Your Thoughts On CII - The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

All in all we had a great time. I loved seeing all the costumes. But the lines were to long. First you had to wait in line for over an hour to get a ticket then you had to wait in line for well over an hour to see the show. Even if the room was empty they would not seat the people. We were not able to see all that we wanted to see. We went to Toledo to see The Magic of Myth and we expected to see more of the same, which we did not; they only had a small room set up with costumes and props. Also I would think these big corporations could hand out free things and not just a bag of chips (yes there were a couple of other free things) And for those of you who missed out on the free books never fear; you missed not a thing, all but 2 books (and they were insiders) were in another language. I hope they find a better way of handling all of this for C3. We are looking forward to C3 (hopefuly with new sponsers) and my costume is being planned while I post. Indianapolis is a great city; everything was in walking distance, rooms, food, etc., but they need a place with 4 times the room, maybe the RCA dome.
PS The 501st were great (for bad guys)
PSS To any of the workers who read this, it takes time to learn all the ropes and I know you tried.

 

Oops, late night posting error.

 

I had a great time overall. I do agree it was probably overbooked, and highly chaotic, but if we think WotC shouldn't sell as many tickets, we're basically looking around and asking many people on this board not to go or deciding they shouldn't be able to. I bought my tickets early, but some friends bought late and I would hate for them not to be able to go. There were a lot of things I missed, but I had fun with the events I attended.

Some thoughts on corrections:

Don't allow anyone with an exhibitor pass to buy exclusive merchandise. Really should the people selling a Count Dooku figure that's two weeks old for $25 be allowed to buy something this exclusive? Any dealer caught with a sign that said "Buying C2 figure for (X amount of dollars)" should have been yanked out right away. Scalpers are not fans. If you bought a figure and sold it to one of those dealers, I want nothing to do with you. One dealer told a fan that he had eight, but they were all for friends, and he was buying all the ones he could. There's the reason people couldn't get figures. Hasbro should have made more and told any exhibitor that they couldn't buy them. Second, about Hasbro, why weren't they selling figures themselves, for base price? I sat through a Hasbro forum with reps from Hasbro. The exec says "We are trying to do everything we can to make sure that everyone that wants our toys gets them." Then why is it that in the Exhibitors Hall, not 100' away from the Hasbro display area, there are people selling the harder to find Hasbro figures for triple the store cost? And I don't mean the old figures, I mean figures that are literally two weeks old. Hasbro, if you want everyone to have everything they want, then sell the items at the show, afterall, you're running it.

Second, I think C2 Ventures had a great set up. Granted, I went through ten minutes after it opened on Friday and by Saturday things were a nightmare, but I loved that all the stars were there at once. I really thought Prowse would be signing for two hours on one day and I would miss an event, or Bulloch would sign two days for two hours. However, they obviously needed a bigger place. They should have put it in the area with the Kenner toy display (which should have been more than piles of boxes) and the uncrowded CCG demo area. Someone that just wants one autograph of Phil Brown shouldn't have to wait three hours in a line while Phil Brown signs just ten autographs during the same period. Let people into the large area and go where they want to from there.

Third, why is it that the most helpful people were the volunteers from the 501st, and the most up-to-date information on the events prior to open came from the Indy Knights and NOT WotC? By mid-Friday, if the person was wearing a blue or green shirt, I didn't waste my breath asking a question. I looked for an Imperial and at least if that person didn't know, they told me so in a polite manner and didn't lie to me.

Fourth, don't put people like RA Salvatore and other authors who are signing autographs in the middle of the exhibit hall. Put those booths on the edge so that lines don't block up everything.

Fifth, better vendors. I've always wanted The Tick on DVD, but I want to know that when I buy it, the people that own the rights to it are getting the money and not some sleeze guy who pirates it. If it's not legal, don't let them sell it there. And why is it there was ONE costume place for Star Wars things, but TWO booths selling swords, axes and morning stars? I also find it wrong that the C2 store had few T-shirts, and only small variety, but if I wanted a T-shirt of a cat with dragon wings, I could buy many types. WotC apparently sent out invitations to exhibitors, or so I was told by a potential exhibitor from Arkansas. I can't believe this is who WotC decided to invite: scalpers, bootleggers, weapons people and the people that make that strange crystal board game. It's the first time in my life that my wife and I worked hard saving money for several months to go on vacation, and came home with more than

 

I had a very good time at C2, so I will do my best not to complain, but offer some suggestions instead.

1. DO NOT GET AUTOGRAPHS! Just don't get them? plain and simple, and if you must then use the polling service. The autograph lines took up waaay too much time, and in my opinion, were not worth it when you could have seen or engaged in other activities.

