Proof that Vortex Highlights DVD is in progress

We’ve had a few inquires about the Vortex Highlights DVD from people looking to buy it and from people who pre-ordered it at the event in May.  We’ve replied to all inquires directly but to those who haven’t emailed us and are wondering where their DVD is then we want to apologise for the delay.  After some hold-ups getting approval from all guests to be featured on the DVD, a series of delays including having to completely dismantle and rebuild my video editing computer (which took a lot longer than expected), being out of the country on three occasions for several weeks and injuries that prevented me from sitting at a computer for several more weeks, production is finally under way.

But enough about the excuses, most of you just want to know when it will be available.  At the rate things are going I expect to have it finished by the end of January, but allow and extra week or two for the unforeseen as preparation for Vortex II may have to take priority now and again to keep things on-track for May.

With nearly nine months passed since Vortex, I’m going to contact everyone who pre-ordered to make sure your postal address is still the same before any DVDs are sent.  Once all pre-orders have been fulfilled it will be made available to buy through the website.

More updates and information about Vortex II will be made soon.

We have taken our trip through the Time Vortex into the world of Doctor Who, Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures and returned with so many wonderful memories and stories to tell!

Vortex was an amazing day and we would like to say thank you to everyone who came along to see the props, displays and most of all our fantastic guest stars Gareth David Lloyd, Paul Mark Davis and Chipo Chung.  You made them feel so welcome during the Q&A, autograph session, photo session and Ianto’s Coffee Club Meet & Greet.  They enjoyed every minute they spent with you, the fans.

It has taken many months to prepare this event and we are delighted that all our hard work paid off.  The Daleks, Tardis, Empty Child, K-9 and Lady Cassandra went down a storm and we saw so many people having their photos taken with them.  Our Ood and Clockwork Droid spent the day walking around the event meeting all the children and families.  We hope you liked having the chance to experience what its like to be at the controls of the Tardis on our stage set and thank you to everyone who came up to take a photo and gave a donation to the Children’s Hospice to do so.

The Weakest Link and Fancy Dress were hilarious and we hope you enjoyed the entries as much as we did and congratulations to the Fancy Dress winners for all the hard work they put in to their costumes.  The Dalek and mini Cyberman where so cute!  And well done to the winners of our Weakest link games.

Post a blog comment to tell us about your memories of the event and email us your photos (or a link to where they’re posted) so we can compile a photo gallery on the website as we rarely get to take pictures of our own.

We look forward to seeing you all again at the next UT Event!

Are you interested in helping out at Vortex?  We’re looking for volunteers to spend one or two hours of the day helping us run the event.  You could be asked to do anything form checking badges at the door to selling raffle tickets or controlling queues.

They may not sound like glamorous jobs but they are essential and you’ll get to see how an event like this is run from behind the scenes.  We guarantee you won’t miss out on anything during the day, we’ll accommodate you if you have specific times you prefer not to work and at the end of the day there’ll be a special presentation to thank all our stewards.

Email us at info@utevents.co.uk with the subject line “Volunteer Steward” and include the following information

• Name
• Registration number
• Telephone number
• Let us know if you are under or over 25 years old
• Tell us if you have any experience stewarding events or if you have attended events like this before
• If you are not planning on spending the full day at the event then let us know what times you will be there and if there are any specific times you will not be available to help

We will contact you before the event by email so make sure you check it regularly.

You must be over 16 to steward and take your responsibilities seriously.  Please note that this is only open to those who already have tickets for Vortex.  This is not a way to gain entry now that the event is sold out.

We opened up to refunds 7 days ago and, to be honest, we haven’t had much of a response.  We were hoping to have a bunch more tickets to pass on to people who have been emailing and phoning us but it looks like we’ll only have around 10 tickets in total.

Refunds are still available up to 6pm Wednesday evening.  Then our final batch of tickets will be made available at 9pm Wednesday night.  I’m afraid it will be a first-come-first-served deal so you need to be ready to go at 9pm.  To make it fair, we won’t require you to enter names when booking.  Just book the tickets and email us the names after you receive confirmation that you have them.

We can only apologise to those who are unable to get tickets.  We can honestly say we were unprepared for the response we’ve got to this event, especially after the poor response we had to Genesis, our first Doctor Who event.  Genesis was our worst selling full day event ever so we didn’t expect Vortex to be our best selling.

