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Greetings
For about a month now, a few people have been thinking about holding
datFest, a convention for Virtual Lego modelling/LDraw in Boston,
similar to Mindfest. A few ideas have been exchanged and then
discussion fizzled on the topic, as we were waiting for some more
information from the Media Lab on whether they could work with us and
sponsor the event or not.
Last night, I had a phone conversation with Todd Lehman, and a good
portion of it was spent discussing and brainstorming this possible
event - with or without the help of the Media Lab. We were thinking
June would be a good month to hold the event, and discussed certain
aspects of what is needed to pull off an event of this size. From
there we made plans to set up this newsgroup (lugnet.cad.datfest) in
order to plan it with the whole group's involvement.
This event will hopefully draw in several hundred people from
corporations, schools, and the general public. Throughout the event,
the attendees will be educated on how to create Lego models virtually
through the LDraw file system, and then how to apply it to education,
technology, and the Lego hobby. We will hold hands-on workshops and
seminars about modelling Lego in 3D, the LDraw system, the history of
Lego CAD design, and applying Lego CAD to the community.
There will also be areas for groups to set up booths with information
about their organization - such as LUGNET, LUG groups, corporations,
and schools/universities. This can be used to introduce attendees to
various aspects of the [online] Lego community, as well as the
corporations and universities involved.
My personal dream would be to be able to welcome the Jessiman family
to the event as an honor to them and a tribute to James for giving us
the incredible gift of LDraw and the .dat file format. With the right
amount of fundraising, it would be incredible to be able to fly them
in for an all expenses paid trip to attend the event.
Also, it would be important to bring in a few people who are very
knowledgeable with LDraw and the Lego CAD community, such as Jacob
Sparre Andersen, Terry Keller, Bram Lambrecht, Steve Bliss, and Mike
Lachmann. I've had communication via email with most of these people
on the possibility of them attending, and barring schedule conflicts
(which a couple have, I believe) they can attend. It would also be
very nice if the funds collected for the event would pay for a few if
not all of these guests' travel, going first to the people who live at
a greater distance.
Todd also suggested inviting Brad Justus with LEGO Direct to attend
the event and talk with us about the company, etc. Brad, along with
LEGO Direct, are located in New York, so proximity to the event is A
Good Thing in greatening our chances here.
This event could take up a Friday evening and Saturday daytime, a
Saturday daytime and Sunday morning, or just all day on a Saturday.
Depending on what materials are developed and the estimated timeframe
needed, the event could last a whole weekend.
In order to pull something like this off, there needs to be tremendous
planning and organization in many aspects of the event. I myself do
not have near the amount of time or managerial skills required to
organize such an event. I would like to get the ball rolling on this,
but would appreciate it tremendously if a few of you could step up in
certain areas where you are knowledgeable and work together to make
this happen.
First and foremost, this event is going to cost money. We should try
to make an educated guess on how much this will cost and then find
ways to go about getting this amount of money to hold an event:
1. Registration Fee - Hopefully not as much as Mindfest, but enough to
cover the materials included in a package for the attendees and some
over that to cover expenditures.
2. Advertisement - We can offer floor space for booths for groups like
toy stores, corporations, and universities with special
(Lego-oriented) programs.
3. Corporate Sponsors - Corporations interested in technology and 3D
virtual modelling can be asked to sponsor the event as well.
4. MIT Media Lab? - The Media Lab can be approached and asked if they
would like to contribute to the facilities and the budget for this
event.
The next most important aspect of this event is the facilities to hold
it. We will need to calculate the square footage needed depending on
the attendance, number of workshops, and the number of booths that
will be present. This is difficult to do without those numbers in
hand - but as time goes on an estimate would be more feasible.
Classrooms would be a nice addition to this event, so multiple
workshops can be happening simultaneously. Here are some ideas for a
facility:
1. Corporate Offices - A corporation with large auditorium or floor
space for a convention which would be willing to sponsor us.
2. Hotel - Many hotels have banquet rooms and meeting rooms, this is a
possiblity.
3. Convention Center - A convention center in the Boston area.
4. MIT Media Lab - Again, this would be possible if they chose to
sponsor or help out with the event.
Another critical component for a successful .datFest would be
technology. We would need to have a good number of computers (20 or
so? more?) with LDraw and related components installed for the use in
workshops and in demonstrations. An internet connection would be
ideal if not required at least for central demonstration computers.
