Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013 12:31PM CDT

Categories: Event News, Press Releases
Posted by: Va'al Views: 22,724

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Dear friends,

Over the weekend, I posted a press release offering a 20% discount to any person who opted to buy an entrance ticket to Auto Assembly 2013 between now and the convention. It has since come to my attention that quite a few of our loyal attendees are understandably less than pleased with this, feeling they have missed out through no fault of their own.

Please accept this post as my full and unreserved apology.

The discount was purely intended to be a bonus incentive for those people who were on the fence about coming to the convention or not for the first time; but with hindsight, I now realise that this sadly may have left some of our attendees feeling alienated. This was absolutely not my intention and, having now spoken to the AA committee and numerous attendees, I realise that I jumped the gun a little this time.

As we have said all along, late bookings hurt the convention. They really do, because so many of our costs need to be paid in advance - more than ever this year. But I now realise that my attempts to try and avoid this situation by encouraging bookings now, rather than in the last week, were counterproductive. Sadly, I unintentionally added to the very problem I tried to address! I hold my hands up completely for that. In the words of Optimus; "Sorry, my bad"

So, how do we move forwards? Having now spoken to the AA committee (who I wish to thank for their help and honesty at this time), I have decided that the following action is the most appropriate;

1. I am hereby formally retracting the discounted ticket offer. It was, I now realise, unhelpful and has caused some upset. So I firmly believe that removing the offer is the right thing to do.

2. For anyone who has booked a ticket whilst that offer was live, I will honour the price you paid. It is not your fault that this has happened.

3. I will make everyone a personal assurance right now that there will not be any repeat of this situation in 2014. All year, my committee work hard to encourage people to book early for the good of the convention - I do not want to undermine their exceptional work and I do not want to appear ungrateful to those who support us so fantastically well with their early bookings.

4. In lieu of rising costs, we were reluctantly in the position of having to raise ticket prices by £10 for 2014. However, by way of an apology to each and every one of our attendees, I have decided to FREEZE ticket prices at their current levels until 31st December 2013 and beyond that point, a continued reduced level of £55. Once you have all seen the reveals we will be making at this year's Saturday night show you will truly understand why Auto Assembly 2014 is going to be our most expensive event ever.

I guarantee that these reduced prices will not have any adverse impact on the convention although this will mean that the team and I will have to shoulder some extra work, and indeed, work harder than ever, but I think it is the right thing to do to show everybody just how sincere I am with this post.

At the end of the day, Auto Assembly is YOUR convention. Its continued growth and success is down to YOU and YOUR feedback. Bar discount... Swerve's diner... the fantastic new hotel... my team and I have worked hard to make all of these things a reality because of YOUR excellent feedback over the years. Sometimes, very rarely, we do get things wrong. Because we are human and because we try as many different things as possible to improve the show for you. But we will never try to hide behind a mistake. The special offer, whilst made with the very best of intentions, was misguided and I hope you will accept my full apology and then, join me to help make Auto Assembly 2013 the best darn Transformers convention on that planet. The convention which each and every one of your DESERVE for your tremendous support over the years.

Thanks for your understanding. I really appreciate it and truly value your continued support of the show.

Til all are one

Simon Plumbe
Auto Assembly Committee Head

Auto Assembly 2013 - 9th - 11th August 2013
The Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, England

web - www.autoassembly.org.uk
forum - http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Youtube - www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter - www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Tumblr - http://autoassembly.tumblr.com/

Auto Assembly is sponsored by:

TF Source - www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
Benscollectables - www.youtube.com/Transformermegazord
Geek-station - www.geek-station.co.uk
Comic Toys - www.comictoys.nl

Credit(s): Auto Assembly

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Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1505744)
Posted by Banjo-Tron on July 23rd, 2013 @ 12:45pm CDT

Funpub could take a few ideas away about how these guys operate. You really get the feeling they care for the fans, a nice post which i'm sure people will appreciate.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1505752)
Posted by Neurie on July 23rd, 2013 @ 1:43pm CDT

Sadly some of us cant make the night time stuff as we have lives to return to.

I hope they don't have that whole half an hour, pat ourselves on the back, oh look at us were so good for organising this speech again.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1505770)
Posted by Convotron on July 23rd, 2013 @ 2:50pm CDT

Banjo-Tron wrote:Funpub could take a few ideas away about how these guys operate. You really get the feeling they care for the fans, a nice post which i'm sure people will appreciate.

Agreed.

