Subject:
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Re: Brickshelf.com – A Possible Solution
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:46:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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2917 times
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In lugnet.general, Christopher J. Dean wrote:
> Hello everyone.
>
> While many may not recognize my name, I am a long time AFOL. And while I barely
> post, I am an active and appreciative member who has watched the Lego community
> grow from it’s infancy since the mid 90s (wow, I really feel old now).
>
> Like many of you, I was really thrown for a loop by the posting I found today
> regarding the (possible) discontinuance of Brickshelf.com. While I do not post
> much to Lugnet, and rarely post images to Brickshelf, I recognize the true value
> this resource has to our community. I cannot tell you the number of times I
> have used the pages as inspiration for building ideas, looked at images of the
> newest products to decide whether a set was a wise investment, and/or just
> appreciated to imagination and entertainment value a simple piece of
> interlocking plastic can bring so many people over the years.
>
> So, I feel it’s time to step up, provide a catalyst to ensure this never stops
> for all of us – continuing the operation of Brickshelf. And not just for
> backing up images of personal creations of the website for archival purposes.
> That’s not the true value of Brickshelf. It is the ultimate medium for sharing
> our ideas, improving the brand, and growing the community. I ask for you to
> help, and together, we can turn this scare into something positive.
>
> First of, I need to address the criticism I saw in postings. Please, just stop.
> Kevin has been a friend to us all over the years. When a friend falls upon hard
> times, we do not criticize and admonish that person. If you do personally, you
> need to look inward and reevaluate yourself as a human being.
>
> When our friends fall upon hard times, we share our concerns and offer our help.
> Instead of communicating adverse feeling towards someone, we should show our
> support. How can we help? What needs to be done to continue, as one person so
> truthfully said, “the crown jewel” of our community?”
>
> Saying all of this, I offer a possible solution. If Kevin does not wish to
> continue the administration, financing, and operation of Brickshelf, we, as a
> TRUE community, should offer to help him transition the webpage to the next
> level – a webpage run by the community, much like Lugnet. So, here is my
> proposal, and please offer your CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms, as you see fit.
>
> First – Operations (this won’t be in alphabetical order): I know many members
> of the AFOL/Lego communities live busy lifestyles. I ask that for that those of
> you, who can, please offer your services in this aspect, possibly a group that
> switches duties to spread the burden. These people would provide the overall
> policies, strategy, and daily administration of the website. It may be a
> thankless job, sometimes taking on undue criticism, but the long-term value you
> provide is priceless.
>
> Second – Administration: The people that take these ideas and strategies, and
> make it a reality. Please correct my naivety, but I see this aspect mainly
> being the IT folks, who maintain the website’s operations. They would provide
> feedback on who we can improve the service to the community; IT needs for
> continued hosting, safeguard against hackers and viruses, and provide day to day
> supervision of the website. I know there are many talented members who could
> easily do all of this in their sleep. I can’t wait to hear form all of you.
>
> Third – Financing: This can be a sticky subject, because it takes away from such an important aspect of our community – buying Legos!!! ;D Saying that, I call on other members with sufficient resources to help me with ensuring adequate financing for the continued operation of Brickshelf. And no, this should not be left to a few wealthier individuals. Everyone should contribute. For now, those of us with better means should offer what we can to keep the community alive. Eventually, we may initiate a $10-20 a year membership requirement. For the value that Brickshelf provides, this in nothing in comparison.
>
> Again, feedback and sharing of ideas is vital to this effort, as it is with our
> building ideas. If I’m short sited, please offer constructive solutions. Don’t
> just criticize. That’s useless. For those who put down the technology without
> a solution, keep walking. I want to help, and possibly improve one of the
> pillars for our community, not start a message board for useless criticism.
>
> I have contacted Kevin via email to see what I can do, mentioning I would send
> out this email. Friends, I ask that you work with me to keep Brickshelf alive,
> whether this is temporary or not. Even if this a glitch, we should all wake up,
> and ask Kevin what we can do. He’s our friend. It’s time we help him.
I have noticed on LUGNET that there are a number of sites that are being offered
as alternatives to BrickShelf. My concern is the issue of the number of sites
now competing to fill the void and splintering the community, rather than one
major site or the revitalizing BrickShelf. I am grateful to Sean (MOCpages) and
others that have offered their sites and servers as an alternative, but none of
the site in their current configuration can replace BrickShelf.
Flickr is the one most often mentioned and I am not impressed. For those of us who have been using yahoo photos, you are aware of the pending shut down if yahoo photos in September. Flickr is the alternative that has been pushed by yahoo as the hoist site to move our photos before the Yahoo shutdown. I understand that this is one of the sites owned by Yahoo. The site is sometimes slow and difficult. I have used it from both a Comcast cable connection and from a T-1 line at work. I also remember testing it from a Verizon DSL connection a couple of years ago. Our LEGO photos will be lost among the millions of other photos on the site. The problems were serious enough that I left my photos on yahoo and starting looking at the alternative sites. That’s just my opinion. There are other people who have expressed confidence in the site.
The rights to BrickShelf expire in August. Is it feasible that we as a
community can revitalize BrickShelf in some form as a paid site and say move it
to North Star Computer Systems, since the president, Eric Smith, has offered his
services? Has anyone actually communicated with Kevin? The other sites have
been around and by their own admission generate less than 20 % of the volume
generated by BrickShelf. BrickShelf was unique and it was dedicated to LEGO and
the LEGO community.
There seems to be a pattern of long standing larger events (BrickFest), etc and
programs being replaced by smaller regional events and programs. It is a great
loss to the international community to allow this pattern to continue. I am
hoping there is some way to revitalize BrickShelf on a new hoist server,
especially if Kevin is willing to release the rights to the site.
Clifton
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Brickshelf.com – A Possible Solution
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| Hello everyone. While many may not recognize my name, I am a long time AFOL. And while I barely post, I am an active and appreciative member who has watched the Lego community grow from it’s infancy since the mid 90s (wow, I really feel old now). (...) (17 years ago, 15-Jul-07, to lugnet.general) !!
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