Brickcan 2016

[adamsonofwilliam]

I had the opportunity to chat with our good friend Ley Ward last night, and he let me know about some of the going's-on on the West coast.

It sounds like he's part of a board looking to get a Con started on the Pacific, but on this side of the boarder. They've spoken with the organizers of Brickcon and have decided to call it Brickcan. By the sounds of things, they're hoping to keep it at least four months away from Brickcon on both sides of the calendar, putting sometime in and around May/June. Plan currently is to run the first con in 2016, and they are currently looking for space to hold it in and around Vancouver.

Something to keep in mind for the future, and defiently something we should find a way to support. Depending on when the actual dates are for it and how many would be interested in going, we could get a convoy going!

[cowboy_x]

I like that idea.

Never been to big con yet, and a road trip sounds fun.

[adamsonofwilliam]

Looks like a date has been set for the show out west, April 21-24, 2016.

Some preliminary info about the show:
- being held in Richmond BC, just outside of big ol' Vancouver.
- AFOL days are April 21-24
- public days are April 23-24
- sound like there might be some things going on before and after the AFOL days for those who are early / staying late
- this is being organized (in part) by Ley who, for those who don't know, is a member of SLUG (who now lives mainly on the West Coast) !

See the website for more info: http://www.brickcan.com/

[adamsonofwilliam]

p.s. I'm totally going.

[adamsonofwilliam]

p.s. I'm totally going.

Yeah, now I'm for realz going!!! www.brickcan.com/

I've already convinced one fellow SLUGger to come out West with me, but my van can hold 5 comfortably with room for luggage and MOC's. Our roster currently consists of:
- me (Adam)
- Andre
- you?
- you?
- you?

The travel plan is as follows:
- leave Regina around 4 or 5 on Wednesday (Apr 20th)
- drive either a) as far as we can or b) all through the night to Vancouver
- arrive at the Con on Thursday the 21st, have a good time
- Friday, have a great time!
- Saturday, have an AWESOME time!!
- Sunday have an AMAZING time!!!
- begin driving East late on Sunday
- drive either a) as far as we can or b) all through the night to Regina

So... who's in!? As long as you can meet in Regina when we're ready to hit the road, you're in!!!

We'll split gas and hotel costs, the rest (food, LEGO store purchases, etc) is up to you. I will be booking a hotel room pretty soon to make sure we've got on at the location of the Con.

[kbrtosser]

There is a distinct possibility that I can make the trip as well. 80% in the realm of possibility.

[adamsonofwilliam]

There is a distinct possibility that I can make the trip as well.  80% in the realm of possibility.

WOO!!! I've never wanted 20% more on something than I do this!!!

Except a 20% raise I guess... but that's not going to happen...

[adamsonofwilliam]

Registration for the Con is now open! Visit the link below and scroll down:

http://www.brickcan.com/

[adamsonofwilliam]

Just an update (nudge, nudge... prod prod...) from the good people at Brickcan:

"If you're thinking about attending BrickCan and booking rooms for your stay, the deadline for the reduced River Rock room rates extends only until February 1st, after which point, the prices will return to the regular rate. BrickCan has blocked a certain number of rooms exclusively for BrickCan attendees but after February 1st, that block goes away, and all rooms become open to the public again (this hotel frequently fills up). So, your best opportunity for getting a room at an excellent discount (as much as 50% off the regular price), is right now.

"Also, remember that the discount room rates apply to the 3 days before the Con and 3 days after, so you can arrive early or stay late and enjoy Vancouver for even longer at a good price in a good location. For the most current information about booking hotel rooms go to our website: http://www.brickcan.com/accomodations

"Secondly, we have had a lot of Con registrations from AFOLs who are currently not affiliated with any LUG. These are new adult fans, which is very cool, and quite surprising! What does this mean for you? BrickCan has a limit on how many Con attendees we can manage, and how much display space we have, so if you are planning to attend, don't wait to register! It would be a shame for the Con to fill up, and for you not to get in."

If you're interested in coming along on for a road-trip with Andre and I to the show, I've got a room booked with space for 4. As well, the more coming, the cheaper the whole thing will be...

Accommodations (3 nights):
For 1 - $600 ea.
For 2 - $300 ea.
For 3 - $200 ea.
For 4 - $150 ea.

Transportation (fuel):
For 1 - $300 ea. (estimated)
For 2 - $150 ea.
For 3 - $100 ea.
For 4 - $75 ea.

As you can see, if we fill the van with 4 of us, the whole thing would be just over $200 each! Pretty sweet deal for a weekend of brick-filled fun!!!

[kbrtosser]

Count me in Adam. My registration, t-shirt and set are paid for.

