Frequently asked questions
Well, the technical name is a multi media, multi-genre residential pop culture convention, but that doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. We went for something that conveyed what we’re doing as accurately as possible.
Explore the website, check out the guests and the tracks, sign up for our newsletter, and email info@nineworlds.co.uk if you have any questions. We also have a Twitter account and Facebook page where we publish regular updates. Really though, the only way to fully grasp the breadth of what we're building is to come along and see it for yourself.
We're putting on our party shoes at Novotel London West from August 10th-12th 2018. The address is One Shortlands, London W6 8DR:
- Thursday evening starts things off with some low key, informal events and socialising
- Friday morning kicks in at full speed at 10am, and carries through until the early hours
- Saturday starts at 10am, and keeps on going until 2am or even later
- Sunday starts at 10am, and gradually winds down around 4.30pm with informal socialising in the evening
We're a residential convention - attendees normally stay on-site for the weekend. This means that the party doesn't stop at dusk, and we'll have games, talks, discos, live music and performance, and all-night film marathons running through the evenings. We'll also have a daytime market and stall holders on each day, for convention attendees.
Yes. We sell free tickets for children under 18. Please be aware that we do not take guardianship responsibility for children, and they must therefore be under the supervision of an adult guardian at all times.
There will be a page with further information on child friendliness and facilities.
The convention hotel for 2018 is the Novotel London West. There is a page with information on the venue, and accommodation suggestions.
We recommend staying from Thursday 9th until Sunday 12th for the best convention experience, as the full programme will be starting at 10am sharp on Friday and winding up in the early evening on Sunday.
Yes. We're going to give you a blank badge and a pen to write your name on, most likely. There will be a unique registration number on each badge so we can match you to our registration, but no other identifying requirements. Except that journalists should wear a press lanyard and badge in addition to their normal one.
The venue's address is Novotel London West, One Shortlands, London W6 8DR. We have a page with complete directions, including accessible travel options.
There is a car park onsite, with 240 spaces, which charges £1.50 per hour for convention or expo attendees. This means that three full days of parking would cost £108. There are 6 accessible, blue badge parking bays in the hotel car park. These are first come, first served, and are chargeable at the con rate of £1.50 per hour. These are served by the small lift which serves all floors, including the mezzanine level. We may be able to contribute to costs from the convention's access budget - get in touch with our access co-ordinator if this is important to you. Access from the car park is generally good for wheelchair users of all types.
The car park is built in the basement of the hotel, and can therefore be considered to be on the cramped side in terms of manoeuvring space, and has a height restriction for vehicles. However this does mean that all car park spaces are covered and protected from the elements, as well as being relatively secure. For enquiries please call the hotel on 020 8237 7540.
Unfortunately, the large NCP West 12 car park up the road at Shepherds Bush has closed down. Some private or smaller parking options can be found through sites such as Parkopedia. Additionally, the entire area has on-street parking with various rules.
There'll be a registration desk in the lobby through most of the weekend, where both attendees and guests will be able to obtain their badges. The badge also comes with a welcome pack containing the programme booklet and unspecified freebies.
To collect your badges, you'll need the e-ticket emailed to the purchase address. As a backup, we can if necessary look up your purchase details if you can provide the name and email address used in ordering.
Yup. It's not a primary focus, but there will be a mix of both paid and free signings by authors, actors and other guests. All the information on this will be in the final programme.
The difference in pricing between your local friendly expo and Nine Worlds is because of a major difference in content and business model. MCM and similar expo-style events focus primarily on vendors and paid autographs. While there may be some workshops and guests, they're a small fraction of what you'd find at a residential convention such as Nine Worlds.
We've got a large number of simultaneous content tracks with their own curators, each putting together a set of panels, workshops and activities that reflect their fandom or area of interest. Additionally, guests at residential conventions are expected to take a fuller part in the programme, and ideally to be a *part* of the convention rather than being whisked on-stage and then off again after their panel. We've got a film festival, gaming tables, social gaming with nerf guns, and a full evening entertainment programme with music, parties, and more gaming and discussions.
This focus puts us more in line with residential conventions such as Eastercon, Worldcon, Redemption, Starfury and Massive Events, all of which cost a similar amount.
TL;DR Geek festival, not geek market.
The Novotel has free wifi, which coped well during last year's event, although live streaming of video or games was a wee bit iffy. Mobile signal looked generally good across the hotel with one or two blackspots on some networks (as is often the case in Central London). As always, we can't guarantee quality of service for either.