
Before I go on, I would like to pose a question. Did anyone receive their tickets in the mail? A lot of people said no Why weren't they mailed out? This would have alleviated a fair amount of the congestion. As general admission you expect some wait, but a 3 and a half hr wait? (Our wait was longer than an entire session). Sorry, this does not fly with us. You think it might get better.... I don't think so. On an interesting note, as we walked in to the venue, we saw that Jesse Ventura canceled due to a ahem..." illness" ( yes it was in quotes on the sign also)
Once we go in the room with the vendors and talent, it was to put it a nice way Sodom and Gomorrah without the orgy! There were non VIP's mixed in with the VIP talent. On the back wall there was Sunny and Jeff Jarett. Why were they placed here? The should have been in another room. As soon as we found on where Jarrett was they moved him, to a section outside the room. This was probably the smartest thing done here. The Jarrett signing was run very smoothly... Take notes Guys. K& S know how do get the job done!
We got back in and then heard one of the absurd excuses ever. One of my friends, purchased a photo op with Chrtsty Hemme. The excuse was that they did not want to go through the crowd to fetch the camera. Luckily I brought my digital camera to take photos. Just another fine example of a well organized promotion.
By this time the fire Marshall came in again and threatened to shut the place down. Hemme was told to stop signing and moved out of the room. Here is where the fun begins. VIP in the front of the line, started a BS CHANT" sorry to use such harsh letters," THEN SO NICELY FOLLOWED BY A WE WANT TERRENCE CHANTS. We were standing next to the Highspots table that Daffney was working at. She said yell something different, so we had to accommodate her. We started chanting "ATTICA, ATTICA" and she joined in. You know you got a problem when the guests start egging on the crowd (thank you Terry Funk, Al Snow and Head)
Once we got through the line, we were told to go back outside to wait yet again. Doesn't this sound like Fun boys and girls?
Once we go in the room with the vendors and talent, it was to put it a nice way Sodom and Gomorrah without the orgy! There were non VIP's mixed in with the VIP talent. On the back wall there was Sunny and Jeff Jarett. Why were they placed here? The should have been in another room. As soon as we found on where Jarrett was they moved him, to a section outside the room. This was probably the smartest thing done here. The Jarrett signing was run very smoothly... Take notes Guys. K& S know how do get the job done!
We got back in and then heard one of the absurd excuses ever. One of my friends, purchased a photo op with Chrtsty Hemme. The excuse was that they did not want to go through the crowd to fetch the camera. Luckily I brought my digital camera to take photos. Just another fine example of a well organized promotion.
By this time the fire Marshall came in again and threatened to shut the place down. Hemme was told to stop signing and moved out of the room. Here is where the fun begins. VIP in the front of the line, started a BS CHANT" sorry to use such harsh letters," THEN SO NICELY FOLLOWED BY A WE WANT TERRENCE CHANTS. We were standing next to the Highspots table that Daffney was working at. She said yell something different, so we had to accommodate her. We started chanting "ATTICA, ATTICA" and she joined in. You know you got a problem when the guests start egging on the crowd (thank you Terry Funk, Al Snow and Head)
Once we got through the line, we were told to go back outside to wait yet again. Doesn't this sound like Fun boys and girls?
On a personal note we saw Jason walking down the hall. I asked him how was he holding up? He said he was ok and asked if I got all my stuff signed. I said most of it. Then he replied I a smarmy voice "Well you would have gotten all your stuff signed if you had purchased one of my VIP packages." Well, let me think, I had a good chunk of what was in his VIP Package included. Why the hell would I spend money on people I already have or have no interest in?
One of my friends was the first one in the 6 PM Session line for "GA" at 4:45pm. At this point the 2nd session was not completed. Around 6:30-6:45 pm, they started to let in the VIp+ and VIP's. What gets us is how come "GA" got to ride the coat tails of VIP's and the security did not do a thing to stop this. The total wait for this line was approx. 4 1/2 hr. (a Session and a half) Another fine example of riding VIP coat tails, is when we were waiting to meet the Funks. We were told not to pass the yellow line by some poorly trained security agent. VIP's and their GA Lackeys got to meet the Funks, while we waited an hour and a half just to go 20 feet to meet them.