[adamsonofwilliam]

Count me in Adam.  My registration, t-shirt and set are paid for.

WOO!!! That makes three confirmed on the bus!

[adamsonofwilliam]

Count me in Adam.  My registration, t-shirt and set are paid for.

WOO!!!  That makes three confirmed on the bus!

And now there's FOUR!!!

Registered and heading to Vancouver for the show are: myself, Andre, Ray M. and Karen!

This awesome roster (or awester!) fills up both the van and the room for the weekend! If you're looking to make the trek to meet us there, you're on your own!

Registration and hotel costs go up after the 20th, commit soon!!!

[Chorduroy]

Really wish I could go to this.

[ARXD]

Me too...

[adamsonofwilliam]

And now there's FOUR!!!

Registered and heading to Vancouver for the show are: myself, Andre, Ray M. and Karen!

This awesome roster (or awester!) fills up both the van and the room for the weekend! If you're looking to make the trek to meet us there, you're on your own!

Registration and hotel costs go up after the 20th, commit soon!!!

Note: Karen is now flying to the venue with her hubby, so she's out of both the van and the room! Good riddance!!!

So... if anyone else wants a ride and a place to stay...

[scottstaz]

Hey, Carolyn and I are registered also. It's going to be awesome.
Can I send a box with the van?

[adamsonofwilliam]

Hey, Carolyn and I are registered also. It's going to be awesome.
Can I send a box with the van?

A box should be fine. As it's only the three of us (currently) in travelling by road, there should be enough room for everyone's stuff.

[adamsonofwilliam]

We're less thank 3 months away from the show now!

Currently: Andre, Ray M, Karen (and hubby and daughter), Scott (and his lady), myself and WES (and his wife) are making the show! Along with Ley, look at all this SLUG support! Well done crew!

[drinksonme]

Did you "good riddance" me? Ouch. Air Miles Sale. That is all. And Ashley can stay in our room so that she doesn't have to travel back and forth to North Van in the evenings. That is actually all. So excited!

[adamsonofwilliam]

Did you "good riddance" me? Ouch.

All in good fun.

[adamsonofwilliam]

ONE WEEK (and a day) AWAY!!!

[ManitobaMoe]

Have fun and post lots of pictures for the ones of us who live vicariously though you

[Chorduroy]

Have fun and post lots of pictures for the ones of us who live vicariously though you

THIS. All of this. Sigh ...

[marc-andre]

It has been a week since BrickCan already :-(
It was a great experience; it was the first con for myself and the first for Vancouver as well.
The convention was held at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond. It was a beautiful place with flowers and ocean out front, aircraft approaching right over top of the roof and direct access to the sky train, greater Vancouver's rapid transit system.

I arrived by plane early Thursday morning and after some Tim's for breakfast rode the train to my hotel, just one stop south of River Rock, in less than 10 minutes. There wasn't a room available for me yet so I did some work and then left my bags with the receptionist and rode the train towards downtown and one of the local Lego stores. The staff there were very nice but the store is quite a bit smaller than the one in Winnipeg and there wasn't anything different on the wall. I proceeded downtown for a short stroll along Vancouver harbour. After a short while I returned to River Rock to check whether the registration desk for BrickCan had opened yet.

As they were still getting ready I returned to my hotel to grab my MOCs. Since I didn't have too much space in my luggage I ended up bringing just the winter scene, my dino from the Lego store and a train locomotive that I was working on. The latter was still incomplete as my last Bricklink order hadn't come in in time. (One shouldn't leave these things to the last moment I guess). Upon my return to BrickCan the registration desk had finally opened and I was able to sign in and grab my goodies. We got a special BrickCan set that builds a small hockey game, a bag of assorted bricks, a T-shirt and engraved name bricks. I proudly put the name bricks on top of the MBLug insignia bricks that I had picked up from Mone the week before and proceeded into the venue.

The exhibition hall was similar in size to Club Regent's auditorium. The seats where all lowered into the floor to make space for two long rows of tables. Extra tables were positioned around the perimeter. Everything was decked nicely in black table clothes making for a great background for the multitudes of MOCs that people were just starting to set up. Along one wall there where several smaller vendors setting up as well and one larger toy store was setting up at the opposite end.

I immediately went to work placing my MOCs down which took me all but 5 minutes and started my tour around the place to take in the atmosphere and talk to other builders. I helped a gentlemen put down 'cobblestone' in his vignette and talked to a lady that had brought here dream house, complete with modern furniture and a rooftop patio.

