Here’s the message from Steve:

Hey everyone,

I’m mailing you because your club is involved with the Window into the community. Many of you have probably seen the rumors that the Window into the Community are going to be removed from the LEGO Brand Retail stores. Well, I’m sad to say that its true, but it isn’t the whole story.

The Windows needed to come out because the stores are desperate for the space and on top of that we (upper management and me) have been looking for a way to morph the existing strategy for Club store interaction into something that creates a better experience for the entire Club instead of just one person at a time.

I want to assure you guys that just because the Window is leaving doesn’t mean something else isn’t going to take it’s place. I just wanted to make sure you guys had some information from me.

We have a basic plan ready to implement soon but we’re also still growing the ideas. If you have anything that you and your club would really desire to do in/with a store please respond to this email as all ideas will be considered as we try to grow the new version of AFOL/Brand Retail interaction into something even more interesting and fun than we’ve ever had before.

Steve

Dear LUG Members,

The LEGO LUGBULK Program was a big success last year so we have decided to continue the program – still as a pilot which can be terminated anytime – in 2010 but with some adjustments and even more defined rules based on our experience from last year.

We are happy to announce, that we in 2010 can offer the LEGO LUGBULK Program also in the USA.

Jan Beyer

Some good news for LUGs this year with the extension of the LUGBULK program and its expansion into the USA. LUGs must meet these criteria (zipped .doc) which can be summarised as follows: 10 members, 2 public shows a year, official website, at least 1 year old. If you believe your LUG may be applicable read the instructions (zipped .doc) and send the important info to Jan by the 31st of Jan or 16th of May. Also ask for the part list from Jan as it is too big to host here. EDIT TG I made a mistake. There is no part list. Do not ask for one.

EDIT TG 2 I uploaded the Master Sheet for applying for this program to Flickr. You may be better getting the .doc file from Jan or Steve but this gives you some idea of what you need to write.

TLG want to hear from you again about AFOL/TFOL matters.

The LEGO Group Wants to Hear From You!
As Adult or Teenage Fans of LEGO, you bring an important perspective to the LEGO Group. We respect your creativity and passion for the LEGO brand.

Since December 2008, we have done quarterly online surveys to learn more about the needs and wishes of global AFOL (defined as ages 20+) and TFOL (defined as ages 13-19) communities. For your information, we have listed the key findings from the latest survey in July 2009 below. Now we ask you to take the survey again. It include some of the same questions, but also a set of new questions for you.

Please take a few moments to complete this short online survey to let us know your opinion about the LEGO Group.

You might notice that the link refers to the LEGO Kids Inner Circle; this is because Satmetrix, which hosts that site, is also supporting our efforts to track AFOL/TFOL opinions. Rest assured that this survey is for AFOL’s and TFOLs only.

Here are some of the key findings from the July 2009 survey:

• The survey was completed by 4800 AFOLs and TFOLs. 32% of respondents were TFOLs, 68% was AFOLs. When asked about likeliness to recommend LEGO products and services to friends and family, AFOLs are (consistent with the previous surveys) more likely to recommend than TFOLs. When asked what the LEGO Group can do to improve willingness to recommend, most frequent answers center around request for products and benefit/recognition programs targeted specifically to AFOLs and TFOLs.
• In this survey we asked some questions specifically about BrickJournal. The reason for this is that the LEGO Group has been providing start up support for taking BrickJournal to a printed Magazine and together with Joe Meno and his publisher Tomorrows, we are interested in getting feedback from the AFOL/TFOL community. Here’s what we learned:
• High awareness among adults, but there is work to be done with teens! BrickJournal has 70% awareness among AFOL’s, but less than half of TFOL’s have heard of it.
• Of those aware of BrickJournal, however, only 20% have acquired a printed copy.
• On a scale of 1-4, with 4 the high score, readers gave BrickJournal an average score 3.13. Only 14% of fans gave it a score less than 3.
• BrickJournal has some ways to go before being truly international. For those who did not purchase a copy of BrickJournal, almost half cited how difficult it is to get as the top reason for not buying a copy yet.

