I'm another person who can't afford to go to the Convention. The prices are stupid and this is not fair to fans.  For £3000 I'd want to spend a night in a posh London hotel with Benedict. Have a great time if you are going to the event. 

Good decision, Steph, I´m sure you´ll have a great time!

I would have considered it too, hadn´t my London-budget for this year been already spent on Hamlet..

The VIP prices are insane.. I don´t know how rich I´d have to be to pay that amount for a convention. But the program does sound quite mouth-watering!

Cons aren't really my thing, but I hope those going have a lovely time, and commiserations to those that want to go but can't
It is unfair that many fans are priced out of this sort of thing, but in fairness, compared to other events of a similar nature, the prices do seem quite reasonable, and it will be the organisers who set the price, not those appearing.
The danger is with this sort of thing, that people get annoyed with the actors as though they personally are trying to rip off the fans in some way.
I saw a ridiculous comment from someone who seemed to think Benedict should appear for free because he owed it to the fans!
That said, it's a shame that so many will miss out because of the price of tickets, travel and accommodation.

Completely agree with you on the timing issue, Solar, especially since I know that many people have been contacting them for ages, asking for a date and pointing out that they badly wanted to go but couldn't do so at short notice.
And I'd have to say, personally, that there's no way I'd pay hundreds of pounds (let alone thousands!) to go to meet ANYONE!! ;), but it seems to be the case that, unfortunately, this seems to be the average price for these kind of events.

Even if I had hundreds of pounds free, I certainly wouldn´t attend, because the entire philosophy of this event seems dubious to me.

The invitation offered to the public makes an impression that you are entering a "democratic" event where every visitor has the same worth and the same value. But the reality is far from "democratic" - it is a harsh census based on ownership where some visitors have all the privilege and the others, "worthless" fans can just look on. I´d hate to condone such praxis with my money. Imagine if such praxis caught and was practised on other cultural events either - for example, you would pay for the concert but at the concert itself you would be allowed to only look at the orchestra and their instruments unless you pay extra for every melody they would play to you. With similar ridiculous praxis the poorer would soon be cut off from the cultural events entirely in favour of new "nobility" of filthy-rich people. 

Also, the praxis of treating living people, actors and scriptwriters alike, as the comodities that could be bought by the highest bidder does not well sit with me. The way they are "sold" to us unpleasantly reminds me on Pompeii prostitutes being offered to their customers by similar advertisements. The idea that I should pay for meeting them or having their autograph as well as the idea that they would bend to my will and whim if I offer them a huge sum seems quite offensive to me.

In the whole art and showbizz industry there is nothing as democracy. Do you want to see a concert or theater? The prices are also different from the front row where you get to see everything to the student row at the back or at the strapontines where half of the stage is not seen. There are always small classical concerts with the best artists offered only for a few for a load of money. Real art cannot be buyed from the majority, we get only the cheap reproduction. Designer or bespoke mode is also not for every purse. Football, olympics, sport, pop concerts, all have now these pricey VIP packets, there is nothing new.  Count that this VIP packet is for three days, is not so expensive as a value per time compared to other VIP packets for a 2-hours concert. I do not understand why people are upset that the Sherlock team are not exchanging the rules of the game - showbizz is an industry who has a very risky life, hence the overpricing of the looked after events to subsidize 100 other who doesn't work. And the most i don't understand is why poeple on tumblr or twitter are upset at the actors. If they don't show, they scream that they don't care about fandom. If they show, they scream that they sold themselves. No win, here it seems.... 

Such events are very expensive to organize, there are many "small" people involved. Many paychecks will be payed by the tickets prices. As the majority of the tickets are quite cheap, no wonder that the VIP (which are quite few) or the platin are so expensive. Naturally, like everything in every industry, it must also bring a win to the organizer, other way we won't get another convention if this one it won't work.  

