Tag Archives: Ambassadors

The LEGO Ambassadors program is a community engagement program run by the LEGO Group to solicit input from the adult LEGO fan community. The LEGO Group also occasionally provides information back to the community through LEGO Ambassadors who represent various LEGO Users Groups (LUGs) and online communities like The Brothers Brick.

Survey Time!

The good people at LEGO have asked us to spread the word about a customer survey they’re running. It’s targeted towards the adult and teen fan communities, and you have to be at least 13 years old to respond. As a fan, I’m happy to have my voice heard by folks inside the LEGO company, responding to the survey seems worth the time. Here’s the word from LEGO, followed by links to the survey in various languages.

Dear LEGO fan,

The LEGO fan community is important to us. To improve and support the LEGO fan community we have partnered with Aarhus University, Denmark, and DePaul University, Chicago, to carry out this survey. The survey is part of a large ongoing research project aimed at better understanding user activities and interactions in communities.

We would greatly appreciate if you would complete the questionnaire (see link below). It will take you approx. 20-30 minutes. Please note that you must be at least 13 years old to take this survey.

The survey ends by May, 17, 2012 (midnight GMT). All responses are strictly confidential. We will share the top line findings (in English) with you once we have analyzed the data (approximately end of June 2012) through the LEGO Ambassadors.

Thank you very much for your help!

Kind regards,
Jan Beyer, Community Operations Manager EU/Asia
James Foulds, Community Operations Senior Manager, Americas/Australia
Tormod Askildsen, Head of the LEGO Community Events & Engagement team

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_German
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_English
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_Spanish
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LEGO_Fan_Survey_Korean

LEGO answers some questions about Quality

Recently the Ambassador program was given a new line of communication for dealing directly with the Quality department. A number of questions were submitted and here are the answers.

QUALITY ISSUES & COMPLAINTS FROM LEGO FANS
1. Instruction booklets come loose in the boxes. They sometimes get damaged during transit. If they were tightly packed in polybags, it could prevent such damages. Stickers also get wrinkled, they could be packed with instructions.

A. Yes we know and we have started to package building instructions, labels and textiles in all sets with more than 1000 pieces in a poly bag. The current solution is a quick and dirty one. Version 2 will be ready with-in the first 3 month of 2011.

2. Fans are having hard time choosing colors from instruction booklets. Black and dark grey are especially very hard to distinguish.

A: It is not only fans that have the issue. All of us have. The last 4 years we have tried to optimize this 2 or 3 times by adjusting the printing technique with no luck. For 2012 second half products we will introduce an out-line for black elements – cross fingers that it will help.

3. Injection marks on transparent parts are ugly, fans don’t find them suitable for building. Especially window/glass pieces require more attention about molding.

A: There have been made some changes but give us an overview of the elements and we can verify/show if they have been corrected

4. Slopes come with different surface textures. Some are completely smooth while others have grain on them. It would be better if they were standardized.

A: 2 – 3 years ago we ensured that all roof tails’ have the same surface. By an unknown reason back in 2003 the surface of roof tails was changed from rough to smooth. All set manufactured the last 2 years should have uniform roof tails

5. Studs on certain parts are sometimes solid and sometimes hollow. This should be standardized too.

A: Sorry no. A hollow stud are there either because we need that building function (a tool for the minifigure fits on to the hole) or because we for technical reasons cannot make the stud hollow from the back. Look at the studs from the back on a plate. The studs is hollow otherwise we cannot control the dimensions.

6. Small tires are covered with some greasy material. Dust sticks on them and it’s hard to clean it.

A: We need the grease in order to remove the part from the mould. Yes it tend to be sticky and we are constantly trying to improve the materials used for tiers as they give other technically challenges.

7. There is a major tone difference in same colors. Dark red, red and yellow are the most troublesome colors about this issue. Also, some pieces are translucent, especially red ones. They look too bright next to other parts in same color.

A: We are constantly improving our colors and many improvements have been made the last 3 – 4 years. Please judge the current quality based on set packaged the last 6 months and feedback on that as we want the right quality.

9. Figure heads or torsos are problematic. Some heads don’t fit on some torsos, they stay too loose.

a. We need some examples, and please do so in order for us to correct the moulds.

If you have any questions or quality issues that you would like me to forward on to LEGO, feel free to do so in the comments. If you have quality concerns, try to be very specific. Links to a picture help a lot. If you have an issue with a particular part, make sure you include the mold and cavity numbers from the element. They generally look something like “3-1”. This signifies the mold and cavity from which your part came. It is a lot harder for the Quality department to look for problem if they don’t know which mold or cavity is causing the issue.

