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In lugnet.events, Joe Meno wrote:
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Mark your calendars in 2008: August 29th through 31st -- Labor Day weekend.
Setup may begin Thursday evening on the 28th.
Visit Brickfair.com for details.
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Sounds great. But what’s the deal with the name change? Why does every brick
conference have to have a new name?
I don’t really care what name we used. For years, Brickfest was the standard
name for this event, but now I guess those are only going to be in Portland.
But sooner or later we’re going to run out of unique names for these events!
It seems to me like there is a lot of duplication of effort and unnecessary
competition for all these events. A little more cooperation between event
organizers, starting with a stop to this proliferation of event names, would be
nice.
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In lugnet.events, William R. Ward wrote:
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Sounds great. But what’s the deal with the name change? Why does every
brick conference have to have a new name?
I don’t really care what name we used. For years, Brickfest was the standard
name for this event, but now I guess those are only going to be in Portland.
But sooner or later we’re going to run out of unique names for these events!
It seems to me like there is a lot of duplication of effort and unnecessary
competition for all these events. A little more cooperation between event
organizers, starting with a stop to this proliferation of event names, would
be nice.
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The names are proprietary; they are owned by various people. The name BrickFest
is a bit debatable (I think 4 people claim rights to it) but one person commands
$3,000 fee to use it. I figured, “To heck with that, I’ll start my own name and
give $10,000 to charity first. That would be more fair.” And that’s what we’re
doing, and hence the name BrickFair.
Then there’s risk involved. Does Brickworld want to lend us their name just to
watch us fail and mar the BW name? ‘Course not. There’s other reasons I won’t
bore you with.
It’s really not competition. Over the past several months I’ve had great
support from other event participants, past and present.
Todd Webb
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In lugnet.events, William R. Ward wrote:
> But what's the deal with the name change?
For the short form, check out this post:
http://news.lugnet.com/events/?n=2051
Specificly, partway down the line "$3,000 that went to AMH Productions for use
of the BrickFest name". When people use a name for an event, they very often
reserve some rights to the name (a good idea - as otherwise, somebody else may
grab the rights to that name after you've spent years working up the publicity
behind it). But if those people then control that name - and can charge you, or
keep you from using it, or even order you to remove said name from all your
literature and event materials... a rather expensive "twist".
> For years, Brickfest was the standard name for this
> event, but now I guess those are only going to be in
> Portland.
Not neccessarily. I suspect those (Brickfests) can pretty well happen anywhere,
anywhen, that somebody wants to negotiate for the name, meet all the standards
those folks (the owners of the name) specify, and pay for the right to do so.
The fact that new names/events keep popping up may represent the diversification
of the groups, or the difficulty in securing a single name.
--
Brian Davis
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In lugnet.events, William R. Ward wrote:
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In lugnet.events, Joe Meno wrote:
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Mark your calendars in 2008: August 29th through 31st -- Labor Day weekend.
Setup may begin Thursday evening on the 28th.
Visit Brickfair.com for details.
|
Sounds great. But what’s the deal with the name change? Why does every
brick conference have to have a new name?
I don’t really care what name we used. For years, Brickfest was the standard
name for this event, but now I guess those are only going to be in Portland.
But sooner or later we’re going to run out of unique names for these events!
It seems to me like there is a lot of duplication of effort and unnecessary
competition for all these events. A little more cooperation between event
organizers, starting with a stop to this proliferation of event names, would
be nice.
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Again, I must digress. The name of the event neither makes nor breaks it.
Although the last ‘BrickFest’ did occur in Portland, there has been no
announcement since, official or otherwise, as to when or where or even if
another BrickFest will occur. Sure, coordination among the coordinators (is
that NOT just a bit redundant?) is nice in theory, but if they don’t talk to
each other, there’s nothing stopping any one of them from going off and doing
his (her) own thing. Again, I welcome the proliferation of any and all fests, be
they Fest or Fair or World or Con or whatever. As far as I know, BrickFair is in
no way associated with BrickFest, nor does it aspire to be. It’s another
festival to pique the interest of the AFOL. It’s really up to the AFOLs to make
or break it.
