BrickJournal Journal

After Brickworld....

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:58:56 GMT

After Brickworld, the next event that I went to was the NMRA National Train Show.

The NTS is an annual event that changes location every year. This year the show was held in Anaheim, California. This show is the largest model railroading show in the country, and the International LEGO Train Club Organization has been a part of the show for a few years. In that short time, the LEGO trains have become a major draw for theshow, especially for public.

I went to this show as a reporter. There was a side incentive too - Anaheim is home to Disneyland, a place I have wanted to visit for years. And over the same weekend, there was a Disney Fan Convention.

One thing I need to point out: While I was in my Dark Age, my main interest was in Disney. I worked at the Disney Store for four years, and then moved to Walt Disney World, where I also worked at the LEGO Imagination Center. So in a manner of speaking, Disney led me back to LEGO building.

So this became a really nice set of events to go to. I could see NMRA, go to the Disney con and also go to Disneyland. With some scheduling, I and the group I went with planned to go to LEGOLand, Disneyland, and then NMRA.

It all looked really good....until I was informed about San Diego Comic Con. My publisher, Twomorrows, goes there to promote their books and do presentations. Last year, they did a panel discussion with the original people behind Image Comics, which was a pretty big deal. This year had a few new things, including BrickJournal.

The publisher suggested that we do a presentation at the convention, and after some new planning and logistics reworking, a one week trip to California became a two week major promotional effort. Trips to LEGOland, Disneyland, California Adventure, NMRA, Disneyana, and Comic-Con all became part of the trip.

Busy? You bet.

But it was fun too!

Brickworld

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:59:16 GMT

In the time that I last posted, I went to Chicago, another place, then Anaheim and finally San Diego. For most of the places, I was a reporter for events, but for a couple of places I did a litlle playing....

Chicago was Brickworld, which was a great event to attend. This was the second year of the event, and it has matured - the convention moved smoothly and for the most part, I had a really good time chatting with old friends and new AFOLs. And I was determined to show that I could still build so I brought along my Wall-E model. Some issues of BrickJournal were sent with me to sell, and Tommy Armstrong stepped in to be the sales person, freeing me to take pics.

As with each event, there were always fun surprises - I got a copy of HISPABRICKS from one of the editors who attended Brickworld - and I gave him a copy of BrickJournal. I also met one of the guys behind BrickArms, and had a great talk with him. And I got to talk to Brian Davis, a MINDSTORMS builder that you may know from the HALE project - I know him as a really cool guy who often shows me what can be done with an NXT.

There are others too - the staff to Brickworld, who have become part of the extended family that I have in the community, from Adam, the guy in charge, to the new person onthe block, Esther Walner - she was a coordinator and contest host - and she did really well. She also did a panel about female LEGO builders that was fascinating.

There were other discussions too - the LEGO Group brought Yun Mi Antorini, a former LEGO employee and now PhD doctor, to talk about the community and how it has progressed. Another fascinating talk that was much different than the usual subjects that I go to.

That was just scratching the surface - there was a lot that went on, but for me it was just an attempt to catch up with old friends and make new ones. In some respects, I was successful, but in others,I wasn't - my roommates, Duane Colicott and son, I didn't get to spend much time at all,and that was disappointing.

The models shown ranged from buildings that were over 15 feet tall to customized minifigs and everything inbetween. One outstanding display was a layout dedicated to Indiana Jones - it included settings and of various scenes from all the movies and the TV show - and there were models of the cars trains and the Flying Wing!

Unfortunately, I had to leave early to get my flight, but not before attending the awards ceremony...and my Wall-E won for Best Mechanical Model! That was a major surprise!

I was able to attend the awards and help out with tear down a little, thendo a quick photo shoot for Adam, then off it was back to NC...

then I was off to another place I can't talk about...

If you want to see pics from Brickworld, click here.

building and building and a favor...

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:21:11 GMT

Brickworld is less than a week away, and I am actually building...maybe for the event. I don't know yet.

The problem is that I am flying this year, so I have very little cargo space for anything. Also, anything packed in my bags needs to be be TSA proof, so most models are pretty much doomed in the luggage. I mightship to the event, but that means I need to finish soon, and I may not make it.

So what am I building? Well....I am using teh Power Functions parts and controller to make a model.

