Castle at Brickworld 2010

Discussion and planning of large-scale Castle Themed displays and events
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Bluesecrets
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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Bluesecrets »

If we said that people coming to Brickworld had to put all their MOC's into certain places with other like creations, that would probably deter some people, since we've been doing it the other way for 4 years.
Honestly? If that is all it takes to keep people away, then I'm sorry but it seems rather petty. I've been to Brickworld and Brickcon. I had both my own table and worked in one of the theme areas at Brickworld. Mostly because the MOCs I brought for my table, I didn't know what theme they would belong in. But I do prefer having it displayed in the themes much better. People get time to talk to each other, work together to created a cohesive display,which is SO much fun, and you get to meet new people who you might not have spoke with before. Which to me is why you go to cons in the first place, to meet friends, make friends, and build amazing things together.

Also, lets just take me as an example. I do not build in the Star Wars theme (long story not worth mentioning here). I'm not interested in the Star Wars theme. And if I don't want to look at the Star Wars theme, well if there is a set display for it, I can avoid it very easily and spend my time looking at the themes I do like. Which, while that is a bit close minded, is a bit helpful. Now train, that can be sticky, because they come with their whole set up ready in advance, but if they have their set ups in one general train area, then this could also work. In other words, have a whole room just for train since Brickworld has a lot of train displays.

Just because something has happened for four years, does not mean it has to continue to happen. Make a formal survey. Collect the data. Because you might just notice that you are talking about a handful of people.

I guess it goes like this, if Brickworld wants it like it is, then fine. But if a few people have to let their egos keep them away from a con because their MOC's have to be put into a theme area, well then what is the loss of a few people when there are over 750 attending that event?
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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Norro »

Bluesecrets wrote: well then what is the loss of a few people when there are over 750 attending that event?
That's probably also part of the issue... the vast majority of those people aren't large scale builders, as I just discovered. Many were families with a teem interested in Lego as their primary reason for attending. I lost track of the number of times I talked to an 'AFOL' attendee who turned out to be merely escorting a number of children.

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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Bluesecrets »

That's probably also part of the issue... the vast majority of those people aren't large scale builders, as I just discovered. Many were families with a teem interested in Lego as their primary reason for attending. I lost track of the number of times I talked to an 'AFOL' attendee who turned out to be merely escorting a number of children.
I'm not so sure I agree with the "vast majority of those people aren't large scale builders" comment. I was there last year. Yes, there were some parents who were escorting kids, but the "some" came no where near to the number of AFOL's I encountered. And even when I did encounter parents, their kids HAD built.

Either way, I don't think there is any harm in surveying attendees about which kind of layout they in fact would like.
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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Crazylegoman »

Bluesecrets wrote:I'm not so sure I agree with the "vast majority of those people aren't large scale builders" comment. I was there last year. Yes, there were some parents who were escorting kids, but the "some" came no where near to the number of AFOL's I encountered. And even when I did encounter parents, their kids HAD built.
There was a marked difference between previous years and 2010. The number of families who had child builders and parents who were along for the ride went up drastically. I heard several long-time adult builders complain about the large number of kids, but as Adam Tucker pointed out in our coordinator meeting, the kids are the next generation of us.

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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Blueandwhite »

Crazylegoman wrote:
Bluesecrets wrote:I'm not so sure I agree with the "vast majority of those people aren't large scale builders" comment. I was there last year. Yes, there were some parents who were escorting kids, but the "some" came no where near to the number of AFOL's I encountered. And even when I did encounter parents, their kids HAD built.
There was a marked difference between previous years and 2010. The number of families who had child builders and parents who were along for the ride went up drastically. I heard several long-time adult builders complain about the large number of kids, but as Adam Tucker pointed out in our coordinator meeting, the kids are the next generation of us.

David
There's nothing wrong with acknowledging the next generation of fans. Still, shouldn't a convention be a place for everyone?

It seems that you and the other Brickworld organizers have acknowledged the importance of the next generation of LEGO fans, but I still hope that there is room in the future formore discussion on group and theme-oriented displays. Fan events are one of the few opportunities to create something on a scale beyond anything a single individual could hope to produce owing to space and time constraints.

Right now Brickworld can boast having a huge number of participants, yet with so many individual MOCs simply sitting on their own, almost nothing really stands out. I see a huge number of MOCs, but I don't get a real sense of unity or community (at least from the MOCs themselves). An individual can easily be lost in the crowd and this is what I see with many of the MOCs at Brickworld. David, in an earlier post you suggested that organizing by genre would deter some builders from presenting their MOCs. I'm not sure if I agree with that reasoning. I couldn't imagine going to a festival like Brickworld simply to display something I've built in isolation.

Don't get me wrong; I respect the huge amount of time and effort that you and others have put into organizing Brickworld. I just wish that there was a bit more cohesiveness. I just don't believe that placing a bit more emphasis on themes or group displays would do the damage that you're implying. Good luck next year!
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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Norro »

Sorry I should clarify that I wasn't trying to wade into the 'cohesive theme' debate, just noting that a lot of the people attending either weren't building or were displaying a child's MOC. In many cases these looked like they had been built by a child. Nothing wrong with that, but it shocked me and made me realize future fan events may look far more like sprawling displays of not 'large scale' building (to quote myself). I think you have to consider who can contribute before you can consider what they contribute to.

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Nathan
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Re: Castle at Brickworld 2010

Post by Crazylegoman »

Blueandwhite wrote:There's nothing wrong with acknowledging the next generation of fans. Still, shouldn't a convention be a place for everyone?
You're never going to have a LEGO convention without kids. However, Brickworld was created first and foremost as an adult event. Another point we discussed at our coordinator meeting was that we do not want to become a babysitting service. That point was brought up due to the large number of preteen kids running wild with no supervision. (We observed that teenage kids were fine behavior-wise.)
Blueandwhite wrote:David, in an earlier post you suggested that organizing by genre would deter some builders from presenting their MOCs. I'm not sure if I agree with that reasoning. I couldn't imagine going to a festival like Brickworld simply to display something I've built in isolation. Don't get me wrong; I respect the huge amount of time and effort that you and others have put into organizing Brickworld. I just wish that there was a bit more cohesiveness. I just don't believe that placing a bit more emphasis on themes or group displays would do the damage that you're implying. Good luck next year!
You and me both. There are some builders with the "Look at ME!" attitude when it comes to displaying MOC's, but if I had my way, things would be organized according to theme...unfortunately, I don't have my way.

David
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