Even though AA is something I'll probably never attend as I live on the other side of the Atlantic, I've always seen it as a great convention for TF fans in the UK and surrounding countries.

This quick move to address an issue and to take full responsibility of something is a sign of integrity that is not only rare but I'm sure appreciated by AA attendees.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1505775)
Posted by Va'al on July 23rd, 2013 @ 2:54pm CDT

Convotron wrote:
Banjo-Tron wrote:Funpub could take a few ideas away about how these guys operate. You really get the feeling they care for the fans, a nice post which i'm sure people will appreciate.

Agreed.

Even though AA is something I'll probably never attend as I live on the other side of the Atlantic, I've always seen it as a great convention for TF fans in the UK and surrounding countries.

This quick move to address an issue and to take full responsibility of something is a sign of integrity that is not only rare but I'm sure appreciated by AA attendees.

Yeah, especially after the bad feedback they got about the late discount thing, nice to see this message. Makes me feel better about paying full price too.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1506655)
Posted by Va'al on July 26th, 2013 @ 2:05am CDT

Another quick note from the Auto Assembly team. Get your tickets here!

Auto Assembly 2013 Pre-Registrations Close In One Week

If you haven’t already booked your tickets for Auto Assembly 2013 then time is running out FAST! You now only have one week to pre-register for Europe’s Largest Transformers Convention online and then after that point you will only be able to buy tickets on the door!

Every year the queues to get into Auto Assembly keep getting longer and longer, and pre-registering is the best way to ensure that you can have the best shot at getting to the dealers tables early on each day and getting the best seats for all the guest Q&A panels! If you pre-register, you can collect your passes from 12:30 pm on Friday afternoon for full weekend ticket holders or from 8:30 am on Saturday or Sunday and then get instant entry to the convention when the doors open.

However, if you pay on the door you will need to buy your tickets on the day and these won’t go on sale until 6:00 pm Friday for weekend attendees (when the Friday night programme begins) or 9:30 am on Saturday and Sunday once the doors open. What this means is that while all our pre-registrants are already making their way around the convention, you could still be at our Registration Desk or in a line waiting…!

So if you haven’t booked yet, head over to the Auto Assembly website now to get your tickets for what is going to be one of the best Transformers fan events of the year! So remember, pre-registrations close on Thursday 1st August 2013!

Auto Assembly 2013 is Europe's largest Transformers convention and is taking place over the weekend of 9th - 11th August 2013 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. To book your tickets or find out more including details of all the dealers attending, all of our guests and a full schedule for the weekend, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk

Hope to see you all in August!

The Auto Assembly Team

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk / www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Email: contact@autoassembly.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7860 948296

Auto Assembly is sponsored by

TF Source - www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com
Benscollectables - www.youtube.com/Transformermegazord
Geek-station - www.geek-station.co.uk
Comic Toys - www.comictoys.nl

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1508532)
Posted by Va'al on August 2nd, 2013 @ 5:02am CDT

For fans who are planning to attend Auto Assembly 2013, site sponsor Kapow! Toys has prepared a special offer reservation list ranging from old MP figures to odd-bots like CapBots Megatron and Disney label figures. Check out the list in the embedded video below!

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1508574)
Posted by El Duque on August 2nd, 2013 @ 10:43am CDT

We want to thank everyone who has pre-booked their tickets for Auto Assembly 2013 and who have once again helped us set a NEW European record for a Transformers convention! We are aware that many of you will have now missed the deadline for getting your tickets for the convention, especially as we had bookings open until 48 hours before the convention last year, but don’t worry…

Despite a record turnout again, the Hilton is a MASSIVE hotel (the largest convention hotel in the UK) so we do have enough spaces left for all of you who may be interested so you WILL be able to come along to the convention and pay on the door and get into the full convention – all the panels, workshops, and experience everything that Auto Assembly 2013 has to offer. The only differences for on-the-door attendees is that you won’t get a personalised pass, and entry to the convention will take longer as you will have to complete a booking form on arrival so we will have your correct details on file for health and safety purposes. In addition to this, everyone who has pre-registered for the convention will be able to collect their passes from 12:30 pm on Friday afternoon or 8:30 am on Saturday and Sunday and will be able to enter the convention immediately when the doors open at 6:00 pm Friday and 9:30 am on Saturday or Sunday.

