Lego Ambassadors Program just announced

[Robin]

Hi guys,

I thought I'd de-lurk and say Hi. I've been visiting forum regularly, and it's nice to see some new faces here!

It's been a long time coming, but I'm very pleased to be able to point you to a LUGnet post that Jake McKee made earlier today, announcing the new Lego Ambassador program.

http://news.lugnet.com/lego/?n=3116

You can read the details of the program for yourself, but I would really encourage many of you to apply. It's going to be a great program, with lots of great benefits, even more than what's included in Jake's post. It would be a great thing for any of you, and the club in general.

This is one of the projects that I (along with a few others) have been working with Jake on for over a year now. It's taken a tremendous amount of time to develop the idea, and then nurture it inside the Lego company. I naively thought that it might take 3 or 4 months to put together, but here we are, over a year later.

I really encourage each of you to apply. You've all got strengths in different areas that make you well suited for it. Even if you don't get in on the initial "pilot phase", you'll probably eventually get your chance.

Cheers, and I hope to see you all again soon.

[Gumby]

Heh... After reading about it this morning, the first person I thought of was you, Robin. I was going to email you and bring it to your attention, but since you're part of the group that put this thing together, I guess there's no need!

Sounds interesting! However, I'm not satisfied with my current level of participation in the community (I could probably do a lot more, but I'm still in the 'organizing' stage) so I don't think I'll be applying at this time. Perhaps in the future?

-Bryan

[DeGobbi]

looks good on paper, but i'm skepical on what will it actually do . To me it sounds like a marketing tool to get more people to buy lego. Since lego has stopped supporting clubs it makes little sense why club members ( which most afols are at least part of some type of club ) should be bending over backwards when lego won;t support the very clubs that brought AFOLS togther. I'll have to wait till after the test group is finished and read the responses before i make an opinion to what lego's intention for such a program is.

[TFM]

Ya, I agree with Dave. I know I stopped being a Lego Ambassador at the end of 2003...

[J1A3L5]

I agree, too. It does seem like an elaborate way to make AFOL's (Not that I am one, technically,) more involved, yet have the end effect being free (and probably quite effective,) marketing for the products.

Reading through Jake's post, I didn't really find anything that stuck out at me as special - It seemed like it was just what people normally do, and he even said so:

Basically: Do more of what you’re doing already.

I ask: What's the point then?

Looking through the list of "benefits" there's nothing that seems outstanding to me: The top-secret project part sounds corny, and the set preview part...well, as much as we all like to know about upcoming sets, is it really a big deal?

Invitations to participate in local LEGO marketing events

That quote makes me wonder even more - I wonder what it was intended to imply. Whether it was supposed to give the impression of AFOL's being involved and their MOC's shown off, or if it was a sort of "slip-up" saying the program was a way to both pacify AFOL's after issues such as colour changes, as well as get some free marketing from outside the company.

I know I stopped being a LEGO® Ambassador at the end of 2003...

Do I sense another person still bitter about the colour changes? I sure still am, much to the dismay of many.

-John "J1A3L5" Langrish.

[TFM]

I know I stopped being a LEGO® Ambassador at the end of 2003...

Do I sense another person still bitter about the colour changes? I sure still am, much to the dismay of many.

-John "J1A3L5" Langrish.

Ya. Sadly I am... I really tried to get past it, but whenever I look at a new set that contains a part I have been waiting for in gray or brown I get pissed off all over again...

The latest thing was seeing the long awaited dark gray wheel hubs... I've been waiting years for those. And here they come, in dark bley.

The list goes on and on for me... It's sad... LEGO used to be about freedom to build whatever you wanted without limits... But now it seems, at least for me, LEGO is about disapointment and poor quality...

Don't get me wrong, I still play with what I've got and that's quite a bit. I just need to drop out of the comunity and stick with what I've got.

[Robin]

You've all got the right idea in that this program is designed to begin rewarding AFOLs for the "work" that they already do. There's no doubting the enormous impact that club shows, events, and what not have with respect to providing free marketing for LEGO and its products. It's just that now, TLG is beginning to realize that they have had a nice, long, free ride, and maybe it's time to give something back to us die-hard fans of their products.

There's also more to the program than what Jake has initially outlined. Part of the deal for the initial pilot group is to determine what some of the additional benefits will be for the ongoing program, and how they can be implemented. Product discounts, bulk ordering, and access to hard-to-find sets and parts have been part of that discussion, for example.

This program is part of TLG's new efforts to "give back to the clubs". Hope you guys keep your eyes on it.

[TFM]

This program is part of TLG's new efforts to "give back to the clubs". Hope you guys keep your eyes on it.

I wish they would just deal with the clubs directly then.

Like way back when they gave the club lots of base plates and the event kits.

I don't like the way they are going now. Where it's ambitious individuals who are looking out for themselves first and not the clubs. I'm not saying that it's that way with everyone...

The way Robin words his first message in this thread, it's made to appear that TLC is using the For profits as counsel. If that's true then you have a very narrow minded view of the whole AFOL scene. Not my idea of a well rounded consensus. But then Robin does like to exaggerate. So it might be more in the middle some place. With all the cloak and dagger it's impossible to see.

But really I could care less at this point and the above are just my own opinions.

[Robin]

I wish they would just deal with the clubs directly then.

Like way back when they gave the club lots of base plates and the event kits.

I suspect that this will continue. The Ambassador program could just be one way of assuring that stuff given to clubs actually gets used for the purposes it's intended for.

The way Robin words his first message in this thread, it's made to appear that TLC is using the For profits as counsel. If that's true then you have a very narrow minded view of the whole AFOL scene.

For the record, this idea has been brewing for a very long time, both inside and outside TLG. Also, many AFOLs were involved, and many of them have no current or future commercial aspirations.

I got involved way back when by simply approaching Jake with some ideas (a very long time before Brickville was even formed, BTW). I approached him (and TLG) as an AFOL, like any of you. Turns out Jake was already thinking about something similar, so we pooled our energies and ran with it.

But then Robin does like to exaggerate.

Ah, but you don't have to listen to just me any more. Now you can hear it directly from Jake. Of course, you can still choose to dismiss or discount it. That's entirely up to you.

[xandria]

Well this is a pretty useless program. Seems to me that they're trying to kiss ass for past screw ups. I'm also not very fond of the whole "seggregation" between AFOLs with passion and Ambassadors. Groups have been splitting up enough over the past couple of years, I really don't see more distinction as a benefit when the motto is to "play well". But then we know the motivations of most companies -- $$$

Having said all that, the "benefits" of being an Ambassador are rather yawnish. Labelling a small group of AFOLs as official ambassadors is rather silly since most hard core AFOLs are doing so much more than even described.

Why TLG just can't bring back support of clubs with a proven track record is beyond me. They're making all the wrong steps, often very late in the game after too much damage has been done.

Sorry to be so negative, but there's just been way too much stupidity going on in the LEGO world over the past 18 months or so and it's very hard to feel confidence or support after such disconcerting behaviour.

I think most AFOLs such as ourselves are best to just continue playing and having fun in our corner of the universe without regard to TLG. They've proven their loyalties time and time again and they're just not synonymous with those of many club's.

My 2.5 cents.