Thank you,

The LEGO Community Team

It also came as a PDF which made life much more difficult. I’ve converted the PDF pages to images and uploaded them to flickr. It comes in UK, US and German forms.

And from the FAQ:

Frequently Asked Questions

• How can I join the LEGO VIP Program?

  To join the LEGO VIP Program, visit your nearest LEGO Store and see a LEGO Store Associate to pick up a card. To complete your registration, you must go online to VIP.LEGO.com and submit your member profile. You can find a complete list of LEGO Stores at stores.LEGO.com

• How do I collect points with my LEGO VIP Card?

  When you are ready to make a purchase at the LEGO Store, hand your VIP Card to the cashier. Your points will be instantly added to your card as a part of your purchase transaction, and you can view the points you’ve earned at the bottom of your receipt.

• What about my current paper loyalty card?

  If you own a loyalty card with valid stamps on it, just bring it in store and exchange it for a new LEGO VIP Card. We will transfer all of your spend amount across so you won’t lose out, plus we’ll still give you the 25 bonus points for signing up.

• How do I check my points balance?

  There’s a points statement at the bottom of your receipt, which will tell you how many points you have earned on that transaction, and what your current total balance is. You can check your balance by visiting VIP.LEGO.com and selecting the ‘My VIP’ tab.

• How do I add family members to my LEGO VIP Membership?

  If a family member is over 13 years old and resides at the same postal address, you can add them to your LEGO VIP Account. To do this, your family member must first join up in store and collect their own unique LEGO VIP Card. They can then ask a Store associate to create a ‘shared membership’. If you already have both cards, you can also create the
  shared membership by contacting our Consumer Services department. It is important to note that all members within a Shared Membership can earn and redeem points from the same points account. LEGO is not responsible for any points redeemed without shared member approval.

• What happens if I need to return items to the LEGO Store?

  If you return the item with your receipt you can exchange it for another product or refund. We will require your VIP Card to adjust the balance accordingly. For more information on the LEGO Store return policy, please consult your purchase receipt or a Store Associate.

• What if I change my address?

  If you move, please let us know! You can email our Customer Services Department, and include your old address, new address and VIP Card number.

• What if I have lost my LEGO VIP Card?

  If your card is lost or stolen, please contact a LEGO Store Associate for a replacement card. The lost card will be deactivated and your points balance will be transferred across to the new card. LEGO is not responsible for any points redeemed on a lost or stolen card.

• Do my points ever expire?

  Yes, if your card is left inactive for a consecutive period of 24 months, we will reset your points balance. Before this happens, LEGO will notify you via email.

Hi all, i spoke to our Design Lab again and this was a misunderstanding from my side. The Design Lab is constanly looking trough our color pallette to make them as consistant and efficient as possible.

So these were only thoughts and not any final decisions so please take the information down again everywhere you posted it and let the people know that no final decision was take so that it was basically a misundestanding.

I’ve just received word through the LA forums that a few colours will be changing over the upcoming years: trans-black (aka smoke), pearl light grey and pearl dark grey. I suspect for the majority of us the trans-black change will be the most noticeable.

I realise that these changes are going to upset some of you but since no-one has seen the new colours please keep your comments reasonable. Trans-black isn’t the first transparent colour to change (I think it’s probably one of the few to never have changed) but if you hate change I suggest you start stocking up now.

Ben Ellermann has recently announced the launch of his new blog, Ask a LEGO Fan. His purpose behind this new site is to field questions from adult fans, young fans, parents of fans, and anyone interested in anything to do with Lego. Ben is one of the most knowledgable fans I’ve had the privilege of knowing. He has also been selected as a Lego Ambassador in the current cycle. This puts him in a unique position to get answers to your questions. Check it out and drop him a line with any questions you might have. I think his site will be an asset to the community and to all of those connected to it.

