Subject:
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Re: Questions about fan involvement with TLC
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:03:06 GMT
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Viewed:
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2065 times
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In lugnet.general, C. L. GunningCook wrote:
After an interesting chat about “Fan involvement with TLC” the other night, a
few concerns/questions came up, and I can’t seem to shake them.
Historically a large portion of AfoL/ALE’s have wanted a closer relationship
with TLC and over the last few years we have been witness to that happening.
Now more than ever, it seems as if the company is involving the fan base. I
don’t have the luxury of knowing how many ppl are under a NDA (non-disclosure
agreement) currently, but the numbers must be high. (1)
Off the top of my head, the original test project for the factory, and the
subsequent phase, and projects such as this train committee, the cycling
ambassadors, certified artists, and the nxt, clan just to mention a few.
So we know, a lot of our “high profile” community members from various themes
and interests (from trains to robotics and sculpture through micro) and are
more than likely also those members that often posted, having very in depth or
insightful posts about products and development etc are now under NDAs.
I have 5 questions I’m looking for ppl (both those under NDA or and those that
are not) to consider responding to.
Q1. Are the NDA keeping our most prolific quiet? (Aside from the obvious, I
understand they can’t discuss certain things, but are there people that would
have been posting otherwise that are now remaining silent, in fear that even
guessing or hypothesising might end up being factual, and then be some
violation of their agreement?)
Q2. Is this hindering or benefiting our communication as a community?
Q3. a) Is the help/advice/feedback those under an NDA are providing to Lego
really being taken in account, or it just be considerd dandling carrot by the
company? (2)
b) If so (based on Q3a), is this a reasonable price to pay to have so many
of our high profile members unable to discuss things openly?
Q4. Are members spending many of their community hours behind the scenes that
they don’t have time as much free time to dedicate to the public forums that
they once had?
Q5. If the individual departments within TLC alone can not corelate
information with each other in a timely manner, are they capable of doing so
with the various fan/company groups they are spearheading?
Personally, I don’t really know. I really want to believe that the fans
having some input must make some improvements, but I wonder if the price we
are paying is outweighing what is gained. I guess since no one can clearly
let us know what is being gained, its difficult to judge. I have the feeling
that other members here might have opinions and much better insight on this
than I do.
Curious,
Janey “Red Brick”
1. After 5 minutes (exhaustive) research I came up with a verifiable list of
81 fans names that currently are under an NDA. Since I could only find out
about half of the nxt group, that number should be at least 131, so I assume
the actual number is significantly.
2. Is this a case of “Be careful what you wish for?” or are great strides
being made behind the scenes between fan and company? (Aside from the brief
mentions of the original NXT group saying their feedback affected the actual
outcome of the product) details from direct relationship between fan and
company and results of this alliance have been scarce. This is not to say it
hasn’t happened, it must have, I just have yet to see any announcement saying
anything to the contrary, (although quite possible that I have missed it).
For example, was Batman a result of fan involvement? Was that cute little one
by one smooth slope?? Are the changes to the Factory? Etc.
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Interesting questions. The NDA/Ambassador phenomenon does seem to have created
an in-group and an out-group among AFOLs, and a certain amount of distrust both
between and within them. I feel bad about it, but I can’t help but discount the
opinions of folks under NDA, at least a little. And I have personally been
accused of trying to make myself look better in an attempt to become an
Ambassador. So, the effect on the community has not been 100% positive.
On the other hand, if you read this
post by Paul Janssen, it
sounds like the Ambassadors actually have influence with TLC. And recently, they
have been doing more to become a two-way conduit of information, rather than
just a privileged focus group (see
Kelly McKiernan and
Eric Kingsley). More examples of
concrete, AFOL-friendly results from the NDAFOL-TLC partnership would certainly
go a long way towards reassuring those of us on the outside - I think the
9v train issue will be an important test case.
Marc Nelson Jr.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Questions about fan involvement with TLC
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| After an interesting chat about "Fan involvement with TLC" the other night, a few concerns/questions came up, and I can't seem to shake them. Historically a large portion of AfoL/ALE's have wanted a closer relationship with TLC and over the last few (...) (18 years ago, 10-Apr-06, to lugnet.general) !!
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