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lol The rest of the attendees have barely arrived home and the thread has
already burned out;-)
We did have a great time with the LD personnel and amongst attendees
ourselves. I really enjoyed renewing old acquaintances and meeting others F2F
for the first time. What a quality group of individuals!
We do have reason for optimism because the trains theme has not been
forgotten. Neglected maybe, but now more than ever we need to direct our focus
towards the future. Although we are under NDA, I would say that we know a lot
less than many of you probably suppose, so asking for any kind of details
really is fruitless. What is most important is that there is definitely a
dialog in place. And it is ongoing.
-John
Larry Pieniazek wrote:
> I am under NDA so cannot go into a lot of detail, but I did want to post to
> say that and several other Lego Trains stalwarts have just completed the
> first ever LEGO(r) Train Summit. We have just spent Friday evening and all
> day Saturday meeting with folks from Lego Direct including Brad Justus,
> Peter Andersen, an LD product manager, Jorn Kristian Thomsen the lead Lego
> trains designer from Billund, Jake McKee, producer, and Steven Hawco, in
> charge of the Shop at Home operation.
>
> The conversation was wide ranging and very productive. We discussed things
> that LD is going to be doing, the future of the product line and ways to
> leverage the productive relationship between LTCs and LD.
>
> I am terrifically pumped up about this and very happy to have been among
> those selected to attend. While it was impossible to have every single train
> fan attend, we worked hard to make sure it was a representative cross
> section of US train fans and that many viewpoints were represented.
>
> The attendees included
>
> John Neal ? GMLTC
> Steve Barile ? PNLTC
> Conan Collopy - GMLTC
> John Gerlach ? GMLTC
> James Mathis - PNLTC
> Dan Parker ? PNLTC
> Larry Pieniazek ? poly-LTC
> Mike Poindexter - BAYLTC
> James Trobaugh - NGLTC
>
> More will be forthcoming from us in days to come but I was so excited I had
> to use LEGO connectivity (We're in NYC) to get this out in front of folks.
>
> ++Lar
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In lugnet.trains, John Neal writes:
> Although we are under NDA, I would say that we know a lot
> less than many of you probably suppose, so asking for any kind of details
> really is fruitless. What is most important is that there is definitely a
> dialog in place. And it is ongoing.
Fine with that.
I've read everything that's been said, but here's my question:
While the future is probably unknown...
Did you come away with more of a sense that
a) LEGO will be responding to the things you are interested in, or
b) LEGO is far more focused on the future of the company - IRR, ROI, etc. and
they will continue to try new things, but only in so far as they produce the
bottom line results.
We already know the answer to that: b).
So if we want to get what we want, we'd better help them get what they want.
And there are ways we can, and probably ways we have yet to think of.
(scary, isn't it - I didn't even go, yet I'm pretty confident about the
conversations)
-Jon
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Jon Kozan wrote:
> In lugnet.trains, John Neal writes:
> > Although we are under NDA, I would say that we know a lot
> > less than many of you probably suppose, so asking for any kind of details
> > really is fruitless. What is most important is that there is definitely a
> > dialog in place. And it is ongoing.
>
> Fine with that.
> I've read everything that's been said, but here's my question:
>
> While the future is probably unknown...
> Did you come away with more of a sense that
> a) LEGO will be responding to the things you are interested in, or
Oh yes! As an AFOL and an LTC member.
> b) LEGO is far more focused on the future of the company - IRR, ROI, etc. and
> they will continue to try new things, but only in so far as they produce the
> bottom line results.
>
> We already know the answer to that: b).
Yes, we do, but LEGO Direct is changing the bottom line, if you will. LD has
much more flexibility and has different constraints than LEGO directed at
retail. Packaging costs, for instance. Look at the box for the Statue of
Liberty set-- no need for flashy, eye catching graphics to grab attention on a
store shelf. As an aside, the story how that set came into being is a cool one,
but I'll let Brad share it. For me, though, it typifies how LD can and will
work.
LD sells to consumers-- kids, you, me. TLC sells to its customers-- Target,
TRU, Wal*mart, etc. While this might not be a revelation, its distinction will
be more and more obvious. LEGO mosaic is a good example. Can't really sell a
set like that retail.
> So if we want to get what we want, we'd better help them get what they want.
> And there are ways we can, and probably ways we have yet to think of.
Getting back to trains, Brad is very excited about what LTCs are doing and wants
to support their efforts (obviously, or he wouldn't have gone through the
expense of inviting some of us to NYC).
> (scary, isn't it - I didn't even go, yet I'm pretty confident about the
> conversations)
lol, we met and discussed for over 8 hours-- you'd be surprised what (and *who*)
came up in the conversations!
-John
>
>
> -Jon
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In lugnet.trains, John Neal writes:
> LD sells to consumers-- kids, you, me. TLC sells to its customers-- Target,
> TRU, Wal*mart, etc. While this might not be a revelation, its distinction
> will be more and more obvious. LEGO mosaic is a good example. Can't really
> sell a set like that retail.
John, I think you got those backwards. If I remember correctly, Steven H.
(Vice President in charge of LEGO Shop at Home) described the difference
between a 'consumer' and a 'customer'. He described the 'customer' as
having a "relationship" with the seller, where as a 'consumer' doesn't
really care where they buy something. (And that relationship goes both ways!)
For a real world example: A customer might shop at the same gas station
every week, where a consumer would shop someplace else if they could save a
penny per gallon. A customer feels loyalty to the retailer, and the
retailer has the same loyalty to the customer.
LEGO Direct is going to try to turn us *all* into customers! :-)
JohnG, GMLTC
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John Neal wrote:
snip
>
> lol, we met and discussed for over 8 hours-- you'd be surprised what (and *who*)
> came up in the conversations!
>
> -John
Who, who, who?! Behind whose back were you talking? Anyone's ears burning?
Chris
--
See my LEGO creations at
http://cmasi.chem.tulane.edu/~lego/
Public key available upon request.
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To All,
Well, I have my own thoughts on this meeting, and I think it
was a wonderful move for TLC & LD, and whatever is
discussed, I am certainly glad there was an opportunity to
do so.
As someone who has been here since the beginning, I am
hopeful that good will come out of this. And I am sure the
parcipents, such as Larry P. and John Neal, do an excellent
job of representing what most of us want. And I want to
thank LD, and Brad Justus for hearing us LEGO Maniacs.
That being said, I am going to sit back, and see. I am very
glad I have a good supply of blue and light gray train doors
to expand my Metroliner, and maybe build some new train
creations, one day, far away, or at least until this summer,
where some things will occur!
Go get em, Lar! :)
Scott S.
--
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