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  • Activity update Jan Beyer


    Jan Beyer

    Dear all, I like to share a little bit of information about my current activities before I leave for 3 weeks of summer vacation.

    AFOL Networking Events (ANE) is one part of my activities which means I run and develop the program that supports the large events worldwide where many international AFOLs come together to mingle, enjoy, exchange ideas and plans, educate each other and have a great time.

    Right now there are 12 events in this program which are BricksLA, Bricks Cascade, BrickCan, Brick Slopes, Paredes de Coura Fan Weekend, Japan Brick Fest, Brick World Chicago, Brick Fiesta, Bricks by the Bay, BrickFair Virginia, Skærbæk Fan Weekend and BrickCon.

    These events get a larger physical support (LEGO Sets and LEGO elements) as well as extra consulting and attention from the LEGO Group in form of dialogue, activities and staff visits.

    In the coming months I’ll work on a strategy with the aim to strengthen and extend the program so it becomes even more attractive for the AFOL Community as well as the LEGO Group and also see how we can extend it to not yet covered regions.

     

    Another part of my activities is to support and educate LEGO Branded Stores globally in how to best work with the AFOL Community. The focus of the role is two-fold 1) continue to help nurture the personal relationship between the AFOL Community and Store personal and 2) create new and interesting activities and collaboration opportunities between the store and community which can be implemented globally and allow us to leverage the store as a platform to engage more with the AFOL community and give back.

    What is LEGO Branded stores (LBS)? Moving forward TLG will not differentiate between LEGO owned stores (formerly known as LEGO Branded stores) and LEGO certified stores. The company wants to differentiate based on size, where flagships stores will have a different offering of activities as well as a larger product portfolio vs medium (regular LBR store) and smaller stores (LCE stores). Good news is that once we start launching the toolbox into new markets we expect that more and more recognized community members will be able to join AFOL shopping days and / or participate in the showcase program (please note there will be regional and maybe even local differences – so we will not be able to launch ‘one size fits all’ due to difference is business practice, local relevance, size and maturity of the recognized community etc).

    I’m currently working on a LBS toolbox containing educational material as well as ideas and plans for activities the stores can do together with the AFOL Community. While some elements of the toolbox are already launched in Americas and Europe (like the showcase program) we aim to launch the toolbox in China already this year and we have received great interest in LCS markets in Europe and Eastern Europe. Once the toolbox is final I’ll share more information about its content with you.

    I’m also working on a digital AFOL sticker on the digital VIP card for all members of the recognized AFOL community to join the LEGO Brand Retail AFOL Shopping Days. The digital sticker till replace the physical sticker we have today. Some fans have had the pleasure of testing the digital sticker and I look forward to share more information about this new initiative later this week.

     

    The third part of my activities is to support and work with the LEGO House in Billund to integrate and represent the AFOL Community best possible into their activities and displays as the Community is seen as an important part of the LEGO Brand and LEGO experience in LEGO House.

    So concrete examples of the activities I work with in connection to the LEGO House are among others MOC exhibitions in different areas of the LEGO House (Master Piece Gallery, World Explorer, Show Cases), LEGO House themed Fan evenings, LEGO House AFOL Christmas Party and LEGO House AFOL Day. I also focus on increasing the representation of toy photography (end of June we had a Stuck in Plastic foto safari held in LEGO House) and the Brickfilm community.

    I hope this gives you a good overview and feel free to ask if you need more details.

    Have a great summer and I hope to see you around somewhere at an AFOL Networking Event, in a LEGO Store or at the LEGO House.




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    First off, thank you Jan for this update. You and the community engagement team have a tremendous amount of respect for us and our represented communities.

    Second, you mentioned that the LUG Showcase program has been launched in NA and Europe with plans to expand into China-"While some elements of the toolbox are already launched in Americas and Europe (like the showcase program)"

    Does this mean that the showcase program has been launched in NA as well or that it's about to be revived? I have followed the LAN discussion where the program was launched for the EU. I asked Helene if it would be relaunched in NA and she said we would get an update from you when you returned from paternity leave. I don't recall seeing any update for NA and I searched for one as well before asking this question here. 

    I LUG NY were very active in several stores in the tri-state area and we are interested in participating in this program once again.

    Enjoy the vacation with your young one!

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    Moving forward TLG will not differentiate between LEGO owned stores (formerly known as LEGO Branded stores) and LEGO certified stores.

    This is exhilarating news. We have been exploring what we can do together with our LCS for some time now and this decision along with the toolbox will be very helpful to catalyze our collaboration and the activities. Count us in (both our community and our LCS) if you want a test market for the toolbox or for any kind of activities or for LCS to LBS transition.

