Posts Tagged ‘bbtb’

Registration is now open for Bricks by the Bay 2012

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

The 2012 Bricks by the Bay Convention registration is now open!

The 2012 LEGO convention for the bay area will be held Friday-Sunday, March 16-18. Benefits of attending the convention include:

  • Custom engraved name badge made out of LEGO bricks
  • Access to speeches, presentations, and discussion sessions
  • Show your models in the Grand Ballroom for convention attendees and the public
  • Become a vendor (additional fee applies) to sell LEGO and related products at the convention and public show
  • Exclusive discounts at the LEGO store (TBD)
  • Chance to receive free LEGO sets in Prize drawings and contests

The event theme this year is “Green.” It is inspired by the fact that St. Patrick’s Day takes place that weekend, but we’re not limiting it to that: any creative use of the color green, subjects relating to the environment, and of course Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day themed models are suitable. In 2010 our theme was “The Brick Artistic” and in 2011 it was “Creative Combinations.”

If you’re interested in attending the whole convention, read all about the Convention, Hotel, Registration, and Schedule, along with more information about the weekend’s events.

Not sure if you want to come to the convention or just the public day? Read our FAQ to find out more.

How to Register:

  1. Go to the hotel site and reserve your room if you’re staying at the hotel – $10 discount per room on convention fees.
  2. Go to our convention registration form and register for the con.

Participation Options:

  • If you’re bringing anything to display, we are using a wiki workspace to plan space for each theme. Request a wiki account and add what you are bringing to the appropriate wiki page(s). (Click the Edit tab at the top of the page you want to edit to get started).
  • If you want to volunteer to help behind the scenes, subscribe to our planning mailing list.
  • If you wish to be a vendor, first register for the convention, and then fill out out Vendor Registration form (everyone working your booth must be a registered attendee).

Interview with yours truly about Bricks by the Bay

Friday, March 18th, 2011

A new interview I gave about Bricks by the Bay has been published on the KA-GO site. Just one week to go! Are you excited?

Bricks by the Bay 2011 Registration now Open!

Monday, January 24th, 2011

I’m happy to report that the registration form for the Bricks by the Bay 2011 LEGO convention is now available for general registration. I’ve been working hard with a team of volunteers (we can always use more help if you are interested) to get the convention organized and planned.

So if you’ve been waiting for this news to register for the convention, your wait is over. Head on over to the site now and sign up!

http://www.bricksbythebay.com/register/

Bricks by the Bay Photos

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

My Bricks by the Bay Pictures are available on Flickr if you want to take a look at some of the great models on display and the crowds on the public day. The convention was held Friday-Sunday, April 9-11, 2010 in Fremont. We had such great media coverage that throngs of people flocked to the hotel to see the LEGO models on Sunday, April 11. People waited for hours in a line that snaked out the lobby and through the parking garage and we had to turn people away once we realized the line was so long that people at the end might not get in before closing time. It was a huge success and we’re looking forward to having an even bigger and better convention in 2012.

Grand Ballroom

Click the image to see the pictures or view them as a slideshow.

BBTB: Some good, some bad, some ugly… but mostly great

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

So, that was what it’s like to run a LEGO convention.

I’m sitting in my hotel room, having just finished up the cleanup after the Bricks by the Bay LEGO convention. It was an amazing experience! The convention itself was so much fun and great to see so many of my ideas coming to life and actually working. We had nine themes, each with its own coordinator and judging categories, keynote speech by LEGO’s EVP-Marketing Mads Nipper, contests and games, and lots of door prizes. And though there were a couple times when I got really stressed out trying to make sure everything went off without a hitch, for the most part it was a seamless experience.

The public day though, was a bit of a debacle. We had such great publicity that the turnout was tremendous. I was interviewed for television several times, and the people came out in droves. People stood in line for hours in the cold and rain and the ballroom was packed elbow-to-elbow so much that we had to stop letting people get in line at 1:30. We had a few irate people after that, but most people understood that even if they got to the head of the line, they wouldn’t be able to stay long since we had to close at 4.

For the most part though, it went pretty well. We had a lot of positive comments and those who did get in seemed to have a great time. I just have to remember to not let a few bad apples spoil the barrel.

I’ll post my pictures online soon but right now I think I just want to rest and recover…