VIP Experience

what hallmark exclusives ?, I felt as Jedi masters, we were not given the proper privleges or respect by the company, I donlt wish to be lu,mped with people who paid less than me in regards to perks. We should have bene allowed to shop much earlier and ships should hgave been opened to us at that time. The knights should have then been 2nd after us Masters afterwards with everyone else 3rd.

I show numerous normal pass people trying to get into the VIP lounge which was average and the meet and greet were crap apart from FALLONI and the poster, can't believe I was the 50th person and he wrote that on my poster and used the Obi one kenobi quote instead

 

So what your saying if I can make it out.... is that they should have opened the hall even earlier just for 50 people cause they paid more than the other VIPS. Given a road map to every exclusive at the show with a line painted on the floor to follow just so you can make sure you get them. I got every exclusive I wanted and I never had a VIP badge. I agree that vendors should not have been able to purchase stuff before the fans but some things can't really be controlled.
Also so what if regular people tried to get into the VIP room. Tried was the operative word. Were they allowed in. Probably not. I can understand that yes the meet and greets may have been lacking but you get what you get. Be happy you get to meet them in a setting where they can relax and not have to keep the line flowing. Carrie Fisher changed her plans on the last day to sign more autographs to please the fans. It seems this is the exact attitude j-jawa3 was posting about. I know you don't want to be lumped in with the Jedi Knight VIPS but it seems like your now lumping yourself into the other crowd. Celebration is about having fun with fellow Star Wars fan. The main question is did you have fun with fellow fans? This was the first time the VIP has ever been at a Celebration and it may need tweaking for the next one.

 

Nah I was only playing up to the previous poster, it was a good expereince overall and I manged to go to the front of all of my 14 autograph even though I only had 6 goes, since on the 1st day no one knew what they were doing.

It did make me luagh when people walked past me and said ''oh my god you're a Jedi master'' or ''wow my leader'' and then bow down

I was like mate, I just paid more money than you that's all, now get up and stop looking like an idiot. I did get into the staff/crew room and use their internet for free before I found out they was a booth in the hall with the same thing. I will def go to the next one in a few years time.
I must tell you a funny story, on the day before the it all started, I managed to sneak into the exhibit hall, when the security guard spotted me and looked at my pass, she said are you supposed to be in here I waved my hand infront of her face and said ''I am supposed to be in here'' and then she said ''yes are supposed to be in here'' and then let me carry on

 

To Abhib:

Is this your first Star Wars celebration? I have been to three of the previous Celebrations; we did not have "Knights" or "Masters" or "VIP" passes at all. The only people who got any privileges were the official Star Wars Fan Club members. These privileges included getting in a few minutes early, receiving the "Insider" magazine and having a lounge area. If a celebrity decided to come in, they just did--with no announcements.

People did not discriminate between fan club and non-fan club members. We did not hear about people sneaking around behind stages, sneaking into rooms where they should not have been (no matter what their status was) or being rude to staff or volunteers at the convention. I truly hope that the VIP status will be dropped for C VI so that these abuses to property and fellow fans and staff will cease.

Star Wars Celebrations are an activity in which fans from all walks of life are united with those of like minds and interests. We all want to get along with each other, have fun, inform each other and look out for each other. Star Wars fans should not be sneaky, rude or inconsiderate toward the staff, host facility or the folks (local government) that are allowing us to hold the convention there in case the convention is held there again.

Star Wars Celebrations also should not acknowledge a separate "class" or "classes" of fans; all fans should be of equal standing so that EVERYONE gets an equal chance at the opportunities offered.

Here is an illustration to clarify what I'm saying: You, as a fan, are in a line where you have been waiting for HOURS for a particular collectible. As you approach the head of the line, a person is allowed to "cut" the line in front of you. They buy a quantity of the collectibles, taking yours in the process. Is that fair?

This type of behavior is not in the spirit of the Star Wars Celebrations I have attended. This smacks of commercialism--and if this practice of the VIP "class" continues, it might well alienate the majority of the fans who go to these celebrations. Is that fair?

 

Did they make more money off the VIP passes? Yes this will be here for celebrations to come.

 

I agree. Especially the thing about having a separate line for the Hyperspace people for the main event. They ended up changing their minds on that last minute. Lamesauce.



At least Hyperspace still sends out cool awesome stuff.

 

I can't see how they didn't make money off it. If you add up the cost of all of the VIPs I think it comes out to over $100k!'