What? you think I'm going to tell you HERE? Nah, that's too easy. And my Flickr account doesn't have any pics yet either. I'm building a little too fast to take pics. It's been a challenging build, to say the least. But the result is looking good...excpet the last part I am working on now. I need to learn gearing.

There's another thing that I need a little help from as many people as I can find...

I need BrickJournal testimonials. A place selling the mag wants some cpmments from people who like the mag, so if you want to talk about the mag, drop me a line at my BrickJournal address or here. Thanks!

So many magazines....

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:40:41 GMT

HISPABRICKS now has a mag, to join RailBricks on the scene of LEGO fan publications. It's been pretty interesting to see new mags come up and see the differences they all have.

It's a pretty good sign to see this expansion happen - it's an indicator that the desire is there to make a mag that addresses specific audiences. And this isn't unique - there has been a magazine done by the Brickish Association (in the United Kingdom) and FREELUG (France) used to have one, I think. The Dutch LEGO club has been working on one also.

I'll be meeting with one of the editors to HISPABRICKS mag at Brickworld to discuss possible sharing of info and articles - and am looking forward to it. I'm interested in working with other publications, and see it as a win-win for everyone. Just gotta step forward:-)

Congrats to the new Ambassadors!

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:29:32 GMT

Many congratulations to the new LEGO Ambassadors! May their term be fun and fruitful!

yep, it's been a while....

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 07:26:06 GMT

Sorry for the lapse in communication. There's been a lot that's been going on that has kept me from wandering over here to drop a note. BrickJournal's change from online to print has been a challenge, but a fun and exciting challenge, to be sure.

I've been very happy with the state of things with the mag for some time - I still expect a call from the publisher cancelling the mag, but the calls I get are mostly positive. The only negative calls are those about bad proofs, which I fix and send off.

I should take some time out to talk about the publisher. John Morrow owns TwoMorrows, the publishing company that my mag is under. The other Morrow is his wife, Pam. I have known them for over ten years, when we met as volunteers for a political party. It was fun times then. At that time, TwoMorros was an advertising agency and I checked about freelancing then - they really didn't need extra help at that time.

Fast forward to about two years ago. I happened to notice on a visit to a comic store that TwoMorrows produced some books, so I call up to get some advice from John about possibly printing BrickJournal. It turns out that TwoMorrows became a publisher when John decided to start publishing a fan magazine he started up called The Jack Kirby Collector.

His story is much like mine - he started a small mag that was copied and mailed out and for there built up the foundation to go to print. Since then, he has gotten more magazines started (Back Issue, Draw!, and Write Now) and has branched out to books about comic artists and writers. I showed him the first and second issue of the Journal, and he was impressed and interested in printing the mag immediately. However, it took me a year to go forward.

Why? His deal did not sound all that impressive to me, and it took that long before I got hit with a 2x4 of common sense that told me that his proposal was actually VERY good. My business sense sucks. But papers were shuffled, notes were passed, and BrickJournal was set to go to print.

One of things I have learned is to make sure each step that is taken in a project opens up new possibilities. That usually means looking and playing with not only the project, but looking at the consequences of that. Going with TwoMorrows has proven to be a very good decision, because the consequences have been far-reaching and very positive.

BrickJournal could not have made it without John's business guidance - he was able to get the mag in newsstands, and also in comic stores. He is also willing to take some of the risk in getting the mag off the ground. And he is willing to promote it where he promotes his other mags.

Which includes comic conventions. BrickJournal was sold at New York Comic-Con. John brought along 25 copies to this event, and while there were no sales during the convention only time, the public bought almost all of them - as in 2 or 3 left. There's a nice indicator there. And both of us are happy.

BrickJournal's impact has been pretty positive all around. Orders from the distributors have been steady, so that is good - there has been no reason to warrant a change in orders yet. That will most likely happen with Issue 3. The US LEGO stores did pretty well with their mags, so they increased their order, and LEGOLAND California joined.

The first Brickjournal Compendium (Issues 1-3 of the online version) will be coming out in July (it was supposed to be earlier, but I sent a trainwreck of a file to the printer) and work will be going on Issue 3.

So where's Issue 2? Good question. According to my schedule, it should be on its way out - it's not. I approved proofs earlier today, so that's a good sign:-). What happened was a combination of two things - I turned in the files later than expected, and we switched printers, so that slowed things down. I apologize for that, but the good news is that Issue 2 will be out pretty soon. They just got to print the books now...

