Auto Assembly 2012 Pass Art Previews

Add me to said virtual list - of course.

Same here, Hilton, here I come, ^_^

I'm gonna try and talk some friends into coming next year, they definitely have transformer fan potential. And if everyone brings a friend we'll hit the magic 1000 no problem

I remember a few years ago, people thought that reaching 500 attendees was something of a pipe dream, yet we've managed it three years running and for the last two years we've been VERY close to hitting 600 (this year was particularly impressive considering the number of regulars who couldn't make it and the tough financial climate), so I genuinely believe that 1,000 isn't impossible within the next 2-3 years for a European event.

We are setting a 1,000 attendee limit for 2012 because one of the things people have always loved about Auto Assembly is the social side of things and the friendly, relaxed atmosphere and we don't want to spoil that by allowing the convention to get too large. The Hilton can allow us to grow to 3,000+ if we wanted to, if not more, but we won't do that if it means changing what Auto Assembly is.

Bookings are already coming in at quite a healthy rate though so we don't want anyone to miss out on next year! It's going to be big!

Likely I will be there.

Im going so Pete will probbaly also be going. I need my Jon time

As if I wouldn't be there.

I've never been to a BotCon, probably never will, but I doubt it has the great friendly atmosphere you find at AA. That's why I love the fact that Simon wants to keep it 'small'.

He does need some fresh bruises.

In a way, the attendance limit for 2012 is going to be an experiment for us. Because of the size of the hotel there's enough space for plenty of socialising in the three bars without things feeling cramped at any time as well as plenty of space in the hall itself.

If we can keep the same atmosphere with 1,000 attendees then we may consider allowing a small increase for subsequent years but it's something we'll monitor closely. At the same time, we have to take our guests into consideration and make sure that they feel comfortable, have plenty of time to themselves to enjoy the convention while still making sure that attendees get the chance to meet them and get autographs.

Jon had better be there or im driving to manchester and dragging you there!

Congrats Simon on another convention. I know you put alot of work into these events behind the scenes.

Just a thought about ticket prices. I know alot of people within the tf community are very "Product Focused" (all about the toys less about the guests), at the end of the day that is the main driving force behind the hobby. Alot of people including myself are starting to get priced out of the convention due to the high ticket prices. This i think is a problem for people who don't want to meet the guests but really just want to go into the dealer room.

I realise a solution to this problem is unlikely as it doesn't really fit into AA's structure. And by that i mean that AA do not charge attendees to get autographs etc from guests. Which i think would be the only way of incorporating a cheaper initial price. However i think in future it would be worth considering if its possible to do a cheaper ticket price for individuals who just wish to enter the dealer room rather than get stuff signed by the guests and take part in other convention activities.

To be honest, it's been my ambition for as long as I can remember to take Auto Assembly to the stage it is at now - to become what I class as a "real" convention and not a collector's fair which is really little more than a hall full of dealers tables.

Over the years, as we added more programme items, displays and guests we stepped closer to achieving this and I firmly believe that we reached that goal in 2009 when we made the permanent move to the weekend format. It's now more of a social event for people now and for many, the toy buying has become secondary.

It's getting easier to buy toys online and from all of the dealers who attend Auto Assembly all year around but to spend a few days in the company of hundreds of fellow fans... that just doesn't happen and that's really the whole point of Auto Assembly!

To do the sort of ticket you're talking about, it would mean a complete restructure to the whole convention - new ticket pricing, a new hall layout (and using a secondary hall isolating dealers), a significant increase in our security presence meaning more volunteers, and having to develop systems to identify the different types of attendees.

One thing dealers have said to us repeatedly is that they love the all-in-one format for the hall as it means that none of them miss out on guest talks or what else is taking place during the weekend, and a split hall would remove that from them. We couldn't offer any form of video / audio feed for them with a dealers room pass as it would still mean that people who just attend for the dealers would still get to see / hear talks.

From a personal point of view, I know that if I could attend an event cheaper, but still get to hear panels I'd jump at the chance.

Cost wise though... we do give people a year's notice when we announce the convention and even if you only have a one-day pass (which is what most people would be interested in for toy purchases) it's not a lot if you have 12 months to save for it!

The panels and guests are a major part of the AA experience for me. I luckily managed to catch them all this year and spend some time chatting to most of the guests.

Considering some of them were flying into a riot hit city and still turned up, listening to them talk for an hour was the least I could do out of respect.

David Kaye was particularly entertaining, even if he did put the moves on my wife earlier on

Confirmation email and ticket numbers, yay!

I'm Mr 68 and my wife is Mrs 6....

Eh, and my wife is also attending the convention.

We're now a couple of bookings short of 100 so we're pretty close to 10% of our limit for this year... not bad considering we're only a month after AA2011 and roughly 10% of the way into the year before AA2012!

Also, we haven't even got anywhere near any of our "rush" periods for the convention yet, still have a third voice actor to announce and a lot more surprises too. At this rate, we are potentially looking at 2012 being our first ever sell out event!

We're actually about 50% up on this stage last year as well so if you are planning on coming along, don't leave it too late this year!

