A general discussion of con/event displays

Discussion and planning of large-scale Castle Themed displays and events
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A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by Bluesecrets »

First this thread is not about specific events or cons. Please open one of your own for your con or event.

Second, this thread is for the discussion of what we person believes should be displayed at cons. BUT...please remember each con has its own castle coordinator who is ultimately in chair of the area and can over ride you. And the con itself has it's own rules and procedures.

Third, this is not a thread in which to flame people...no flaming or trolling or telling people they are stupid or have dumb ideas. And just because you have been to a con multiple times doesn't mean your idea is better than others...respect each other.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by Bluesecrets »

My 2 cents...

Everyone displays different at every con. I have had my own separate table for a con, but mostly I have been part of the collaborative displays and prefer that method. I don't enjoy walking through an area and seeing apoc, then castle, then space, then castle, then adventure, then castle. I think it should all flow into one collaborative area. But that is my opinion.

As far as figs lined up on a baseplate...to each their own. Some people spend a lot of time individually customizing each of those figs. Who am I to tell them they can't display their work? If you need to show off an army of 300+ black falcons...so be it. I may not find it exciting and may not take a photo of it, but hey...it's your con. Have fun with it.

Contributor packs...I have received some. I have made some. I think they are special but are not required. If you want to make one for your area, you need to talk to the coordinator before. Because reality is, the coordinator is in charge.

There are displays that are a ton of figs attacking and battling. I just find my eyes can't focus on one thing when there are so many figs running around. Not my thing but hey...like I've said...if it is what you like, good. Do it.

So...I am sure there are things I haven't included...it is 6 am.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by ffilz »

I'm certainly not going to complain about anything anyone brings (though I may grumble about how certain people or certain MOCs always seem to win, but that's a different issue).

I loved the early collaborative displays, but lately, at the cons I've attended, while there have been collaborations among a few people, it seems like the main castle collaboration has just been his stuff next to my stuff next to her stuff. There have been minor attempts to "connect", but not like the collaborative castle town at BrickFest 2002 or the first big collaboration at NW BrickCon 2006.

I loved being able to get just about all of my castle stuff out on a table at Bricks Cascade this year. I have long wanted to build a castle world, not just a few MOCs. But it would be cool to collaborate with someone on it (and in the future, I will at least need someone to assist with setup and tear down since I have reached the limit of what can be set up in the time available). I still need to build castles (or something) for Wolfpack, Dragon Knights, Black Falcons, and Forest Men (and maybe another faction or two I'm not thinking about - oh, Bulls maybe, probably not Bat lords, maybe Elves, maybe something more specific for Dwarves).

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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by AK_Brickster »

I enjoy the collaborative aspect of conventions as well. I can build stand-alone MOCs and put them online for everyone to see just about any time I want, so it's fun to have the unique experience of coming together to build something with other fans.

I definitely would like to have a bit more emphasis on the collaboration portion of the castle section in coming years. I know that Josh has been pretty busy so maybe I'll volunteer to help him out with that aspect in an upcoming Con. 8)
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by Bluesecrets »

Being collaborative...and building a different "genre" of castle is kind of difficult. A couple of years ago, they did give me an area for my sandy tan castles and layout. Which was awesome, but it is hard to fit into a collaborative display when you are the odd one out. So I don't mind mine sitting next to yours sitting next to his. At least it is a flow of castle. But I think with castle..to make something truly collaborative and realistic..you are looking at a large area of land mass...with one castle..a village..lots of empty land. And while I honestly would absolutely love to build something like that or be part of it...I'm not sure kids will love it as much as a lot of awesome castles to look at.
I'm certainly not going to complain about anything anyone brings (though I may grumble about how certain people or certain MOCs always seem to win, but that's a different issue).


