Amber at British Convention & European Tour

[Munchkin]

He's the guy who appeared on Angel as "Gru", the good-hearted but terminally boring pretty-boy/do-gooder warrior from Pylea from S2 that Cordy ran off to have sex with in S3, only for him to dump her when he wised-up to the fact that Cordy would rather've been with Angel all along.



Yeah, like I'm sure he'll really draw a BIG crowd. Not like the lovely Amber would.[/sarcasm]

_______



Dave C.

Edited by: Munchkin at: 8/26/03 11:52 am

[kajo 2000]

Re: guests: Armin Shimerman (Principal Snyder) cancelled due to filming commitments and his replacement is Kelly Donovan (Nick Brendon's twin brother).





Avern: I am having trouble accessing my e-mail account so I haven't been able to read your latest message yet. I tried sending you an ezboard message instead but your inbox is currently disabled. If you could please rectify this then we can correspond that way. (Mods. apologies for doing this here).

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 8/28/03 10:12 am

[Avern1]

Hi ... I hear that Kelly is very funny :-)



FOR KAJO : Kat I send you to new adress - no affraid nothing new :-) Only few things - tomorow I will start 20 hours armagedon .......

[AmbersSecretAdmirer]

To be fair to Mark, I had the privilege of meeting him and Andy Hallett in Glasgow last year and they are both very nice and very jovial and good talkers on stage.



Losing Armin Shimermann is a blow on top of Amber as Nick Brendon, his borther and Mark are no substitute.



But Mark is allright, just not Amber.

TARA AND WILLOW 2GETHER 4EVER!!! BLESSED BE ETERNALLY!!!

[sam7777]

I saw Armin Shimermann at a Trek con and he is great. I notice they aren't implying breach of contract for the other guests that can't make it. No that was just for Amber.

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[Avern1]

Laika 27: Where you can meet? Tomorow?

[Laika 27]

Hi Avern. Yes tomorrow would be good if you'd like to. How about 6pm at the entrance to the Palace Pier ? I'll be wearing a red Abercrombie sweat shirt ! I hope your journey goes well.

[Avern1]

Laika 27 : I hope that I found you

[serenity]

i was on that con on friday! and nick and kristin are very nice and friendly. but it was so sad that amber wasn´t there.

kelly ist very funny! david was kind of tired but great!!

[amberholic]

i was there on hte fri as well!!!



i had a brill time and i got to meet and talk to all the guests!!



i was the girl that had the Amber wrighting on my back!!!



i had a brill time, hope that u did as well.



here is a pic of the wrighting on my back:







hope that u r well



fm AH

[Avern1]

I was saturday But I lost one of my films to camera

Actors was very funny but Jealeous again doing mistakes



Kajo : Hello Kat in your mailbox are messages

Edited by: Avern1 at: 9/2/03 12:04 am

[serenity]

@amberholic sorry i don´t know if i saw you there!

do you had gold tickets? i had silver!

[LilacWine22]

hello all,



well i wanted my money back before i even went after all the crap they pulled with Amber

but i thought hey ya know could be good so i went in high spirits it didn't last for long



i went to the Sunday one i was there from 9 to 4 in that time i saw roughly about half an hour of the guests doing q and a's after that they went to do the auto/photo sessions

i didn't get one as i had paid for gold tickets and couldn't afford to fork out even more money for the sessions

so what did the organisers(ha ha use that term loosely) do keep the people who were not getting auto/photo sessions done entertained well not a lot really

most of my day was spent sitting down bored with many other people and only being entertained occasional when other con go-ers got up to do karoke thank god i got some entertainment shameful that it had to come from other paying customers

oh i forgot there was the part were they played cd's of OMWF and the buffy soundtrack over and over but if i wanted to sit listening to cd's i could of done that at home and saved myself not only the money of the tickets but the travel and accommodation

i didn't see anything that was advertised such as stage shows ect



to sum up a great half an hour of seeing the guests (who were really good nice funny and entertaining and answered some great questions)

and the rest of they day bored walking around trying to find something to stop me falling to sleep (i wasn't the only one there were many complaints)



while i was sitting there i thought of this( to steal a quote from the movie empire records)



"WHY DO I GET THE FEELING LIKE I'M BEING ROYALLY SCREWED..............BECAUSE YOU ARE"



this was a huge rip off and i would say to anyone don't EVER attend a J.E event



there was no communication no-one knew what was going on we were rarely told information or kept up you date on what was happening when on the odd occasion something did happen, it was disorganised and you didn't get that much time with the guests on stage and people were complaining about the 3 second treatment they got in the auto/photo sessions with the guests

basically this was a shambles





i would like to thank the stewards though who tried their

best to sort through the chaos and the ones i did speak to were helpful and friendly so thankyou to them

and thanks to the guests who were great and made the day a little better it was just a shame about the rest of the day and the non- events that took place



sorry for the rant but i wanted to post this so no-one can get ripped off from J.E in the future



and i hope that if/when Amber comes to Europe she has nothing to do with with J.E



i hope that for anyone else who did go you had a really good time and didn't have to put up with the shambles that occurred cause i wouldn't wish the day i had on anyone

Edited by: LilacWine22 at: 9/3/03 12:07 pm

[kajo 2000]

Good publicity for Jealous Events



From thisisbrightonandhove:

Quote:

---

Fans' fury at Angel fiasco

Monday, 01 September 2003

by Sam Thomson



A vampire buffs' convention was dubbed a dead loss by fans who forked out hundreds of pounds to see their heroes in the flesh.



