Telford International Centre — Local services in Great Britain

Wales Comic con Sat 07/12/2019.

After the last Wales Comic Con I vowed to never go to another one but to the organisers credit they did change the venue and due to the caliber of guests I thought ‘why not’

The venue: Everything was in-doors so this prevented anyone getting wet this time but it was a nice day so there was no problems. The building was very clean and there were toilets near the main hall and the Talk room.

We managed to get the VIP platinum day tickets, which were pricey but the room provided was great with comfy seats and free hot/cold drinks also snacks/cakes available throughout the day.

The guests: As usual Wales Comic Con always get very good guests sometimes better overall than Showmasters get for London.

We got signatures from David Tennant, Matt Smith and Catherine Tate, having the platinum tickets meant there was no queuing but from looking at the queues there were long wait times and understandable frustration.

I think this problem will never go away either with pre bought tickets or virtual queues. It is never going to be easy for the event planning, they have to balance the commercial expectation for the guests and trying to make the queues shorter but at the end of the day the big stars like David Tennant will always attract large numbers of people so waiting will be inevitable.

This is the same for the photo sessions, this will always the same story, ensuring the stars agents get the money they ask for and the organisers having to make a profit. The venue was new so for me it worked.

The talks: I don’t normally go to these as most venues are not set up for large shows, the venue at this years Destination Star Trek was completely on one level so anyone sitting past the few front rows could not see the stage, however at Telford the room was a proper theatre/arena so there was tiered seating towards the back so everyone could see and the acoustics for the room meant everyone could hear the guests talking.

I went to the Game of Thrones, Catherine Tate and the extra evening David Tennant/Matt Smith talk. They were all excellent but the highlight was Catherine Tate, this was a free half hour stand up show, very funny and very different.

Good points: Nice big venue, no one dripping wet, good event staff- To me all the event staff are the unsung hero’s doing this for free and at some times getting some harsh criticism when things are out of their control. If a star is an hour late to sign things like Matt Smith was at 5 o’clock then this is the agent and organisers fault.

Bad points: The shambles trying to get everyone in the talk room for the David Tennant/Matt Smith talk. Firstly everyone had to go to the downstairs area as the venue had to be cleared. This is fair enough but when everyone was in this area it was a case of someone shouting to try and get the different blocks in order to seat them. Only problem was no one could hear this and it started a push from everyone towards the main stairs. To me this was dangerous and not needed. Someone with foresight could have used the P.A system or a megaphone so we could hear what was happening.

It was the same in the arena, everyone being told to sit in black A or block B at the front. Again as no one was organising this it took another 50 minutes to get everyone in their correct seats. We were in Block A so we were sitting down but from when we got in everyone was then told to wait outside as there were front row people that could not have their seats. I think if people had being standing all day in the queues then waiting another 50 minutes would have added injury to insult.

Overall though I enjoyed the event the stars and the venue. Hopefully the first time teething problems can be sorted for the next one.

Advice to everyone, don’t queue for the car park as it gets full quickly and the queues on the approaching roads are murder, park in one of the multi-storey car parks nearby as it only...

We visited it on Saturday for a beekeeping show. The place was buzzing! It was a hive of activity. And I didn't get stung with the prices..... But seriously let me begin. We arrived at approximately 11 am. It had been a long but univentful drive to get to the show. The most exciting thing I saw was a buzzard having a poo on a lamp post. Anyway. We arrived and the ample car park had a 'Full' sign on display. Oh no I thought, we'll have to go home. Anyway, the chap on the gate that was directing the traffic was ever so helpful and told us of alternative parking facilities within a 10 minute radius of the show. I said I'd have a little crouis around the carpark and see if anyone had left then go to the other carpark he had recommended. He wished me well and bid me farewell. He was nice and I felt that we had connected. His knowledge of thr local parking facilities was second to none and I wished I'd asked more questions of him. Like, favourite colour of cats eye or most exciting short stay carpark.... But anyway. Turned out his knowledge was lacking as even though he had said the carpark was totally full within 5 minutes I found about 12 empty spaces! 12 I tell you. Not full at all. He was either fibbing to try to sound exciting and brave or just can't count. Maybe he was on commission at the other carpark and was trying to send everyone there instead..... Well, we parked and headed inside. What a delight we walked into. With helpful staff dotted around thr place, and lots of clear signage we quickly found where we needed to go. We even found the toilets. Not too busy and they were spotlessly clean. Well I can only vouch for the gents aa I was kicked out of the ladies. I tried to explain that I was trying to get photos of the cleanliness of the facilities but they didn't believe me and I was beaten black and blue by a gang of lady beekeepers from South Wales. I manged to sneak off and found my wife and kept my head down for the rest of the...

A visitor's experience of this place will most likely depend on what event they're attending so I'll restrict my review to the centre and its staff and facilities. Telford town centre appears to consist of hotel, shopping and entertainment venues in a pedestrianised area with car parks dotted around the edges. The grandly named Telford International Centre is one of those venues, on the edge of the "town centre" and a short walk from the shops, hotels and car parks. There are 3 or 4 fairly large halls which can be configured for all sorts of events. They're joined by a common concourse which has toilets, a Costa Coffee and little else. Like the venue, the 'security' staff also have delusions of grandeur and are complete "jobsworths". We were there early, for the start of an all-day event, and the entry gates (made up of barriers and tables arranged into a queuing system such as you might find at a village fireworks night) were empty. As we attempted to leave the hall (to get a coffee) by the most direct 'gate', one of the staff blocked us and told us we HAD to use the specific exit gate about 10 feet away! Even though all of the gates were completely empty! That wasn't our only brush with the Little Hitlers that day, so I suspect they're all like it and are intent on spoiling people's experience of the venue because...