Then let's look at the cost of what the VIPs actually got and those costs:
-It cost them zero to section off some rows of seats in the theaters
-It cost them zero to let the VIPs cut in line for autographs
-It probably cost little-to-nothing for the celebrity meet-and-greets since the celebs were already there (i.e. didn't have to fly anyone in special for it)
-VIP lounge room would not cost much to rent or would be thrown in free just because of all of the other space they rented
-There's no way the swag the VIPs got cost more than $100k total.
-The personal shopper may have cost them some time from a staffer, but not much (and i bet it wasn't used much)

Overall, I'd be shocked if they didn't come out on top for the VIP packages.

 

I'd have to say the Knight pass was a good value for the reserved seating, especially the main event, and early entrance... but I'd be a little cheesed if I'd gotten the Master.

 

I agree on the Masters comment I really didnt see that they received much more benefit but but they paid alot more. Those eclusive prints/posters with Filoni...there were a stack of those leftover. Who knows what happened to them all.

My Jedi Knight experience was great I couldnt have asked for much more. Maybe a little more knowledgeable staff on the first day would have been nice but I got into every event I wanted without issue.

 

Sums it up perfectly for my VIP experience as well.

 

This was my fourth celebration and because I had a 3 year old, my family decided to stay across the street at the Peabody and splurge for Jedi Master. We know how to work a celebration.

Some things that didn't meet the letter of the advertised package or my implied expectations were as follows.

1. We were supposed to get a private meet and greet with Dave Filoni and voice actors from The Clone Wars. Meeting Dave Filoni and receiving a personalized (with a remarque) print from him was great albeit very brief, but we didn't meet the voice cast. On the last day, Reed tried to make up for it and even sent an e-mail to all the Jedi Masters urging us to not miss the last meet and greet with Peter Mayhew. Tom Kane came in briefly to say bye to everyone and Peter Mayhew, but we didn't meet him. I think this is how Reed tried to deliver meeting the voice cast. He only came in and said bye. I was a little upset about it because I've met Peter Mayhew in the past and heard his same story. I was planning on skipping that meet and greet and attending another session, but I didn't because of Reed's urging. The funny thing is, my wife attended TheForce.net party for $30 and was able to truly meet and greet several of the voice cast including Dave Filoni. She had a 10 minute conversation with Tom Kane.

2. Everyone seemed pretty clueless about the Jedi Master privileges until day three. On day 2, I tried to go to the VIP lounge at 9am, and I had to end up getting a blue shirt to tell security that it was OK to let me by. I was only planning on purchasing one or two autographs, but on day two I decided to get the Clone Wars voice cast instead of getting Mark Hamill's autograph. I tried to use my Jedi Master privilege and skip the long lines, but the Official Pix volunteers said it was only for the headliners. My wife and I knew this was not the case, but we had to go complain in the VIP lounge about it. It was fixed that day, but by then, it took us another two days before we could get the voice cast to sign despite having gone back to the Official Pix area six times. I definitely felt like I wasted time I could have spent attending sessions just trying to get signatures when I could have gotten them all on day two if everyone had their act together. On day one, the volunteers at the digital stage had no idea about Jedi Master seating, so I just ended up sitting with everyone else. The seat I had was fine, but the lack of volunteer communication was frustrating.

3. I had implied that the reserved stage seating would be in the front. For two tickets I paid $800 more than the Jedi Knights. All the seating in the celebrity stage was on the right and not in front for days one and two, and the Masters and Knights all sat in the same section. This was fixed by day three for the Main Event. Lucasfilm VIPs sat in the first few rows center stage, then Jedi Masters, and then Jedi Knights. We got to the event at 10:30 (we were told to be there by 10:45), and the ushers had to hunt for seats for us for 15 minutes. It turns out that Lorne Peterson and the rest of the model makers were sitting in the Jedi Master section. The ushers were trying to kick them out, but some Knights yelled out 'They made the movie. Leave them alone.' And so the ushers did. This really ticked me off because they weren't in the right section. Ultimately, Ashley Eckstein and one of her exhibitors were kicked out of their seats so we could sit down -- and across from the Jedi Master section at that. I felt awful. I found out later that she was able to sit with the voice cast.

On the positive side:

1. Early entry was great. I really wish it was an hour early instead of 30 minutes. I really enjoyed being able to hit up artist alley first thing on day one. On the successive days, I could get pictures with the snow speeder or TIE interceptor without waiting in any lines or extra people clutter. I really enjoyed this perk.

2. The dedicated seating was extremely helpful. Instead of waiting in line for an hour(s) for the celebrity stage a

 

I agree with the above as I felt Masters should get more than Knight for we paid twice as much for very little more we got than Knights

 

I want to start by saying that Reed did an exceptional job with the convention overall. The facility was the right size. Each of the activities and sessions we attended seemed to have enough space, though the family room could have been a bit bigger. The events were reasonably spread out to thin the crowd, but not so spread out that you felt like you were hiking all over creation without purpose. The convention schedule was very robust with plenty to do, even for those of us who have attended many past conventions. Indeed, this was the best Celebration to date.

