Last year, the Starz booth was American Gods. That was a
tough autograph to get. This year, Starz brought back Outlander. This is
something the wife and I watch and I would have loved to have won the cast
signing. This year I just didn’t have time to make it over there. I was trying not to push myself to hard and I was only going to try this booth if I really had a decent break in my
schedule.
Like many of the booths where you have to do the
‘experience’ to even get a chance to win the raffle, there was a line. And not
just a line at the booth. There was a line at the back wall. On the back wall where you aren’t
really allowed to get into line. A small amount of lucky people can be
officially queued and then the rest must disperse.
You end up playing a game of milling around and then trying
to jump in the line when space opens up. Then you wait 30 minutes or so to be
moved to the booth to wait in a line. Then you pull a ticket out of the
hat/basket/bag to see if you won. The
odds are not forever in your favor. A
typical cycle of this is 45 minutes to an hour. If you spent all day working on this, you
might only pull 10 times.
While I never told The Wife I wanted the Outlander signing,
she decided on her own to check out the booth.
I now hand this blog over to her:
As The Husband said, I wanted to see what they were giving
away. I heard they were giving away t-shirts. It was Friday morning and he
already was busy doing something and ignoring me. So I told him I was going to
visit the Starz booth. I think he
distractedly waved me goodbye.
 |
| this is cross stitch based on a photo |
I walked through the crowded floor and found the booth. A nice
bearded guy told me if I wanted to try for a prize, I need to find the line on
the ‘back wall’. He pointed and said there would be someone from the booth
there to help me. So I walked to the back wall.
A young lady was just handling out tickets and ran out before me. She
said to wait here and she would be back in a moment to give me a ticket. Seemed easy enough.
Security did come by and yell at the people to ‘move along,
move along’ but I ignored him because the young lady was coming back.
And a few minutes later she walked up and gave me a ticket
that allowed me to stand in line. Not long after that I was at the booth.
That’s when The Husband walked up to say 'hi'.
And it was all over in an instant. I reached into the basket hoping to
get a ticket for one of the t-shirts. I
got a ticket that said ‘cast signing’. The girl holding the basket got all
excited. The Husband’s jaw dropped and I was looking around for my t-shirt.
Then the Husband walked over to the nice guy with the beard
and they chatted. It seems that they know each other.
The signing was the next day. I was planning on showing up
at the time of the signing but Mr. Micro-Manager told me to get there at least
45 minutes early. I’m glad I did. I was next to the booth and could see inside
as they set up. The ladies around me were excited and we just chatted the time
away. One lady cross-stitched a gorgeous image of Jamie. It was amazing. She
and her friend were from the Frisco/Plano area of Texas. Small world.
As the signing started, bag pipers lead the procession of
actors. They all walked past me. It was really fun.
Everyone was so friendly and I couldn’t believe how nice
everyone was. The poster was beautiful and there was 8 people signing; 5 of
them actors.
Diana Gabaldon (top left), Richard Rankin (top left), MarilDavis (top right), Sam Heughan (middle right), Caitriona Balfe (middle left),
Sophie Skelton (middle left), Tobias Menzies (bottom left), Ronald D. Moore(bottom right)
Once I left, I rolled up the poster and waited until The
Husband found me. He carefully added this poster to his collection of booty his tube like it was gold. He didn’t even kiss me
hello.
Really, I don’t understand what all of the fuss is. He must
not be trying very hard. He probably doesn’t even need to sleep on the
sidewalk.
Mrs AH
1) Congrats on getting the Outlander signing 2) Great post - it had me laughing with the comments like "Mr Micro Manager" (my boyfriend is the same, he had a minor stroke two days before SDCC this year and still made me go to the convention, all the while trying to micro manage me from a hospital bed in Australia!)
ReplyDeleteKathy, I truly hope the boyfriend is on the mend and has a speedy recovery.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading the blog. I hope your SDCC trip was fun and exciting.
Just wondering, if the signing allowed people to bring there own personal Outlandet stuff? -B
ReplyDeleteRegarding bringing outside items to get signed: it depends on the booth and the show.
ReplyDeleteThe Starz booth did not allow outside items. They have a tight schedule. This is not like a signing at your local convention where the celebs are there all day and have time for a 1000 signatures. The celebs might be there for 30 minutes or less and the booth is trying fit in a 100 to 200 autographs. WB, AMC, History Channel, and others are like this too.
People supplying their own items, paint pens, wanting inscriptions, personalization, and specific location of the signature slow the line down drastically.
The same is true with wanting selfies or posed table photos. Usually the booths do not allow that either. In fact, they often tell you to put your cameras away.
While that sounds harsh, keep in mind that there are multiple people signing. Having one specific item provided by the booth speeds the process and that allows a good chance for the people promised an autograph to actually get the autograph. It is no fun to be a winner of a raffle and then be told the cast ran out of time.
Other booths are flexible (it depends on the actors, what the item is, and available time). Some booths don’t supply anything so you need to bring something. It is always good to ask the people at the booth so you can be prepared.