@danny316p
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Forgot to mention – if you go to Brickworld Chicago, you can use your badge from that for free admission to the Brickworld Expos. You know, if you just want to check it out without exhibiting…
(Side story One: I had hoped to go to BrickWorld Indianapolis this year, but it’s no longer being considered as an option. The non-Chicago ones are by invitation only. From what I understand, they’re pretty much the public displays without the other traditional convention stuff – the fun and games and activities and free prizes etc – and that Bryan uses them to make money to support the Chicago event. The upside to being invited though, is that he pays the people he invites, and Tom told me that the amount he got paid for Indy last year was enough to cover his travel costs for both Indy and Chicago. For me that’s a big deal since the high travel costs are the only thing keeping me from registering for BWC right now. When I had Powerhouse v2.0 at Chicago last year, Tom thought that he could get my an invitation to Indy this year as long as I had an awesome GBC to bring (I also talked to Bryan several times that week, so he at least knows who I am now). But things didn’t go as planned, instead of 9 months of improvement and expansion afterwards, I ended up with v2.1 at BFVA, which was a miserable failure, and subsequently I disassembled almost the entire thing. Since then, the focus has been on building a new one that is more reliable, rather than building quickly, and so I don’t have any way to get invited to Indy this year. So maybe next year.)
It’s not that difficult to get an “invite” to a Brickworld Expo – basically you can get one if Bryan knows you want one. I’ve done a few of his Tampa events. They’re a fun experience (the hang-out-with-AFOLs part is still enjoyable without a formal schedule or games) but the pay for travel costs doesn’t usually cover all of the travel costs in my experience (I think I brought about 7 tables worth of fresh MOCs each time, drove about 2 hours each way, and stayed in a hotel for two nights).
(Side story Two: BrickFair Alabama is ending right about now. I know Danny was registered, so I assume he made it and is there right now and eventually he’ll post lots of pics to Flickr. I also registered in November, but I didn’t get anything built, and so I never paid and obviously didn’t go. This one would presumably not be a contender for a group trip, since we already have a list of options that are both larger and closer. But I might still consider it for next year; besides stuff like BrickFair is awesome and there will probably be at least several people there I know from other conventions, there’s the fact that a week in Alabama in January sounds way more appealing to me than a week in Pittsburgh in January.)
The “fly south for the winter” thing is part of why Todd put Alabama in January. It’s not super convenient, but you could probably arrange to drop MOCs off at Todd’s warehouse in Gettysburg, have them palette-ized there, and brought down to Birmingham with BrickFair’s supplies. That’s how I was able to pull of the trip this year (I’m undecided about AL next year). I do have plenty of photos from AL this year, but they won’t surface online before Philly.
I intend to skip Chicago at this point – too much life stuff going on this year. At the moment, I’m trying to cut back to “only” Philly and the four BrickFairs (but I might pick up another fall event, especially since BFNJ is in September this year).
Any tips on where to park or unload? I’ve got directions for the Nova deck so far, but that looks like it’ll run $12/day.
I’m looking at arriving around 3 PM tomorrow.
A little more info I’ve found about the local hackerspace that puts on the event: HackPGH ( http://www.hackpittsburgh.org/ ) has open activities open to the public both Friday and Saturday evening. I’ll probably pop over there after the Maker Mash at the Children’s Museum ends at 7:30 on Friday, and then again on Saturday night.
Cool stuff! I’d think the walker is a no-brainer to include, if it’s in working condition; same with GBC (how big is that, btw?) Fold up building I definitely want to see, but would that be a case where you let kids / adults try it, or just demonstrate?
The GBC module is roughly 5″ x 15″.
I’d just demonstrate the folding building…it’s not sturdy enough to be kid-proof.
The ball run seems easy enough to transport / set up, right? If so, I’d suggest bringing it along and we’ll use if we have space.
I can certainly fit it in the car and play it by ear there. I’ve also got a few card tables in the car that I could bring, but those wouldn’t be sturdy enough to handle kids leaning on/shaking it.
Danfourth wrote:
The pneumatic tubing for the walker has worn out and keeps popping off, so I’ve ordered some off-brand tubing from AmazonOh noes! Don’t let @JoshHall hear you say that, or you’ll get #banned!
Interactivity is downright abusive on LEGO parts and MOCs…I’ve seen someone use a bike pump on the floor before to allow kids to wail on something without breaking LEGO pieces, and I’m considering stealing that idea (besides the damage to my pneumatic tube, I’ve also lost a hand pump to kids smashing it into a table too much). I’m not comfortable with cutting LEGO pieces, and I don’t think letting kids tear them or wear them out is any better. If a tube that looks the same (and isn’t from a clone brand) is enough to avoid having to ruin LEGO pieces, I’ll take it.
Plus, PaB reward credits for staffers and displayers from LUG inventory! So many reasons to staff this weekend, you guys!
Does that mean anything for those of us too far away to make a quarterly meeting?
I’m planning on being there the whole time (give or take a little time to check out the other displays).
