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Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve connected with you all, beyond Matt and Josh, and for that I apologize. I was recently rescued from professional hell in Youngstown and brought back to Pittsburgh for good. I’m working for Pitt now.
Pitt has a program they are running called Year of Creativity. I’m on the grant committee and I get to help choose which projects get funded. We had a recent meeting and discovered that there have only been 3 applications. So, I decided to throw in on this as a representative of Pitt Business.
I’m proposing a $5000 project with a potential (and up to) $5k match, for a total project of $10k. The project is called “Seriously Creative: Exploring the Business of Creativity through LEGO.”
I’ve attached the rough draft. It has a 600 word limit. I would love to have our group involved in a meaningful and impactful way, but didn’t want to commit anyone to anything. Please note this draft has NOT been submitted. My college cannot currently commit any matching funds to this project, but it’s possible the graduate business school can. Either way, we can likely get $5k minimum or MORE depending on the generosity of the committee.
I welcome your thoughts. Easiest way to reach me is call/text 4127797665 or connecting with me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/robertjthompson
We haven’t reached out to any businesses or potential corporate sponsors, but if you have any suggestions, I’m all ears.
This proposal needs submitted by November 5th.
Thanks everyone. Looking forward to seeing you all soon and getting reacquainted.
RJ, that is an ambitious and interesting proposal. I presume the grant (and any matching funds) would primarily be allocated to parts acquisition needed for the proposed mini-models (Cathedral and script Pitt) with perhaps a small stipend for the Workshop leaders and facilitators.
Is the idea to have LUG members lead and/or facilitate some of the workshops and/or free build sessions?
The one thing in the proposal I saw that might be very challenging is the “pop up” build sessions around campus. Those would require a large investment in time for the facilitators, who would need to set up, monitor, and then clean up. Depending upon the number of people who could help (during a work week), that may need to be scaled back or reimagined. I do understand that proposals often get reworked after they are accepted and that the final product (much like a Lego creation) can end up quite different than originally planned.
I am intrigued and would be open to being a part of this if it comes to fruition.
Tim – it’s quite ambitious. I think ultimately we will use the money to bring in the speaker and if we can offer some pop-up activities or any supplemental offerings we will. We’ll def. get the $5k, but anything above that is to the discretion of the committee. So we’ll see.
That being said, if there is any aspect of this that I can get either the club or its members compensated, I’d prefer to take that route – similar to that of the Youngstown library visit a number of years back.
At the absolute minimum, I’d like to have the guest speaker and the cathedral models work out. We haven’t approached the speaker yet, so if he falls through then I’d divert that money [if awarded, which again, likely on some level] to the LUG to do various activities and recruit faculty to talk about the business aspects of LEGO.
This proposal is definitely a moonshot draft, so thanks for recognizing that. Call/text me with more questions, happy to address this directly. The proposal submission date is closing soon, so I want to make sure that something is submitted that is also OK with the LUG.
We haven’t sought matching funds, by the way. My college is having budget cuts so investing in this as mission-critical programs are scaled back leads a poor narrative with staff, faculty, and students.
This is something that I recommend the LUG support. Of course finds need to be used for the keynote speaker and materials. LUG members could be support staff and small group leads as needed.
Thanks @timf. I’m going to revise the proposal and build in the budget and repost here. I’m thinking it might be easier to just frame this as a one-day event.
In any of these scenarios, I want to ensure that any LUG involvement is compensated fairly. If the LUG is interested in displaying models – that’d be fantastic and we’d welcome that completely.
Option 1: One day, featured speaker ($2500-$3000), 2 business faculty presentations on LEGO [1 hour total/30 mins each], LUG-led free-builds or themed builds “campus buildings” – featured buildings in Mervis Hall for a period of time. Registered students leave with a mini cathedral kit? ($2k split between LUG and parts, 100 max kits?) small LUG exhibition?
Option 2:Featured Speaker fee $5k only.
Option 3: Same as option 1, but drop free-builds and keep kits but limited quantity.
Option 4: Same as option 1, but drop kits.
Hey @timf we just got a confirmation on a $5k match wooooot
I changed the proposal up a bit to just be one day: 3/27 instead of a series of days. I think this will be more palatable for everyone.
I also included an exhibition opportunity for LUG in Mervis Hall.
I changed the proposal up a bit to just be one day: 3/27 instead of a series of days. I think this will be more palatable for everyone.
I also included an exhibition opportunity for LUG in Mervis Hall.
Nice. I think a 1 day semi-public exhibition, in coordination with a keynote speaker, free build opportunity, and perhaps a mini-model that the participants can build and take with them, makes for a nice proposal. I could certainly contribute some of my downtown buildings for a display.