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In lugnet.events, Todd Webb wrote:
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In lugnet.events, William R. Ward wrote:
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Sounds great. But what’s the deal with the name change? Why does every
brick conference have to have a new name?
I don’t really care what name we used. For years, Brickfest was the
standard name for this event, but now I guess those are only going to be in
Portland. But sooner or later we’re going to run out of unique names for
these events!
It seems to me like there is a lot of duplication of effort and unnecessary
competition for all these events. A little more cooperation between event
organizers, starting with a stop to this proliferation of event names, would
be nice.
|
The names are proprietary; they are owned by various people. The name
BrickFest is a bit debatable (I think 4 people claim rights to it) but one
person commands $3,000 fee to use it. I figured, “To heck with that, I’ll
start my own name and give $10,000 to charity first. That would be more
fair.” And that’s what we’re doing, and hence the name BrickFair.
Then there’s risk involved. Does Brickworld want to lend us their name just
to watch us fail and mar the BW name? ‘Course not. There’s other reasons I
won’t bore you with.
It’s really not competition. Over the past several months I’ve had great
support from other event participants, past and present.
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Well, I think it’s pretty darn petty to insist on a $3,000 fee. If Brickfest is
off the table, I would hope that we as a community can come up with a name that
*can* be used relatively freely. I do agree that certain standards should be
maintained, and that the name shouldn’t just be in the public domain, but if the
owner of the name would be willing to let it (and the corresponding domain name)
be used without onerous demands, financial or otherwise, I think it would be a
great service to the community.
Brickfair is actually a great name. But how would you feel about someone
wanting to use the Brickfair name for an event somewhere else in the country?
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In lugnet.events, William R. Ward wrote:
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Brickfair is actually a great name. But how would you feel about someone
wanting to use the Brickfair name for an event somewhere else in the country?
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Well this leads me to all the “boring” reasons I didn’t list. Let’s see here.
Just speaking for myself, I dunno how many other fest leaders share my
thoughts...
1. I would not wish to share the BrickFair name and watch someone else fail,
thus dragging down what I’ve built up.
2. I would not wish to share the BrickFair name and watch someone else blow me
out of the water! I don’t mind “losing” to a Brickworld, or a NWBrickCon or
whatever. But losing to my own name would be sad.
3. I have visions that guide my decisions in creating this event. The more
obvious is the charitable aspect. I would not wish to lend out my name to
another group who didn’t share this vision.
4. That leads to another issue. When sharing the name, I’d have to either list
a bunch of rules and bylaws regarding its use, or just let others do as they
wish -- which may include ignoring my original vision. Neither of these options
appeal to me.
5. I think the “same name but different” (a-la BrickFest and BrickFest PDX) is a
generally bad idea. It seems neat, to be organized. But I think it’s not worth
the confusion. When you hear Brickworld, you immediately know Chicago. Now
when you hear BrickFair you immediatly know Washington DC. I rather like that.
Also there’s the matter of size and atmosphere. Each event has it’s own
character, it’s own personality. When you come to know NWBCon as a certain type
of event with a certain feel, it’s name takes on that persona. But with 7
different events and 7 different leadership styles, different locations (school,
hotel, whatever), different attendance, etc, it would seem odd to me to have
them share a name. Like walking into a McDonald’s; when you enter, you know
what to expect not matter where you are in the world. But these events are not
McDonald’s. We’re all different, and our names personify that.
Personally, I prefer the different names. I suspect that large part of your
discomfort is with the appearance of BrickFest, the disappearance, and now the
replacement. And the fading PDX to boot, I hear. It all feels flip-floppy,
unstable and uncontrolled. But if the remaining big venues persist in Chicago
and DC for several consecutive years, then that will feel better, obviously.
And then maybe the concern over all the name changes will fade.
Todd
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