Would i like to go to see the set and the expositions and meet the fandom and see other things they show? Hell, yeah! Do i have the money? Nope. I will be sad for me, but i will pe happy for everybody who gets there regardless which packet they get themselves. I am already happy that i will get to see pics, maybe some videos with a little bit of luck and the stories of the people meeting each other. We will get probably some tid-bits about the production, which will make me very very happy - if i am there to hear them in person or i would get them through this forum or through tumblr and twitter, doesn't alter the importance of these things for me and the happiness i would get them ... 
 

Vhanja wrote:

nakahara wrote:

Also, the praxis of treating living people, actors and scriptwriters alike, as the comodities that could be bought by the highest bidder does not well sit with me.

This was my first thought when I saw the various things you would get for Gold, VIP etc. 

I don't mind having different priced tickets with different bonuses. That's been a long practice already in concerts and cinema. And of course I would LOVE to take a picture with Ben! But it doesn't sit right with me to have him (and the others) stand up there to be taken pictures with the ones who have bought that possibility. I don't know, it feels... not comfortable. 

I agree. No offense to anyone going there and I wish them all the fun in the world, but paying to take a pic with someone or get an autograph, no. Not comfortable expresses my feelings quite well. If I should ever meet Benedict at a premiere or another event, of course I would love to say hello and maybe take a pic. But this con thing is just not right for me. 

@ A lovely light

It's true, it's about business and making the convention a success in the end.
What I miss, is a chance. The luck of being in the right place at the right time. That's what's great about pictures, autographs etc. I remember being at a concert, they were throwing the drum sticks, and I got one. It meant something to me (I cannot explain why). If I had bought it for loads of money... not the same feeling. It was the combination of being lucky against odds, of remembering a special concert, of having something to take home I normally wouldn't have and couldn't think of getting beforehand. It's not a perfect comparison, but these things mean more to me in the end than something money can buy.
And so I think, I'd rather get a ten pound ticket, queue for an hour, and fold myself on the floor in some big hall to listen to a talk, then have a several hundred pound ticket for the first row with early admission. I'm not sure everyone is like that... but sometimes the experience is better when you don't know what you get beforehand.
I would feel so awkward to know that I paid someone to get a picture with him. I would always feel like I bought that smile. I'd rather wait for the unlikely event someone will take a picture with me and someone I adore without money involved, and maybe he'll give me a smile for real which I know isn't money-faked but just there for the sake of it.
(I mean, with Benedict, I don't think he would pretend, he seems clearly happy to have interested fans, but still... can we know? Isn't that also just part of the business, keeping the fans happy and such? He might be above it, but even he has to play by the business rules. It would totally exhaust me to take pictures with loads of strangers, and I can imagine it would exhaust him. And if we start saying "well, it's his job", then we are already talking money again...)
But I have to admit, I really don't care much about autographs and pictures in general... I think it's a celebrity thing and I don't get that. It's just faces and signatures in the end. Even if they are pretty faces. I would always swap a picture deal for a sit-down-and-talk.
 

Last edited by Whisky (February 11, 2015 11:21 am)

@ Whisky, yeah, i feel exactly the same. I would never pay for such VIP packets because i would feel awkward.

But at the same time i am not upset that such packets exists, because if they exists it means that there are poeple who would like to have this (maybe not the picture thing for many, but i think they get also the chance to get inside discussions panels?). ANd if this pricey tickets allows for the other tickets to be lower, well .....  . 

I discovered quite by chance that I will be at London exactly when the convention is taking place and I even planned to have a free day on Saturday - I was thinking about going to visit some exhibition, but in the end I cannot pass on such a fortunate coincidence and bought the basic ticket just to see what will be the atmosphere and the people. I would gladly pay some more money for the opportunity to assist at selected talks and roundtables, but the idea of a serialised autograph or a pick doesn't hold any appeal for me and unfortunately there is no option for a ticket-with-talks-but-without-pics-autographs-goodies