UPDATE – The convention, Bricks by the Bay, took place on April 9-11, 2010, and we’re in the planning process for the 2011 event. You can read more about it at the Bricks by the Bay site.
Some of us in BayLUG have been talking about having a LEGO convention here in northern California. This would be similar to some of the existing ones that have been taking place around the country for years:
Brickfest (Washington DC and Portland OR)
Brickswest (San Diego CA)
Brickcon (Seattle WA)
Brickworld (Chicago IL)
Brickfair (Washington DC)
There’s a thread on LUGNET about it started by Russell Clark, the BayLUG president.
If you haven’t heard of these before, here’s the basic idea. We take over a hotel or convention center for a weekend (hopefully a 3-day weekend), and 100+ LEGO fans descend upon it from all over the country (and maybe a few from overseas). The LEGO company usually sends some high level executives and other representatives. The local LEGO store usually has some special discounts and an after-hours sale just for con-goers.
We’re currently looking at hotels in and around Santa Clara and San Mateo, since that’s where our two local LEGO stores are. If you have any ideas for venues or would like to offer support, please let Russell or me know.
What about Sacramento, since there is a new store there? Might be more economically feasable.
I think with gas prices as they are, and most of the organizers living in the Bay Area, Sacramento would not be practical for us to organize. Is that where you live? :-) We will be doing the NMRA national train show in 2011 in Sacramento, however. Have you been to the new LEGO store there yet?
the lego in sacremto’s arden fair mall is a nice new shop that jest opened a few months ago
The convention center in sacremento would be a nice location
San Francisco could also be good location it is near the bay area
Does lego get involved with these conventions
I haven’t been to the new Sacramento store. However we do have two stores in the bay area, and enough volunteers to organize one here…
Hey Pete — we’ve already picked a hotel to have it at, and the announcement should be coming soon once all the paperwork is finalized. Yes, LEGO does get involved: they usually have a vendor booth and keynote speaker, and often announce new products. For example, they announced the new castle Medieval Town set at BrickCon in Seattle last October.
What? Nothing since February? Did this thing just die on the vine, or what? It’s long overdue fr an update, and if you think it’s going to be limited to a “hundred or so”, think again! The SF Bay Area DESERVES its own con, and it should be held in San Francisco or Oakland, both of which have places that are easy to get to with plenty of parking! Come on, don’t stick it a place where there’s no Bart and bus service is spotty,, at best!
Sorry, I haven’t updated Brickpile about this but if you see http://www.bricksbythebay.com it has all the details. We’re opening registration any day now. However, the only hotel we were able to find that would give us the kind of package we needed was in Fremont.
A WHAT ABOUT SAN FRANSISCO IS THE BAY LOTS OF PEOPLE LOVE LEGO BRING THE CONVENTION TO THE BAY AREA.
Check http://www.bricksbythebay.com for info about the upcoming 2011 event in Santa Clara, March 25-27. I added a paragraph to the post too.