A slight warning to people booking the hotel through the microsite, I did so yesterday having finally registered and carefully put in the details to book for two night from the 3rd to the 5th August. I checked at every stage, put in my payment and went to the confirmation screen, where it thanked me for booking for 12 days (the full period AA have their price available for) for the sum of £600 which, by the way, cannot be changed or cancelled and is non-refundable.

I nearly fell out of my chair.

I rang them imeadiatly and pointed out that their system had changed my dates and that I was absolutely not going to pay them £600 for anything. Thankfully they were very polite and after severl minutes on hold they did change the booking for me (the fine print says that they reserve the right to essentially do whatever the hell they like) to what it should have been.

So, as the date is the first thing you set and I checked the whole way through that I was only booking for 2 nights, it was an error with their system, so I highly suggest when bookign that you make absolutely certain on the confirmation screen that it hasn;t actually arbitarily changed your booking!

That aside, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again this year after having to miss last year!...

I've still not been charged for my hotel booking yet. Bizarro! But yes, mine was fine, thank gawd.

Same thing happened with me, charged for the full 12 nights and had to phone and get it fixed.

Went to my first and probably last BC last year. It was a great experience, but AA's better for the reasons mentioned above.

Bill and Ted would like to meet your wife!

Glad you got it sorted, and that it's not just me this has happened too!

They need to check their booking system...

I'm going to contact the Hilton right now and raise this as an issue with them (I had mentioned it to them a week or two ago when someone else reported it when we thought it was a one-off glitch) but now it seems to be happening a few times obviously it's something that needs to be addressed urgently.

I'll post an update on the website in the next couple of minutes. Can you all let me know what browsers / operating systems you are using (by email through the website if possible) along with your name and Auto Assembly ticket numbers so I can give the hotel as much information as possible in any follow-up emails that I need to send them.

Cheers guys.

Just spoke to the Hilton and they're looking into the issue as I write this. They have done a quick test on the system their end and it seems to be running okay, but they did ask us to stress that - on the first screen of the booking system -that people need to ensure that they enter the dates and duration of their stay in the hotel.

They're still checking the site in the meantime, and I'll keep everyone posted.

I'm pretty sure we're not all idiots. After you select the dates, you're shown them on basically every page until you hit the confirmation screen, including how much it will cost, so it would be quite the oversight if a bunch of people didn;t notice what dates they booked!

I for one am 100% certain that i'd entered the dates that I wanted and nothign else...

Oh, we have an AA thread!

I really hope to be going this year, but as it's my first convention I have absolutely no clue as to how to go about preparing after buying the pass. Help?

Booked and confirmed months ago, but shall be driving up this time as there's is actual cheap parking at the hotel!

Convention prep:

1. Bring money. Lots of it.

2. Repeat step 1.

Add me to the list, first ever AA (first ever convention)
cant wait!!

I'm in. All paid up and sorted, just waiting to hear on one little thing to 100% confirm myself - but I'll be worried if I get to August and that one hasn't resolved itself.

Not yet paid, but I will be there again. I'll be lurking over at ToyFu again if all goes to plan.

Aw! new hotel, new dealer room. New ToyFu location. How exciting, but I liked out little corner next to the stage.

I haven't been to AA in about 6 years i'm going to see what i can pull together this year. When is it going down this year?

If there's any information or help that you need, feel free to ask as that's what we're here for! We have got an Attendee Information Pack on the website for downloading that should answer most of your questions which is pretty much an essential handbook for the convention and we'll be updating this on an ongoing basis between now and the convention and we'll also be emailing all our attendees with regular updates as well.

Obviously if you keep an eye out on most of the major websites, our own site and our youtube channel, we've still got a lot more news announcements to come as well so you'll be kept up-to-date with all the latest developments with what we're planning but we want to make the whole convention experience as easy as possible for all our newbies!

Simon

Anything I can help with dude?

3rd - 5th August at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel next to the NEC. It's a bloody massive venue and to be honest, one of the the only hotels in the country large enough to hold us now!

payed and done..

Good to have you back! Sorry you could make it to Uppsala back in November - we had a great weekend. Hopefully you can come along this year once Pete and Lars have the date / venue finalised.

I'm excited and also mildy terrified.

My sphincter is very afraid.

Yeah it was a money thing, student life takes it toll. But I will try to be around this time when it comes.

Who knows what happens...beer, toys, sharing room with Steve..a pool...yellow speedos..what can possibly go wrong.

Theres a pool?

yes just google the hotell and there is a picture of it.

Pool, gym, Costa Coffee shop, three bars, 700 on-site parking spaces, almost 800 bedrooms... you name it, the hotel probably has it. It's one of the largest hotels in the UK and it's a 4-star hotel so it's a step-up in quality from last year but we've managed to negotiate for lower room rates for our attendees!

The more I keep thinking of the convention this year the better it seems it's going to be!

I'm on a dealer table with big D's toy chest once again!

I still can't figure out why I've agreed to that! /

Edit: Just bought my ticket, thought I'd better get round to it!

Booked, paid up and moistened.

Does anybody know if 3rd party merchandise will be on sale at AA, my first time so any info much appreciated.

Last year it was banned, if you wanted third party stuff you had to order in advance then pick it up outwith the dealer room.

Got my ticket and booked my room, I sincerely can't wait!