There's more really neat news. One challenge has been to get exposure to BrickJournal. The subject matter is a a little tough to sell to a 'mainstream' audience, so different ideas are being looked at and considered. Some of you might have seen the BrickJournal ad in the LEGO Magazine. That was done thanks to the help of Tormod Askildsen at the LEGO Group.

But the neatest thing so far is that BrickJournal will be doing a presentation at San Diego Comic-Con! Just got confirmation a couple of days ago, so I am happy and a little nervous. The exposure here will be really high, not just for the presentation (which will be in a room that seats 280 - that's pretty much a LEGO fan convention right there!) but at the TwoMorrows booth. And total attendance including public is - get this - 127,000. Yes, 127 thousand.

Yep, I got a presentation because of TwoMorrows. They have done some great panels at the con, so we got in. Like I said before, I try to pay attention to the possibilities, and so does John. The LEGO Group will also be there with some neat statues (and exclusive stuff!!!) so I'll be wandering...

And I'll be at Brickworld in Chicago in a couple of weeks - taking pics and doing a presentation. It'll be fun and exhausting...but isn't it always?

Spotted!

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:05:37 GMT

It's been over a week since the magazines got shipped out to our distributor, and I already know that Diamond Comics shipped out, as I got some e-mails about issues coming in last week.

So I have been looking at the local bookstores for the Journal, and there were none to be seen...

until tonight, when I found two issues of BrickJournal at the Barnes and Noble in Cary, NC! I bought one (well, why not?) and also bought an NXT book - was I happy. Also, the magazines showed up in the LEGO store in Atlanta and are selling!

So now I am one happy camper, although the mag may be pretty hard to find, as Ingram Distribution ordered over 1000 issues, and they have 800 B&N stores to distribute to. This doesn't take into account the other stores Ingram handles that sell books, which is why it took me a while to find the mag. And I found the Journal in the Craft/Hobbies section of the magazines (in the front!) -it was sorta staring at me when I found it.

To those European readers who ordered online through 1001 bricks, you got your issues before anyone else - which is pretty cool! Turns out international shipping had to be done through a shipper faster than the domestic shipper, so y'all beat us:-)

So if you are in the US, start looking at your local B&N, or check out the local comics shop - some have extras from orders.

And if you happen to be close to a LEGO store, go there!

whoa, has it been that long?

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:26:35 GMT

I'm on LAML!

You can listen to (and laugh at) me here.

There's been a bunch more stuff going on too.

One of the things that has happened with me since the Journal went t o print is that my deadlines are now about two months earlier than they were before. Which means that my news isn't necessarily current by the time it reaches print. Which annoys me to no end, but I getting over. I have to be looking toward the horizon for issues now and keep track of what is going on.

But things are much more exciting now - the idea of the mag hitting newsstands is starting to sink in, and it's a pretty giddy feeling. Sorta like rehearsing for a play for a LONG time and getting ready for the first show. Or trying to hatch an egg.

BrickJournal will be in the US LEGO stores, so there's another way to get one - it should be in newsstands (at least in the major cities, as they seem to be testing it) and we do have a European Bricklink salesperson at 1001bricks - he can save internationals some money on shipping!

We will be offering a way for clubs to save money or maybe earn money too.

And if you haven't gone to the BrickJournal webpage, you haven't seen the chat with Jørgen Vig Knudstorp that I was fortunate to have - it was a fun video! Very nerve-wracking initially, but it quickly become a lot of fun!

And yes, I have been roadtripping - went to Frechen, and also did business meetings in Billund. Some neat things are happening as a result. BrickJournal is going to get some neat info in the coming months.

But for now, I gotta get back to work - working on the first BrickJournal compendium - Issue 1-3 in a book!

More later!

Hawaii....

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:22:40 GMT

I didn't get to write about Hawaii.

I went there to see an FLL tournament. And this has been somethingthat has been inplanning for a couple of years.

Ever since I went to the World Festival in Atlanta two years ago, I have been wanting to meet the team from Hawaii - I met them and wrote about them in an issue of BrickJournal. The team was a great group of kids, and the coaches were really nice to let me watch and take notes.

