Starting a College LUG?

samiamucc

I started my junior college about a month ago.  I can't help thinking that out of the hundreds of students I can't be the only TFOL/AFOL.  I'd like to start a kind of club or discussion group to meet on campus and be exclusively for students/faculty of the college.  There's already a pretty huge LUG in the area (TexLUG), but I'd like to have something more local that's not out of the way, and I'm sure other AFOLs would as well. I was wondering whether or not this club/group, if it does ever get started with all of my schoolwork, would/could be considered a LUG?  I know there is an official LUG form that has to be submitted to LEGO ambassador network to form a LUG, but I'm not sure if this would qualify as it would be restrictive and is already in the area of a large LUG.

ryjay

You can just start a lego club at college, doesn't have to be an official LUG

BuriedinBricks

You can start a LUG, call it a LUG, and meet as a LUG. The only difference in the eyes of LEGO is whether you are a Recognized LUG (RLUG), which requires meeting several benchmarks.

davee123

samiamucc said:

I started my junior college about a month ago.  I can't help thinking that out of the hundreds of students I can't be the only TFOL/AFOL.

Wow, what a difference in perspective.  When I was in college, I assumed I might be one of a few AFOLs in the entire state, let alone my college.  I'm probably the only fully-fledged "AFOL" from when I was a student (of around 1700 students at the time, I think), although there were plenty of others who also thought LEGO was cool.

I expect if I had hosted some LEGO building/showcase "events" at my school, I would've had a few people show up, although I expect few of them would be what you'd consider "AFOLs"-- probably more people who would just think it was a fun activity.

samiamucc said:

I was wondering whether or not this club/group, if it does ever get started with all of my schoolwork, would/could be considered a LUG?

It's a LUG if you say it's a LUG, I guess.  For others in the community to consider you a LUG, you'd probably have to be active in some way as a group that gets visibility.

For LEGO to consider you a LUG, that seems less likely, given the nature of what you want to have.  You're limiting yourself to students of your college, who will only be attending for a few short years.  Official "RLUGs" have to:

* Have 20+ members
* Exist for 1 ore more years
* Lead or participate in 3 events annually
* Have a dedicated website (Facebook page doesn't count)
* Have at least 1 member who's 18+ and can speak English

When I was in school, I didn't have much room in my dorm/apartment for my LEGO (and neither did other people), so it would've been tricky to work on models, especially with schoolwork.  Plus, you've got to organize multiple events, and scrape together at least 20 members at your college (which may be difficult).

Honestly, seeing as how membership in TexLUG-Houston is free and open, I'd probably recommend going to one of their events and saying hello.  And if you can convince any of your friends from school to come along, great!  I'd basically try to work towards finding other AFOLs who might also want to be TexLUG-Houston members, and getting them together at your school now and again.

But the first step, of course, is simply finding these people!  So post some flyers around campus, send out an announcement, or whatever you can do, and see how many AFOLs are at your school!  Then you can figure out what to do next from there.

Best of luck!

DaveE

samiamucc

But the first step, of course, is simply finding these people!  So post some flyers around campus, send out an announcement, or whatever you can do, and see how many AFOLs are at your school!  Then you can figure out what to do next from there.

Best of luck!

DaveE

Any ideas on how I could find actual AFOLs without getting everyone that just wants to be involved in something that might be "cool"?  I could post some flyers (if the campus allows it, they have to give permission on all flyers posted), but I'm not exactly sure how I would make sure that only actual AFOLs would contact me.  Maybe I could do a test of some sort to see how much LEGO terminology they know (questions like what is brickset, bricklink, Mocpages, eurobricks, what do MOC, AFOL, TFOL, SNOT, etc mean)? 

The easiest idea I've thought of so far would be to advertise myself as an AFOL, by wearing LEGO key chains, t-shirts, caps etc, using LEGO stationary in class, carrying a LEGO thermos, etc.  Unfortunately, the only thing of those that I actually have is a few LEGO gel pens (I had a shirt but grew out of it) 

BooTheMightyHamster

Daft question, but aren't 'people who think the idea of a Lego User Group is cool' exactly the sort of people you'd want to attract?  Trying to exclude people who aren't in the know, and don't understand the jargon just seems like a good way to put people off who might want to find out a bit more.

I was a real n00b when I joined Brickset a few years ago, but people made me feel really welcome, explained what it was all about when I had questions (I still have questions!), and no-one belittled me for my lack of knowledge.

If people who aren't into Lego come along and find it's 'not their thing' I think you'll find they drift away naturally.

Welcome everyone and see who sticks around!

davee123

samiamucc said:

Any ideas on how I could find actual AFOLs without getting everyone that just wants to be involved in something that might be "cool"?

