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Brickworkz LEGO mosaics : Blog : Brickfest 2006 Reviewed
Brickfest 2006 Reviewed
Each year, Brickfest brings Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL's) together to celebrate their common love for LEGO. Brickfest 2006 was held at the Sheraton Premiere in Tysons Corner this past weekend. All in all, the convention was a huge success!
 The AFOL's
The people at Brickfest were wonderful. I must admit that having never been to Brickfest before, I was at a disadvantage. My predictions of seeing single, male 30-somethings were mostly accurate, but what I didn't expect was to learn that they were as social as they were talented, as friendly as they were creative. Through my dealings with online merchants, I recognized some of their names, but almost everyone in the LEGO community was new to me. I came prepared with a list of people I really wanted to meet, and was happy to meet the folks on my list. It was a start...there were hundreds of people, all with their own impressive stories and LEGO creations.
Setup and Shopping
While technically Brickfest was a three-day event, the doors opened on Thursday, extending the weekend by a full day for setting up any LEGO projects you brought with you. Since I had already hijacked her vehicle, my mom took time off work to help me set up my booth. It was handy having her there, guarding the stuff while I made trips out to the car. Chris Hollomon came over too, having just finished work for the day. Once the booth was up, we got some food and parted ways- it was time to shop. The LEGO store in Tyson's was having a 25% sale...EVERYTHING in the store was discounted. I figured I should be there when the sale started. Boy, did I figure correctly!
 The store employees had prepared ahead of time, clearing their aisles, and bringing out parts in bulk. The line was out the door when I arrived at the announced opening time (9:30pm). I got in line and proceeded to grab baseplates and bricks in bulk. The experience is hard to describe. There were HUNDREDS of people in a store that could, on a good day, hold maybe 75 people. Of course, these were die-hards, so the people were hollering across the store, "Hey- Tom, grab me some of those blue 2 x 4s!" and "No- this bag already has plenty of plates!" I waited patiently in the heat of the sweaty pile of LEGO fans swarming the bulk bins. I grabbed 25,000 black 1 x 1 plates for future mosaics, a few thousand yellows, and 15 baseplates to use as backboards for my LEGO mosaics. I stood in line for an hour. Yep. An hour in line. Holding 20 lbs of LEGOs. I kid you not. There were too many people around to set down the stack, so there I was, sweating, with arms shaking.
I finally checked out and got out of the store to breathe. My LEGO bag broke under its own weight a few steps away from the store. I thought about taking that time to rest and take a photo of the madness in the store, knowing full-well that you, the reader, couldn't possibly imagine how crazy it was in there without a photo. In my fatigue, I decided to just go home. Was it worth it? Umm, hell yes. I saved about $300.
The LEGO Fix
Despite the shopping adventure on Thursday, I had not yet received my fix. The LEGO store in Woodbridge (Potomac Mills) was also offering a sale for Brickfest attendees. And their store was bigger. On a rumor that mosaic parts were available, I picked up the phone, had them hold some items, and got in the car. At the store, I grabbed another 10 baseplates and then found a shelf of parts I typically use. I asked the manager if there was a limit as to how many I could purchase. "It's on the shelf for you to buy it," he said. Game on. I grabbed an oversized bag and dumped the shelves into the bag. I spent $700 a little for parts that would cost me a lot, without the kick-ass discount and considering tax/shipping fees. It was a success. [editor's note: I'd like to say that I'm done buying, but that just ain't the case.]
 Don't "MOC" the fans!
Another favorite among Brickfest participants is the MOC display, a showcase of personal LEGO creations. The "MOC room" has creations of all kinds, from sculptures to spaceships, trains to entire cities... all made from LEGO fans. It's important to make something clear though. These weren't teeny little thrown-together cars or little houses made from different-colored bricks. These were intricately made, painstakingly beautiful creations. There were cranes spanning 30 feet into the air, capable of hoisting 50lbs (put together with no glue!). There were full-scale nude models, sculpted out of yellow and red LEGO bricks. The largest mosaic at the show wasn't one of mine, it was a 7 x 5 foot tall mosaic of Bill the Cat. A LEGO fan with a home-made lil' car would be way out of his league here.
I think my favorite had to be the "Great Ball Contraption," a group collaboration that started with a TON of little LEGO soccer balls. From there, different machines would maneuver the balls, do fun things with them... there's a great video on YouTube right now [check it] but even that doesn't cover everything these folks did. The only rules were: 1) You have to start with a 10 x 10 x 10 stud cube to receive balls. 2) No matter what you do with the balls, they must end up in a 10 x 10 x 10 cube to send to the next contraption. 3) Your device must be able to pass 1 ball per second. Folks, what these people did was amazing. There was even a binary counter that used switches to literally count the balls as they passed through. And at the end of the line? A train, complete with MindstormTM optic sensors to park the train's car in the proper place for more balls to load in before hauling them back to start again. Amazing.