Getting more into MOCs – I keep forgetting that my “old crap everyone’s seen already” hasn’t really been seen by everyone already. I’m still really behind on current photos, but a friend of mine got overview shots of most of my island at BrickUniverse Raleigh this year: https://www.flickr.com/photos/black-six/albums/72157667117408541 – there were a few other contributions to the “Mini Con” display there, but the rest of the MOCs there are mine.
In there, my interactive items are my pneumatic walker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/black-six/25868502373/in/album-72157667117408541/ (the kids use the hand pump to run it) and my DUPLO Ball Run: https://www.flickr.com/photos/black-six/26405190081/in/album-72157667117408541/ and https://www.flickr.com/photos/black-six/26379018602/in/album-72157667117408541/ (the kids take balls from the end and put them in the start). The pneumatic tubing for the walker has worn out and keeps popping off, so I’ve ordered some off-brand tubing from Amazon that should work better (it might be in before I leave on Friday). I build the ball run differently every time (most of it has to be built on site), and I know a few of the modules from that event (last April) have been rebuilt differently or scrapped entirely already. I usually set that up to sprawl across/in front of 2+ tables, though, and having the ball run and the walker on a table tends to encourage the kids to lean against/shake that table a bit more – so they might not be a good idea if we’ve only got one table of MOCs.
The building that folds up is the pink one from this photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/black-six/25868502643/in/album-72157667117408541/ – I think the other items there are fairly self-explanatory. Most of it’s available again if we want to have it out (except for the Star Wars scene and Piranha Plant, which need too many repairs).
I’m Daniel Pikora – 316danny@gmail.com
How do helpers get in if we don’t get badges? Regular admission isn’t free, and I’d assume we’d need a badge to get in without paying it…
The GBC module I’ve been working on does have a self-feeding feature. If no one else is doing GBC, I’ll stick with just the one instead of trying to get my other modules together.
I could use a little guidance on what else to bring…I could fill our whole space by myself, but I don’t want to drown out the group or take away from the build area. It’d be easier for me to grab stuff that goes with whatever everyone else wants to bring. I’m tempted to skip my interactive stuff (which broke down pretty frequently at Maker Faire Silver Spring) since we have a build area. My lamp and mosaics are usually pretty popular, although I usually add on to my classic space mosaic with another panel of space mosaic and some other space-y MOCs. I’ve also got a few Maker Faire-themed Mini Con things I can put out (although I won’t be able to make things look much like the other booths at this particular event), and my folding Town building would probably go over well.
Also, if we need tablecloths, I’ve got 3 (of the same type BrickFair uses) on hand.
I need to start getting serious about this. First question: Is there anyone interested in splitting a hotel room? I’m definitely going to need somewhere nearby to stay that Friday and Saturday night, Sunday might be good too.
I’m game for GBC – I’ve got one new module ready to go, a few old ones I can clean up, and a few ideas for new ones. What sort of space do we have?
Probably interested in doing this again. Especially if we can make it more interactive somehow, since that’s kind of the point. Last year was great, but it was mostly a “look at what we maked!” rather than a “learn how we maked it and make something yourself!”
The ball run and pneumatic walker seemed to help with that, but I’m not sure if we can expect that much space this time around. One thing that worked well at Maker Faire NC back in the day was a MUJI make-and-take – kids cut out various shapes, use LEGO-sized hole punches and connect the paper pieces together with 1 x 1 round plates (we had a donation box set up to cover the cost of materials).
Pix or it didn’t happen, @danny316p.
Pictures (and video) are forthcoming but a bit delayed.
danfourth, are you coming to the quarterly meeting tomorrow? Would you be willing to lead the LUG display for maker faire?
I’m a bit too far away to travel to Pittsburgh regularly (the Maker Faire might be the only time I get out there this year). As such, I’m not planning on attending any quarterly meetings, I’m not going to be at the Info Sessions, and I’ll probably miss whatever maker-orientation type thing they do closer to the event, too. I can certainly coordinate and be a contact person anyway, though, but it might make sense to have someone local handle it (or maybe just handle the in-person advance stuff) instead.
Welcome Danfourth (see what I did there?)
I both see it and commend it.
That settles it. That shall be my name here from now on, so say we all.
Dan as in the one who attended the Penn LUG meeting with your Duplo GBC?
One and the same. I don’t really call it a GBC (there’s nothing motorized in it), but I’ve been pushing the DUPLO Ball Run since last November and it’s getting traction (my display based around it at National Maker Faire last weekend took home two ribbons).
It’s very family friendly. I’ve exhibited MOCs at BrickUniverse events in Dallas and Raleigh. The public days offer considerably more themed play areas than other events – instead of just one or two “Stay and Play” type areas, there have separate ones for “Friends”, “Star Wars”, and “Architecture”, as well as the monochrome sort you see at Kids Fest events and the common DUPLO play area. There are also non-LEGO activities (an inflatable bounce house of some sort and caricature airbrush artists) as well as public-facing seminars about LEGO.
If you do want to exhibit MOCs there, they’ll wave your registration fee for the full three day event (yes, note that this is a “convention” but it only runs from Friday to Sunday).