More software would probably need to be developed for this kind of
event. It would be wonderful if Mac versions of programs like MLCad
could be available. Also, I'd like to offer the LDraw package of
tools on CD-ROM to attendees - given the permission of the Jessiman
family. Software/HTML would need to be developed for this and
resources would need to be organized. A CD should ideally support
Windows 9x/NT, Mac, and Unix.
Advertising for the event can be done in many different ways. Todd
and I brainstormed the following:
1. LUGNET/AucZILLA - Todd can put up advertisements on key LUGNET
pages as well as advertise on AucZILLA auction updates.
2. ldraw.org - The front page of ldraw.org can hold information on
datFest, as well as the official .datFest website, hosted there
3. Corporations - Corporations can advertise the event to groups which
deal in 3D virtual modelling.
4. Toy Stores - can drum up the interest in kids who use Lego and
would like to learn more about this exciting new way to express their
creativity.
5. Lego Maniac's Webring - I can advertise to Webring members and put
up information on the LMWR page.
6. MIT Media Lab - again, given their involvement in the event.
The workshops, panels, and seminars held at the event need to
thoroughly cover aspects of Lego CAD modelling and its history, and
inspire the attendees to utilize this technology in their work,
education, and play. Some of my ideas for workshops are:
1. Introduction to Lego CAD
2. Lego CAD in the Community
3. History of Lego CAD
4. Advanced Lego CAD Design
5. Lego CAD and Rendering
And obviously many many more ideas for curriculum can be devised.
This event would also need printed literature to distribute,
advertise, and decorate the facility for the event. Needed would be
pamphlets, business cards, T-shirts, sinage, posters, etc. for the
event itself and for advertising before the event.
Also, a .datFest logo needs to be devised. I'd like something
utilizing rendered Lego bricks perhaps both in wireframe and rendered
views, but at the same time sleek text which is easily legible and
captures the essence of CAD design and is inspiring for the future of
Lego CAD. I'd prefer it not be '.datFest' constructed out of Lego
bricks in LDraw. Bricks can be worked into certain letters or set in
the background, foreground. An idea would be to have the '.' be a
1x1 round plate at a certain angle, and have a Lego brick integrated
into the 'F' in Fest, etc... There could be a contest for a logo, or
a few planners could pick the best, etc.
A website will be set up for .datFest at ldraw.org. General
information about the event will be able to be found there as details
come in. The target for this to go live should be in a few weeks to a
month, once preliminary planning has been taken care of.
A date needs to be determined for this event as well. I know it
CANNOT be the first weekend in June (my HS graduation), but any other
weekend in June is perfectly acceptable for me. This date could
depend on facility availability, and should be decided upon where it
would conflict with the fewest schedules.
Some acceptable weekends are:
June 9-11
June 16-18
June 23-25
June 30-July 2 (attendance may be down here, 4th of July weekend)
Well, there is the summary of what needs to be done for this event to
be a success. At this point, there is a great need for people to step
up and organize the certain aspects of the event. The way I see it
now, we need responsible coordinators for the following:
Accounting/Fundraising
Facilities (includes booths to be set up at event)
Technology
Advertising
Workshops/Panels/Seminars
Literature
Volunteering to head up all or part of one of the above areas should
not be a huge constraint on your time budget. We have until June to
plan this event, so if we are diligent, this event should fall
together. Please email me or post to this group if you are interested
in helping in these areas.
I appreciate your feedback for this idea and dream of mine (and so
many others) to hold. Please do what you can to help realize this
dream, and most of all, have fun doing it! If and when this event
does take place, it will be a BIG milestone in the advancement of the
online Lego community, LDraw, and hopefully will be a facilitator for
further communication with TLG.
-Tim
http://www.zacktron.com
http://www.ldraw.org
AIM: timcourtne
ICQ: 23951114
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Introducing and Planning .datFest
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| Wow! this is one huge post! :-). Anyway I have a few comments and will try snipping out the areas that I don't have a comment on right now. (...) This sounds ambitious but you can count on NELUG for some support I am sure. We love doing events and (...) (25 years ago, 18-Jan-00, to lugnet.cad.datfest)
| | | Re: Introducing and Planning .datFest
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| (...) That'd be great! :) Although I'm probably one of the closest... It would be really great to pay the Jessimans' trip... (...) LDraw doesn't take up much room--you could put tons of extra stuff on a CD... (...) I could give it a shot... (...) (...) (25 years ago, 19-Jan-00, to lugnet.cad.datfest)
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