RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON |
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RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON |
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News Release: July 27, 2008
Please check the Gatecon website for the latest updates. Here are some reminders:
DAY PASSES are now on sale as well as Gate Passes on the Tickets page.
The RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON AUTOGRAPH LOTTERY is now open:
Information can be found here: http://www.stargateprops.com/catalogue/shopcontent.asp?type=faq-autographs
Registration can be found here: http://www.stargateprops.com/catalogue/autolottery.html
The DEADLINE date for most items is August 1st. Be certain to complete your reservations before then for the following:
* Bus Tour (only 16 seats left)
* Banquet
* T-shirt Orders
* Starhole
* SG Fun
* Ticket Name Changes and Resales
News Release: July 10, 2008
Legends Memorabilia has released a FAQ for the events at Gatecon that are being held by Legends Memorabilia. Here you will find information about additional special guests, VIP registration for the included personalized RDA autographed photo, and the upcoming lottery for in-person Richard Dean Anderson autographs.
Go here to visit the Legends Memorabilia / Gatecon 2008 FAQ.
IMPORTANT SHORT-CUT LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE:
Go here for information about the VIP Pre-Signed Personalized RDA Photos.
Go here to register your preference for the VIP Pre-Signed Personalized RDA Photos.
Go here for information about the upcoming In-Person RDA Autograph Lottery.
News Release: July 3, 2008
We are getting closer to Gatecon 2008: The Family Reunion, and we now have some new information for you as well as our new itinerary, and the opening of the Gatecon Add-On Center and new eStore...
The Gatecon Add-On Center is now open. Here you will be able to purchase the add-ons for Gatecon 2008 including the Banquet, Starhole, and SG-FUN.
Go to the Add-On Center at http://www.gatecon.net/addons
Tickets for the Shooting Locations Bus Tour are now available. Please note that payments for the bus tour will not be processed until we have enough people to fill the buses for the tour.
Go to the Shooting Locations Bus Tour at http://www.gatecon.net/detail.php?item_id=58The Gatecon Store is also open for those interested in buying convention T-shirts (available now) and day passes (coming soon).
Go to the Gatecon Store at http://www.gatecon.net/index.phpLike every year at Gatecon we want to celebrate the fans and everyone attending Gatecon. Send in a photo of yourself to us. It can be any photo and doesn't have to be one taken at a convention or one with a Star. It can be anything... Funny, Serious, Groups... Anything.
Send your photo to photos@gatecon.net
A new itinerary has been uploaded for you to view at http://www.gatecon.com/vancouver/itinerary.asp
News Release: January 10, 2008
Well the winning names have now been drawn and everyone has been sent an email of congrats - and asking for payment! So if you didn't get a winner's notice thank you for taking part. Should there be any non-payments we will draw again from the list of entries.
Richard Dean Anderson and Paul Brown also asked that I pass on a message as well:
"Good luck to one and all....sorry we couldn't pick a winning number for each and every one of you. To those whose numbers don't come up, don't forget the Gate Pass tickets, you won't be sorry! Thank you all for your tremendous support - Richard & Paul"
So like they say GatePass tickets launch this Saturday - check the website for all the details.
News Release: January 8, 2008
GATE PASS RELEASE
The release of the Gate Pass tickets for Gatecon 2008: The Family Reunion will be on Saturday 12th January at 1pm (1300 hours) GMT. To view what time this corresponds to in your local time zone, please visit http://www.gatecon.com/vancouver/countdown.asp
The price of a Gate Pass ticket will be £135. To view information on what a Gate Pass includes, please visit http://www.gatecon.com/vancouver/faq.asp
Please Note: The sale of Gate Passes will be through a direct link on the Gatecon home page (www.gatecon.com) and NOT through the Gatecon Store.
VIP LOTTERY
There are still a few VIP tickets available. These have come about because of some non-payers, some who accidentally bought a ticket as a surprise present for a friend (even though their friend had already bought one) and also from a couple of people who did silly things like hit the refresh button during their purchase.