New survey from LEGO:

TLG have a new survey which they’d love you all to complete. Ignore the ‘Kids Inner Circle’ branding. It is for adults.

And to prove they do compile the data here is a brief summary of the last survey

  • The survey was completed by 7.911 AFOLs and TFOLs. 35% of respondents were TFOLs, 65% was AFOLs. The number of respondent continues to grow and the difference between teenagers and adults has shifted by 5% in favor of the teenagers from the last survey results.
  • In this survey we asked some questions specifically about the use of smart phones. We found that only 33% of the all respondents use one, of those only 19% of the teenage fans use one while 41% of the adults use one.
  • Regarding the preferred operating system, Apple was the highest with 49% followed by Android with 16%.
  • When asked about interest in interacting with LEGO Customer service, 33% said you preferred not to. Of those that would like to interact, 53% preferred to use an online method such as facebook or virtual chat program

LEGO want to hear some new theme ideas

ThemesOur LEGO Community Rep. Steve Witt has asked the LEGO Ambassadors to collect suggestions for new LEGO themes. This is your chance to write down some theme ideas and have someone from LEGO read them. So get to it!

To get involved simply 1) think of some theme ideas (no more than three per person), 2) check that your themes don’t already appear and 3) write down any new themes you might have and support any that already appear. I’ll compile some results by the 24th October to submit to Steve.

Additional information 14 Oct 2010: Due to the overwhelming response and difficulty collating the information I’d like people to a) avoid repeating ideas, b) keep their theme ideas as short as possible. As of now I will simply ignore all suggestions by anyone who fails to follow these two simple rules.

EDIT: Comments are now locked.

July 2010 LEGO survey for AFOLs & TFOLs now online [News]

The LEGO Group values input from its consumers — including us, the fans. The second-quarter survey is now available online for Adult and Teen fans of LEGO:

July 2010 AFOL/TFOL Survey

This survey is a great way to let your voice be heard by the company, and help them drive and shape their involvement with the community. Take a few minutes and fill it out!

Have your say on colours

From Jan Beyer

Hi LEGO Fans,

The LEGO Community Development would like to know which of the already existing elements would be needed most urgently in missing colors. Some optimism presumed the number one of the resulting list could end in a “color change” and might be produced in the future.

To participate – the way is as follows:

  • Suggestions need to be send by email until the 30.06.2010. These suggestions will be sorted and afterwards published for a voting. The final chart will be send to the LCD Team.
  • For easier handling the suggestions should be aligned to the description of the BrickLink catalogue: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogTree.asp?itemType=P
  • Suggestions only will be accepted in a color which is still in production. So e.g.”Fabuland brown” is invalid because production of this color was stoped in 1997. An overview about the actual colors could be downloaded here: http://x-brick.de/ambassador/colorpalette/2010LEGOcolorpalette.pdf

An example:

Part No: 50746
Name: Slope 30 1 x 1 x 2/3
New color: brick-yellow (tan)

The suggestions should be send to this email address: ccf@x-brick.de

EDIT: I presume that “Some optimism presumed the number one of the resulting list could end in a “color change” and might be produced in the future” means that there is a good chance that the number one element will likely appear in sets.

April 2010 LEGO survey for AFOLs & TFOLs now online [News]

Every few months, The LEGO Group asks adult and teen LEGO fans questions that help provide input for future decisions.

The first AFOL/TFOL survey of 2010 is now online.

In addition to the LEGO Ambassadors Program, this is your chance to sound off on the things that are important to you.

The LEGO Window to the Community Program comes to an end

That’s right folks, it’s a sad day. LEGO is putting an end to their Window to the Community program, which allowed fans to install displays in LEGO Brand Retail stores. Fortunately, all is not lost, Steve Witt and others at LEGO are working on developing a new program for interaction between the stores and the fans.

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

LUGs can purchase LEGO bricks in bulk through the LUGBULK program [News]

LEGO bricks

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.

LEGO wants to hear from you again

Hi All,

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

LEGO VIP Program

I’m passing some information along about the LEGO VIP program. I must apologise profusely for taking so long to blog this information. It came right in the middle of a very busy patch of my life and I then completely forgot it.

LEGO VIP program

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.

Colour Change 2.0 – Not happening after all [News]

UPDATE (AB): We’ve received word that the purported color change is not happening after all. Here’s Jan Beyer, Europe’s LEGO community coordinator:

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.