BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Discussion and planning of large-scale Castle Themed displays and events
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NovelNinja
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BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by NovelNinja »

Hello, everyone! My name is Matthew, and I'm the Castle theme leader for BrickFair VA this coming summer. As my niece is currently showing me up by getting prepared already, I thought I'd stick this up in case anyone has questions, comments, or coordination to handle. As things become finalized, I'll update this post with new information obtained by my horde of ninja spies.

BrickFair VA will run from Wednesday, July 29th through Sunday, August 2nd. Public hours are Saturday and Sunday.

Due to problems with PayPal apparently not liking us, we've had to suspend digital transactions. Membership has to be paid by check (I suggest getting your bank to mail it; it's almost as quick). Membership is $50 per exhibitor. All exhibitors under the age of 16 need to be accompanied by a guardian at all times, or they will be given an IV of caffeine and pixie stix and let loose on the world.

If you want to reserve space, get something cleared, or work out a collaboration, this is your thread!
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by SSchmidt »

Hey Matthew,

I am the head collaborator of the Lands of Roawia this year.
We were set up beside you last year with our large castle siege display. We are planning a bigger footprint for BFVA this year. As of now, we have agreed to a footprint of our collaboration at 14x5 (or 70 32x32 baseplates). I feel confident it won't be smaller. It could grow by another row but I am doubtful.

I would say a 15 foot length would be ideal for us.

We will be able to secure that much space? We are wanting to put on a big show this year!

Is the most important thing to go ahead and register the MOC?
I am anticipating 10-20 LoR themed MOC's. Is it possible to have them in the same area?

Thanks for your helping us last year.

Kindest regards,
Sam


EDIT*** Also can we pay by money order for a quicker transaction?
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by NovelNinja »

Yes, the best thing to do is to register a space. If you're confident you'll have a larger footprint, register the larger one. As long as you don't overshoot by too much, it's easier to adjust for empty space than to suddenly have overlap where it wasn't expected. (As for how much is too much, try not to overshoot by more than two baseplates in any one direction, please. That's 20 inches, of course.)
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by SSchmidt »

Thanks Matt, we appreciate your awesome work in coordinating the castle theme!
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by NovelNinja »

If you've been coming to BrickFair for a while, you might know that the Dulles Expo Center has been talking about expanding for a long time. This expansion was supposed to be complete about three years ago. They've finally started. I suspect this means the people in charge of the project are middle-managers who were fired from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for sheer incompetence.

(If you're not a local, well . . . ask me about Metro stories if you're really bored sometime. I hope you don't get that bored, though.)

The point of the matter is that a lot of renovation has been going on. The expansion is on the north side (that's the left-hand side as you walk in the door), but the interior has been renovated as well. The front-side bathrooms are either done or will be done by the time we're in there. The renovations on the front entrance, however, will not be done.

DEC assures us that this will not cause any issues with access. That's probably true, for the most part; they have to maintain a minimum level for the fire code, after all. However, for those of us using carts (or a wheelchair, in my case), I suspect there might be some extra navigation involved. If you're using anything with small wheels to transport your Lego, keep in mind that there's a possibility of a few extra bumps.

Because construction is going on while we do this, I know the noise level is going to be higher. Of course, during public hours, I suspect it will all just blend together. I don't know where Castle will be located, however, just that we're not going to have the hideaway. Someone has to go up against the north wall. It might be us. I hope not.

One other tidbit: the bingo/auction area has once again been moved to the back of the center, as has been requested for some time. This means that the noise caused by bingo, the moon bounce, and the stay-and-play are all going to be in one general area. This may mean that the most valuable real estate is going to be near the food court, if we stick with this design. Plus, the previous least-wanted tables, by the back bathrooms, have been moved elsewhere.

It also means that the back bathroom is going to be the place to use. The public already tends to use the front ones, because they're by the food court. With bingo there, the bathrooms will be even harder to spot. That means that we can easily avoid the swampland we get in the front during public hours by simply going to the back wall. (I know that experienced BrickFair attendees are probably already aware of this, but I figured it was worth pointing out.)

Other than that, everything is like previous years, with last year's center design for the vendors (and corresponding easy browsing for the Yard Sale). I can't release the temporary map to you yet, but almost nothing is currently labeled and so it wouldn't help much anyway. We're still waiting on different LUGs and collaborations to give us final details. If there are any other details that Castle exhibitors should know about, I'll try to let you all know as soon as possible.
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by NovelNinja »

I've just received word from Todd that World of Lights is going to be a disappointment this year. I don't know if anyone here intended to do it, but DEC's renovations have actually done better than advertised for once. They replaced their lights with more energy-efficient and brighter bulbs -- so bright, in fact, that even with just the security lights on there's no way to get World of Lights functioning the way we wish it would.

Now, DEC is willing to work with us. They're going to disconnect some of their security lights and see how dark they can make the place and still be comfortable. They told Todd that they'll test this before BrickFair. However, Todd isn't optimistic; he said anything that works for us isn't going to work for them, and vice versa.

As a consequence, World of Lights will no longer be a Virginia event after this year. It will happen at other BrickFair locations, just not around here.
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by DanLMOTD »

NovelNinja wrote:Other than that, everything is like previous years, with last year's center design for the vendors (and corresponding easy browsing for the Yard Sale). I can't release the temporary map to you yet, but almost nothing is currently labeled and so it wouldn't help much anyway. We're still waiting on different LUGs and collaborations to give us final details. If there are any other details that Castle exhibitors should know about, I'll try to let you all know as soon as possible.
Don't forget Mini Con - that's in the center again this year, and a big part of why we moved to the center ring/quadrant design for the rest of the event layout. We want to see some good microscale version of all the Castle layouts this year. Remember, if you leave the micro Castles to me, they won't be very good.

For the uninitiated, Mini Con is a miniland-scale model of the convention itself. It's roughly 1:20 scale, but 1:16 is a bit simpler when building mini versions of large layouts. There's more info on the BrickFair site: http://www.brickfair.com/Mini-Con/

I, unfortunately, am not planning on bringing any decent Castle MOCs this year - I'll be flying in and don't have anything respectable that could survive the trip.
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by SSchmidt »

Anyone attending BFVA this year needs to stop by the LoR displays in the castle section. We would love to chat with you!
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Re: BrickFair VA 2015 Castle Thread

Post by SSchmidt »

Brickfair starts today (for exhibitors). We will be in the castle section putting together our large display. We are located right near my LUGs display (OKILUG). Stop by and see us!
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