With Destination Star Trek less than two months away, I thought as people put the finishing touches to their plans for event, I’d offer some helpful hints and tips for enjoying the weekend to its fullest. This article isn’t sanctioned by the organisers of DSTE, your own milage may vary, the cost of your latinum investment can go up as well as down
Right that’s the small print out of the way, here are my 5 top tips for enjoying a smooth stress free weekend.
Part 1 – Security is Key- One of the things you will probably notice when you arrive, even if you attended 2016’s Birmingham debut, is that security will be tighter this time around. Since the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, there are security checkpoints at all of the entrances to the NEC. You may find that you are asked to present your luggage for inspection. It’s standard in this day and age and you have nothing to worry about. On a similar vein, its probably a good idea not to bring those razor sharp Batleths, or realistic looking 20th century earth firearms.
Part 2 – Engage Cloaks – If, like me, you are coming to the event on public Transport, make sure to make use of the cloak rooms that the venue offers. If you have a preferred one to use, make sure you can get to it early as they do fill up, particularly on Friday morning and Sunday morning (when people using public transport arrive and go home respectively). While the venue does charge for this service, it is infinitely preferable to dragging your luggage around.
Part 3 – Paper based is the future – Once you have purchased your last photo shoot for the weekend, my advice is to print out your tickets. I recently attended an event where despite being issued with an eTicket via Eventbrite, I still had to queue at the box office AND pay an extra pound to get in. I’m told this would have been avoided if I’d just printed my ticket. That being said, I would have probably wanted to print my tickets for a full weekend like DSTE anyway, there’s every chance your phone battery might die, and if you forget your charger, its one less drama to contend with. Speaking of tickets, one you get your lanyard, wristband, hand stamp or whatever, make sure to keep it on your person at all times during the event.
Part 4 – Complain, but to the right people – There may be the time when you feel that some aspect of the weekend hasn’t gone entirely according to plan. By all means complain, but make sure that you are complaining to the right people If it is to do with the venue itself, then chances are, you should aim those comments at the NEC management team. If you feel that some aspect of the event needs complaining about, see a member of Showmasters staff In both cases, please remember you are probably talking to an employee, and not a manager whose decisions may have led to the problem you are in.
Part 5 – And finally, a couple of money saving tips. I know its very hard, one you get swept up in event fever, but try to budget before the event, particularly if you are paying in cash. I have known like the one free cash machine in the venue sell out pretty quickly. Replacements were offered, but these were ones that charged you for transactions. The rules on bringing your own food and drink into the venue are ambiguous. I have brought in my own stuff and gotten it through, but there’s every chance that the organisers may frown on it Just be smart, don’t bring in bags of shopping and I’m sure you’ll be OK. If you are buying from the venue, then I heartily recommend the McColl newsagent on the ground floor I actually got a bottle of pop for under a pound!
Hope these tips are of some use to you. I’ll see you at the Banquet, or DSTE and if not, look out for my next blog