2. MISUSE OF SPACE. I am not certain about this, but from what I heard, there was still a lot of space within the convention center not being used. Can anyone confirm that? If true, we can all blame the organizers for creating up to four different lines in a single hallway. At one time on Saturday, there were lines for The Celebration Store, The George Lucas figure only booth, the concert, and for Carrie Fisher?s autograph. Each of these lines had half the population of Indy in them. It just seems to be that maybe some of these things could have been divided up a little better in terms of location?

 

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but I don't understand how anyone can defend what happened this weekend. It was an awful experience, and the only thing that made me not regret going were the few cool things I got to see. I don't know how many of you went to Denver, but overall that was MUCH better. Yes, it rained and was muddy. But almost everything was in a big hangar and you could just walk around and see whatever you wanted. The problem with this one was that were way too many people and there was no room. By putting every little thing, like the archives, in a room you forced people to form lines. Really cool things, like the Star Wars in 30 minutes play, they stuck in a tiny ass room where you could fit about 100 people. When I walked past the area where they were talking about collecting it was always empty and it was a huge room. Bad planning. Then they didn't give you anywhere to form the lines, so people were just standing anywhere and there was no organization. To get into opening ceremonies, which I luckily did, was even worse. They allowed only a few people upstairs and let all of them in until the whole second floor was empty. Meanwhile there are probably 1000 people at the bottom of three staircases in a giant mass, with no order, and they won't let anyone up the stairs. The crowd almost started a riot, I swear. People actually started shouting at the security folks. When they finally let us upstairs they were only letting us up in groups of 10, and at the top other security guys were yelling at us to hurry up and get to the auditorium because they were going to close the doors. Well, why didn't they just let everyone up? I don't understand why they needed these stupid lines. They should've just let people into it whenever they showed up. It wouldn't have been that big of a distraction. As for items, I don't know if you tried walking through the Exhibitor hall but in some places it was almost impossible. Movement was almost nothing. The lack of Star Wars items like T-shirts sucked. There was a much better selection in Denver. They had a section where they were giving away some rare Star Wars books, 3 a person. ALL of the books were gone by about 12 on Friday. That's awful. I only stood in line once for the special figure, and I'm not a member of the fan club so I had to wait until 10 to get in. They sold out by 9:45, which means that even some club members couldn't get any. If they do a celebration 3 they really need to consider doing it in a giant room, like a domed stadium. They can make all the sellers go outside in the parking lot in tents. If they set up stages at different areas there'd be plenty of seating to watch them, plus there wouldn't be giant lines and you could move around freely. If the Celebration III is in anything but a dome, I would never go. I sure didn't get my $75 worth.

 

What Fun!!

Okay, the bad - I spent $600 for a weekend and drove 7 hours one way to find out the things I wanted most in the store were sold out despite being a fan club member who went first thing in the morning! - not being able to get seats at a lot of the talks - the LINES from hell. Better luck next time WOTC.

Now for the good - the FANS!!! Although I got to see only one official talk, I met so many cool people, and come on, that's what it is really all about after all. - Greedo posing with Jedi Teddy and giving the bear assination advice, Mr. Bullock who is always so nice to fans and makes each person feel special - making the first action figure of Jedi Teddy - Getting Carrie Fisher's autograph - The R2D2 parade - the star wars in 30 minutes production (totally hillarious) - Figure Club !!! - all the great costumes people wore (Hi! Alex) - Indy, what a great city - and THANK GOD no rain, mud, or tents like Denver.

 

well, just got back from the 3-day experience. first of all, let me just say, that i am *extremely* glad i went. it was awesome and so thankful that i got to go.

now, that's not to say it was perfect...

the bad (we'll get this out of the way):
--Lines. good grief, there were so many lines. friday was horrible, as it took 2 hours and 45 minutes just to get in, then the Will Call line was another hour and a half line that went back outside again. then, the line for the opening ceremony was ridiculous (once again, going outside).
--i love how there was this humongous line for the autograph pull! we waited for 2 hours to place our order, when on the top of the order form, it says in huge bold letters: Don't Want To Wait in Line? haha. good one.
--lack of Jorge Sacul figures. this really ticked me off. i waited 2 hours on friday, and an hour and a half on saturday--no figures. i walked into the store at 10 am on sunday and they were already sold out. 6,000 figures in 2 hours?

you know, i feel bad for the people who bought tickets just for sunday. everything was sold out. the store had absolutely nothing on sunday morning---just order forms.

the real stinker about the figure was that dealers were selling them in the exhibitor hall for $50 on sunday! that's weak. really weak.

and don't even pretend that my fan club membership gets me any perks. i didn't get *any* special priviledges all weekend. i think i got in later than half the non-fan club people.

the lounge was weak. nothing too it. in all the advertisement that kept saying that sw celebrities would be appearing, but to check the on-site schedule. i asked the WOTC guy standing in front of the lounge where the schedule was and he had no idea what i was talking about.

they should've had the welcoming ceremony in the dome or at least some place where more than 2% of the ticket holders could get to see it.