The following lists the Ambassadors that were chosen from the 86 nominees, including the group(s) they represent and their country. Congratulations to the new LEGO Ambassadors and to Tim, who is the representative for The Brothers Brick!

Sebastion Arts – De Bouwsteen – The Netherlands
Sue Ann Barber – MUGs – Australia
Patrick Begin – QueLUG – Canada
Heiner Berg – MBFR – Germany
Norbert Black – ParLUGment – Canada
Pitsanu Boonyarit – Thai Brick Club – Thailand
Andrew Bulthaupt – BZPower – USA
Pijarn Charoensri – T-LUG – Thailand
Marco Chiappa – ItLUG – Italy
Ben Coifman – Railbricks, ILTCO & COLTC – USA
Fernando Correia – PLUG – Portugal
Yvonne Doyle – Brickish Association – the United Kingdom
Ben Ellermann – Classic-Castle.com, GtwLUG, ForbiddenCove.com – USA
Adrian Florea – RoLUG – Romania
David Furphy – CALG – Australia
Lluis Gibert – HispaLUG – Spain
Tim Gould – Brothers-Brick.com – Australia
Matija Grguric – Klub Kockice – Croatia
Philip Heinrich – Bricksinmotion.com – USA
Tom Jacobs – Classic-Pirates.com – Belgium
Tsang Yiu Keung – HKLUG – Hong Kong
Sung-Wan Kim – BrickInside – South Korea
Christian Krutzfeldt – 1000Steine – Germany
Tuomas Kukkamaa – Palikkatakomo – Finland
John Langrish – VicLUG – Canada
Igor Makarov – DoubleBrick & Phantoms – Russia
Lino Martins – LUGNUTS & SeaLUG – USA
Matija Puzar – Brikkelauget – Norway
Don Reitz – FBTB.net – USA
Wagner Cavalli – LUG Brasil – Brazil
Harald Roossien – LowLUG – The Netherlands
Dan Rubin – Classic-Space.com – USA
Yoshikazu Saito – AFOL Japan – Japan
Svend Erik Saksun – Byggepladen – Denmark
Verena Schaden – LCOe – Austria
James Shields – Brick.IE – Ireland
Josephine Shih – TWLUG – Taiwan
Mikael Sjostedt – Eurobricks & SweLUG – Sweden
Pedro Silva – Comunidade 0937 – Portugal
Ludo Soete – BeLUG – Belgium
Stacy Sterling – MOCpages & TwinLUG – USA
Saso Tomat – Slobricks – Slovenia
Jenn Wagner – BrickLink – Canada
Marcin Witkiewicz – LugPol – Poland
Cagri Yuz – TurkLUG – Turkey

Some communities were even unable to submit their nominees due to lack of testimonials. Unfortunately, this part of the process is proving no less challenging this year.

So, this is a reminder for all of you out there to go to each of the communities where you’re active and write a testimonial for your LEGO Ambassador nominees.

Here are the three nominees for The Brothers Brick:

• Dan Rubin
• Nannan Zhang
• Tim Gould

Classic-Castle.com | Nominees:

• Ben Ellerman
• Bluesecrets
• Sebastian Arts

Classic-Pirates.com (process complete) | Nominees:

• Bonaparte
• Zorro

Comunidade 0937 | Nominee: Pedro “El_Gordo” Silva

Eurobricks (process complete) | Nominees:

• KimT
• Mark Larson
• Mikael Sjöstedt

FBTB | Nominees:

• Don Solo
• Jeremy Scott

Flickr | Nominees:

• Heather Braaten
• Lino Martins
• Ralph Savelsberg

HispaLUG | Nominee: Lluís Gibert

MOCPages voting is over, and testimonials are being collected by the individual nominees.