Thousands flocked to the Brighton Centre at the weekend to meet stars from cult Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off TV show Angel.



But the first two days were a shambles - leaving organisers Jealous Events offering to hand out free tickets for a follow-up event.



Although yesterday's event passed by trouble-free, even die-hard Buffy-philes were left furious when they:



* Queued around the block for hours to get in and waited again for autographs

* Forked out £49 for a signed picture of Angel star David Boreanaz

* Sat patiently staring at an empty stage

* Watched a group of lookalikes performing a stilted re-enactment of the show

* Spent £79 on tickets for priority seating only to be sat beside others who paid less.



To add to fans' frustration, two of the stars - Armin Shimerman, who played Principal Snyder, and Amber Benson, who played Tara - pulled out at the last minute.



Some obsessives spent £599 on tickets granting them the chance to meet Boreanaz. But then they were told they could not touch him, request his autograph or pose for pictures alongside their hero.



One fan who attended Saturday's event said: "Angel is my absolute hero but this was a complete disaster. Loads of people who had spent hundreds of pounds on tickets spent most of the day just sitting around because there was nothing to do. Everyone was waiting for something to happen but it never did. It was such a shambles. When I finally got to meet the cast they were really, really lovely - but the people organising it were hopeless."



As frustrations mounted on Saturday afternoon, the compère introduced a question-and-answer session with the words: "I've got a question. How do you run a convention? Answer: Don't - it's a headache."



Jane Wilkes, who was featured in The Argus for being Brighton's biggest Buffy fan, was more positive about the event. She said: "The long delays at the start of the day were not explained over the tannoys and those without patience and low heels were not enjoying themselves. The stewards, though, were friendly and helpful, the organisers strict and almost unflappable and, all in all, we had a great day."



Single mother Sue Karikos, 43, travelled from London after saving up for five months to buy her ticket and a signed photo. She said: "I've spent £120 and I've got nothing out of it. We queued for over an hour and then they told us we weren't even going to get a personalised photo, just his signature."



Fans attending on Sunday had better experiences.



Paula Welsh, 23, flew in from Cork in Ireland and said: "I think it has been great and the question-and-answer session with the cast was brilliant."



Executive producer Glenn Dellimore apologised to those who did not feel they got value for money and promised to learn from the mistakes. He blamed many of the problems on underestimation of numbers attending and lack of information points.



Mr Dellimore said: "On Saturday I sat down with groups of people who were complaining and went through everything that needed to be done differently. This type of event needs more stewarding and a better way to provide information."



One idea was big screens to keep people informed of any schedule changes.

---

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

Edited by: kajo 2000 at: 9/3/03 12:10 pm

[LilacWine22]

thanx kajo!!!!!

agreed with almost all of it aside from two things ............the bit about Amber pulling out last minute naaaaah and that the sunday event was better than the other days ha ha ha ha



"paitently staring at a blank stage waiting for something to happen"..............defiantly agree with that!!!!!



thanx again for posting that the more bad publicity that J.E get the better in my opinion

[urnofosiris]

Quote:

---

there was no communication no-one knew what was going on we were rarely told information or kept up you date on what was happening when on the odd occasion something did happen, it was disorganised and you didn't get that much time with the guests on stage and people were complaining about the 3 second treatment they got in the auto/photo sessions with the guests

basically this was a shambles

---

Ah memories....This and the entire review Kajo just reposted sounds eerily familiar.

That thing about Amber is an annoying error, she never pulled out at the last minute, seeing as she never 'pulled in'.

-----------------------------



She's so anally retentive she wouldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.

--Patsy Stone

[ambercatsmom]

Jealous Events should be permenantly banned from organizing any event in the future. Not only did they not keep folks informed, but they kept taking folks money even though they knew for certain before that Amber was not going to be their. Nor was she going to make available for sale her independant movie Chance.



Jealous Events did nothing but perpetuate a complete fraud. Then to dare pin blame on Amber and Armin for pulling out at the last minute shows just how sleazy they are. Because as it was stated Amber never pulled in.



My God the woman was sick at MR and was still there for her fans.



So what ever crap these dirt bags are smoking they need some serious rehab.

[emma peel]

I wish someone could sue Jealous Event's ass for false advertising or something.

At least we knew plenty in advance that Amber wouldn't be appearing. Grrrr.

Janice

[urnofosiris]

Whoa amberscatsmom, remind me never to piss you off. Hee, why don't you tell us how you really feel.