Citybeat will be giving away 5 pairs of Vortex tickets this week.  The competition will run on the Robin Elliott show every day from 7pm.

Only a small number of people took us up on our refund offer (more on how to get those tickets later) so if you missed out on a ticket then this could be your last chance to get one.

Since tickets went on sale in February we have had a couple of requests for refunds.  Some people bought tickets but due to a chance in circumstances they are no longer able to make it to the event.  Unfortunately we had to turn them down.  We have a policy of no refunds in place so that we don’t receive ticket money, spend it on preparing the event and then have to give it back to anyone who wants a refund.  It’s simply not possible to run an event when you can’t guarantee the money you have in the bank will still be there in a few weeks!

However, since Vortex has now sold out we have decided to open up to refund requests.  There’s no point in having unused tickets out there when there are still people looking to attend.  Here’s how it’s going to work.  Anyone who wants a refund can email us at info@utevents.co.uk and request one.  We will put all requests in a queue, refund about 5 tickets at a time and make them available to book on-line.  When those tickets sell we’ll refund another 5 and continue until all refunds have been processed.

This refund process will only stay in place until April 30th.  After that date we’ll be too busy preparing for the event to be dealing with refunds so get your requests in now.  The only restriction is that we can only refund a complete transaction.  That is, if you bought 5 tickets we can only refund the whole 5 tickets.  We cannot refund 3 of them.  Also, we cannot guarantee everyone who wants a refund will get one.  If, for some reason, there is a larger demand for refunds than for new ticket sales then I’m afraid we’ll have to decline some requests.  It’s not likely, but we just have to make that clear to everyone.

If and when any tickets become available to purchase through this process we’ll tweet about it so follow us on twitter to be the first to know.

Any questions?

All tickets for vortex have now sold.  It’s our biggest selling event by a large margin and the first time we have ever sold out an event.  We’re delighted with the response and we’re working frantically to make sure Vortex is a day to remember for everyone who has supported us by buying a ticket.

If you missed out on a ticket then you may have one last chance.  We’ll blog about that later.  Right now we’re doing a little dance of joy.

There are still 2 tickets available for Ianto’s Coffee Club.  Remember, these won’t grant you access to the event.  The only people who can snap up the last couple are those who have already got Vortex tickets so get in there quick.

Just a very quick update.  90% of tickets for Vortex have now sold.  If the current rate of ticket sales continues then all tickets will sell out before the event and no tickets will be available to buy on the door.

Vortex is now officially our largest event (previously Hellmouth).

I finished my course in South Africa (heading to graduation in 5 minutes) and I’ll be returning to the UK this weekend so all tickets will be sent out next week.

As Thomas mentioned before this has been one hectic week, what with him being in South Africa on his course and sorting out the tickets and me here working on the event building and constructing and promoting.  Well myself and Jono after spending 3 solid days of hard work and many cuts and bruises from building it,  The Tardis materialised into Belfast yesterday right in front of the City Hall witnessed by more than a few passers by.  Much fun was had by people wanting their photo taken with it and one even asking for a lift home.  We met many people who are very excited about Vortex and can’t wait to go.  Some asked what was inside the Tardis to which we said, “You’ll see on May 3rd”.

I’m finally up-to-date with tickets.  The latest batch were sent out this morning.  If you haven’t got yours yet then it’s for one of two reasons.  It’s either got stuck somewhere in the internet tubes (email us and we’ll send them again) or you didn’t provided the information we asked for when booking a ticket.  In the later case, you’ll have an email asking for the necessary information.  Just reply with the details and we’ll send you your tickets.

To those who are intending to buy tickets, please read the information on the booking page.  It makes life so much simpler for me when processing bookings.

I’ve added a few more questions and answers to the FAQ and posted a provisional schedule, the same one you’ll have received in your update with your tickets.  Like the page says, use this schedule as a guide to plan your day but small changes are likely so check the website the day before the event for the final schedule.

Finally, I hope you all enjoyed the Doctor Who Easter Special.  Unfortunately I won’t get a chance to see it ’till I get home next Sunday.  I’m trying to avoid spoilers but I gather from twitter and Facebook statuses that it’s gone down pretty well.

Hope you’re all having a good Easter.