The hubby (Thistledown) has already posted some of our thoughts, but I wanted to relay my own personal perspective as well. I think the Jedi Knight package was probably WELL worth the money. As a master, I can say that I'm rather disappointed. The price difference between Knight and Master was $800 for our family (two masters).

First, let me set the stage. This is our forth Celebration, so we know what to expect overall. Our son (3 next week) overheard us talking about plans for the Star Wars convention 5 months beforehand and EVERY DAY, he would talk about it. Because of his excitement, we opted to go for Masters to make it as easy as possible for us to get around, attend more activities, and enjoy the Celebration. My post is long, but it outlines each item, what we were promised, what was implied, and what we received. Master Only benefits are highlighted in orange.



These perks were received as expected:
* 1 Celebration V VIP badge, granting 4 Day Admission, featuring exclusive poster art (Knights & Masters)
* 1 Celebration V badge lanyard (Knights & Masters)
* 1 Celebration V Official show poster, rolled, complete with poster tube (Knights & Masters)
* 1 Celebration V Souvenir Commemorative Show Guide (Knights & Masters)
* Limited Edition Celebration VIP T-Shirt (Master's Shirt)
* Exclusive Celebration V VIP hat ? Only for the Jedi Master package
* 10% off any one item in the Celebration Store (vs. 5% for Jedi Knight)
* Celebration V VIP Concierge & Lounge. Check your coats, store your packages, ask advice, plan your afternoon, or just sit and put your feet up in a comfortable chair. (Knights & Masters)
* Half Hour Early Entry to the Celebration V Exhibit Hall (Knights & Masters)
* Half Hour Early Access to the Celebration Store (Knights & Masters)
* Express Access to Celebration Store checkout (Knights & Masters) (We didn't use this as we used the personalized shopper)

As you can see, most of these perks are for both Knights and Masters. Obviously, the hat and an additional 5% discount on one item at the store do not warrant the extra $400 per ticket we paid.

I recall the Hyperspace Lounge from C3 being particularly awesome. While it didn't have the check-in ability, the room was inviting and had areas of dim lighting where you could really relax and kick your feet up. This is the environment that I was expecting, but the room was lit with standard fluorescents and fitted with standard round tables and chairs and a couple of couches. It was functional and met the need, but did not meet my hope and expectation compared to year's past.

The check-in service was awesome. The setup was underestimated for our needs and, at first, I was concerned that our stuff would get lost. However the team did an amazing job of working with the limited resources they had to ensure our packages were safe and not co-mingled. Hopefully, they will improve the setup in the future so the staff doesn't have to work so hard to make up for the lack of space, shelves, racks, etc.

Early access to the Exhibit Hall was nice. We had a limited amount of exclusive shopping and focused more on art this year, it was still nice to get in and get it done early. For us, the absolute best part of early entry was getting to take photos with the Tie Interceptor, Millennium Falcon, life-sized Clone Wars figures, lego statues, etc without waiting in line

 

It has been suggested that some of the Masters had an elitist attitude, flaunting our benefits in the face of Knights or regular attendees. Having spent a bit of time with the other Masters, I don't really see this as true. I didn't come across anyone with that attitude. Many of the Masters did have considerable discussion about the value (or lack thereof) that we were receiving compared to the Jedi Knight package. The first two days, it seemed like none of the security staff, volunteers, exhibit hall, etc understood what we had been promised so we had to fight every step of the way. I think if any of us came across as elitist it is confused with the utter frustration we had with trying to exercise the benefits we paid for.

 

Yes, the VIP Fast Path line skip was to be used for the Special Guests lines only:

http://www.scifiexpo.com/DCC/celebration-v-line-control.html

 

The problem Justin is that again Reed did not clarify that to the JK/JM holders, and simply put it out there as line-skipping for everyone. Only on the scifiexpo site does it explain how OP was going to handle line control for them. Looking back, I think perhaps OP should have considered treating the CW voice actors the same as the headliners, as they had the largest lines by far (except for Bulloch, who ALWAYS has a crowd )during the convention.

And as I did volunteer for OP during the event, I'd like to make a point on the lineskipping: each VIP got a card denoting the number of skips they were allotted; this card needs to be holepunched by an OP volunteer so the privilege wouldn't be abused. Apparently this was an issue on Friday.

 

I bought a VIP-JK, had a crew badge and at some points an exhibitor badge. The exhibitor badge did nothing for me. The VIP badge I usually had under my crew badge. There was almost nothing I could do with my VIP badge that I could not or did not do with my crew badge, and for this reason I felt rather ripped off on the VIP badge. I saw many VIPs getting the shaft on thier paid for privledges and I spent a lot of time educating other crew and staff as to just exactly what VIPs were to receive. I tried my best to help out VIPs where I could.