Later that afternoon I helped assemble trophies for the 40 categories that could be won. One of the guys responsible is a Lego certified professional and builds cool stuff all day long (and gets paid for doing it!). In the evening there was a meet and greet. I got to talk to people from both the US and Canada and it was very enjoyable; however, I was quite tired and took the train back to the hotel and fell asleep without delay.

Next morning I got back up and picked up my family from the airport. Luckily the last Bricklink order had arrived and after a formidable buffet breakfast at the Casino I finished my locomotive and placed with other engines on the train yard that had since been finished. At 10am I proceeded up to a banquet hall that was dedicated to the even as well and participated in the speed-build. We got to build a Chima crazy motorcycle and I placed around 3rd or 4th out of 30. Next I participated in a master build where we had to create something to the theme of Canada out of three Lego sets. The sets were Exosuit, Desert Racers and Olivia's Exploration Car. This was quite a hard challenge as the parts available were quite limited in colour. I opted for a microscale scene with ocean, prairies, mountains, fields, forest and city with a train crossing through them to represent the multitude of landscapes we have to offer here in Canada. The winning entries were a lumber jack and a hockey player. After this event i scooted over to the next banquet hall to listen to Kevin Hinckle from the Lego Group. He couldn't talk about the future as was to be expected and would like us to just be happy, and whether the monorail will be coming back is in the future, so no comment.

Around lunch time the event was officially kicked off with animated brick films and an opening ceremony. Everyone was to get a gift over the duration of the show. There were books, sets, goody-bags and more sets.

I had the afternoon free and toured the now much more densely populated display hall. I also checked out the vendors. There were lots of interesting sets from the past, although in order to afford them I would have had to start saving up even further into the past!

After an enjoyable dinner with my family we proceeded to the family and friends event which was quite packed and we marveled at people's ingenuity and artistic prowess. It was so good to see all these happy people and to meet them in person!

To end the day on a good note I participated in a dirty brickster event which was a lot of fun although I got my gift stolen once! It was quite late and back to the hotel we went for our beauty sleep.

Next morning the public exposition started and I helped up in the play area where the families could come and hang out waiting for their time slot to see the show. Some children are amazing builders (and some are really not). Next on my schedule was a team speed build. Since I knew no one when signing up I ended up with a group from Vancouver. There was a couple, both of which are amazing artists and another gentlemen. While we had some disagreements about how to attack the build, I didn't think sorting all the pieces first was a great use of time, it was a fun experience. The scoobi doo mystery mansion and a nexo-knight set were all mixed together. We ended up not doing very well (I bet the winning teams didn't sort everything first). We got to keep the sets and decided to make a parts draft - finally I have some windows and doors!

After the draft I ended up trading some of my goody bag parts with some other participants. This was a really good experience. The organizers had made up our goody bags so that we got only a few different kinds of bricks and trading was the way to get a better variety; we ought to try this out at one of our Lug meetings.

I returned to the play area to help out some more. All these parts that were in those bins made a Lego lovers heart beat faster! In the evening we got a presentation from a Lego designer from Billund (the one featured in that recent TV show). He also could not talk about the future (that's just a little crazy). The designer talked abou the past though and we learnt that he had been working there for just over a year and had three sets on the market already; one being the superhero airport scene with the brick-built maxi figure. Some other AFOLs were also giving presentation and even an AFOL wife shared her humorous experiences with us. The day ended up with further games in the evening.

Sunday, the last day of BrickCan was already starting with more public exposition. I helped again in the play area and proceeded to participate in another parts draft that netted me more windows and orange-yellow parts. Some more trading followed; I think I got a very good return on investment of bricks! Lots of good pieces, including even a British flag piece! After some more time helping out in the play area I did one last tour of the event, took some pictures, checked out all the vendors and bought myself an older architecture set; second hand but I was able to market it down quite a bit. I also adopted a non-Lego smurf and finally proceeded to the balcony where the closing ceremony was going to happen shortly.

The last visitor hadn't been out of the exhibition for more than a minute when people started to break down their displays. It was so sad to see them being packed back up. I couldn't get enough of them. Finally trophies were awarded and the event wrapped up. I was able to inherit a cardboard box from one of the vendors to pack up my MOCs in (I had smartly forgot my box at the hotel) and proceeded to the floor with a tearing eye. Things were gone in a hurry. What took two days to set up took an hour or two to tear down.

Finally I had to leave to bring my family back to the airport. I spent the evening downtown Vancouver and left the city with a heavy heart the next day.

I hope to be back next year.

[adamsonofwilliam]

It has been a week since BrickCan already :-(

A well-written account sir.

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and all the events that went on. There were so many incredible people there to talk and listen to.

I hope to make it an annual event... but might fly next time.

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