AFOLCON/LEGO Show news

 

  • AFOLCON/LEGO Show news

    Posted by Huw, 10 Apr 2012 08:41. Filed under Events (UK).

    Hot off the press from the AFOLCON orgainsers...

    With only 4 weeks to go, the news from AFOLCON and The LEGO Show is starting to come thick and fast!

    Announced over the weekend are some special events for The LEGO Show - the largest LEGO event in the UK! On Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the team have announced some special talks available to anyone who is at the show.

    On Saturday 5th, Adam Vaughan will be giving a talk to the public about LEGO Friends and the design process that they've been through - for the last 4 years. On Sunday 6th, Mark Stafford will be answering the most popular question he gets - "How do you become a LEGO designer?" and on Monday, well, there is going to be a session on Monday at 2pm - but that one's still under wraps! It's very, very, exciting!

    The LEGO Show team also announced some special sessions for those adult fans attending over the weekend. 2 special AFOLCON sessions will be given on Saturday and Sunday evenings, at 5:30pm. If you can't attend the AFOLCON days, this will give any AFOL the chance to hang out with other attendees, meet all the LEGO employees that are at the show and listen to some special announcements. The first of these to be announced is that on Saturday evening, Signe Lonholdt will be giving us the inside info on  'ReBrick: behind the scenes'.

    So, what are you waiting for? Tickets are selling fast, so to guarantee entrance to The LEGO Show, go to www.thelegoshow.com to buy your tickets in advance. You'll save 25%, skip all the queues and guarantee your entrance to the largest LEGO event in the UK!
     


    6 comments, latest one posted 13 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by Andhe in United Kingdom, 10 Apr 2012 10:06

The Monday sounds exciting! Re-release of Galidor I hope! (jk :p) It's going to be fun! One more exclamation mark!

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 10 Apr 2012 14:23

I don't think I am going to be able to go sadly. I'll be hard at work revising for GCSEs in May! But I will be going to Swindon for the GWLS in October, possibly as an exhibitor if I can wrangle a deal with them to let me exhibit although I am not old enough to be a member of Brickish. I saw one or two people last year who looked under 18 but were sitting proudly behind their MOCs. Was that you? If it was, how did you manage to get to exhibit? Or does anyone else know?

Posted by Martin in United Kingdom, 10 Apr 2012 17:12

^ those guys did not last long. They were asked to leave immediately (which they did). You have to be a Brickish member to exhibit, and for that you must be over 18...sorry!

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 10 Apr 2012 17:35

@Martin - That seems like quite a poor policy, no offence intended of course. Is it some kind of insurance reason or is it just a privilege of being a Brickish member? When I asked an exhibitor last year I was advised that if I were accompanied by an adult at all times it would be OK to exhibit. It seems strange that under age exhibitors were moved on as as well, because I went last year on Sunday, so surely they would have been long gone by then? Anyway, thanks for clarifying, two more years of just looking I suppose...

Posted by warrenelsmore in United Kingdom, 11 Apr 2012 02:40

@CapnRex101 - I'll let Martin answer for STEAM, but it's not just insurance reasons. Sadly, UK legislation and guidelines* are pretty strict regarding working with anyone under 18. It's not impossible, obviously, but it does make things far far more complex to arrange.
Apart from that, it also confuses the public. I've had to turn down a number of requests that were obviously not AFOLs, just eager parents wanting to show off their 6yr olds' latest creation. If there are other exhibitors under 18 that makes it very hard for me to say no to them.

As an example of what we have to do - I spent 3 days training at the NSPCC last month, so I can act as the 'Designated Safeguarding Children Officer' for the public. Believe me, 3 days of talking about child abuse is *not* fun....

Do I want to exhibit TFOL MOCs? Yes - very much so, and as The LEGO Show is run by a limited company with corporate insurance, I can allow 16yr olds to do so (with their parents present). But anything more is a whole pile of hurt, sadly, and that's coming from a company, not a voluntary LUG :-(

*the UK, specifically. Most other countries in which LEGO events are held have far different (read: easier to work with) legislation. For example, in the Netherlands you don't need any public liability insurance as a company because every citizen has their own!!

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 11 Apr 2012 02:53

@Warrenelsmore - Thanks for this, interesting to read, waiting gets very dull after a few years I have found.

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