What I did with my crew badge:
Early entrance/late departure every day.
Preview night on Wednesday in the store (were limited to 2 of any one item if the cashiers knew so much).
Early entrance, priority seating for any panel any room (hit and miss, if it looked to be a hassel > 1 min I whipped out my VIP badge), including the main event (helped if you had a blue or gross orange shirt).
Access to VIP lounge.
I arranged my own personal meet/greets but sounds like the masters got ripped off some (im looking to get a print if anyone has an extra).

Now the trade off was I did work some 15 hours to earn my crew badge. I've been to every Celeberation C1-5 CE and CJ. I really hope Reed does the next celebration because they should learn from thier mistakes, and this will make it only better for the fans, and VIPS. I feel the JK VIP was a fair price, they just need to 1)inform all staff and vendors what the VIP perks are and what it means to them. 2)Better snacks and a washroom in the VIP lounge. 3) Priority and designated (not just designated) seating right from the start. 4)Early entrance should be 1 hour not 30mins. 5)The perks for the highest order VIP should be very clear and organized from the get go. Reed had no clue re the charity event Lucas did in Chicago a few weeks ago where for $400 you could spend 90mins with Lucas and get plenty of autos. I think this could have been arranged by adding $200 of the ticket price going towards his Charity for an hour with 50 people IMHO. Again when Reed found out about this at CV they were "what...wow...really...we had no clue".

 

It really doesn't matter that Official Pix posted this on their site. It isn't what we purchased. The fact that it was posted only means that Reed had the opportunity to clear up the problem BEFORE the convention instead of Day 3. In the end, it's about setting expectations and Reed didn't do a good job with that.

 

Well, considering that OPX was in charge of the Autograph Hall, I would say it matters quite a bit that this info was posted on their site.

Whether or not it met anyone's perceived expectations is irrelevant.

 

It is relevant because line skipping for only headliners isn't what was sold. Why would they sell the ability to skip 6 lines if there were only 4 headliners (Hamill, Fisher, Daniels, and maybe Park)

 

No, OPX had 6 Special Guests listed - they included Kurtz and Burtt as well. Now whether all fans consider all 6 to be Special Guests is a matter of personal opinion, but according to OPX they were.

http://www.scifiexpo.com/DCC/celebration-v.html

 

QFT. As somebody who was at that charity event, it was an amazing, almost surreal experience. I got 5 pictures taken with Lucas, 7 autographs, and all were done very carefully in a non-rushed environment with only about 120 fellow fans. No pushing, no shoving, no crowding. It was phenomenal.

Oh and the price was actually $200 per person, which included an amazing reception with food and beverages (including wines and beers), plus a digital screening of Empire with Lucas himself there for an introduction and Q&A. Truly a memorable evening.

Hector

 

Perhaps, but it still isn't what was sold.

 

Hi guys, it's Tom Kane. I'm not sure what happened with the "Meet and Greet" with the Clone Wars folks... There was some SERIOUS miscommunication. We did not skip it, we just didn't know anything about it at all. I was literally walking out the door to catch my plane home, when someone asked if I could go into the room. I saw Peter talking, and didn't want to interrupt him. I finally went up to say Hi and Bye to my friend, but seriously had no idea you guys had actually paid a LOT to talk to us. I just want to make sure you didn't think we were blowing you guys off.

I think part of the corn-fusion stems from the fact that unlike the other Celeb attendees from the original movies, the Clone Wars folks are currently working on Lucasfilm projects, so they keep a bit of a firewall around us, and sometimes we don't hear about these things.

Anyway, if anyone feels really ripped off, let me know what I can do to make it better. I'll call the Lucasfilm Sith Enforcement Division. SOMEONE will pay.

 

Hi, it's Tom Kane. I'm not sure what happened with the "Meet and Greet" with the Clone Wars folks... There was some SERIOUS miscommunication. We did not skip it, we just didn't know anything about it at all. I was literally walking out the door to catch my plane home, when someone asked if I could go into the room. I saw Peter talking, and didn't want to interrupt him. I finally went up to say Hi and Bye to my friend, but seriously had no idea you guys had actually paid a LOT to talk to us. I just want to make sure you didn't think we were blowing you guys off.

I think part of the corn-fusion stems from the fact that unlike the other Celeb attendees from the original movies, the Clone Wars folks are currently working on Lucasfilm projects, so they keep a bit of a firewall around us, and sometimes we don't hear about these things.

Anyway, if anyone feels really ripped off, let me know what I can do to make it better. I'll call the Lucasfilm Sith Enforcement Division. SOMEONE will pay.