They really could have handled this better, they never should have put up her name on their site in such a way as to suggest she would be there without her being confirmed, at the very least it should have been made very clear she was not yet confirmed and when it was clear she would not attend she should have been removed asap.

-----------------------------



She's so anally retentive she wouldn't sit down for fear of sucking up the furniture.

--Patsy Stone

[LilacWine22]

hi



completely agree with you DR G!



emma-i wish someone would sue aswell but as that involves lengthy legal proceedings and a bit of dosh to have spare i for one can't do it though i wish i could!!!



and thanks to Amber +the kittens for letting us know she was unable to attend cause if i held my breath on J.E to do it well id be blue in the face at least some people are courteous good people who know how to keep people up to date on information



but i heard a few people have said that they are or have got in touch with trading's and standards so hopefully they will have some useful advice on how people can get some sort of compensation for this and hopeful save other poor souls from being ripped off in the future.

[Laika 27]

This is really sad....it almost makes M.R. look great !. I agree that J.E. misrepresented this event in their advertising and it would be good if something could be done about that scam... it seems that with all cons there is never any guarantee that the guests advertised will actually be there....the small print usually states this, even though the ticket prices are very high and value for money never seems to be a priority ...there must be a better way ?



I felt bad for people who travelled a long way for this event..like Avern 1 who came from Czechoslovakia (that seagull who stole your ice cream must be working for J.E. !) I had a great con free weekend in Brighton.....but I had come close to buying a ticket....phew!...narrow escape!!

[sam7777]

I also feel bad for the folks who travelled a long way to this disaster. Jealous Events seems determined to blame everyone else. They shouldn't be running cons iIMHO. I know that I'll give any event by them or Moonlight Rising a wide berth.

_____________________

I see dead lesbian cliches

[emma peel]

sam7777, also give anything by Mako Events a wide berth. They tried to do something on the West Coast a while back, unfortunately I can't think of the name, but I believe it wound up being a ripoff as well. Some Kittens got taken for some money, I think.

Janice

[ambercatsmom]

That would be the Watcher's Retreat that you are thinking of. A lot of people got screwed with that con including the guests.



Time to take the Con Games out of Conventions.

[emma peel]

Thanks a bunch, ambercatsmom. That was going to drive me nuts.

Janice

Edited to add that if you see anything advertising FanEvents by ME, or FanEvents by Mako Enterprises, run far,far away. it's a ripoff, IMO, the same guys that did Watcher's Retreat, as ambercats mom was so kind to remind me.

Edited by: emma peel at: 9/5/03 6:04 pm

[BFR from Paris]

The question is: which cons aren't ripoffs?



I blame the media for this... They made sure that people were so fascinated by the "stars" that they wouldn't hesitate to pay outrageously huge amounts of money to "meet" them for 2 seconds and get an autograph! And apparently, that often doesn't even happen! It's all sad really... (I don't mean that the people who pay are sad, I mean this whole situation is sad)



Anyway, in light of this new information about Jealous Event, I'm glad the "Tara European Tour" didn't take place! Imagine all the disappointed fans... (including me, probably)



And think about all the "Chance" DVDs that could've been ordered with all this wasted con money! Anyway...



Wow, I didn't know where that rant came from



Bottom line: convention = ripoff! "Résiste!" (famous French song )



Have a nice weekend, everyone!

[Avern1]

Hello for all Kittens (Ok especially for Kajo and Laika )... I have very different feels about this con ... for better is actors talk and Karaoke stage but other... phew I can say that I very THANKS FOR KAJO AND LAIKA FOR ALL HELP THANK YOU

[kajo 2000]

Avern: You're very welcome.





Just found this article at BBC Cult:

Quote:

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Watchdog

16 September 2003



We've heard that the BBC1 consumer affairs programme Watchdog is to report about the organisation of the recent David Boreanaz European Event.



It seems the programme has received a number of complaints from attendees about the event, held recently in Brighton.



Watchdog is on BBC1 tonight at 7pm.

---

Hopefully, there will be a Jealous Events rep. in the studio so either Nicky Campbell or his co-host can give them a grilling on the fans' behalf. (I hope they mention the fiasco over the Amber European Tour too).

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"I want to be Byron... because I want to date young boys." Amber Benson

[AmbersSecretAdmirer]

Just sent an email to the Watchdog team to ask them about the European Tour. Don't know if it will be answered so soon before the show but it's been sent at any rate.

TARA AND WILLOW 2GETHER 4EVER!!! BLESSED BE ETERNALLY!!!

[FlyingPoppy]

There was no JE rep in the studio, just this statement:



Jealous Events organisers response:

Jealous events say they’re not in the business of ripping people off. They’re in the business to bring over Hollywood stars to Britain, and despite the problems they say the Angel event was a "great success". They do admit there were seating problems. And they admit the stewards were in fact fans who "volunteered" for the job. They’ll now consider reviewing those ticketing and stewarding arrangements.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog...He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world...When all other friends desert, he remains. - George G. Vest