BrickCon 2009: Last-minute logistics

Well, if we haven’t convinced you to attend BrickCon next week, you’re pretty much stuck following along at home, so we’re moving on without you. For those of you who’ll be joining us at Seattle Center a week from today, this post includes a bunch of important information — especially for first-time attendees.

Past attendees will also notice that this is largely an update of last year’s post. Please forgive the repetition.

Fill out your MOC cards by September 28

MOC cards identify your LEGO creations for fellow attendees and the general public. They also help theme organizers like Josh and me plan for how much space is needed.

Fill out your MOC cards on BrickCon.org by September 28 to ensure that they’re printed on the nice card stock that will help them stand up next to your amazing LEGO creations.

Remember, only “registered” LEGO creations (ones with MOC cards) will be eligible for the various awards given out by BrickCon.

By the way, unless you want to spend the public hours explaining what “SNOT” and “MOC” are to kids and their parents, avoid “AFOL-speak” in your descriptions. Seriously.

Bring stuff for the draft and Dirty Brickster

Drafting a LEGO set allows you to get parts in large quantities that you might otherwise have to buy individually (from, say, Bricklink). Read more about how the draft works on SEALUG.org. If you want to participate, the draft set for BrickCon 2009 is 5972 Space Truck Getaway.

Dirty Brickster is a LEGO “white elephant” gift exchange. Bring something that would be worth $10-20 to the recipient, wrapped.

Pack your LEGO creations for travel or shipping

Before you stuff your LEGO into your carry-on luggage, consider reading the LUGNET post by Duane Hess and the Classic-Castle.com article by Lenny Hoffman about packing and shipping LEGO.

Wouldn’t you rather spend your time socializing and integrating your pristine creations into the display instead of rebuilding them?

Unload your LEGO at the venue

You should soon be receiving a message from BrickCon organizers with details on when, where, and how to unload your LEGO creations at Seattle Center. Last year, the loading dock was only available during the following times (we’ll update this as the 2009 times are finalized):

  • Thursday 8am – noon
  • Thursday 5pm – 9pm
  • Friday 8am – noon
  • Sunday 5pm – midnight

Given the limited space (it’s a tunnel), please only use the loading dock if you have massive amounts to unload.

Give us a tour of your LEGO room

Lego MOC photographyOne of the most interesting things about LEGO User Group (LUG) meetings is getting to see another LEGO fan’s building space.

If you’d like to share what your LEGO room looks like with fellow BrickCon attendees, bring a few good photos on a thumb drive for projection during the con.

Build!

With a week left, you still have time to build something and bring it for one of the many collaborative displays. Here’s a list of the various themes planned for this year’s convention:

Stag Beetle Solo
  • Battle Bugs
  • Capital Ship Modular Project
  • Castle
  • Great Ball Contraption
  • Mecha
  • MicroCity
  • Model Team Motors
  • Operation Bricklord
  • Space
  • Town/Train
  • Zombie Apocafest 2009

See you next week!

8 comments on “BrickCon 2009: Last-minute logistics

  1. Creative Anarchy

    The MOC card link isn’t working for me. I’m guessing you have to be registered for for brick con to fill one out?

  2. Andrew Post author

    ^ Correct. Only registered attendees can contribute to displays, and you have to be registered on BrickCon.org to register for the con, so unless you’re logged out (and just need to log back in), it sounds like you still need to register.

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