Subject:
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Re: Some questions...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org
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Date:
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Mon, 15 Nov 1999 18:58:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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926 times
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In lugnet.general, James Brown writes:
> In lugnet.org, James Brown writes:
> <I didn't get much (read: any) response to this in the .org group, so I'm
> guessing it doesn't get read much. Cross-posting to .general for exposure,
> follow-ups set back to .org>
>
> Hey all,
>
> The Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) crew are considering forming a club, and it
> occured to me that there are a bunch of organizations out there already, and
> it would be a good idea, to poll them for information. It also occured to me
> that it would be just a good idea in general to have these Q&A's as a
> resource...so:
> Questions for those of you in the various LUGs and LTCs:
I will try and share our experiances in setting up NELUG
>
> How did you decide on a name?
Initially we were considering an LTC but then decided to go with the more
generic LUG in order to increase participation (This was a very good idea in
retrospect). We also wanted to stay with some of the general naming
conventions that had been decided upon and we decided to go with a more broad
reagion hence New England and NELUG.
> How much did the existing conventions (Lego Users Group & Lego Train Club)
> influence your decision?
See above. Very much in terms of naming our group but not so much in terms of
how we hold meetings and how structured we are.
> What legal status (if any) does your club have?
None. We are just an unoffical group of LEGO fans that like to get together
every now and then.
> What is the purpose of your club (trains, general building, etc)? If you
> don't have a single focus, how do you determine priorities?
We are general building without a single focus. We don't really have any
priorities it is more like we waited to see what everyone else was into and
worked from there. We have a few Star Wars fans so that became a focus. We
also have a lot of Mindstorms fans so that is often a topic of discussion as
well.
Also we don't allway build at our meetings (Actually we almost never do) we
mostly just sit around and talk LEGO which is very fun. Occasionally one or
more of us will bring a model to share with the group and talk about as well.
Currently one of our members is working on setting up a Brick Wars game so that
will be the focus of one of our future meetings I am sure.
My suggestion would be to just ride it out and let things evolve. It has
worked for us so far.
> How diverse are you, geographically?
We cover the Six U.S. states that make up New England (Massachusetts,
Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Maine we also have a few
"out of region" members as well).
> How do you get around the geographical limitations you do face (if any)?
We cover a fairly large area so that meens that we can't all easily attend
meetings in other regions. So far all of our meetings have been in Eastern
Massachusetts because that is where the majority of our membership is from. We
are starting to build up a base of interest in Connecticut as well so I would
expect there might be a few meetings there in the near future.
Again if you are going to decide on a big region this is something you have to
let evolve. For example if you wanted to be an Alberta group maybe Edmonton
will be your base for membership and where most of your meetings are held.
Maybe then a pocket of interest develops in Calgary and then people will have
meeting there.
For the most part the group is a tool for getting people together. Don't feel
like you have to attend every meeting just because you got the group started.
You might only be able to go to Edmonton meetings but you can also be a go
between in order to get people from Calgary together. Eventually the Calgary
group will become self sufficiant and who know maybe eventually the Edmonton
and Calgary groups can have an annual event where you all get together for a
weekend.
> How many members do you have?
49 and rising fast. That is in only 4 months of having a web site and having
meetings. Truthfully I thought we would start with around 5 or 6 members and
then slowly move up from there. I did not expect the metioric rise in interest
that we have had. It has really been a great experiance.
> How often do you meet?
Whenever we feel like it :). I would guess about once every 3 or 4 weeks or so
and usually in just small groups at peoples houses although we may be able to
use some conferance room space at one of the local univeristies and that will
help to get more people together.
> How do you arrange for meeting space when you do meet?
If it is at someones house that is easy. Otherwise someone will usually speak
up and take the ball and run with it so to speak. Usually whoever is closest
or in a position of influence will make the arrangements.
> What do you do at meetings?
Mostly talk LEGO. Although we do talk about group projects and some of us will
bring models for "show and tell". Believe me, when you get together you will
probably just start talking and before you know it it will be 11pm and past you
bed time :)
> Have you contacted, or attempted to contact The Lego Company or
> representatives thereof?
Not yet although we have been talking about it to see what our best approach
would be.
>
> If so, would you describe the experience as positive or negative?
>
> Has The Lego Company (or representatives thereof) contacted you? Again, was
> it a good experience or a bad experience?
No and I don't really expect to be contacted unless we do something that they
don't like :( . I would really just try and keep things small and informal to
start. Don't worry about TLC contacting you or having a relationship with you.
Just have fun and if we all get big enough who knows maybe someday they will
publically recognize us although I would not count on it in the near future or
possibly at all.
>
> Have you put on any shows?
We had a display at the MIT Mindfest.
http://www.nelug.org/mindfest99/
> If so, what suggestions would you have for other individuals or groups
> considering putting on a show?
We did this very spurt of the moment and if actually turned out very well. If
you have the time you should probably decide on a focus and build from there.
It is also nice to have handouts and signs that display the fact that you are a
private group and that you display is from private collections. Do Not Touch
signs are a necessity no matter how much you don't want to put them out. We
learned that one real quick.
>
> How well was your show received? (by the organizers, by the public, by
> whoever)
It was received very well. We were a bit out of the focus of the Robotics
theme of the event but people still really liked looking at our models and we
even got to talk to some LEGO reps which was very interesting.
>
> Do you get much disbelief when you tell people that you are (a member of) a
> Lego fan club? How do you deal with it?
I think all AFOL's run into this from time to time. I would say don't worry
about it and let your creations talk for themselves. I would also say don't
try and convert people either because that can just make things worse. If they
don't like LEGO so be it. Believe me your creations can work wonders and if
they don't... oh well.
>
> What advice would you have for others attempting to start a Lego club?
All I would suggest is that if you have 4 or 5 people interested then that is
enough. If you have the money I would highly recommend getting a web site and
a domain name like www.nelug.org or www.baylug.org etc. This makes you look
alot bigger than you really are and that helps in getting people interested.
Eric Kingsley
The New England LEGO Users Group
http://www.nelug.org/
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Some questions...
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| In lugnet.org, James Brown writes: <I didn't get much (read: any) response to this in the .org group, so I'm guessing it doesn't get read much. Cross-posting to .general for exposure, follow-ups set back to .org> Hey all, The Edmonton (Alberta, (...) (25 years ago, 15-Nov-99, to lugnet.general)
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