If you are paying on the door, you won’t be able to buy tickets until 6:00 pm Friday if you are purchasing a weekend pass or 9:30 am on Saturday or Sunday for those of you buying single day tickets after all our pre-registrants have entered the hall. Prices for tickets on the door are £50 for adults for the full weekend and £38 for Youth (under 18) and Elderly (60+). Single day tickets are £28 for Adults and £22 for Youth and Elderly. Under 6′s are FREE!

Anyway, to all of you who have booked, once again we want to thank you for helping to make the convention the success that it has become and for those of you who have missed the deadline, we hope that you’ll come along next weekend and join us for a great weekend celebrating everything that makes Transformers so special!

Simon Plumbe
Auto Assembly Committee Head

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1508616)
Posted by Va'al on August 2nd, 2013 @ 12:50pm CDT

Tranformers artist Alex Milne has yet some more art-based news for Auto Assembly goers: cover sketches and prints! Take a look below for more detailed info, and head over to the thread on fellow fansite Full Metal Hero for your request.

hello all
since AA is right around the corner I thought I'd pop in to give people a heads up about something new I will have at AA
by will of good fortune and thanks to my friend Josh Burcham I have come into possession of some MTMTE issue 1 sketch covers which I will have at the convention.
due to the limited number of them I have I will only be able to do about 10 of them,
as with the other sketch list I created, I thought i would get a head start and post up the 10 slots here.
same rules apply to the sketch covers as with the head sketches. the only thing is it's £5 extra for the comic. so B&W would be £20 and colour would be £35

please note that if your interested in more then one characters, that would cost more, but will be discussed in person or by PM

also I dont not have any issue 17 sketch covers, i just used them as examples. I only have sketch covers for issue 1

so there are 10 spaces available. pick up for these I would like it to be end of day Sunday so there would be lots of time to work on them I might have more at the show, but right now 10 is what I'm comfortable working on

I will be selling prints. each print will be £10

I will also have copies of the exclusive Stadium comics cover for spotlight megatron to sell. each copy will also be £10

if any are interested in the exclusive cover, please let me know so i can set some aside. it would also give me an idea of how many to bring due to space being limited for travel
thanks a lot

can't wait to see all of you next week

edit: I will check back in 3 hours or so to see if the list fills up and to let people know that their sketch is on the comic sketch list

ALSO. PLEASE DON'T SWITCH A SKETCH FROM THE OTHER LIST TO THIS ONE. it would be unfair to those who i wanted one and didn't make it onto that list. thank you

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1508712)
Posted by Neurie on August 2nd, 2013 @ 5:53pm CDT

Woo hoo! That's my copy of MTMTE with the Cyclonus on it

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1508817)
Posted by Va'al on August 3rd, 2013 @ 3:36am CDT

Neurie wrote:Woo hoo! That's my copy of MTMTE with the Cyclonus on it

Whoah! Good choice, nice cover! :APPLAUSE:

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509687)
Posted by Va'al on August 6th, 2013 @ 7:15am CDT

Artist Nick Roche has just tweeted the line-art for one of his Auto Assembly prints, featuring the MTMTE cast -- sort of. Check out below the More Than Meets the Bad Guys print in black and white!

(Note: These will also be available at other conventions, depending on how many Roche prints out; he has already confirmed their availability at DICE 2013.)

And in full colour, by Josh Burcham!

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509703)
Posted by Banjo-Tron on August 6th, 2013 @ 8:25am CDT

This is going to be an awesome convention - Geoff Senior to attend too!

http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/geoff-se ... mbly-2013/

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509706)
Posted by Va'al on August 6th, 2013 @ 8:38am CDT

Banjo-Tron wrote:This is going to be an awesome convention - Geoff Senior to attend too!

http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/geoff-se ... mbly-2013/

Gah. Yes, forgot to post that one. Hnnng.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509707)
Posted by Va'al on August 6th, 2013 @ 8:40am CDT

Yet more announcements from Auto Assembly, Europe's biggest Transformers convention! This time, it's another addition to the guest roster, and yet another member of the ReGeneration One line-up: Geoff Senior! Check out the release below.

With just a few days to go, we couldn’t let things rest without a few final surprises for all of you attending – or planning on attending Auto Assembly 2013 this coming weekend… We are proud to announce the return of Marvel UK artist Geoff Senior to Auto Assembly. Geoff last joined us a few years ago when we celebrated the return of cult character Death’s Head to print but following his return to the world of Transformers through IDW’s Regeneration One providing covers for this continuation of the Marvel US series, Geoff is joining all of the other UK creative talent who will already be at the convention.