the good--ok, enough complaining. i really did have a good time. i did manage to see one presentation: hayden, nick, and anthony daniels. it was worth the whole weekend. anthony daniels needs his own sitcom--he's so hilarious. hayden and nick were very cool and it was a really good presentation. plus, we were front row, center, so we were so stinkin' close. we made eye contact several times and daniels walked by several times.

daniels even came out sunday morning to the back of line to get in (where we were)and talked and posed for pictures. i shook his hand and said, "threepio rules" and he turned around and said, "yeah, he wishes!" too funny. very classy, and generous guy.

also saw jeremy bulloch, peter mayhew manuevering through the crowd, and warwick davis coming out of the men's bathroom (!)

the costumes were awesome. i am so jealous of those 501st guys, with their amazing armor, who were so cool. they really deserve a big thumbs up for their patience and good humor.

the hasbro lifesize action figure blister pack was way cool. it was so funny to see people be so goofy. it was a great idea, whoever thought of it and really fun.

it was so great that the artists and authors were signing for free. i got dave dorman (who was doing personalized sketches for people!!) and russell walks (love that poster)to sign some sw galaxy cards. very cool. got salvatore's autograph too which was very nice.

free stuff! i took everything people were handing out! lots of nice posters, those carboard pop-up boxes were pretty cool, and topps cards. i love free stuff!

the giant lego yoda. totally sweet. it was enormous! i was there right after they finished it on sunday, and you'd think they were unveiling a new statue of liberty or something. it was great.

the people. standing in line, at least afforded you a chance to meet people. i struck up conversation with a lot of really nice and cool people (there were only 2 guys that were kind of rude). thanks for making the time go faster!

all in all, a great weekend. sure, there were frustrations, but some of that was to be expected. let's hope they learn from their mistakes and swIII wil

 

Wow. I don't really know where to begin, so I'll try to make this organized.

The Good
- The Fans
The costumes, the unity, all of it. It seemed as though the fans realized that everyone else was there to have fun. One of the most fun experiences of the Celebration was talking to the other fans while standing in line, exchanging stories. An extra thanks to the 501st for willing ot stand, in costume, for hours upon hours at a time. You guys had to have been baking in those suits.
- The Diversity
If you were an EU fan, you had EU things to do. If you were an Original Trilogy fan, there were Original Trilogy things for you to do. There was a bit of everything to do all weekend.
- The Guests
The celebrity guests and speakers were great. Just about everything I heard people saying about them was good; and when it wan't, it was for personal reasons or things out of the hands of the celebrities. They were patient, nice, and understanding. In my own experience, Amy Allen, Shannon Baksa, and Michonne Bourriague were incredably nice. They didn't just sit there and sign pictures like robots, they looked at you, made ete contact, actually talked to you. No, they weren't deap, meaingful, hour long discussions, but it was enough for you to feel like you ment something to them, which to some of them, you do.
- The Presentations
I think everything that could be said about them has been said. But I'll say it again. They were incredable. The videos, music, everything. Granted, some people might say that the videos contained spoilers, and maybe they did, but not enough to give away the whole movie. If anything, people are more excited to see it now.
- The Atmosphere
As most of you were more than noticed, that place was packed. I understnad the Saturday count was at approximatly 55,000. But I think one thing that was remembered was that 45-50,000 of those people were there to celebrate George Lucas's dream. People from all over the world gathered in one place, for one reason. That feeling of unity was amazing.

The Bad
- Lack of Organization
I give WotC credit. They organized an event for several thousand people. However, when the line for Carrie Fisher wraps around the line for the Celebration 2 store, that's a little rediculous. Lines are going to happen when everyone wants to get to the same place at the same time. But roping off which line is for which, especially when they eminate from the same area, could have saved on alot of headaches and confusion.
- Lack of Directions
Sorry, but those maps we were given just didn't cut it. A black and white map with small, black lettering is very hard to make out. It might have cost a bit more, but maybe a color coded one? Each room is a different color, and then next ot the list of that rooms events, you have that rooms color. Going in, I had heard that there was an archive exhibit with costumes and props and such. However, finding that was another issue. More signs might have helped people find everything.
- Lack of Food
The few amounts of food vendors was a source of more lines, making it hard to get around. Yes, there were plenty of resturaunts(and good ones at that) around the convention center, many people did not have the time to go to an outside place to eat. The major food vendors should have been away from the central area, and have maybe a few drink carts randomly placed in the other areas.
- Inability to Move
Due to so many lines for everything, it was very difficult to get to where you wanted to go, let alone get there on time. Most of this came about from the closing of the two staircases. I know that there were reasons for this, but there was more going upstairs than just the Sagmore Ballroom. And anyone trying to get to to those places had to wait, and wait, and wait..........
- Pointless Vendors
This weekend was all about Star Wars. And walking into the Exhibit Hall

 

