I got my LEGO geek on this weekend by attending my local brick convention: BrickCon. My convention isn’t particularly special, it’s just like any other brick convention that’s put on in any number of cities around the world. There are a lot of builders who show off their latest and largest creations, many new friendships are made and old ones are re-kindled, games are played, tips and tricks swapped and of course, lots of LEGO is purchased.
This year was a little different for me. Even though I’ve attended this event for years, this was my first time as an attendee and I’m so glad I finally took the plunge and registered. While I didn’t sign up for any games, bring a build of my own creation, or stay after hours to socialize with the builders, I had a great time and laid the ground work for even more participation next year.
Last year I purchased the Mouse Guard mini figures as well as the DocktorA Mechtorians from CrazyBricks.com. Although this year, I didn’t find anything so ground breaking, I did manage to procure a LEGO elephant and a nice variety of figures to add to my growing collection. Of course my biggest take away from this event wasn’t the ‘stuff’ but the human connections I made.
Before the convention started my fellow Lego Ambassador Luigi Priori warned me that Are Heiseldal, from Norway, would be in attendance and that I should stop by and say ‘Hi.”. Are was easy to spot and I soon headed over to chat him up. It turns out that Are is not only an extremely nice guy, a talented builder but also the man responsible for our article in the first issue of Bricks Culture Magazine. The story, as Are told it, was that he was given a list of potential articles for the magazine and that not all of them would make it in. He could choose any topic from the list and write about it. Happily, the lovely sports writer from Norway, chose us! Thank you Are!! Life certainly can be amazing.
My second fun connection was finally meeting Colin Hemmen who I’ve known through Instagram for the last couple of years. Colin travelled from Hawaii to attend this convention and show off his amazing creations. It was fun to pick out loose brick with Colin, roam the show floor, and generally enjoy each others company as we both nerded out over all the amazing creations. My only regret is that we didn’t get a chance to share a burger together. Next year of sure!!
My third wonderful connection was the discovery of JacQueline Sanchez Jewelry Designs. If you like to wear unique jewelry, show off your geek or simply need to buy your wife a gift to make up for all the money you spend on LEGO, you should check out JacQueline’s work. I’ve never seen LEGO jewelry taken to such a finished and beautiful level. It’s truly wearable art. I love the juxtaposition of the plastic lego bricks paired with diamonds and sterling silver. Her use of the LEGO tire is both beautiful and whimsical. For me it was the perfect combination of passion and art.
This past weekend I also attended my first LEGO Ambassador meeting which was both fun and enlightening. Although as an online LUG, we don’t have many of the same concerns as a physical Lego User Group, it was great to hear what’s going on in the community and meet many of the people I’ve seen in the Ambassador community.
As I talked with people throughout the weekend I was gratified to know that more than a few people have heard of Stuck in Plastic and have a favorable impression of us. I was proud to be representing our online group to my local LEGO community. The positive reaction I received has given me the confidence to jump in with both feet next year and create a presentation on toy photography and studio best practices.
I look forward to my annual brick convention; it never fails to inspire me to get working and creating. This one had the added benefit of inspiring me to want to travel to other conventions and connect with other larger communities. On that note, who wants to travel to the Skærbæk Fan Weekend with me next year?
~ Shelly
Do you attend your local brick convention? Does it inspire you? As a toy photographer, what is your take away from these types of events?
My wife and I are looking forward to attending our first convention in January next year. We are both rather excited.
You both are going to have such a good time! I’m so happy that your wife is catching the ‘bug’!
I failed to mention that this year it was a true family affair. My daughter worked for one of the vendors and my son and husband had a RC Technic crane they displayed and drove around. We ALL had a great time! :D
So nice of you share your experience here on SiP… I’ve often thought of attending, but never managed to get it done! Sounds like a great way to meet Lego fans and photographers alike.
Im glad you liked todays post. I’m never sure what to share and what to keep private. I say definitely try to catch a your next lego convention. I try to plan my visit when the crowds will be lowest, or better yet be an attendee so you can look at everything at your leisure. If you decide to attend one, let us know how it goes!
Great post, Shelly! I was very tempted to go to BrickCon but just couldn’t get the time away from work to make the journey up there. Hopefully next year. BricksCascade here in Portland this past March was my first Lego convention, and I had an absolute blast! I was drawn in initially because they were, for the first time ever, allowing photography into the convention as part of the MOC displays. So I was able to feature a few photos (my first public showing! THAT was intimidating) and even walked away with the top prize in the photo contest :)… Read more »
James that would have been so awesome if you had come up to Seattle. You and Janelle were both name checked in one of the conversations I had! I plan on attending BricksCascade next year, so you will have some competition in the photography category – you best bring your “A” game! Lol!!
We should turn the weekend into a mini photography meet-up! That would be loads of fun!
I attended the LEGO Fan Event (now called the MEO Fan Event for its corporate sponsor) in Lisbon, Portugal in 2014 and 2015. The show brings in some major builders from throughout Europe and elaborate individual and group displays of LUG members in Portugal. I’ve written about both events on my blog. This weekend, I’ll be attending my first BrickFest in the U.S., displaying some of my MOCs at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. Unfortunately, my Governor Christie minifig seems to be missing.
Lyn, I’ve hear great things about the Fan Event in Portugal. That is so cool that your travels brought you there, not once but twice!I want to wish you luck this weekend and I hope you find your Governor Christie! Little Township wouldn’t be the same without him. :) Shelly
Oh my! I’m soooo happy for you, Shelly! I knew that Are was involved in Bricks Culture, but I didn’t know that he was responsible for the article about 100% Stuck in Plastic! I’m twice as happy now! I love to attend LEGO events, besides the ones organized by my LUG. My favorite one is definitely the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend in Denmark (every last weekenf of September), because the best part of it, in addition to the amazing MOCs, is that you can meet people literally from all over the world. The last one was my third edition as exhibitor… Read more »
Thanks Luigi for connecting Are and I, that was truly a wonderful experience. Yes, seeing your images from Skæbæk Fan Weekend makes me want to attend someday. But them Steam looks good too! So much Lego goodness, how does one choose?
I totally agree with you about Steam! Attending it is definitely on my to-do list… but for the meantime I slightly prefer Skaerbaek because is definitely more international and because of the Ambassadors Meeting with the whole AFOL Relations & Program staff from the LEGO Company.
Sad we couldn’t make it this year, but glad you had all those great experiences! Hopefully I can contribute work to Bricks Cascade next year too! Guess I better put it in the calendar now…
:)
Yes Leila, you should!
Lets rock Bricks Cascade together! :D
That sounds like a fun experience Shelly! I wish we had a regular brick convention here in Austin. We have Brick Fiesta in Texas but the host city changes each year – it rotates between Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. So we only get to go once every 4 years, unless we travel to it (which isn’t always feasible). It would be fun to be able to go every year though. I’m glad you had a great time :-)
Lynn, That sounds awful! I can’t believe that Texas only has one show since the state is so bloody large! Maybe that will change and someone will step up and start another convention that is near you . Although I hear good things about Bricks Fiesta, and once every four years is better than nothing. :)