Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - The Entire Cast of Star Trek TNG is coming to Calgary Comic Con

Hack&Lube · 04-29-2012, 02:15 AM

It sounds bad but once you got in, it was a good experience. If you were lucky enough to get inside, inside was a decent controlled environment that was enjoyable aside from being packed to the breaking point in terms of fire regulations. What happened outside was simply way more people showed up than they had prepared for or any ability to deal with. You can't have the cast of TNG, Stan Lee, and a bunch of other A-listers, etc. at a convention that has grown exponentially year after year on the Stampede grounds and not expect that huge crowds will show up as walk-ons on a Saturday morning expecting that they will be able to get in. Poor planning here. The worst part is that these people dutifully lined up aimlessly for 2-3 hours and then were left hanging and angry at not being told what was going on or offered refunds or apologies but simply the cold truth to "come back tomorrow" when they finally reached the ticket sales area. People were angry and bitter because there was no communication and they were wasting hours of their time. The moment the fire marshal shuts down any more admissions (even if it is before noon!) you need to have someone in charge on an actual PA system make an announcement instead of leaving the lined-up crowds to whisper and panic as rumors go through the horde like a giant game of telephone for another hour or two.

Also, the ticket sales area was on the opposite end from where the gateway to the actual convention was (Hall D main doors). So effectively people lined up for 2 hours (from the C-Train circling the building into the BMO building and then into the Corral) only to get their passes there and then have to go back the other way and line up again for another 1-2 hours to get into BMO Hall D because it was over capacity as well.

Another issue was network congestion, many people could not even make normal call or text people. Data and WiFi were impossible to access which further contributed to the loss of control and communication and sense of what was going on for people.

04-29-2012, 02:15 AM	#423
Hack&Lube Atomic Nerd Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Calgary Exp:	It sounds bad but once you got in, it was a good experience. If you were lucky enough to get inside, inside was a decent controlled environment that was enjoyable aside from being packed to the breaking point in terms of fire regulations. What happened outside was simply way more people showed up than they had prepared for or any ability to deal with. You can't have the cast of TNG, Stan Lee, and a bunch of other A-listers, etc. at a convention that has grown exponentially year after year on the Stampede grounds and not expect that huge crowds will show up as walk-ons on a Saturday morning expecting that they will be able to get in. Poor planning here. The worst part is that these people dutifully lined up aimlessly for 2-3 hours and then were left hanging and angry at not being told what was going on or offered refunds or apologies but simply the cold truth to "come back tomorrow" when they finally reached the ticket sales area. People were angry and bitter because there was no communication and they were wasting hours of their time. The moment the fire marshal shuts down any more admissions (even if it is before noon!) you need to have someone in charge on an actual PA system make an announcement instead of leaving the lined-up crowds to whisper and panic as rumors go through the horde like a giant game of telephone for another hour or two. Also, the ticket sales area was on the opposite end from where the gateway to the actual convention was (Hall D main doors). So effectively people lined up for 2 hours (from the C-Train circling the building into the BMO building and then into the Corral) only to get their passes there and then have to go back the other way and line up again for another 1-2 hours to get into BMO Hall D because it was over capacity as well. Another issue was network congestion, many people could not even make normal call or text people. Data and WiFi were impossible to access which further contributed to the loss of control and communication and sense of what was going on for people. Last edited by Hack&Lube; 04-29-2012 at 02:29 AM.