ORC attendance survey up at TORn

[serai]

Gacked from undone27:


Here's the link to the survey for those of you who attended.

I hope all of you will go over there and tell them what you think. For the most part, I had a wonderful time, but I was really pissed off by the behavior of the staff at the autograph lines and photo ops, and have taken the opportunity to let TORn know what I think.



I was EXTREMELY unhappy with the way your staff treated both the actors and the attendees at the photo ops and autograph lines. They were inexcusably rude, pushy and vulgar. There was NO EXCUSE for the way they treated us or the actors. ESPECIALLY Dom Monaghan, who was treated like trash by people who were being PAID with money WE GAVE YOU in order to have a nice moment with him. (Thus these people STOLE OUR MONEY by making that good experience IMPOSSIBLE.) They shoved people, sneered and yelled at us and generally treated the folks who paid GOOD MONEY like cattle. It was disgusting. If the same outfit is running next year's convention, I certainly will not be attending, and I suspect (from the opinions I heard both then and since) that a great many others won't, either. It is possible to handle long lines and crowds of people with respect and courtesy - that kind of boorish behavior is absolutely without reason or merit. The crowds at this event were all very friendly and happy, so there was NO REASON WHATSOEVER for the employees to be so nasty. I don't care what "experience" these people have had at other events - ORC was a unique gathering with a very different crowd. The employees should have been briefed to take the measure of the crowd before acting in such a bullying and ill-conceived manner. I'm thankful that I got to interact with the folks I've been wanting to meet from LOTR, because now I can refuse to attend next year without feeling I'm going to miss anything. I sincerely hope you will heed the complaints of those of us who were APPALLED at the lack of civility on these people's parts, and either strongly censure Creation's employees or get another outfit to run the next ORC.




*Whew* Feels good to get that off my chest, and I hope they'll listen. Both at the event and since, I've heard other people espouse the same opinions. Maybe if enough of us speak up, they'll do something about it for next year.

Comments

[elanorgardner.livejournal.com]

Like I said when I heard who was running ORC, there is a REASON people who have attended CREATION cons refer to them as "CREMATION cons".

[elderberrywine.livejournal.com]

OK. Added my two cents worth.

I had an opportunity to meet a couple of the actors at my photo opp (Wood and Astin) and found them to be extremely personable and accommodating.
More importantly, they seemed to be setting their own pace and genuinely enjoying the interaction with their fans. I understand that that had not been the case on the previous day.

I do not feel that setting a higher price in order to spend more time with them is in any way warranted. No one standing in those very long lines seemed at all put out by the fact that the lines were moving slowly because the actors were taking their time. Management companies such as Creation may have their own agenda, but that should be secondary to the interaction between the actors and their fans. Nobody should have their stopwatches out, and if the nature of the event is misunderstood by Creation, it is time to try a different vendor.

[slipperieslope.livejournal.com]

You both rock.

Every LOTR related event that I have attended has been populated with the most exquisitely mannered, happy, courteous, friendly and accommodating people I have ever had the pleasure of queuing with and I have waited in lines all around north America; including rushing tickets for Shakespeare plays, ice skating competitions and ALA. I do not know what Creations problem was nor why they were such assholes. There is no excuse.

[blackbird-song.livejournal.com]

You and EBWine made some wonderful points, and although I didn't have the presence of mind to copy and save what I wrote to them along those lines, I, too, told them in a few places of my displeasure at the way the actors and attendees were treated, with special attention to Dom Monaghan's handler(s). I made a similar comment to yours about the need to control a crowd with courtesy and respect. I mentioned that cattle do not pay $60 for an autograph or $800 for a celebrity doodle on a tablecloth, that I had done both and didn't want to be treated as if I was on the way to the slaughter house. And this was before I read your post!

I also mentioned having been physically pushed at Sean Astin by the photo-op manager, who had failed to notice that Sean was saying goodbye to some personal friends and was not ready for me yet. I was very glad of my dance training, which prevented me from falling into them, and my acting training, which enabled me to handle being violated in that way with a certain degree of equanimity and poise. I told them of the bad reputation Creation has among convention-goers, and I hope that they will take the hint from the various complaints that things need to be handled differently in the future.

Thank you for this post, and for sharing with us the rant you wrote to them. It is both horrible and heartening to know that I was not the only one who felt that way!

Catherine

[ex-lunarisi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for expressing this to them Serai. Overall the whole thing was positive, but these were the GLARING imperfections. I would not pay more for more time with the actors; at the rate they were rushing us through, they made a killing. NOT the actors, who were gracious as always, but Creation.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that gave 'em a piece of my mind, for all the good it would do.