Thank you Gina for the much detailed answer. You are very right. I didn’t get any photo op but I observed the whole thing and if you were in line for a long time and have to leave for your photo op appointment, you just loose your spot which is very frustrating! I heard some CMM fans gave up on their photo cause they want to stay in line and have the opportunity to chat more than juste take a pic and have to leave right away.

Also the food is another bad experience for me too. There was only one option and it was crowded and not very good. For that amount of people it should be at least 3 or 4 kiosks.

I also heard A LOT of complains about the ATM being empty and guests was couldn’t get their selfie or autograph. No anticipation at all…

It was far too crowded. Everything had a long line even the bathroom and food. For food, I waited close to an hour and it wasn’t even great. I never got to see any celebrity at their table. I would wait a long time for one (like 45 minutes at least) and then they would say they’re leaving and won’t be back for a while. Others the celebrity was supposed to be gone 5-10 minutes and didn’t come back out until much later.
Then I had to pop back and forth between the photo op and table. I did get some photo ops but those are super quick and not enough time for a little chat. The worse were the employees from That’s 4 Entertainment, one got really rude and yelled in my face.

In California, it was such an opposite experience. I met all the celebrities at their tables except 2 and did a ton of photo ops plus had time for a couple of panels. I did have VIP for California. The only negative about California was the ATM not being refilled on Day 3 so only did a few photo ops as opposed to Saturday.

Hi Gina, I’m so sorry to read this. But it’s interesting to know that you enjoyed your first experience with them. What changed from your perspective? If you don’t mind sharing what happened on Saturday. Thanks for commenting and reading my post.

You’re right about everything, Jodie. There are many more things that could have been clarified by a simple email or guidelines. Conflicting information is what makes them look bad and unprofessional. I think you have a great idea, they should schedule a one-hour press conference per day where we get access to the actors, like a panel. It’s not hard to set up and we could ask questions and take official pictures. But maybe they did something similar and I didn’t know about it… Anyone who had a big camera or a recording device had no trouble cutting the line and get content. I’m telling you I didn’t look enough like a reporter…

Thanks Amy. You’re probably right they probably only meet during the conventions they attend together. They spoke about how they were young and made a lot of bad choices and mistakes during OTH but they grew up together. For sure Bethany is 100% closer to Sophia.

It’s true that I was pretty upset all weekend. I stepped back a bit, I don’t want to blame them or make them look bad, but rather to share an honest opinion. There’s always room for improvement!

Thanks Chad you raised some good points, I can’t give them the benefit of the doubt or the rookie mistake. This is not their first event. I haven’t noticed any issues with the flow of the days, so they’re pretty much up and running. I’ve heard stories from volunteers who don’t have much positive to share either. It confirmed what I suspected: no training. I don’t think I have enough influence to make them change, but I hope they’ll think about it a little.

Unfortunately, the volunteers do not follow from one location to another. Actually, our Convention and Visitors Bureau provides well trained, courteous helpers free of charge. Maybe they should consider that as a resource. I know how frustrated M was by the end of the convention, and she contained it well in the article.