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In lugnet.events, Tommy Armstrong wrote:
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What about the literally thousands of hours that Christina has given of her
time to get the thing going--along with all the other dedicated volunteers in
the past, and the hundreds of hours Joe spent this year to pull it all
together. To truly create a stable growing institution, which is what
BrickFest seems to be becoming, the persons taking the risks and doing the
planning cannot be expected to not be compensated, in my opinion. When
BrickFest started, it was very much an idea of a group of like minded people
coming together --but it really has evolved to something larger. Heck when
the Owner of LEGO comes along with the CEO as was the case last year, and the
CEO and a contingent of 30 LEGO employees come this year, it is pretty big
time. When you see the tens of thousands of hours that the builders have put
into their incredible creations, it is really really big time. I just have to
say thank you Joe for pulling off such an event this year, and Christian et
al for building such a great foundation. Very few places in the world can one
come for a measly 20$ per day and experience some of the very best of the
best that all you builders have created.
And it is not just the exhibition, of course, but the various seminars, the
comraderie of very individualistic people united around a common passion.
Volunteerism is great and in most cases a necessity for getting an idea off
the ground, but to make it evolve it has to have some sort of financial
integrity also. The amount of administration and coordination to take it to a
new level is really immense and I do not begrudge whatsover if Christina in
the past (and future) or Joe this year and whoever coordinates next year gets
compensated for their efforts.
Christina has taken this “thing” to a world class convention--something
almost unique in the world. People from 11 different contries as well as some
30 states attended this year. A credit to her vision and hard work in the
past. And this year Joe carried on well and took it up a notch. I am sure
that next year another notch in the gear will be reached-at least I hope so.
Kudos to all who have made this event something well worth attending.
Tommy Armstrong
PS I really really liked the free food combined with a specific time for the
judging and viewing of the exhibits. I thought that really went off well, and
hope it continues. I did not meet a single person who complained about that.
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I’m sorry but the minute an organizer of Brickfest starts making money off of
the event itself, compensation or not, I’m not going. If this was the case this
year, I’m glad I didn’t go.
Yes, there are groups making money off of Brickfest - the hotels, the brick
bazaar sellers, etc. But Brickfest itself is supposed to be about the
comraderie, as you said. Quite honestly I can’t see how any one person spends
thousands of man hours on putting a single Brickfest together - all of the
events are fan-driven with the exception of the big group meeting/LEGO Q&A.
Yeah, I’m sure there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff, but last I looked
every theme had its’ own volunteer organizer(s), so that just leaves organizing
the event as a whole.
No, I refuse to go to Brickfest if it’s no longer a passion of the heart alone.
Flame me if you’d like, but its just the way I feel. Christina has worked very
hard, as Joe has too, I’m sure (I wasn’t there but I know Joe and he’s a good
guy). But hard work or not, I’m not going to be part and parcel to paying them
for me to have a place to put up my work. I’m willing to reimburse them for the
cost of the space, but that’s as far as I’ll go - I’m not going to fill anyone’s
pocket just for the right to attend a hobby event.
--Anthony
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Message has 8 Replies:
 | | Re: BrickFest registration fees
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| Anthony, You don't know me from Adam, I lurk more than anything. But I had to respond to this post. First off, I have zero knowledge of how the event was organized. I went in '04 and that was it. I don't know if anyone got paid or not. But I have (...) (18 years ago, 8-Sep-06, to lugnet.events, lugnet.events.brickfest) !!
| | | Re: BrickFest registration fees
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| (...) I don't think anyone got paid, but if they did, I wouldn't be upset. (...) *"Just"*? You really have no clue whatsoever on the difficulty of organizing such an event, do you? Until you do it yourself (on BF's current scale), do NOT complain (...) (18 years ago, 10-Sep-06, to lugnet.events, lugnet.events.brickfest)
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