This is for all those people complaining and whining about the celebration....
First off, for an event like this, where you know there are going to be lines and such, you have to have a gameplan in order if you plan on seeing the things you want to see.
I laid a gameplan out of what i was going to do and out of everything I only missed two events, Ben Burtt and John Knoll. And that's only because they were scheduled right after a previous event I had gotten out of and I couldn't make it on time. All the important stuff I got to do though and I have to say it was a complete blast! I was in the land of Oz for three days! I got to talk to Rick McCallum, Anthony Daniels. got Billy Dee's and Mayhew's autos, saw some wonderful shows with Mccallum, Hayden, and Carrie Fisher who's talk was priceless. Saw the digital presentation which was even more priceless, saw the exhibit and took some great pictures, saw the Joel Edgerton show and attack of the Fetts which was hilarious, took many pictures with cast in the autos section and the lines were long, but once they got moving, they went pretty fast. And saw TESB on the big screen with a packed house of very involved fans. Incredible! I got to do all this because I PLANNED AHEAD!
I got to the shows in time so as to beat a long line and any line I waited in, I saw the show. I was never turned away. I even got a Jorg Sacul figure. I knew those were selling out, so I went on Friday immediatly and got in line, which wasn't that long. And what's this about not being able to find your way around? You guys need to come to Detroit. Now there's a place where you will immediatly get lost. How many signs do you guys need? It was incredibly easy to manuever around the convention center. I had a really wonderful time at CII and I will definitely be planning to go to CIII. The weather was exquisite, the city was beautiful and extremely accomadating. It was the best! Thank you Wizards of the Coast for a grade A event. It was an experience I'll never forget!

 

Well, I had made a schedule of things I was going to see and made them exact time after another. it took me forever coz my printer wasnt working so it took me an hour the night before to get that together. Showed up at C2 and I only did 3 things. Go figure. BUT I HAD AN AWESOME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I had more fun having my wisdom teeth removed.

We got there at 6am and had to wait until 9:30 just to get in the door. Once we were in, we waited in line to get our laminants, only to be told that they couldn't find them and that we would have to go wait in another line. By the time we got our passes, the place was packed. The map was useless and very little was marked at the venue. We tried to go upstairs to wait in line to get tickets to wait in line (figure that one out) but were told that no one was allowed upstairs. By the end of the day, we had waited an hour-and-a-half to see McCallum (worth it) and stumbled into the Jonathan Hales presentation, just to find a place to sit down (not worth it).

As far as the celebrities go, forget it! I can understand having people pay for an autograph, but dammit, if I pay $30 to get in, I want to at least be able to see the celebs! The way they were positioned in the room, you couldn't even get a glimpse of them unless you paid an extra $15!!!

Want a Jorg Sacul figure? Ha! I laugh at you! People were scooping them up so fast that anyone not in the building by 9am couldn't get one.

In the end, I felt like I had been ass-raped by a wampa. I'll never go to another Wizards-run con again.

PS-- BATHE once in a while, people!

 

Ok I have to take up for WotC a little and the convention itself to explain a few things. Yes I was disappointed in some things, but a lot of it was unforseen.

1. There is no way to have foreseen how many people would be there. Yes, they could have cut off ticket sales, but we knew they wouldn't for months. Lots of people made the travel plans to get there and waited to buy their tickets. What would have happened to them if they didn't get in?

2. By the way, the rumored numbers are said to be as follows:
Friday = 20,000
Saturday = 50,000
Sunday = 25,000
That's a lot of people. I personally could see that happening, but I'm an optimist. WotC didn't. That's what disappointed me.

3. I was a volunteer with the Indy Knights. Most of the "Yellow Shirts" were either Indy Knights members, their friends or families, or from other fan groups including Chicago Force, Minnesota Force, and St. Louis. Some of us were offered to work in the autograph area. I did both of these things, and hence, didn't see much except for fans. I was one of the people trying to get the lines organized on Saturday, but when fans line up on their own and refuse to move despite the fire hazard danger to all of them, there isn't much we could do. Many people may think we were just sitting around doing nothing and trying to make ourselves look all important, but we were in fact trying to make the convention as safe and enjoyable as possible.

4. We knew there would be a limited amount of Jorg Sacul figures. That's what they were supposed to be...LIMITED. No one was promised that everyone would get one. They even overselled on Friday and Saturday because people complained that they had stood in line for so long to get it. I wish there was a better way of organizing the sale of the figure because scalpers galore scooped them up. They were even reselling them at the convention.

I have told people this, and I hope you take this into consideration: Everything you did at C2 had to be on a level of value. If you choose to stand in line for 6 hours to get Carrie Fisher's autograph that's fine, just make sure you value that more than seeing something else. I personally would not have done that because I couldn't see anything. But that was my choice as well to work at C2 instead of being a fan.

Regardless, I had a good time, saw some very nice things, and met some great people.