Geoff will be on hand selling prints and sketching for attendees on Saturday as well as taking to the stage with all the other Regeneration One team for the single biggest Regeneration One Panel ever collected at a Transformers event. Not booked yet? Tickets will be available on the door starting at just £22 for under 18s and £28 for adults.

With just a few days to go do we have anything else to announce? Hell yes!

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509732)
Posted by sabrigami on August 6th, 2013 @ 10:11am CDT

That is a very snazzy print. Would love to see a color version of this. I also like the fact that it shows the scale of all these guys. Some of them are quite huge.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509875)
Posted by Sodan-1 on August 6th, 2013 @ 6:45pm CDT

Possibly one of the most obscure line-ups ever.

Excellent. :APPLAUSE:

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1509880)
Posted by Va'al on August 6th, 2013 @ 6:57pm CDT

Sodan-1 wrote:Possibly one of the most obscure line-ups ever.

Excellent.

Obscure? The print or the guests? :-?

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1510230)
Posted by Sodan-1 on August 8th, 2013 @ 4:32am CDT

Va'al wrote:
Sodan-1 wrote:Possibly one of the most obscure line-ups ever.

Excellent.

Obscure? The print or the guests?

Lol, the print sorry. I know it makes sense given the context. It's just refreshing not to see the same few Autobots all the time.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1510280)
Posted by Va'al on August 8th, 2013 @ 9:27am CDT

Artist Nick Roche has prepared yet another print for this year's Auto Assembly, and quite likely future conventions too. This one, like the More Than Meets the Bad Guys one, is also based on MTMTE, and is titled 'The Wake'. Take a look at the linework below!

And one more time with colour, by Josh Burcham!

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1510294)
Posted by sabrigami on August 8th, 2013 @ 10:16am CDT

Gosh this is lovely

wouldn't mind getting a copy at some point

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1510314)
Posted by Banjo-Tron on August 8th, 2013 @ 10:52am CDT

Bah - is anyone else annoyed that the Cybertronian Times is not getting printed this year? 'tis a real shame :-x

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1510329)
Posted by Va'al on August 8th, 2013 @ 11:38am CDT

It's digital though! Better than them not being able to get it out at all.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1510344)
Posted by leokearon on August 8th, 2013 @ 12:48pm CDT

Shame Nick Doesn't have a online shop where you can by these

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1511088)
Posted by Airhawk on August 11th, 2013 @ 1:26pm CDT

Gotta say the convention was a lot of fun, had to leave earlier than planned on the sunday morning, but the general atmosphere was great. Highlights for me had to be the overlord and IDW ongoings panels along with the Neil Kaplan QnA.

Was the first convention I've been to, definitely thinking of going again next year now

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1511113)
Posted by Banjo-Tron on August 11th, 2013 @ 2:26pm CDT

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the next one already! It was a real treat to get a sketch from Geoff Senior! All the guests were brilliant, friendly etc. well, with the exception of Alex Milne who was just non-communicative to the point of coming across rude. Maybe he's just uncomfortable with conventions. Amazing artist though. Dan was just awesome and his wife was really friendly too. And Neil's Q&A was hilarious. I didn't realise how versatile a performer he is.

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1511395)
Posted by MightyMagnus78 on August 12th, 2013 @ 3:47pm CDT

I missed AA this year :-(

definitely going to try to get there next year.

Anyone got any pic's?

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1511409)
Posted by Banjo-Tron on August 12th, 2013 @ 5:15pm CDT

MightyMagnus78 wrote:I missed AA this year definitely going to try to get there next year.

Anyone got any pic's?

Va'al had some up on another thread but they have since been deleted? Not sure what happened. They were cosplay pics andsome of the guests. You missed out through not going dude!

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1511518)
Posted by Va'al on August 13th, 2013 @ 4:28am CDT

Banjo-Tron wrote:
MightyMagnus78 wrote:I missed AA this year definitely going to try to get there next year.

Anyone got any pic's?

Va'al had some up on another thread but they have since been deleted? Not sure what happened. They were cosplay pics andsome of the guests. You missed out through not going dude!

Yeah, not sure what happened to Photobucket, I must have changed something and they disappeared. I think Ryan is putting up a gallery from them though!

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1511519)
Posted by Va'al on August 13th, 2013 @ 4:55am CDT

There are some great photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 341&type=1

Re: Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology (1512491)
Posted by MightyMagnus78 on August 18th, 2013 @ 8:39am CDT

Va'al wrote:There are some great photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 341&type=1

Thanks.

Auto Assembly 2013 Booking Discount - An Apology

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