Pitt gave us $1k with a $1k match for a total of $2k. So, it’s not 10k, but it’s something! Stay tuned for next steps.
Pitt gave us $1k with a $1k match for a total of $2k.
That’s better than $0. Definitely interested to see what can be done with this. Nice first step.
@timf we are looking at the week of March 23rd for the event. Probably the 26 or 27th. Thoughts?
I normally can not get off work at the end of the month, especially on a Friday. For me personally, the week prior would be much better. But there are more schedules than mine to consider. 🙂
@timf We’re going to lock down the week of April 20 for the LEGO event. We haven’t heard back from the LEGO Architecture guy, so I want to at least get the ball rolling on LUG connectivity – featuring any works the club may want to feature an get a beat on what that would cost. Again, we’re working with $2000 so we have some flexibility, but we have to work in other things like marketing, speakers, etc. @joshhall can we all get together at some point for a beer or whatever to work some of the specifics out?
Right now, here’s what we’re looking at:
* speaker (Lego architecture guy, ideally – but if you have contacts to other notable LEGO people, speak now!!)
* exhibition (LUG featured)
* some presentations from staff/faculty (myself and potentially one other person, LUG members welcome to throw in on this)
* build session/workshop (led by LUG?)Given the time and the budget, we have to be pretty lean. I don’t think we can do free builds of any kind, but we can make some sets or kits for a limited number of participants.
I’ll have more concrete thoughts once I speak with Chris Driscoll. At the very least, could LUG prepare for an exhibition in late April, possibly do an artist talk, and possibly lead a workshop and/or design a Pitt-inspired model for said workshop?
I should be able to provide my Pittsburgh buildings. Perhaps @rcgrier3406 and @whitesidewjw can bring the Incline. Beyond Pittsburgh-related MOCs, there are many creative MOCs in the LUG.
Would a talk about the creative process of how to model a building be of interest? I could probably prepare and give a presentation on the process of planning and creating a building model (like the Gulf Building).
@timf, I can tentatively confirm to bring the Incline, as long as the actual date picked doesn’t create a conflict for me. It’s still a ways out, but as of right now Wed. 4/22 or Thurs. 4/23 both look OK. Mon. 4/20 and Tues. 4/21 both have potential conflicts.
@rcgrier3406 I’ll focus on 4/22 and 4/23 then.
@timf I think we could do one on the creative process. That’d be great, like an artist talk. Any flexibility on other buildings than Gulf?Maybe @joshhall could do one on building Cathedral, as well?
The one hook that got us the grant is that we need to also focus on the ‘business’ aspect of LEGO, so notes and facts surrounding LEGO’s brand globally, any details on its manufacturing and supply chain, marketing, etc. I can probably do this one with Chris but would happily open it up to others in the LUG if they had an interest or the knowledge to discuss these things.
I think we could do one on the creative process. That’d be great, like an artist talk. Any flexibility on other buildings than Gulf?
At minifig scale, the only other one I have built currently is the K&L Gates Building (stands about 5 feet tall). Microfig scale, I have the Steel Tower, Gulf Building, K&L Gates, and the Oliver Building. I also have a few other larger minifig scale buildings that I could use in a presentation.
@timf All of that is good – the more of that the better, really, in either displaying or discussing.
What are your thoughts on a workshop where maybe 30 or so people participate and they walk out with a microfig model of a building on campus, like Cathedral or something?
That sounds like a great idea. We would need to come up with a prototype and then source the pieces. I would think something around 100-150 pieces is probably sufficient. A Cathedral of Learning model would probably be the most recognizable building on campus. Or we could do a Steel Tower. Let me see if I can work on something. @iamrjthompson are you planning on being at the Q1 meeting February 8?
@timf I’m planning on being there yes.
I think your approach is good. I’ve got a budget to work with so if we can build a practical prototype and source the parts for a good budget I think it could a huge deal. I say let’s go with the Cathedral. It’s an obvious winner.
Also, I’ve got the Pitt university marketing machine, Pitt News, the Pitt Business marketing team, and Pitt’s social media teams ready to do stories on this event.
I say let’s go with the Cathedral. It’s an obvious winner.
OK, I’ll work on a small prototype for that. For a presentation, I could present how to model real buildings (at multiple scales) and also the creative process of coming up with new unique models (not based on any real building).
@timf sounds good. Let’s proceed in this direction. I’ll prepare a ‘business’ aspect talk that either precedes or proceeds your talk. Thanks for all of your help. Keep me posted! call/text 4127797665
I’ll get back to you on nailing down the official date and time but we’ll plan around you.
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