Subject:
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Re: BrickWorld 2007 - who's getting paid?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.events.brickworld
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Date:
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Sat, 17 Mar 2007 06:31:26 GMT
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In lugnet.events.brickworld, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.events.brickworld, Marc Nelson Jr. wrote:
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Since I just asked this
question about BrickFest PDX 2007...
Can the organizers of BrickWorld 2007 tell us who (if anyone) will be
profiting from this year’s event?
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I’m just curious: what leads you to think that this type of information
should be public knowledge? It’s as if you believe that fest organizers
are somehow obligated to account for every penny to the GP, and AFOLs in
particular. Do you suspect that such people are somehow ripping off AFOLs
who attend?
And if they do make money off of an event, is that somehow a Bad Thing™?
It seems to me that even by posing the question, it raises a question of
impropriety; kinda like “when did you stop beating your wife?”
JOHN
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I think that this sort of information is VERY important when an event is
soliciting the public for volunteers, especially if they are actually expecting
people to volunteer their time and effort. The intention/purpose of the show is
also very important to peoples decision making process.
I will be the first to admin that I know very little about BrickWorld, as I just
started looking into it tonight, when I came accross this thread. But looking
at the schedule and seeing that it is open to the public for 7 hours on each of
two days does cause me some concern.
My question would be, what is the purpose of the event? Is it meant to be an
AFOL event where AFOLs gather to share their MOCs and socialize with each other
(like the early years of BrickFest)? Or is it meant to be an event that caters
to the paying public?
If it is meant to be mainly an AFOL event, then I personally do not have a
problem paying a fairly high registration fee to participate. I do understand
that the money has to come from somewhere.
If it is meant to be a public display, however, I would have issues being
charged to come and display my stuff (granted I don’t display much, for the sake
of this discussion lets pretend I am someone else that does). Especially if I
am expected to be at my display during the public hours. That would be like
having to pay someone to work for them.
We can use train shows as an example. People pay money to come see the layouts
displayed. Vendors pay money to sell to the people that the displays attract.
The displays DO NOT pay to be there to display. Although it may not be much,
the displays are usually compensated in some way. Even if it is just free
admission to the show, it is something.
On appearance, it appears that LEGO shows are going the route of charging the
people that come to see the event, the vendors who sell at the event AND the
people that display at the event. This does seem a bit unfair since the people
that display are what are drawing the public in the first place.
I know that myself and Sava are NOT the only ones that feel this way. I heard
many people grumbling about it at BrickFest last year, with the extended public
hours compared to previous years.
If LEGO shows are going to continue with this formula, I believe it is VERY
important that they make it clear what ADDITIONAL benefits attendees get from
paying their fees. Are there enough events during the non-public hours for them
to justify the expense? What incentive is there to pay the $60 registration fee
instead of just paying $20 for two days public access?
While organizers are not OBLIGATED to explain anything, I believe it is in their
best interest to do so to avoid bad feelings. People will make assumptions
based on the information that they have. If they can see 300 people registered,
they know that is ~$18,000. If they are told public attendance was 5,000 for
the weekend, they know that is ~$37,500 (asuming an even split of
adults/children).
In the absence of any other information, this does seem like a LOT of money that
is going somewhere. People that have never run a large event will not know that
a large portion, if not all of it or more, of that will be eaten up by the
venue, advertising, event kits, etc.
I am not sure what anyone else is looking for, but I would like to be assured
that someone is not making money hand over fist on the backs of AFOLs who are
generously willing to volunteer their time, effort and money. And I think it is
in their best interest for the promotors to provide this assurance, it will
increase their chances of getting more volunteers and donations.
Something as simple as “Money leftover after this years event will be used as
start-up money for next years event” would go a long way in my book.
Troy
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: BrickWorld 2007 - who's getting paid?
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| (...) With all the posts on this subject, I'm sure it's easy to miss the posts where this has been said. But, it has been said. The organizers have said more than once that any "extra" money will be used to make future events better. They have a (...) (18 years ago, 17-Mar-07, to lugnet.events.brickworld)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: BrickWorld 2007 - who's getting paid?
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| (...) I'm just curious: what leads you to think that this type of information should be public knowledge? It's as if you believe that fest organizers are somehow obligated to account for every penny to the GP, and AFOLs in particular. Do you suspect (...) (18 years ago, 15-Mar-07, to lugnet.events.brickworld, FTX)
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