BrickFair 2009 (version 2.0)

[Dadster]

Just wanted to share with any folks out who might not know...

BrickFair is being held again this year just outside Washington DC. I rec'd an update email from Todd (and crew). Sounds like it should be another good time to be had!!

*Email Copy*

The BrickFair Team is happy to share these announcements:

=== 1/13/2009 ===

Some AFOLs may have shied away from BF'08, not sure of this name "BrickFair" or the Todd Webb guy running the show. But after we hosted 402 AFOLs and entertained 10,000+ public visitors in 2008, there should be no doubt that BrickFair is a blast.

BrickFair 2009 is coming this summer!

Our grand theme this year is FOOD & DRINK. We invite you to build anything FOOD & DRINK related. We'll have a special trophy and cool prizes especially for the FOOD & DRINK category. MOCs can be custom-built for the FOOD & DRINK theme, or you can modify a pre-existing MOC, such as turning a train car into a Bar-Car. FOOD & DRINK MOCs will not all be huddled together -- you'll see them wherever they land in the show.

STEAMPUNK comes to BrickFair 2009. Shilo Parker alerted us to this oversight :( He is our STEAMPUNK theme leader in 2009 and will be showing his own creations. So if you're a STEAMPUNK fan, and we missed you last year, we're ready for you now!

The BOARD GAME theme returns by popular demand. We hope to see some great new stuff here. We're also expecting a great showing in APOCALEGO. Stay tuned for more.

Of course, all the usual suspects will be there: Bionicle, Space, Train, Vignette, Mindstorms, Great Ball Contraption, Moonbase and more.

Registration for BrickFair 2009 is open now, and folks are already signing up. So register now to attend, and start building!

See you at BrickFair '09!

Todd Webb

OFFICIAL DATE AND LOCATION:

Join us August 21st - 23rd, 2009! (Open to public Sat and Sun only)

Sheraton Premiere Hotel

8661 Leesburg Pike

Vienna, VA 22182

(703) 448-1234

LINK ---> BRICKFAIR

Edited July 12, 2009 by Dadster

[Omicron]

Just so everyone knows, I am Shilo Parker. So lets give Steampunk a great comeback!

-Omi

[Dadster]

I'm really looking forward to the Steampunk stuff. I only found out what it was last year, but its a cool idea.

[CP5670]

I had a great time with this last year and will almost certainly come again, but I probably won't have time to make any new, substantial MOC in the meantime. I might have to just bring the same MOCs again.

[Dadster]

A new note...

Latest News: 2/22/2009

We are pleased to announce seminars already scheduled for BrickFair 2009. Will Chapman (you know, the BrickArms guy) will give a presentation about his custom molding creations. And Joe Meno (you know, the AFOL community's Abraham Lincoln) will present on BrickJournal. And even more, Joe will also speak about his fantastic trip to Saudi Arabia where he used LEGO in a college orientation.

If you'd like to speak for an hour about a niche LEGO subject that's close to your heart, we'd surely love to listen! Be a bigger part of BrickFair '09, shoot us an email to tell us about your angle. Requests from last year included: Train layout design, LDraw, Robotics building, Mindstorms programming, Collection insurance and Sturdy large-scale building design.

And for you Bingo fans, we heard your plea; seminars are scheduled to avoid overlapping with Bingo Grande. Oh yeah, LEGO Bingo definitely returns to BF'09 :)

BrickFair comes this August 21 - 23. Mark your calendar and register today! BrickFair.com

[Dadster]

Latest News: 4/28/2009

Howdy!

I am the host of Brickfilms at BrickFair '09. We need new films to show! If you are planning on attending the event, or would like to submit an absentee film, please burn your movie to a dvd or cd and mail it to the address below.

We like to keep the films G rated, but if there is profanity, it will be shown later to the adults :) The day will be split up featuring G-rated films and PG-13 films.

Deadline: All films must be received by August 10th, 2009. You will not get them back, sorry!

Mail to:

BrickFair Film

c/o Kim Graham

501 Hungerford Drive, P79

Rockville, MD 20850

USA

[Dadster]

The BrickFair Team is happy to share these announcements:

=== 5/17/2009 ===

Rec'd another email today...

Thank you for contacting BrickFair! Our [Contact Us] link is so under-utilized :(

We, too, were overwhelmed by the crowds last year! We expected 5,000, but received 10,000.

WHAT WE ARE DOING TO ACCOMODATE CROWDS THIS YEAR:

* Strollers are not permitted in the display areas. Hopefully that'll free up walking space. We suspect strollers were a major traffic contributor last year. A "stroller parking area" will be provided for folks near the front of the entrance line.