 

Well, this was my first Star Wars Celebration. Overall, I enjoyed it, mostly because of the fans I met and the few shows I did get into. I want to do it again, but it did have it's problems.

I'll start with the bad and ugly.

Disorganization: I only went two days. My friends and I arrived on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. and got in line. The security said one line was for pass holders and one line was for those needing passes. Nothing about fan club members. By 9:15, we hadn't moved yet, despite supposedly having access by 9 a.m. for Fan club members. I made a casual statement that maybe we're in the wrong line to which a fan, not a security person or WotC guy but a fan, said "Yeah, the fan club line is on the side of the building." So we hurried over to the fan club entrance only to find a moving line that snaked all the way around the building. Most of the people we were behind had just arrived so getting there early did us no good. We virtually ran to the end and got in the building at 9:45 a.m. and found the people we were waiting in line with in the first line were already inside the building. That was just one example.

In the CII store line, it jumped and juked and at one point disintegrated into a mass of people, where several just jumped into the line. This was Sunday and our last and only chance for figures. Luckily I got mine. As soon as I walked out of the store, they announced they were sold out. My buddies behind me literally got some of the last figures available. Then I heard later that some guy literally got 52 figures for himself. That isn't exactly fair. If there was a two figure limit, it should have been for the entire weekend and it should've been enforced. I only got two figures and that's it (and yes I sold one of my figures, but not to a dealer. A fan in line heard how much it was going for, offered me a price lower than being quoted on E-bay ($125 - $160 was the E-bay quote I had heard by that time) and I sold it to them. If that makes me bad, it makes me bad, but at least a fan got it and not a dealer and they didn't pay as high as some were.)

Lack of Maps: I literally had to ask directions at the Info booth for everything. It was a mess. And the only way to know what a line was for was by asking the people in line.

Fan Club Lounge: What lounge? Basically it was access to an uncrowded bathroom and some chairs to sit in. Not bad considering you stood for most the day, but a separate refreshment stand would have been nice, so would have been using the TV's to show Star Wars stuff, like the movies, AOTC trailers, a set camera that looks inside the Exhibit Hall or fan films. Something is better than nothing.

There is much more I found fault with, but those were the main things. Now onto the good.

The Fans: Man, the fans were great and very friendly. In lines, you could carry on civil and enjoyable converstations about everything from Star Wars to NCAA basketball. Anyone I asked to take a picture of me gladly took my camera and snapped a shot. No one turned me down and everyone was very nice. That was the best part of CII, the fans.

The Authors: They were very nice. Each one signed, talked to you, and shook your hand. When I said I was trying to get a book published, each one offered me a good luck. Their New Jedi Order panel was great. I even learned that you could read the first three chapters of AOTC novelization and not spoil anything about the movie.

Star Wars in 30 minutes: If you missed this, then your trip was not complete. It was awesome. Another highlight you might have missed was Peter Mayhew coming up to R. A. Salvatore in the Del Rey booth and "choke him" while people took photos. It was pretty funny.

Rick's Spectacular: Mixed feelings on this. I loved the footage but it spoiled me a bit. Wished I could have saw some of it, like the "Spiderman footage," in the theater. And I think it concentrated too much on digital projection when I would have loved more Star Wars based questions.

The 501st: Enough said. Excellent.

 

I had a great time. Sure I had to show up at 6:00am to get a good place in line, but I prioritized and had numerous backup plans, etc.

Anybody who thought they were going to Rick McCallum's Spectacular at 10:00am-10:45am and then were going to go to the Hayden Q&A at 11:00am are on crack. Look around people! There's another Rick Spectacular scheduled for 3:30pm. Go to Hayden's Q&A and then check out the line for Rick's Spectacular - if you have time then hit the Exhibit Hall, the Jedi Starfighter, etc. first and then go stand in line for an hour and a half or two to make sure you see Hayden.

Yes. It was overcrowded.
Yes. WOTC were overwhlemed and oversold.
Yes. Many weren't suprised.

You're going to a con where there are going to be tens of thousands of people. EXPECT this stuff to happen!

Just my two cents.

 

Did some one mention Celebration III?

 

Celebration III?

Anybody have an idea as to where it might be held?

I was hoping for Austin, TX.

 

My wife and I live around 20 minutes south of Indianapolis and went to STAR WARS CELEBRATION II all three days as members of the STAR WARS OFFICIAL FAN CLUB. We had a great time all three days. It was amazing. Everyone from the STAR WARS movies, cast and behind the scenes, and everyone involved in STAR WARS, period, was friendly, kind, courteous, giving, endearing and great and those that tried to be amusing, were. I can't say enough about them and I can't say enough about how appreciative me and my wife are.

As for the fans, it was amazing how many were there. They were great.

As for the STAR WARS OFFICIAL FAN CLUB, they did a great job.

As for WIZARDS OF THE COAST, they did a great job.

