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Just saw that Brickworld is doing a virtual convention on the 18th via Zoom rooms. Admission is only $5 for the day and it looks like there are going to be a few Lego Masters displaying (Boone, Sam, and Jessica), as well as games, vendors, and presentations.
If anyone is interested, here’s the link with more info and to purchase tickets:
https://brickworld.com/brickworld-virtual/That is pretty cool. So this happens next Saturday, on April 18th? Brickworld Chicago happens in June, so is this Brickworld a surrogate for the convention that normally happens in Denmark?
Has there ever been a virtual LEGO conference before? This is such a cool way for builders to show off their work without all the logistical problems. Seriously, someone like Bob could show off his entire Hogwarts campus to people anywhere in the world and spend all day answer questions about it, show closeups, etc. without ever having to move and rebuild it.
(Bracing for Christmas tree jokes.)
Not really sure about what brought this on or any precedent. It seems to have popped up pretty quickly. For the price, it seemed like a good deal for something to do while staying in.
I’m really curious about how it’s going to work with the rooms. They’ve thought it through a bit, as they recommended a few things to prepare:
Zoom Preparation
The event will be executed via Zoom Rooms. You should download the Zoom app for your device prior to entering a room or you may be limited via browser access.- Once in a room you will be muted by design to minimize audio chaos
- You can ask questions via the typed chat and the host will do their best to answer questions
- We ask that you keep your personal video turned off to minimize the need for moderation
- Please keep your viewing focus on the display to maximize the size of that video window
- We suggest using a computer with a monitor for best viewing of the event
- Please feel free to raise your hand (a Zoom option) when you type a question to help get the attention of the host
- Please feel free to use the reaction icons to let the host know you enjoy a particular aspect of the display or presentation
If this works well, I agree with @greg that this could be a cool opportunity for the LUG to show off how awesome we are! ?
Yes it seems like a great price, the cost of parking downtown for a few hours! I want to try it out, maybe I can convince someone in my family to watch with me.
Maybe Brickworld will donate part of the proceeds to Zoom to help improve security!
They definitely had some technical difficulties. The first presenter didn’t arrive until close to 12:25 pm because the system froze and had to be rebooted. I did find it cumbersome to move between rooms a bit with the “leave meeting,” opening a new room, and re-entering a password.
The quality of the video wasn’t the greatest outside of the presentation and Lego Masters rooms. I ended up spending most of my time on the presentations. We also spent a good bit of time in the ball contraption and with Mark & Boonel Sam, and Jessica. They all had a good feel for moderating the rooms in a way that was enjoyable to watch for an extended period of time. I think it was the Jurassic Park one was a video on loop with someone talking about it, so that wasn’t too bad. The downside was the inconsistency of displayers/presenters with their cameras. Some were fixed cameras or static images, but others were moving them about the room and it was hard to see what they were talking about at times.
We also watched a live build by Abbies Dabbies, which was interesting. I’d be curious to hear how they thought it went. I could reach out to Abby and EJ to get their thoughts.
All-in-all, it wasn’t bad for a $5 cover, but it if we wanted to do something to showcase our builds, I’d suggest using a webinar with a dedicated host to moderate.
Yeah, I was doing it with Juliette and Maddie. The notes for joining said to not share video to help with reducing moderation, which just set me on alarm, as a parent, especially when we joined mark and Boone’s room with 135 people all with their videos on.
Then, when mark took a question, and a then a second, both were just 10 year old boys wanted to show what they built. Even a mom got in saying she knows one of Boone’s friends and was trying to make conversation with him. It was awkward to watch people trying to have personal conversations, but maybe that’s just me. Over half the comments were “Boone, sing is a song.” And eventually, Mark got him to sing. I had visions of Boone being 80 years old, cup in front of him, sitting on the floor at an AFOL convention singing.
We went over to Jessica’s stream and she was just pushing her bows, website, and art over and over. I’m sure it’s a great source of income for her. She was saying over and over for people to subscribe to her YouTube channel because she can’t do live streams until she has 1,000 followers. She’s trying to build something, I get it. I hope it works for her, but it was definitely not very entertaining, to me.
Sam just seemed nervous.
It was only $5, and I was happy to get the girls some extra exposure. They got to ask Jessica a question. It felt a little like a side show, but it was the first event like this, and the new Brickworld owner’s first time doing this, so kudos to him for being ambitious. I just don’t think zoom is the way to go for these things. Boone has been doing better streams on his own over the past few weeks. They seem much more curated.
I did end up chatting with EJ and Abbie for a while, as I was the only one in their room after 5 pm. They said they only had about 2.5 weeks to prepare for this and it sounded like they were on their own to figure out what to do/how to present.
I’m sure that Boone’s going to be asked to sing everywhere he goes. Poor guy!
Jessica was struggling with technology when I popped into her room, but I’m not surprised by pushing her brand. I hope the best for her.
Sam must have calmed down by the time I got to his room. He was actually really detailed going over his creative process and showing his brick organization. He had some really awesome mosaics. I loved his Golden Girls.
Will and I have been organizing everything LEGO in our basement, which can be rather tedious. Like an in-person convention, we both now feel a little more inspired to build again so I’m glad we took the time today.
I do agree that it definitely needs a better platform and a little polish. Asking people to present the same thing over and over for 6 hours is a big ask, especially when you can’t have personal conversations the same way you do in public (and they’re not used to public speaking in some cases). But it seems like they made the best with what they had, and it was a welcome change for us.
completely unrelated, i am NOT jealous of Mark Larson for having bought Brian out of brickworld this year. WOOF.
>> completely unrelated, i am NOT jealous of Mark Larson for having bought Brian out of brickworld this year. WOOF.
I don’t know if anybody else is on the BrickWorld mailing list, but he sent something out back in April or May. It sounds like they had already paid for the convention hall for this year by the time they realized they might need to cancel, and I think they can apply that money to next year instead, but they can’t get it back. Cause Larson offered a refund to anybody who had registered to be an exhibitor this year or bought a public ticket, but he made it clear that you won’t get that refund til next year, because right now, BrickWorld has no money.
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