We have decided to hold a lottery for the remaining few VIP tickets left. To get into the lottery, visit the link below and add yourself in:
http://www.gatecon.com/lottery.asp
PLEASE NOTE: The prize in this lottery is the opportunity to buy a VIP ticket. The prize is NOT a free VIP ticket.
The draw(s) will be totally random. Each entry will be put into a list and assigned a unique number. We will have an impartial judge who will draw out a random list of numbers (based on the number of entries we have) and the entry corresponding to that number will be offered a VIP ticket. The person(s) we chose as judges will not have any access to the list nor know who is on the lottery list.
Please read the terms and conditions on the lottery page very carefully. But most importantly: 1. We are only allowing one entry per person. 2. You must be prepared to pay for your VIP ticket within 24 hours of receiving an email from Gatecon, otherwise it will go back into the lottery pool.
We will also be allowing you to enter the name of a second person to recieve a VIP ticket with you in your travelling party. Please Note: You may only enter a second person if you will be the person paying for their ticket. If you are not paying for their ticket then the other person must enter the lottery themselves.
The draws for the remaining VIP tickets will be completed by the end of the week, the first one taking place on Thursday, so winners will know by the time that the Gate Passes go on sale.
Just a quick follow-up regarding the lottery for the remaining VIP tickets...
...we are delighted to announce that the two independent drawmasters for the lottery will be Richard Dean Anderson and Paul Brown from Legends Memorabilia. The two gents will randomly pick numbers that correspond to the lines on a spreadsheet of entries we receive between now and 8pm GMT on Thursday. As mentioned in the original announcement, they have no knowledge of who has entered the draw and will not have access to the list of names at any time.
Just to clear up a couple of questions we have been asked:
1. You may only enter the draw once, either as an individual or as a couple. No duplication of the same name is permitted.
2. By entering the draw you agree to send payment for your ticket/s within 24 hours of request for payment.
Good Luck and don't forget entry closes at 8pm GMT Thursday!!
To existing VIP holders - you should now have all received your ticket confirmation from me. Please let me know if it has not arrived.
Announcement: January 6, 2008
Following is a message from Allan of Gatecon regarding ticket sales:
I have been reading through the many messages at Gategoers and also to the many hundreds of emails I received personally, and most of them have the same common themes and I will try to address those here.
Firstly, I know there are a lot of upset people out there who were unable to get a ticket. According to our website stats it means there were about 1,000 of you! With only 230 tickets available and over 1400 visitors to the website you can understand why tickets sold out in just over 1 minute.
Updating the site(s)
The only benchmark we had to go by for RDA tickets was the Avalon event who reported selling out in under 45 minutes. Because of the number of pages I had to update on the Gatecon and Gateconstore websites it would have taken me a good couple of minutes to get them all updated. I started at the obvious spot (the Gatecon home page) but by the time I got to the 3rd page, to my shock, the tickets had already sold out, so I then had to go back to the start and start putting up the sold out messages on all of those pages. It all happened so quick.
Some of you have mentioned that the messages on some pages viewed never changed, but I would have to assume that would have been because of a caching issue. (I will make another post later on how to cache-bust pages so you always get the correct content so you don't have the same issue when Gate Passes go on sale).
Times
The biggest complaint I have seen is about the time the tickets went on sale. Most saying they went online too early and were sold out by the actual release time. I need to assure you all that the tickets went online to the second (on the Gatecon home page) that was promised. Both my computer and the server the Gatecon site is on are synchronized to a central internet server to assure time accuracy. To ensure your time settings are correct to the second you need to make sure you have the correct time zone set (in Control Panel > Date & Time), and also that you have the time synchronizing option set (in the same place), but also just as important make sure you have the correct input locales set (Control Pane > Regional Settings). If you are in a business network, check with your IT guys to ensure your DHCP server is also set to the correct date, time and input locales.
The Site
Some people reported getting error messages on the ticket pages. Well, that was actually deliberate. Once the tickets were completely sold out I physically removed the ticket pages from the website just in case there were any hacking attempts to purchase tickets above the set inventory. Might sound a bit paranoid, but being a web developer of 10 years I see it happen way too often.