As for those responsible for organizing and running STAR WARS CELEBRATION II, with as many fans that were there, it had to be an incredible job for them to fulfill their responsibilities. They did their best. There were so many fans there.

As for the weather, it was beautiful each day. The weather hadn't been very good leading up to STAR WARS CELEBRATION II and it's rained today, the first day after.

Friday was also great for my wife and I for another reason. I gave my nephew money to buy me, my wife and him tickets to the premiere of STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES while we were at STAR WARS CELEBRATION II and he was able to get us tickest for the 12:01AM showing on May 16th. He was able to go back and get his girlfriend one for the same showing.

The Wednesday before STAR WARS CELEBRATION II was also great for me as Anthony Daniels made an appearance at Castleton Square Mall, north of Indianapolis and fans were able to have their picture taken with him and, obviously, I did that. It was a great evening and everything I said about the cast attending STAR WARS CELEBRATION II, which included Anthony Daniels, I say about Anthony Daniels concerning his appearance at Castleton Square Mall on May 1rst.

 

How many people who are complaining made up a game plan or had been to an event similar to this one? Yes, the lines were long. Yes, the event staff was overwhelmed (the volenteers were great, they should have been running things). I've seen that at other conventions, all you needed to do was adjust your plans and prioritize. Did I see everything I planned on seeing? No. However I did see everybody I planned on seeing (except no-show Silas Carson and MiraxH in her slave outfit)). So I missed both Fett panels? Big deal. I saw Temuera Morrison and Daniel Logan at a different panel. The only things I missed were the "Star Wars in 30 minutes" and prop display room. Neither of which were high on my list of things to do.

 

Along the lines of everyone else, here's my $.02:

The Good: The fans were amazing. Everyone was so nice and polite and patient. One guy I met had left his digital camera at a booth and sure enough, a fan turned it in. Everyone doing the Ewok worship chant for Anthony Daniels(ha-ha!). Fantastic.
The 501st was incredible. Helpful, fun, and with great attitudes all around. Also, the IndyKnights in their yellow shirts were extremely helpful.
The USC 30 minute trilogy group. Awesome.
The concert. Very nice and thanks for only charging $12.
The pop culture room. Dark, cool, quiet, plenty of seats to go relax in and enjoy some SW moments and get away from the crowds.
Housekeeping. The ladies' rooms were always clean and w/plenty of tissue. This is a big issue. Good form.
The Circle Centre Mall: thank you for being connected to the convention center so that I could go use your food court and not have to pay $2.50 for a soda.
The celebrities. Everyone I met was so nice and seemed to be enjoying themselves and taking it all in stride.

The Bad: Why was WotC so shocked by the number of people? Hello...they sold the tickets! That should give them a fairly accurate count. The fans knew way more about what was going on and what lines were for what and that you needed tickets for certain things. That could easily have been marked by an asterisk in the guide for those events requiring tickets, but no luck.
The few fans who bought more than their share of the figures. One couple not only bought their 2 each, but their 3 month old twins also "bought" their 2 each. Maybe they're funding the trip by selling them on ebay? I do understand, but that didn't make those who had waited 3 hours only to be told there are none left feel very good. And why sell to vendors when you know there are fans wanting these things desperately? I'd have given you the $30 bucks for pete's sake!
The maps...was I supposed to be able to read that?
The walkie-talkie gestapo. Why is it that when people get walkie-talkies they suddenly turn power-mad?
The convention center workers. Not only did I get to hear several of them go on about how crazy we all were, but they just were overwhelmed. Not their fault, but better planning next time.

Overall, I had a blast just being around fellow fans. I'll definitely go to C3 and hope they have learned something from this. There are lots of fans out there! Plan accordingly.

 

I agree with so many of you. I sent an email to the cust service dept of Wizards. Maybe you all should to!
The BAD - No fan club benefit. EVERYONE got in early.
People buying exclusive figure more than once. (6 pages on Ebay already)
The exclusive lounge was joke. No opportunity to get pictures with the celebs.

TOO LONG OF LINES!!! Oh my Gawd. I only got to 2 Q&A events on Friday and 2 on Saturday.
I was so tired of standing and walking around by 5:00 I didn't get a flip about waiting in line MORE to get an autograph,.

No meeting my favorite stars.

Fan club store. WHAT A JOKE. No quick credit card system, and lack of stock.

No REAL food area.

The Good: "Boob trooper" Anyone see her? However I think she was only a teenager and her dad made her the costume which I found disturbing. I'll post a pic this week.

Fan costumes.

I loved seeing the exhibits and SOME of the licensee stores.

Finding the Art of book at the Suncoast booth. (None in my local stores.)

Listening and watching Hayden, Gillard, Daniels, Logan, and Morrison on stage.

BEST OF ALL, Rick McCallum spectacular. (Though the wait was atrocious)
Digital projection is the future.

Meeting Jan Duuresma and Bob Salvatore.