Well, I'd have to agree with @BooTheMightyHamster, try inviting everyone, and then find out who's who.  The AFOLs will stick around and talk about the great MOCs they've seen online, or what themes they really like, etc.  And the people who aren't as serious will just want to show up and do something LEGO-y.

You might want to organize a trip to the LEGO store in your area (or the Discovery Center in Dallas for a weekend road-trip-- just make sure you can get in without a kid!).  If you have enough unsorted LEGO floating around, maybe a LEGO building event.  Or maybe something about collaborating for the next BrickFiesta next summer.

Honestly, I wouldn't really expect anyone at your school to be a fully-fledged crazy-pants AFOL, so don't be disappointed if you don't find anyone on campus who shares your degree of passion.  They might be there, but they might not.  Again, that's what TexLUG's already for-- meeting other local AFOLs!  I'd say start by meeting anyone that thinks LEGO is cool, and go from there.  Who knows, maybe you can convert them to full AFOL-dom!

DaveE

samiamucc

davee123 said:

samiamucc said:

Any ideas on how I could find actual AFOLs without getting everyone that just wants to be involved in something that might be "cool"?

Well, I'd have to agree with @BooTheMightyHamster, try inviting everyone, and then find out who's who.  The AFOLs will stick around and talk about the great MOCs they've seen online, or what themes they really like, etc.  And the people who aren't as serious will just want to show up and do something LEGO-y.

You might want to organize a trip to the LEGO store in your area (or the Discovery Center in Dallas for a weekend road-trip-- just make sure you can get in without a kid!).  If you have enough unsorted LEGO floating around, maybe a LEGO building event.  Or maybe something about collaborating for the next BrickFiesta next summer.

Honestly, I wouldn't really expect anyone at your school to be a fully-fledged crazy-pants AFOL, so don't be disappointed if you don't find anyone on campus who shares your degree of passion.  They might be there, but they might not.  Again, that's what TexLUG's already for-- meeting other local AFOLs!  I'd say start by meeting anyone that thinks LEGO is cool, and go from there.  Who knows, maybe you can convert them to full AFOL-dom!

DaveE

Yeah, that's most likely what I'll do.  But I'm probably going to wait till next semester, since this is my first semester of college, with 4 classes, plus other classes at home, not to mention working on my drivers license.  I think next semester I should have a bit more time, and then I really want to start this.

GeordiePaul

@samiamucc You might want to check when your closest Lego Discovery Center are having their next adult evening. I went to the LDC just outside of Boston when they had their adults only evening and I saw lots of college aged kids there. You won't have to take a child with you and you might make some new friends who are more local to you.

samiamucc

GeordiePaul said:

@samiamucc You might want to check when your closest Lego Discovery Center are having their next adult evening. I went to the LDC just outside of Boston when they had their adults only evening and I saw lots of college aged kids there. You won't have to take a child with you and you might make some new friends who are more local to you.

Actually I'm not technically an AFOL.  I'm in high school, and some junior colleges have this really cool thing where you can take college level courses and get both college and high school credits at the same time.  (So by the time I graduate high school I could have an associate's degree, or transfer to a larger college.) 

Even if I was old enough, my nearest LDC is about 5 hrs away.

ryjay

Wow...when did colleges start having to approve flyers?

Good idea, wait to you are actually on campus full time, then just start posting flyers for Lego Lovers to Unite every Monday night!  All the beer you can drink....ok, scratch that last part, but you get the idea.  Meet like in a student union where passer byers can see what you are doing. As you get more participation you can move to a more private setting/classroom.  Also, see if there is any display cabinet space available on campus to show stuff off that you've built.

BTW, this would be easy to start at many four year universities with an active dorm life.

samiamucc

ryjay said:

Wow...when did colleges start having to approve flyers?

Good idea, wait to you are actually on campus full time, then just start posting flyers for Lego Lovers to Unite every Monday night!  All the beer you can drink....ok, scratch that last part, but you get the idea.  Meet like in a student union where passer byers can see what you are doing. As you get more participation you can move to a more private setting/classroom.  Also, see if there is any display cabinet space available on campus to show stuff off that you've built.

BTW, this would be easy to start at many four year universities with an active dorm life.

Well right now I'm at a 2 year junior college with no dorms.

catwrangler

samiamucc said:

But the first step, of course, is simply finding these people!  So post some flyers around campus, send out an announcement, or whatever you can do, and see how many AFOLs are at your school!  Then you can figure out what to do next from there.

Best of luck!