10 Ticket Limit
There were a lot of complaints that setting a limit of 10 tickets per person would be a problem. Actually it wasn't, and not one sale actually used the full amount. 1 person bought 8 tickets and there were 2 who bought 6. For almost every other purchase the average was either 1 or 2 tickets per sale and there were a few who purchased 3 or 4.
Scalping
The worry from a lot of people was that the 10 limit would cause scalping. I have personally been through every order placed and every single order seems to be legitimate. There was no evidence of scalping at all.
Announcement: January 5, 2008
VIP tickets for Gatecon: The Family Reunion go on sale at 1:00pm GMT on Saturday 5th January 2008. To find out what this time is in your local time zone, visit the special countdown page at http://www.gatecon.com/vancouver/countdown.asp
Tickets can only be purchased at the Gatecon website at gatecon.com.
News Release: January 4, 2008
We're only a matter of hours away from the VIP ticket release for Gatecon: The Family Reuinion in Vancouver this year.
Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions at the moment.
Q. When tickets go on sale, where do I go to purchase them?
A. Head directly to the Gatecon home page at www.gatecon.com. (If you get there slightly earlier than the release time, simply refresh your browser window every few seconds.)
Q. What do I need to have prepared for when they go on sale?
A. Make sure you have your credit card details ready, and also the names and email addresses for each person you are buying a ticket for. If you don't have their email address or they live in the same household, simply enter your email address next to their name.
Q. Is there a limit to how many tickets I can buy?
A. You can only purchase a maximum of 10 tickets at a time.
Q. When will the Gate Pass tickets go on sale?
A. Gate Pass tickets will go on sale on Saturday 12th January.
Q. How much will Gate Passes cost?
A. The cost of a Gate Pass is £135.
Q. How many Gate Pass tickets will be available?
A. 650
Q. Are Gate Pass holders able to take part in the RDA personal autograph sessions?
A. The short answer is yes. These autograph sessions are being run by Legends Memorabilia, and will be limited to a strict number of available spots. The actual number will be determined by Legends and will be announced once the details of these sessions are finalized.
Q. Will RDA sign personal items?
A. In general, this answer will be NO. Richard is very particular about the types of items he will autograph, but may sign personal items at his discretion. You will need to check with the Legends desk at the convention to see if your personal item may be something that Richard will sign.
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Q. What is included in the different ticket types?
Convention Q&A
VIP: Yes
GATE: Yes
RDA Pre-Signed Photo
VIP: FREE
GATE: Optional purchase (details to follow at a later date)
RDA Photo Session
VIP: Yes (price included)
GATE: No
Other Guest Photo Sessions
VIP: Yes (additional fees apply)
GATE: If time permits, based on ticket number (additional fees apply)
Other Guest Autograph Sessions
VIP: Yes (additional fees may apply)
GATE: If time permits, based on ticket number (additional fees may apply)
Welcome Party
VIP: Yes (price included)
GATE: No
Charity Auction: Open to ALL ticket holders (free)
Location Bus Tours: Open to all ticket holders - Numbers to be determined (additional fees apply)
Banquet: Open to all - limited to 500 seats (additional fees apply)
News Release: December 19, 2007
We're about to announce the release date for tickets to Gatecon: The Family Reunion.
TICKET SALE RELEASE DATE
We are pleased to announce that VIP tickets for Gatecon: The Family Reunion will be going on sale at 1:00pm GMT on Saturday 5th January 2008. To find out what this time is in your local time zone see our special countdown page at http://www.gatecon.com/vancouver/countdown.asp
TICKET PRICES
Because Gatecon has its base in the United Kingdom, all of the prices listed for tickets etc are listed in UK Pounds (GBP). We know that because of the unsteady U.S. Dollar at the moment the converted price may vary. Hopefully the U.S. Dollar has seen its worst level and the conversion prices should come down by the time of the ticket release.
In the initial instance we will only be releasing VIP ticket sales. The price of the VIP ticket will be £185 each. This updated price now includes a photo session pass with RDA (valued at £35), as well as the item under the VIP Ticket Inclusions section below.
Once the VIP tickets have sold out we will release the "Gate Pass" tickets. More information about the Gate Passes will be sent out closer to their release date.
