Hi guys!
It's so fun and weird to be in America again.
Now that I'm thinking in English for awhile, I can post more easily, and I
also feel like (for a change) I have something worth talking about. So let
me tell you about my experience at Brickfest this year.
I had a great time! That goes for all three years. I've never had a dull
moment while a Brickfest was going on. The people are wonderful, the
creations are amazing, the discussions are exciting and inspirational. The
joy of this weekend will be long remembered, and not just by me. Thanks to
everyone who, at any point, took part in running it!
So what did I do this year... everything. Last year, when I was castle room
coordinator, I only spent about twenty minutes outside that room. But this
year I participated more like the first year; Went to all the events,
participated in plenty of themes. I spent some time in every room, except
for the classic space display and BrikWars, which I could not find.
(Granted, I didn't look very hard. ;-)
I met plenty of new people. Jason Krish, Felix Greco, Chris Giddens and his
sweet wife (I didn't catch her name), Jon Palmer, Claudia Coles, Dave
Schilling, Jim Green, Rob Hendrix, Jennifer Clark, Matt and John Best, Lewis
Valentine (both of them :-), Kai Brodersen, Calum Tsang, Jeff Van Winden,
Iain Hendry, Mike Harrod, Constantine, Derek (with the awesome Flying Bobs
creation), Steve Hassenplug, Margaret Keys, Jake McKee, Scott Lyttle, Scott
Quirk, Harris Fish, Cale Leiphart, Brett Antaya, Ken Rice, Doug Carlson,
James Mathis, Lester Witter, Jason Rowoldt, Benjamin Medinets, Kevin Salm,
Shelby Grant, and anyone else I might have forgetten, it was a pleasure
meeting you and spending time with you. I had a great time and it was so
nice to see new faces. Todd, Suz, Dave, Shaun, Joe - good seeing you guys
outside of Boston. Lindsay, Frank, Christina, Cary, Larry, Denise, Kevin,
Stephen, Judy, Thomas, Jenny, Andy and Jackie (and Alex!), Chris Weeks,
Chris and Sandra Leach, Mark and Martin, Abner, Bob (Bob! Bob!), Abe, Jim
and Maelee, Adrian, Bram, Todd Thuma, John Barnes, Troy and Ken, Aaron,
Jeff, Cris, Tom Cook, Joel, Greg Kramer, Greg Perry, Magnus, Chuck, Erik...
it was just *great* to see you all again. I missed some faces, mostly from
the castle room, but also James Trobaugh and KK Quah who were supposed to
make it, and others I met last year like Eric Harshberger, Sheree
Rosencrantz, Cletus Romano, and many more. I regret that circumstances
prevented you all from making it. And it was great to see Rich and Tim
again, and to meet OnDrew, and a special thanks to you three for making my
stay comfortable and extra-fun!
Now after I spewed out every single name in the attendance list...
(hehehe..) Really I think the best part this year was to meet new people
from other themes and areas of interest. I saw some awesome things in the
space and train rooms, and I realized that getting ideas from other themes
is much better then secluding myself in a single theme.
I got to spend some time at some of the roundtable discussions which were
very insightful and thought provoking - thanks Frank and Jake. The gaming
discussion we encountered the aspects of gaming at a conference versus
small-event gaming, using strict or simple rules, gaming with non-Lego or
non-gaming fans... I learned a lot of new things. In the instructions
roundtable we discussed the difficulties on the user and the creator end,
and the prospects of the new instruction-portal site. I also went to the
LDraw tutorial after three years of planning to do that, and I was very
surprised at the simplicity of it. I am very excited about the prospects of
working with the full LDraw package. I also played the pirate game, which
was tons and tons of fun, and thanks to Frank and Chris for making it happen.
The K-8 room was a bit slow this year, possibly because trading out of it
was not welcome. But I got to spend some time there on Sunday morning with
the awesome Judy Miller, and even won a prize as a result. I love that room
because sitting there with so many pieces - most of them brown left arms -
just really gets your mind thinking outside of the box.
I'd like to thank the staff of the outlet store for doing such a great job
in helping us out with our infatuation.
The castle room was great this year. There were some amazing creations there
and the layout was very impressive and well-organized. I don't want to omit
names because every single creation there was great, but I especially
admired Jim Foulds' temple and Magnus Lauglo's castle, which were packed
with so many beautiful and intricate details. It took me over two hours to
look at all of Magnus' castle and its interior, and I was drooling the whole
time. Jim's temple was extremely impressive and used parts I never thought
could be used in castle! (Fiber optics for a fountain, and SW engines for
towers, would you believe that...) I also loved Frank's port and Andy's
buildings which also had a very detailed interior.
The really amazing thing to me, this year, was how many ideas got shared.
Sharing ideas doesn't cost a thing and it's very gratifying, especially when
you see an idea that you know is yours being put to use in someone's
impressive creation. That ties into the instruction portal, in which I think
we should have not just full-sized or completed models but also
idea-instructions; that is to say, small concept instructions. I left
Brickfest with my mind working overtime (Tim would say that's impossible),
and I can't wait to get to work on it.
All in all, I think I can sum up my thoughts about this Brickfest in one
sentence. Let's try it...
Brickfest 2002 was a wonderful place for sharing ideas and creations, for
meeting new people, and having a great time on top of it!
So thank you one and all who participated, and especially thanks to the
organizers: Stephen, Kevin, Denise, and of course Christina! You did a
wonderful job. It was definitely worth my while to make it, even from half
the world away, and I am grateful I got the chance to participate the third
year in a row.
See you all next year!
-Shiri
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