    Also, enjoy your vacation.

    • Thank You 1
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    18 hours ago, Brian Wygand (I LUG NY) said:

    First off, thank you Jan for this update. You and the community engagement team have a tremendous amount of respect for us and our represented communities.

    Second, you mentioned that the LUG Showcase program has been launched in NA and Europe with plans to expand into China-"While some elements of the toolbox are already launched in Americas and Europe (like the showcase program)"

    Does this mean that the showcase program has been launched in NA as well or that it's about to be revived? I have followed the LAN discussion where the program was launched for the EU. I asked Helene if it would be relaunched in NA and she said we would get an update from you when you returned from paternity leave. I don't recall seeing any update for NA and I searched for one as well before asking this question here. 

    I LUG NY were very active in several stores in the tri-state area and we are interested in participating in this program once again.

    Enjoy the vacation with your young one!

    Hi Brian, we are still working with LBR North America to find a way to revitalize the AFOL Showcase program. Of course it is still existing so feel free to reach out to your local store manager to discuss or at least mention your interest in it.

    I keep on working on this from my end too.

    Thanks

    • Thank You 1
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    On 7/17/2019 at 3:14 PM, Jan Beyer said:

    Moving forward TLG will not differentiate between LEGO owned stores (formerly known as LEGO Branded stores) and LEGO certified stores

    Hi :)

    Will this means PaB (Pick-a-Brick) wall selling system will be same for CLS as it is not in LBS? (sell on volume, not weight), or the differentiation is related to the shop-AFOL/AFOL groups relashionship?
    ...PaB on volume in CLS, that would be amazing :)

    For those who are not clear what PaB is, here is link: (link)

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    Thank you Jan and all the team for the wonderful job you are doing! Such kind of report is very appreciated as it sheds some of the light on all the tremendous "behind the scenes" work you are pulling through and also gives us some input on the future initiatives/ approaches by your team and TLG in one single post.

     Enjoy your vacation! 😊

     

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    Dear Jan Beyer, it is a pleasure to write you here. I really appreciate what he does inside TLG.
    My community of FOTOGRAFIA COSTRUTTIVA and I will mainly follow its activity on the representation of toy photography.
    At the LEGO HOUSE in summer 2018, you have exhibited a photograph, a gift from my community, we are very happy with this!
    In July 2019 my RLOC community exhibited a photographic exhibition using only LEGO® bricks and Minifigure®, receiving over 1,000 visitors.
    Visitors have approached the "LEGO" world and are now photographing them too. Thank you!
    Happy holidays Jan! :-)

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    On 7/20/2019 at 2:00 AM, Ivan Angeli said:

    Hi :)

    Will this means PaB (Pick-a-Brick) wall selling system will be same for CLS as it is not in LBS? (sell on volume, not weight), or the differentiation is related to the shop-AFOL/AFOL groups relashionship?
    ...PaB on volume in CLS, that would be amazing :)

    For those who are not clear what PaB is, here is link: (link)

    In the Australian Certified Stores, PaB is sold by the cup, rather than by the 100g.  Even at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre. So it is already being piloted in some markets.

    • Like 1
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    1 hour ago, Richard Jones said:

    In the Australian Certified Stores, PaB is sold by the cup, rather than by the 100g.  Even at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre. So it is already being piloted in some markets.

    Pretty sure the US market is the same right?

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    I believe that USA do it by cupfuls, but they have LEGO brand retail, rather than certified stores. LEGO certified stores are more common through Asia, Southern Europe, and South America and typically go by weight on their PaB walls. I am not sure about Legoland discovery centres in USA, but the Legoland parks around the world charge by weight.

    Edited by Richard Jones
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    I think I visited LEgoland last year? Or was it year before then, in Denmark? The bricks were sold on weight

    On one hand, it is usefull for some part (foliage, leaves), but those are minority.
    PaB, on the other hand, is amazing the smaller the part is. Even in support you buy by piece - and in PaB is by volume, which is amazing deal for 1x1 parts, or "stackable" parts like 2x2 tiles. On the other hand, it is usless when big parts are in question, at least for those who have access to bricklink

    We would take volume over weight always

    If this subject has a development, please contact me here on LAN or trough nemamime@yahoo.com

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    Great news especially about the disappearing distinction between LBR and LCS! That will mean more interest in buying at LEGO stores rather than big retailers since VIP points can be earned.

    I'm also really interested in the better representation of toy photography as my community, Brickcentral, is all about sharing the joy of LEGO through photos. We'd really love to have a better relationship with AFOL Engagement and the Social Media teams too!

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