Palikkatakomo | Nominee: Tuomas Kukkamaa

PLUG | Nominees:

• Fernando Correia
• Paulo Castanho

RoLUG | Nominee: Adrian Florea

SandLUG | Nominee: Fradel Gonzales

TurkLUG | Nominee: Cagri Yuz

Kockice | Nominee: Matija Grguric

I’ll be adding more lists of nominees as I encounter them. Other contributors are welcome to edit this post and do the same. Commenters are encouraged to add links in the comments as well.

If you’re wondering what a testimonial looks like, check out the three testimonials I posted for the nominees chosen by the LEGO fan community on Flickr.

Learn more about the nominees

You see their posts here on The Brothers Brick, but who are the people behind the names? Read brief bios about each nominee and learn what you can expect from them during the 2009-2010 cycle.

• Dan Rubin
• Nannan Zhang
• Tim Gould

Each nominee also needs three testimonials from members of the community that nominates them. Feel free to leave a testimonial for one or more of the nominees on the posts I’ve linked to above.

Vote! Vote! Vote!

We can submit up to three nominees to The LEGO Group. Conveniently enough, we only have three nominees. Still, it’s important for us to communicate to LEGO which of the three nominees we believe will best represent the interests of The Brothers Brick readership community.

Please leave a comment on this post with your vote for one nominee.

Note: To keep vote tabulation simpler, please ask your questions about the process on the original post (LEGO Ambassadors Cycle 7 nomination process for The Brothers Brick) rather than here.

About Dan

Daniel Rubin is a long time space builder. He is the main administrator of the forums on classic-space.com. Dan is also a blogger on The Brothers Brick, where he largely covers space, mecha and sci-fi creations.

Dan’s Platform

• Continued pressure on the LEGO company to produce more and better space sets
• Continuing work on a new Idea Book project, which he proposed and began work on during the last cycle of the Ambassador program
• Continued attempts at getting AFOL desired parts into production
• Bringing the complaints of the people to the ears of those at LEGO who have the power to affect them

Feel free to ask the nominee questions or leave comments of support on this post, but please don’t forget to actually vote!

About Nannan

Nannan became involved with the online LEGO community in late 2004. He is now 20 and has been a builder for as long as he can remember. Nannan builds in a variety of themes that often overlap with the science fiction universe; other times they are purely made up ones. In addition to building, Nannan is familiar with blogging, collecting, and selling a small part of his collection to fund the hobby. In addition, he attends LEGO conventions throughout the year and participates in his local division of TexLug. His varied activities across multiple communities make him a knowledgeable and active fan when it comes to the brick.

Nannan’s Platform

The key characteristics of a LEGO Ambassador should be communication and visibility in the community. As a communicator who shares information with the company and the public, I will actively participate in both professional and fan-based communities. Such participation includes contributions to forum discussions, providing feedback to the Community Development Team, and spreading announcements. In addition, I will uphold my visibility to the public, which is important to the representational role that Ambassadors play. I plan to achieve this through displaying enthusiasm for the hobby in online and offline communities, sharing my creations, and attending LEGO conventions and local events.

Feel free to ask the nominee questions or leave comments of support on this post, but please don’t forget to actually vote!

About Tim

Tim Gould has a relatively long and fairly varied history playing with LEGO bricks. As an adult he began his serious model building with virtual bricks (an interest he hopes to revive again) but has now expanded his interests to the real thing. With ‘theme’ interests beginning with trains and progressing through town, space, a bit of castle and dribs and drabs of other things, he has played around with many bricks in many different ways. He’s also fortunate enough to have worked on a couple of projects with the LEGO company including the 10183 hobby train set.

Tim’s Platform

As a long-time multiple hat wearer I’ve had a long history with dealing with varied communities. In fact, one of the things I enjoy most about The Brothers Brick is its broad appeal and broad spectrum of interests. My view of the LEGO Ambassadors program is as a facility for communication between AFOLs and TLG and I hope to leverage my history and interests to help that communication.

Ultimately I believe that the fans’ best interests are best served by a pragmatic dialogue and I feel I am able to deliver this dialogue.

Feel free to ask the nominee questions or leave comments of support on this post, but please don’t forget to actually vote!