DaveE

Any ideas on how I could find actual AFOLs without getting everyone that just wants to be involved in something that might be "cool"?  I could post some flyers (if the campus allows it, they have to give permission on all flyers posted), but I'm not exactly sure how I would make sure that only actual AFOLs would contact me.  Maybe I could do a test of some sort to see how much LEGO terminology they know (questions like what is brickset, bricklink, Mocpages, eurobricks, what do MOC, AFOL, TFOL, SNOT, etc mean)? 

I think that would be a very unwise choice from both a social and a practical standpoint. People join groups to make friends, have fun and learn something, not to be subjected to gatekeeping, which is essentially what you're proposing. I mean, I would love to join a local AFOL group, but if they quizzed me on Lego terminology you wouldn't see me for dust. It can go down especially badly if you're male and the people you're questioning are female: girls and women in traditionally male-dominated hobbies are used to that kind of questioning being used to try and exclude us because we're female (if I never hear the phrase "fake geek girl" again, it'll be too soon), and while you're obviously not aiming to exclude people for sexist reasons, that's what it could look like. 

Starting a group can be easy if you're lucky and have a large enough pool to fish in, but sustaining a group long-term can be incredibly hard, and even if you find, say, 5 other enthusiastic AFOLs locally, you're going to need the people who never knew what ambitious stuff you can do with Lego but think it's cool, people who feel nostalgic for their childhood Lego and might be ready to leave their Dark Age, people who have similar or related hobbies (collecting, model-making, interests like Marvel, DC and Star Wars which have their own Lego themes)... you get the idea. In the end, there's always going to be more casual than hardcore fans (or potential fans) of anything, so I would treat them as a feature rather than a bug, and try to lure them in and deepen their interest!

I'm speaking from the experience of involvement with my local Bookcrossing group, and in many ways being a BXer is a lot like being an AFOL - worldwide there's a ton of us, and in any given large city there may well be a lot of us, but in practice, if you walk up to someone on the street or at college and ask if they've heard of Bookcrossing, you'll most likely get the same reaction you would if you asked if they've heard of AFOLs.

You'll find that some people can't make it to every meetup or outing, and some people's attendance will tail off altogether. If you're trying to organise an event as a group, not everyone will be able to contribute equally, and the smaller the group, the more work goes on each person's shoulders if you're trying to devise events or outings.

That's why the trickiest thing, in my experience, is keeping a level or growing group population over time, because you will lose people, temporarily or permanently, to other groups and interests (it'd be good to check, for instance, that you haven't picked the same regular meetup time as the college tabletop gaming club, or anything else where there's likely to be a substantial membership crossover... now, if you get the timeslot directly before or after them in the same room, that could really help your membership grow!), and just to life being what it is, especially at college when people have peaks and troughs of time available due to the academic calendar. 

TL;DR: make it easy and lowkey for people to show up and join in, but find ways to hook them into coming back... good luck!

Bricklover18

State that there will be free food at the meeting, people will show up.

ryjay

Personally, I think this is an easy group to set up. After all, how many people do you even need, you're not fund raising or things like that, are you?   On some campuses you might need a service to be recognized.  If that's the case bring a lego build to children's hospital.

Unless I'm missing something, don't you just want to hang out and build/share lego fun with others while at school?  So what if it doesn't continue for years.

MaffyD

@catwrangler - I've never heard the phrase "fake geek girl" (probably because I'm a bloke). But I am continually disappointed (yet not surprised) that some people try to limit their hobby in an appeal to elitism. Sorry if thats affected you. At one point in my distant past (at a university as it happens, so not too tangential to the topic at hand) I was 'rejected' from a MUD group because I wasn't geek enough (I was studying joint honours compsci + pure maths, so presumably my attachment to non-Euclidean space was a mark against me?) So, whilst it's not the same, I feel you.

SprinkleOtter

MaffyD said:

@catwrangler - I've never heard the phrase "fake geek girl" (probably because I'm a bloke). But I am continually disappointed (yet not surprised) that some people try to limit their hobby in an appeal to elitism. Sorry if thats affected you. At one point in my distant past (at a university as it happens, so not too tangential to the topic at hand) I was 'rejected' from a MUD group because I wasn't geek enough (I was studying joint honours compsci + pure maths, so presumably my attachment to non-Euclidean space was a mark against me?) So, whilst it's not the same, I feel you.

With a name like MUD...

MaffyD

Multi User Dungeon - what you'd call a text based MMORPG nowadays. This was quite a while ago!

catwrangler

Ahhh, I'm glad you posted - was googling "MUD group", but the results are overrun with stuff about the band! 

Compsci and pure maths and still not geek enough? Sheesh, there's just no pleasing some people! 

MaffyD

^ My comp sci was more theoretical than practical (I didn't learn how to build a PC, for instance) and pure maths is all theoretical, so they thought I was all mouth and no trousers in the "getting my hands dirty" department. That sounds wrong, but you know what I mean.