RDA PHOTO SESSION
As you know at each Gatecon, the photo sessions with our guests are usually paid for at the time of the convention. So we can plan ahead for Richard Dean Anderson's schedule his photo session for VIP ticket holders will be an automatic inclusion in the price of the VIP ticket. We will be hiring a dedicated photographer for this special photo session, and all proceeds received by Richard Dean Anderson for the photo sessions are donated to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
VIP TICKET INCLUSIONS
ALL VIP ticket holders will also receive free of charge a special Richard Dean Anderson photograph. Each photo will be personally autographed by Richard in advance of the event. This special photograph comes courtesy of our good friends Legends Memorabilia.
This special pre-autographed photo will also be available to a limited number of Gate Pass ticket holders. We will announce the price and limit to this offer when Gate Pass tickets go on sale.
RDA FAQ
Q. Will Richard Dean Anderson be signing autographs during Gatecon?
A. Richard will sign autographed photos for event attendees for a period of one hour on each day of the event (Aug 21, 22 and 23). The cost of these photos will be US$40 each, with the funds benefiting the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society charity fund program.
Q. When will the Richard Dean Anderson photo sessions be taking place?
A. Richard will undertake a 3 hour personalized photo session on each day of the event, Aug 21, 22, 23. Each day may be split into two 1.5 hour sessions, morning and afternoon.
Q. What events will Richard Dean Anderson be taking part in at Gatecon?
A. Richard will be taking part in the on-stage Q&A sessions during the weekend, the SSCS charity auction, a special on-stage presentation with Captain Paul Watson from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and appearing at the Closing Ceremony (subject to scheduling).
Richard also plans to make himself available for other activities that the organizers may plan during the convention. His attendance at these events is to be confirmed later and will be subject to his approval and schedule.
Q. Will Richard be available at other times during the convention?
A. Richard will be in attendance at the Legends Memorabilia/SSCS display area from time to time throughout the event. Photographs may be taken and autographs will be available for sale at these times.
TICKET FAQ
Q. How many VIP tickets will be sold?
A. In total there will be a maximum of 350 VIP tickets available. 120 of those tickets have already been purchased prior to RDA's announcement, so the January 5th ticket release will be limited to the final 230 available tickets.
Q. How will seating be allocated at Gatecon: The Family Reunion?
A. Seating will be strictly by ticket number. If you wish to sit next to a friend it is suggested that you purchase your tickets together.
Visit the Gatecon website at gatecon.com to purchase your tickets on January 5th.
News Release: November 1, 2007
Gatecon will be delaying the release of tickets to Gatecon: The Family Reunion for a few more weeks.
The main reasons are because there are other conventions happening over the next week or so that may not allow attendees at those conventions to get to computer terminals or have internet access to purchase tickets. Tickets are sure to sell out fast so we don't want to disadvantage those who might need a few extra weeks to save for their tickets.
We also realize that there will be a high demand on tickets with Richard Dean Anderson attending (and our other fantastic guests), and this extra time will allow us to make sure the ticketing systems are in place and the servers tested for high loads! We will also use this time to get our website fully updated with a new FAQ section for any answers you need and have full information about the event including location, hotel, draft itinerary, and ticket inclusions.
At this stage we are planning to have ticket sales online towards the end of November. We will be announcing the date and time of the release to the Gatecon mailing list first, so if you haven't already, sign up for the Gatecon updates at www.gatecon.com.
News Release: October 20, 2007
We are in the process of working out the final arrangements but we can now confirm that Richard Dean Anderson and Capt. Paul Watson of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) will be attending Gatecon 2008 - the Family Reunion in Vancouver. Gatecon 2008 will be focusing its charity fund-raising activities to support SSCS and its endeavors to protect the world's oceans and ecosystems (www.seashepherd.org). Consequently, Friday August 22 will be a very special day as several exclusive Sea Shepherd activities will take place involving Richard Dean Anderson and Capt. Watson.
For Stargate fans we can also confirm that in a rare public appearance, Richard will participate in the entire weekend activities. Legends Memorabilia will be bringing other surprise guests to the event which will run from Aug 21-24, 2008 at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver.
More details concerning this special event and its guests will be announced at www.gatecon.com and www.stargateprops.com.