You aren't alone in that. I've been hearing that more and more often. Me? I don't exactly bring anything to "win" at a con. Each con judges everything so different. I think for me, it is about giving me something fun to build and something for people to look at and think "hey...that's kind of nice."
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by AK_Brickster »

Yeah I think winning the top spot isn't really something I'm that enamored with. I mean, the recognition is nice, but what do you get? A $200 Lego set? You have to spend at least 5x that to build something big enough to win, so that's not really worth it. I'd rather win a small theme-specific award (Such as "Best Cowification", for example...), because then you're more on equal footing with everyone else at the table and are being recognized by your "peers". :)

Also, I think you can have a nice collab without having a lot of empty landmass. Realistic? No, lol. But I think even something as simple as getting people's roads to line up nicely makes the whole thing look pretty neat.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by BiggerJim »

Blue your display was a different type of castle but we could fit any type into a collaborative display. In my own opinion the point a con collaboration is not to look ultra-realistic (like one castle and lots of space) but have lots to look at. Could be many castles/villages/farms/landscape all rolled together (even figs if kept under control). To AK's point it does add something too it when you can do the little things that turn a pile of stand-alone's into a collaborative display. That's where the theme coordinator has to... well, coordinate. But a lot of that is on the builders too. That communication has to be a two way street.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by JoshWedin »

AK_Brickster wrote:I definitely would like to have a bit more emphasis on the collaboration portion of the castle section in coming years. I know that Josh has been pretty busy so maybe I'll volunteer to help him out with that aspect in an upcoming Con. 8)
I accept! In fact, if anyone really wants to help coordinate, just let me know. I can always use help.

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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by BiggerJim »

JoshWedin wrote: In fact, if anyone really wants to help coordinate, just let me know. I can always use help.

-Josh
I'll help too. I won't know for sure for a few months my schedule for next fall but count me in if I can help.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by mpoh98 »

JoshWedin wrote:
AK_Brickster wrote:I definitely would like to have a bit more emphasis on the collaboration portion of the castle section in coming years. I know that Josh has been pretty busy so maybe I'll volunteer to help him out with that aspect in an upcoming Con. 8)
I accept! In fact, if anyone really wants to help coordinate, just let me know. I can always use help.

-Josh
I agree, a collaboration would be awesome! I would definitely participate, but what Con?
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by BiggerJim »

mpoh98 wrote:I would definitely participate, but what Con?
Sorry for the confusion. Josh has been the awesome castle coordinator at Brickcon for several years. On his watch the castle section has become one of the most populated themes there.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by SEdmison »

ffilz wrote:I loved the early collaborative displays, but lately, at the cons I've attended, while there have been collaborations among a few people, it seems like the main castle collaboration has just been his stuff next to my stuff next to her stuff. There have been minor attempts to "connect", but not like the collaborative castle town at BrickFest 2002 or the first big collaboration at NW BrickCon 2006.
I wasn't at BrickFest. I was at BrickCon 2006, but I was too much of a n00b to the scene to have connected with anyone enough to be aware of collaborative builds. So what, in your opinion, made those work so well that we've been lacking since? I would love to bring back the vibe that keeps people excited and feeling connected to other builders, and as the Castle coordinator for Bricks Cascade I'm ready to put our ideas to work in March.
ffilz wrote:I loved being able to get just about all of my castle stuff out on a table at Bricks Cascade this year. I have long wanted to build a castle world, not just a few MOCs. But it would be cool to collaborate with someone on it (and in the future, I will at least need someone to assist with setup and tear down since I have reached the limit of what can be set up in the time available). I still need to build castles (or something) for Wolfpack, Dragon Knights, Black Falcons, and Forest Men (and maybe another faction or two I'm not thinking about - oh, Bulls maybe, probably not Bat lords, maybe Elves, maybe something more specific for Dwarves).
I saw how much work went into setup and teardown. I will see what I can do about getting us some helper-gnomes.... :mrgreen:
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by SEdmison »

AK_Brickster wrote:I enjoy the collaborative aspect of conventions as well. I can build stand-alone MOCs and put them online for everyone to see just about any time I want, so it's fun to have the unique experience of coming together to build something with other fans.