 

My biggest complaint about the entire weekend, was how the Opening Ceremony (OC) was handled:

Why in the name of all that's holy would anyone hold an OC, that every single person in the building would want to attend, in a room that fit maybe 3,000-4,000 people? Why?

I never made it to the OC...and I know I wasn't the only one. I was literally 20 feet from the doors when word came out that the OC was over. Yeah, that's right. Over. And there were easily 1,000+ more people behind me.

And to make matters worse...after speaking with other people, it turns out that there was still room in there for more people but who ever was running/arranging the seating...didn't do so. That alone make me extremely upset. So if any of you who were there heard a very loud yell of "Well, that just pi**ed me off," then that was me.


As for the other lines...that's why you get people to work it in shifts. Two would stand in line for Carrie, and 2 or 4 would go and do/see something else and then come back and relieve who was in line. That way, everyone gets to do things and still get to see Carrie or whatever else you wanted to see. Yeah, it's a pain in the butt, but it's how you get things done.

My suggestion to whom ever gets to arrange/run Celebration III: find a location where everyone (and not just the first 3,000 people) is able to watch the Opening Ceremony.

 

I'm sure we're all quite tired from the very exhausting weekend! I don't
know about anyone else, but I had a great time. I think the organizers
did as good a job as they could, given the fact that the attendance
numbers definitely exceeded expectations. I have heard as many as 75,000
people came for the 3-day event (no doubt most of those on Saturday if
anyone remembers the fiasco that day). If anyone was worried about the
franchise or the new movie, they only need look at the extounding
response generated for C2.

ATTACK OF THE LINES--well, we all knew there would be lines here, but
this is ridiculous! The only real flaw I saw was the fact the did not
have lines sectioned off (velvet ropes, anyone? Line dividers? Hello?!).
They also placed too many popular events/programs in one particular area
(the curving hall leading to Bespin and the store). On Saturday, there
were separate lines running parallel for a)the store, b)the figure only
line, c)the Concert Tickets, and d)the Carrie Fisher autograph room.
These lines were crisscrossing, and at times hard to navigate. Even
event staff couldn't tell which line was what: I was in line for the
figure on one side, and then told we were in the wrong line, and had to
go the OPPOSITE WALL, even though we were all assurred the original line
WAS the line for the figure. I eventually got my figure and my concert
ticket...of course, it took me 3 hours to do so, but anything for the
cause;-)

OPENING CEREMONIES -- Anthony Daniels was a wonderful emcee, and the
Yoda commercial blew people away. They had to close out a large number
of fans, so I'm not sure why they didn't use the actual dome for this
one. Imagine, EVERY fan in the building being able to attend opening
ceremonies. That would have been great. McCallum has a bit of a foul
mouth, and Hayden seemed exhausted, even awestruck. But he's right:
kissing Natalie Portman had to be a thrill!

CARRIE FISHER--I don't know why everyone keeps saying she looks
horrible, she seemed fine at her chat session with Anthony Daniels.
She's older, wider, and has been through a lot. Hell, she had to save
the galaxy for heaven's sake...is she supposed to look like a supermodel
or something? ;-) Hey, she SHOWED, which is more than you can say for
Hamill and the rest. I refused to stand in the 6-hour line for her
autograph, although I did score one through the pull service. Those in
the queue for the pull service had to laugh at the declaration that the
service would save you from standing in line...I had to stand in line at
the pull service for an hour at least, just to order the autogrpahs, and
another hour the next day to pick them up. Again, I'm harping on those
pesky lines, but that's my only real complaint.

STAR WARS IN 30 MINUTES--I hope everyone got to see this rip-roaring
show put on by USC. They deserved the standing ovation they received.
It's very hard to do all three films in a half hour...near impossilbe,
but they exceeded. The fat gay guy as Jabba the Hutt was a hoot. I
almost got closed out of this, but they put on an EXTRA show because of
demand (they were great sports). One of my faves for the whole weekend.

ATTACK OF THE FETTS -- My favorite panel, bar none. Bulloch, Morrison,
and Logan seemed to actually enjoy working on the movies, and DEFINITELY
enjoy being the bad guys. The rapport between the two elder Fetts was
cool, as they played on one another, trying to decide who was badder:
Jango or Boba? We all know there are actors who have decided to HATE
their SW experience, but certainly none of the Fetts do. Morrison's
singing was a bit cheesy, but I guess if you've got pipes like that, you
want to show them off.

HASBRO SESSIONS--I went to two Hasbro sessions and was taken aback by
the fact the the Shuttle is still in limbo. I am glad to hear that they
aren't doing anything like a 5,000 run for this toy. The R2-D2
interactive toy is a MUST..."R2, do you remember Darth Vader?"
(anyone who saw the demonstration knows what I'm talking about).