* The vendors are moving upstairs, along with The LEGO Group. So they will have more room to spread out, and shoppers at those vendor tables won't clog display areas. There are 2 staircases + the elevators to the vendor/LEGO Group level which will be clearly marked. BrickFair maps will be provided on your way in, so you can easily find everything.

* The Grand Ballroom, without vendors or The LEGO group, will have more space for LEGO creations -- more spread out (although, the same # of tables).

* Stay & Play (formerly called Free-Build) is doubling in space (2 rooms instead of 1) and doubling the bricks too. Last year's Free-Build was probably a fire hazard. We want all the kids to have a chance to play, so we hope the extra space and brick make that possible.

* Last year our Saturday public hours was a lesson to us. Our traffic patterns were identified. We modified the public line overnight so that, on Sunday, people entered the rear of the Grand Ballroom. This formed a circular traffic flow, and GREATLY cleared up congestion. We will streamline this design even further this year.

* The lobby area will contain slightly fewer display tables. This will clear up the hub of traffic outside the ballroom and will open the path to the convenient glass door and stairs leading down to the theater level.

* We hope to have a few (train?) displays downstairs as well, further spreading out our displays and easing congestion.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

There may not be a "best time" to visit. Being limited public hours (11am - 4pm), those 5,000-per-day are squeezed into one singular time frame. However:

* Our doors close at 4:00pm and we kickout folks at 4:30pm. So there's a winding down period from 4:00 to 4:30pm. That would be a good time to be at BrickFair -- although, clearly, that's not enough time to see everything.

* Last year we saw ~5,500 visitors on Saturday and ~4,500 on Sunday. So Sunday may be a better bet for lighter crowds.

Also, last year we got extremely lucky with multiple Washington Post articles in the Kids' section, the Business section, and the Weekend section. We cannot expect such great coverage again, so we do anticipate lighter public attendance this year.

And to your final thought, YES, registering for the full weekend definitely grants you greater access to BrickFair -- and during slow times too (not to mention more games, prizes, etc). Bringing MOCs to show off is not requirement but is strongly encouraged. Registrants' MOCs are what make up the show!

Thank you for asking. I hope somewhere in all this you'll find a tid-bit of wisdom to help you enjoy your time at BrickFair even better.

See you in August!

Todd

Gotta get myself fully registered...can't wait to go back!

[MaxGoof]

This seems to be the closest Lego convention to Upstate NY for some reason, so I'll put in a vacation request for that Friday. and cross my figures for my first Lego convention!

[Dadster]

This seems to be the closest Lego convention to Upstate NY for some reason, so I'll put in a vacation request for that Friday. and cross my figures for my first Lego convention!

Glad to hear it! I know I had a blast last year. I'd love to go to Chicago as well, but the funds and time are both already spoken for. Brickworld is the same weekend as Fathers Day...

[Dadster]

MORE NEWS!

Latest News: 5/26/2009

Hi Susan,

Thank you for the great questions and comments. I'll share these answers with everyone on our mailing list. More improvements on this summer's BrickFair...

1) We will more clearly mark the cashier stations for incoming public. And we're giving the cashiers some instruction. Hopefully that'll make your entrance smoother. But, they *are* volunteers, so we're not getting nit-picky over a little confusion there :)

2) We plan for more cashier stations (5 instead of 3). So your time in line should be shortened.

3) We'll have more stanchions guiding the public line, and accompanying signs with helpful info, such as "Cash/Check only" and "ATM is in the lobby."

4) Empty ATM: We will contact the ATM owner before BrickFair and let them know the ATM should be loaded with cash. Hopefully they will heed us.

5) Maps will be available to the public, for grabs, as you walk the entrance line. The map will specify places and times. All the basic answers should be at your fingertips.

6) Last year, the only 2 things not open to the public (during public hours) were seminars and the Charity Auction. This year the Charity Auction *is* open to the public. So you should feel less closed out. Alas, seminars are still reserved for registrants; it's one of the benefits of paying $50 instead of $10 entrance.

Thank you again for the great feedback. I'm pleased that we're already on top of most those items you observed :)

See you at BrickFair this August!

Todd

[Omicron]

A reminder to all.

Just in case some haven't heard, Steampunk is making its way back into the Lego conventions. It was a huge hit at Brickfest 06, but since then the theme itself hasn't done much, and I wanted to change that. Brickfair Coordinator Todd Webb has granted me the position as Steampunk Coordinator. I would love to see amazing things from you guys if you are attending Brickfair. Brickfair will be held on August 21-23, with the expo being on the 22 and 23. There will be an award for the best model and also a very large prize donated by me.