I definitely would like to have a bit more emphasis on the collaboration portion of the castle section in coming years. I know that Josh has been pretty busy so maybe I'll volunteer to help him out with that aspect in an upcoming Con. 8)
I'm in for BrickCon and Bricks Cascade if we can come up with plans, specifications, and so forth. I don't have the building skill or speed that you guys have, but wherever organization and coordination can help I'm happy to pitch in.
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by Tedward »

ffilz wrote:I loved the early collaborative displays, but lately, at the cons I've attended, while there have been collaborations among a few people, it seems like the main castle collaboration has just been his stuff next to my stuff next to her stuff. There have been minor attempts to "connect", but not like the collaborative castle town at BrickFest 2002 or the first big collaboration at NW BrickCon 2006.
NWBC 2006 was my first AFOL event. It was also a heck of a lot of effort and excitement because the CCC standard had been discussed and developed for several years but this was the first time that someone took on the idea of putting a large coherant collaboration together. This website grew out of those discussions and became an integral part of that display and vice-versa. We had a general map and people committed to building sections. We altered the details and made adjustments but there was a general agreement on the direction and excitement for a truly collaborative build using CCC. It was a lot of work for the participants and especially for the coordinators.

In the years that have followed there has been an ebb and flow of time and energy that coordinators and participants have been willing to put forth. This year, 2013, if we are honest, the collaborative part of the display was phoned in. I am one of the worst the last few years as I have built not much but what I have built has been for my own display rather than being something intended for the collaborative part. It makes a difference when you are building for yourself and even though there can be lots of effort put into integration, unless a MOC is conceived and designed to fit into a collaboration it will never quite fit in.

This has been a while coming. A warning flag went up for me a few years ago when the CCC standard category was eliminated from the CCContest. Think about that for a second. From my perspective this very website and the development of the CCC standard were intimately linked. The CCContest started as a way to promote the site, castle building in general and CCC building as an integral part of both. Our flagship online event dropped our flagship project which today languishes in near total obscurity.

I understand that builders lost interest in the CCC. It became passe or boring or whatever and getting entries in those categories and in displays became like pulling teeth. I also understand that collaboratve displays do not need to use CCC or the more versatile Base8 but they are simply ways to make coordination easier. We don't have to use them to have collaborative displays but the more builders we join together the more complex it becomes. If those builders cannot meet in person and test-fit their modules together and make adjustments something like CCC/Base8 becomes necessary and tends to result in MOCs being less complicated/intricate to fit in.

If a builder feels their creation will be too hard to integrate or suffer from that integration they will simply take the easier path. Look at BC13 and the castle table. Very few of the MOCs on the "individual" side could not have been integrated into the "collaborative" side. The builders chose not to participate for whatever reason as they have every right to do so. There was no vision presented that allowed them to see their creations in the collaboration. No reward or benefit they saw to joining their MOC to the others.

In the end I think it comes down to effort and imagination. For a collaborative display to really work we must fire the imagination to the point where the effort seems worth it. Dave and Alice built an amazing collaboration. They felt that the insane effort they put forth was worth it to achieve what they imagined. (And boy was it worth it from my perspective.)

I personally like the collaboration but the amount of energy and effort that goes into a truly amazing display may be too much. Maybe we need to encourage and applaud smaller group collaborations like Rivendell and enjoy the main collaboration for what it is: a bit of fun and an excuse to rub shoulders with other builders. Not something that needs to compete with the Last March of the Ents or whatever Keith et al come up with.

So to get back to the original question of what, "should be displayed at cons", I say whatever our imaginations can conceive and our hands build. The public shows no sign of being bored by what we put out and given the huge range of possibilities I see no reason for that to change. Even the giant armies of figs appeal to some of the public. If our imaginations are engaged and we feel excited and eager to build something then somebody coming to the display will enjoy seeing it. Do we need any more than that?
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Re: A general discussion of con/event displays

Post by AK_Brickster »

Great points and observations, Tedward.

With regard to coordination and how much effort is required, has anyone ever considered doing something like this Google Doc that could be edited by participants?

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing

You'd start out with a blank grid marked out into 32x32 plate sizes (as determined by how much space you have for your particular convention's collaboration area), and have those squares broken into an 8x8 grid, so as to be Base8 compatible, then everyone just adds roughly where their structures/roads/rivers are going to be until the layout is full. Any unclaimed area becomes forest or roads that can easily be filled in.

To guide the layout, a general narrative could be determined ahead of time as a launch point, to be adapted as the layout takes shape. For example, something like:

"This year's layout will be based on two rival kingdoms fighting for control of a gold mine in the mountains. 'Faction 1' will be blue and come from the left side. 'Faction 2' will be red and come from the right side. Towns, rivers and forests can be laid out along the way as desired."

Seems pretty simple, right?
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