As things happen with the community, I got to meet more people and I met Nelson Yziarry online, and we started chatting online. We became friends and he invited me to come to Hawaii. After some cooridination and some logistic planning, I was set to go...

But it wasn't quite that easy. I missed my flight and had to d some reshuffliing for starters. I was a few hours late as a result. But that was the worst thing to happen...this was a great trip.

I saw a great tournament and met the team coaches to the old team (the members have completely changed) and was really impressed. The state education board now supports FIRST LEGO League, and the teams came from all the islands, so it was a large event.

Nelson's club had a display too - and it had a nice assortment of models, from a model of a loacal theater by Roy gal to a model of Optimus Prime (the original one) by Patrick Yziarry to ...well, there was a nice assortment.

Afterthat. I hung around for a few days to take in the place...and it was great.

many thanks to Nelson and Lori for being such gracious guests, and also Patrick for the hysterical chat we got into. Also Nelson's mom, and Kevin and Dawn Dang from the FLL team - they are great people! I really had a great time there....

and speaking of great times,

I hope that all of you are having a great Christmas!

ACK!

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 17:17:24 GMT

You know, it's awful busy these days.

At any given time I have at least two things to attend to, and my deadlines are pretty much NOW. To which my answer is usually, "How soon is NOW?'

But I have to stop things every so often to gettsome things out.

Like now, or NOW.

In the past couple of months, I have been out of state and out of continent. The activities that I have gone to have to do with BrickJournal in terms of covering and participating...

The first event was the Festival of the Masters in Orlando, Florida. Located in Downtown Disney, this is an event that is a large (VERY large) crafts festival. Estimated traffic for this year was 300,000. And the Greater Florida LEGO Users Group had a display at the LEGO Imagination Center.

For me, the equation of LEGO and Disney adds up to a thing I cannot resist. I have been a Disney fan since about 1994 - on a lark, I took a job at the Disney Store. And I ended up staying for four years, and then transferring to Disney World and working at DisneyQuest. I learned a a lot in those years, including the importance of being positive.

Since then, I have doing what I can to get to the parks, as it's oneplace where I can basically forget everything to have fun. I finally got back after 6 years last year. And I returned this year, and I was able togo to the parks after the event.

Festival of the Masters is always fun for me - I get to relax and show off a model or two. Last year, I brought my old model of the Nautilus from the Disney movie "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." And did it hit a chord at Downtown Disney - The older crowd recognized it, and also remembered the long-gone ride at the Magic Kingdom. That was a really cool moment for me. This year, I rebuilt it as a waterline model, mainly because the display model didn't really work so well in a layout. Now, the Nautilus can be put in a train layout:-).

This time it was placed in the ocean fighting the squid in the movie. Along with that, I brought along my Star Trek microships (the theme of the display was 'Vs." - good vs. bad, Starfleet vs. Klingon, etc.). Other members brought in some really neat models - Todd Thuma did a Spy vs. Spy model from Mad magazine, KK Quah did a layout from "300" and a "War of the Worlds" layout. Robin Warner did a Batman setup, and Mike Huffman did a Peter Pan layout. There was also a Harry Potter layout by Scotty (no , I don't know his last name - I'm bad about that) and there were other things too.

This is a pretty straightforward public event and I really enjoy it - there's a lot of interaction that happens and we all get to talk about the models and the GFLUG members talk about the club and what they do. And with the traffic, there are a LOT of questions and people. It also helps that the LEGO Imagination Center has an event to go on as well - a master build of some sort. THis year it was a build of a 6 foot tall version of R2-D2 - with lights and sound. Master Builder Dan came back to coordinate the build and have a fun time and so outside we were displaying and inside he was building with the public.

With each visit I have stayed at Mike Huffman's place, and I should thank him and his wife Erika here. They are great hosts and they live literally behind the Magic Kingdom. Really. As in, you can FEEL the 9pm fireworks. Andto get to their place, you can drive through Disney property. Way cool in my book.

This year was really nice for me because I was made an honorary GFLUG member:-) I got it mainly because I showed up to the display with stuff from North Carolina:-). I'm very happy with that and thank the members for inducting me. They are a great group to hang out with and display.

As for Disney World, it's always fun!

About two weeks later, I went to Hawaii. Why? Well...

More later...