JORG S

 

There were lots of things I would have done differently if I had been in charge of C2 but overall I had a great time. My son and I returned home with an overall positive attitude.
I met so many nice people in line and used line time to chat & check out the crowd for costumes. Wow, what talented people! The volunteer security folks did a great job (and I'd like to stress VOLUNTEER). These people worked tirelessly and put up with a whole lot of complaints which they had no power to remedy. (No, I'm not affiliated with any of these folks.) The people in costumes were always willing to spend their time having pictures taken.
After standing in line for the opening ceremony Friday morning and not getting in, I concentrated on the exhibits and other rooms which were sometimes easier to enter. The only seminar I attended was the Lando/Lobot seminar. I just happened by the Lando seminar as the room was loading and there was still room for two more. I really enjoyed the archive exhibit, the fan films, the pop culture film, the toy museum, the art show, the diorama workshop, the kids room, & the young jedi training. There was lots to do with short or no lines. I decided after the first day to stand in only one more long line and it was the concert ticket line. I really, really, really wanted to attend the concert (me and 15,000 other line standees). I got my tickets and although the concert music was great, I really expected more. I thought there would be something visual as well. Yes, I'm disappointed in the line issue but since there wasn't anything I could do to remedy the situation, I made the best of it.
Maybe the organizers should visit some of the larger theme parks and study their methods of line control. The store was one major example of poor crowd control. Once someone was inside the store there was nothing to stop them from going from line to line and buying figures. There were several guys doing that very thing. I don't have any problem with someone getting more than two as long as they were willing to go to the back of the line. After purchasing, customers should have been funneled to an exit, not allowed to roam freely around the store where there were multiple unattended lines. And who decided how much merchandise to stock? The C2 poster & tshirt sold out the first day.
I also can't believe the Dome stood empty when it would have been a great place to hold the opening ceremony and some of the most popular seminars. Acoustics aside, I think it would have been terrific to hold the concert in the Dome and then everyone could have attended.
All in all I still count it as money well spent. The look on my son's face as we took off on his first flight, his discovery of Japanese language Star Wars books, the thrill of meeting my favorite SW authors, our flight attendant announcing "May the force be with you." as the last of the passengers disembarked, and many more rememberances.

 

Chewbacca of Kashyyyk wrote:

The Star wars authors of the EU were great. very friendly and accessible. Now if they would only bring back Chewie.

beavisbuttheadlaugh

Heh-heh. Heh. Heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh. Heh-heh. Heh.

/beavisbuttheadlaugh

 

Basically, a great event, by Sunday the crowds were even somewhat reasonable. But being a fan club member was worthless.

--One security guard the whole time I was in line Friday telling people it was a fan club only line (not that it mattered, the fan club people got in later than the general admission)

--still in line at 10AM friday morning, when things were supposed to open for fan club members (while numerous non-fan-club members were already inside). On Friday I understood somewhat, but on Saturday no excuse. They knew they had to fit everybody in there, just let them in!

--Very rarely did anybody check once you were inside that you were fan club or not for the early stuff. On Saturday my pregnant wife and I got in a little earlier by sheer luck (because an alternate entrance was open after my 3 year old was done going "potty" because of the marathon)--she tried to go to the convention hall and was turned away (because of blue lanyard), Nobody even looked at the Rick McCallum thing so if we would have switched lanyards no problem. Be consistent or don't do it at all! And not checking at any of the numerous obvious checkpoints at the store borders on criminal, considering the money some people obviously are going to make abusing that system.

--anybody that asked for a fan club lanyard got one whether they were fan club member or not.

--didn't get the fan club packet until the last day. They didn't even know how many fan club packets to make?

--already mentioned, but the "lounge" didn't even have vending machines. A BIG JOKE.

I told my wife over and over again I was glad I didn't buy her a fan club membership just for that debacle. And I haven't even gotten a "SW Insider" issue yet. They say they are "backlogged." Just fulfill the subscription--how hard is it?

And if people want to be negative and complain, that is their right. This was not a cheap event to attend, there needs to be some accountability for not passing "conventions 101" on many points. Somebody was saying in a quote on the main TFN convention page he got to do all this cool stuff, even though he wasn't a fan club member. His attitude was basically if you didn't get to do the stuff, you weren't there early enough or didn't want to stand in lines, or it was your fault for not planning well enough (I see the post is a couple above this one). Give me a break, the lines were blocks long over 2 hours before the opening! And they were at a standstill for 15 minutes at a time.

On Friday, the people working were supposed to get to do stuff early. Their stuff started 40 minutes late in some cases, throwing off the rest of the day. And whoever the rocket scientist who thought the cellular credit card machines in the store were the solution, well, how much time did that waste?

Well, I would bet money if they would have been paying attention he wouldn't have gotten to do all that stuff, because there is no way anybody who wasn't a fan club member would have made it into the opening ceremony . . .luckily I went for the store first or I probably would have been turned away and had nothing to show for it.