Thanks much.

Brickfair Steampunk Coordinator

Shilo Parker

[Dadster]

Thanks Shilo! It'll be good to meet you in Aug.

[Omicron]

Thanks Shilo! It'll be good to meet you in Aug.

Chances are you already met me before at Brickfair or Brickfest. :P

-Omi

[Dadster]

Only my 2nd year at BrickFair, but we'll def shake hands and make it official this year... I'm starting to toy with the idea of creating a SteamPunk MOC.

[CP5670]

I need to catch up with some of you this time around. Things were kind of hectic last year and I didn't get a chance to meet anyone from this forum.

[Sir Dillon]

Thanks for keeping this thread updated guys. I'm planning on attending this as my first full event, and am pretty excited.

When is a good time to arrive? Would mid-morning on Friday be adequate, or is it better to come Thursday night?

[Infomaniac]

I will hopefully be attending

this looks like so much fun

[CP5670]

Thanks for keeping this thread updated guys. I'm planning on attending this as my first full event, and am pretty excited.

When is a good time to arrive? Would mid-morning on Friday be adequate, or is it better to come Thursday night?

I came around 10 on Friday in the past, and there was still a lot of MOC setup remaining at that point. I'm from that area though and the hotel is a 30 minute drive from my parents' house, so I stay at their place. It may make sense to come on Thursday if you are staying in the hotel.

Speaking of that, one thing I've learned is to not start taking pictures too early, or you may get a lot of unfinished models in the photos. I ended up with many of those in 2006. Friday evening is probably the best time for pictures, as most things are built up by that point and you don't get the huge weekend crowds coming in the way.

[Omicron]

Only my 2nd year at BrickFair, but we'll def shake hands and make it official this year... I'm starting to toy with the idea of creating a SteamPunk MOC.

Yes definately.

And if you brought a Steampunk MOC, that would be great of you. :)

I need to catch up with some of you this time around. Things were kind of hectic last year and I didn't get a chance to meet anyone from this forum.

Yeah it is really hard to get most things done that you wanna do.

When is a good time to arrive? Would mid-morning on Friday be adequate, or is it better to come Thursday night?

Really depends on where you're coming from. I am driving down from Massachusetts on Thursday and staying Thursday night, because if I came Friday, I would be bushed during setup.

-Omi

[Dadster]

Last year, I stayed at my bro's place in PA thinking it was only a 2hr drive from his place, but the rain slowed things waaaaaay down travel wise. I still got in around 1pm and had a nice relaxing look around. I was also able to map out the drive to Fri Night's discount shopping. Sat and Sun were packed with public folks. After the Philly Comic Con last weekend, I really gotta start creating...

[MarcusV3]

I'm so excited that there is actually an event around my area I don't know if I'll be able to go but I'll try really hard to!

[Dadster]

I'm so excited that there is actually an event around my area I don't know if I'll be able to go but I'll try really hard to!

How far you have to go?

As it gets closer, we have to make plans to meet up w/ as many folks as possible. Last year, the organizers were able to secure a variety of discounts in nearby restaurants.

[Sir Wellington]

Me and my father will hopefully come. We are going to Washington D.C. to see the sights and we might stop by BrickFair.

[andy0002]

i will probably be going to this but im not sure yet. i didnt go last year and ive nvr been to a brick fair type convention thing before so this will be my firsy time. i understand theres alot of vendors there. will pick a brick be there? i no its at brickworld. brickarms, 1$ keychains, people selling older sets, people selling their own custom models for like 13$, etc etc. i havent heard anything about LEGO selling anything. will they? and because im 14 and am not paying 50bucks to get in, how fun will this be for me?

[Omicron]

i will probably be going to this but im not sure yet. i didnt go last year and ive nvr been to a brick fair type convention thing before so this will be my firsy time. i understand theres alot of vendors there. will pick a brick be there? i no its at brickworld. brickarms, 1$ keychains, people selling older sets, people selling their own custom models for like 13$, etc etc. i havent heard anything about LEGO selling anything. will they? and because im 14 and am not paying 50bucks to get in, how fun will this be for me?

Friday nights, the local lego store will hold a huge discount, and during the weekend a semi decent discount for attendees. Brickarms will be there.

It is totally worth 50 bucks for 3 days of amazing Lego fun. And since you're 14, you will need to register with a parent/guardian or someone who is over 18.

-Omi