 Programs - LEGO 101
Throughout the four-day event, registrants attended programs like "How to smooth your SNOT," a discussion about creating models with the Studs Not On Top [SNOT] method, creating a smoother, more realistic effect for the model, "Brickfilms," a review of animated short films using LEGO models, and a whole lot more.
Many of the seminars covered aspects of LEGO that I don't dabble with, but one I found interesting was a vibrant discussion about LEGO as an art form. This was right up my alley- a conversation about "what is art," which dabbled with the issue many of us face: How to handle the people who say, "Yea, but LEGO is just a toy." True. It's not a typical art medium. But many in the room had a lot to say about it! Things got pretty animated, since "what is art" is such a widely controversial topic. My LEGO mosaics are art. I sell them as art, and my buyers buy them as art. Still, I heard some interesting perspectives and insight from others like me. I really enjoyed the discussion! It was one of the best things I did at Brickfest.
 The people. Oh, the people!
On Saturday and Sunday, Brickfest opened its doors to the public. Hundreds of all ages rushed the doors early. I had been asked the night before to set up two mosaics at the registration area to whet their LEGO appetites. I opted to display the Yoda mosaic and the Baby Klause mosaic, a black & white and a color piece, respectively. Each mosaic included a placard describing the number of LEGO elements used to create the mosaic. People literally lined up to take pictures next to them. It was fantastic!
The crowds spilled out into all areas of the hotel, including the MOC room and my Brickworkz booth, set up in the free build room. I had my mosaics on display in three different places, which was great for exposure, considering my significant distance from the MOC room (the site of greatest public attention)
Brick Bazaar
For those of us lucky bastards who managed to carve out a living selling LEGO-related goods & services, the "Brick Bazaar" was home. They created it to be a LEGO merchant area near the MOC room, where people could come to buy LEGO goods of all kinds. They had traditional LEGO stores, engravers, some guy from Richmond who sells LEGO mosaics, even a company that makes customized mini figures for your LEGO model that JUST HAS to be authentic for your project.
 Free Build!
Instead of pitching my business in the Brick Bazaar area, I opted to settle in the "Free build" room, an open space with a LEGO collection that put mine to shame, all dumped out on the floor for everyone to play with. No rules. Just fun! The kids went nuts walking through piles of LEGO bricks, building and playing. I decided early on that since the location of the Brick Bazaar was so far away, this room would be better exposure. Also, since parents are my primary audience, being in a room with kids was a good location.
LEGO Reps
I talked with some wonderful people while I was working on a newly commissioned mosaic at the Brickworkz booth. Highlights among the visitors were Gary powers (a new client who commissioned the Cold War Museum mosaic) and representatives from LEGO, who came by to compliment my LEGO mosaics! It was wonderfully thrilling. We discussed my ever-present challenge of trying to find parts in bulk at low prices. They were interested in my perspective, since many LEGO shoppers don't have a need for 15,000 of the same piece. I was told they were going to revisit the issue when they returned to Billund, Denmark, which I thought was pretty cool! Also, one of the reps told me that 'some company called LucasArts' was going to see my Yoda mosaic the following week. :-) w00t!
Brian Korte poses with some of his LEGO mosaic creations |
On Friday, the "Pixel Kiss" (Lichtenstein) sold. Sunday? "Yoda" sold. Monday? the "Lego Geek" piece sold. [view those at Brickworkz.com/lego-mosaic-gallery.shtml.] I met new contacts at Brickfest, who have already followed up with interest to commission me for pieces. Any way you slice it, Brickfest 2006 was a success.
The weekend was exhausting. Joe Meno had warned me over the phone that I wasn't going to get much sleep. He was right. Every night, I might have gotten three hours of sleep. There was too much to do... too many things swirling in my head. For a LEGO fan (and as a business involved with LEGO) this was the SUPERBOWL, and I didn't want to miss any opportunity to get the name of Brickworkz out there. With Brickworkz still in its infancy, I was proud to have such a presence at Brickfest, on such little notice.
So was it worth it all?
Hell yes. Absoultely. It was a great time. Brickfest was absolutely worth the trip, and I can't wait for next year. I met some great people, learned a lot and was introduced to the Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL) community- an amazingly diverse group with one thing in common...
Playing well. -- BK
Play well,
Posted by Brian Korte on August 31, 2006
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