A glimmer hope arose when it came time for the final session of the day when they realized that they had to split up the talent into 2 different rooms. In one room you had the Wolfpack, Lita, Dibiase, Capt. Lou, Ivan Putski, Tito Santana, All the Samoans (Minus SIka, due to being at the wrong airport), The Valliants. In the second room was Doink, Dan Severn (who arrived late), Dawn Marie, Bruno, JJ Dillion, Al Snow, Missy Hyatt, Christian and Billy Graham. However the glimmer of hope was diminished, by even more stupidity. Lita, who was a Non-VIP, was thrown in with VIP Signers. Which held up the line even longer? The same can be said for Billy Graham. They should have had both talents in a separate area to accommodate every one.
The talent was getting frustrated and confused with the whole venue. Christy Hemme was overheard saying that this was ridiculous. Billy Graham apologized profusely for having to wait such a long time for him. Talent was switched from one session to another with no notice to the guests. This is very unprofessional to guests. Speaking of being unprofessional, there is word that there will be no refunds given for autographs and photo opts, not used. Why can't we get a refund for things that we could not use? There are a few autographs I did not get because things were moved around so much, it was not worth the aggravation.
This is how we think it should be done.
1) Know the capacity of the venue
2) Eliminate VIP+ (only have GA and VIP "S)
3) Do not have a show the same day as another
4) Do not get everyone you can in one shot, save guests for another show
5) Keep you ego in check
The Lord Of Old School has spoken!
www.myspace.com/ratearassler
One of my friends was the first one in the 6 PM Session line for "GA" at 4:45pm. At this point the 2nd session was not completed. Around 6:30-6:45 pm, they started to let in the VIp+ and VIP's. What gets us is how come "GA" got to ride the coat tails of VIP's and the security did not do a thing to stop this. The total wait for this line was approx. 4 1/2 hr. (a Session and a half) Another fine example of riding VIP coat tails, is when we were waiting to meet the Funks. We were told not to pass the yellow line by some poorly trained security agent. VIP's and their GA Lackeys got to meet the Funks, while we waited an hour and a half just to go 20 feet to meet them.
A glimmer hope arose when it came time for the final session of the day when they realized that they had to split up the talent into 2 different rooms. In one room you had the Wolfpack, Lita, Dibiase, Capt. Lou, Ivan Putski, Tito Santana, All the Samoans (Minus SIka, due to being at the wrong airport), The Valliants. In the second room was Doink, Dan Severn (who arrived late), Dawn Marie, Bruno, JJ Dillion, Al Snow, Missy Hyatt, Christian and Billy Graham. However the glimmer of hope was diminished, by even more stupidity. Lita, who was a Non-VIP, was thrown in with VIP Signers. Which held up the line even longer? The same can be said for Billy Graham. They should have had both talents in a separate area to accommodate every one.
The talent was getting frustrated and confused with the whole venue. Christy Hemme was overheard saying that this was ridiculous. Billy Graham apologized profusely for having to wait such a long time for him. Talent was switched from one session to another with no notice to the guests. This is very unprofessional to guests. Speaking of being unprofessional, there is word that there will be no refunds given for autographs and photo opts, not used. Why can't we get a refund for things that we could not use? There are a few autographs I did not get because things were moved around so much, it was not worth the aggravation.
This is how we think it should be done.
1) Know the capacity of the venue
2) Eliminate VIP+ (only have GA and VIP "S)
3) Do not have a show the same day as another
4) Do not get everyone you can in one shot, save guests for another show
5) Keep you ego in check
The Lord Of Old School has spoken!
www.myspace.com/ratearassler
* * * * * * * * *
There will be more reports and photo's coming
If you would like to tell me about your experiences please send to: Georgie [email protected]
BTW - Some fans don't realize that if what your looking for isn't on page one on the site, you MUST hit the MORE button at the bottom of the column to go to the other pages...
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