Archive for January, 2009
From many, a magazine…
by Joe Meno
It was about 8 years ago that I became part of the online LEGO community, and soon after that, I became involved in events and building the community. During this time , I was working at a local newspaper as a graphic artist, but I really wanted to do something a little more meaningful than car ads. After working on events and creating a few, I hit upon the idea of starting a LEGO fan magazine. This isn’t a unique idea. There are a few clubs that have their own publications, so what I wanted to do was something larger in scope. There were others who were interested, but after a false start, I was on my own. But not for long. Once I got some plans set and a coule of friends I got to know through events and onlline, I started asking people to join my effort, and thanks to e-mail and meetings, I got people from the US and Europe to contribute to what became BrickJournal, which first launched online in 2005.
The magazine grew in the next year as more people onlline joined and wrote and provided photos, and even the LEGO Group took notice. A publisher also saw the quality of the community effort, and with the help of TLG, BrickJournal, after nine online issues, became a print magazine in 2008.
Currently, the staff is all volunteer, with people contributing from the US, Europe, and now Asia. BrickJournal has become a great example of what a community can do if given a common cause, and it continues to grow and folllow its mission: to inspire those inthe community and to invite new people into the community.
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Joe Meno is the Editor to BrickJournal, and was a graphic designer and art director before launching the mag. Before this, he worked in advertising, from political advertisng to pharmaceuticals. And somewhere in there, he worked at Walt Disney World!
Never Underestimate the Power of Your Travel Blog
by Lee LeFever
On Christmas Eve of 2004, Sachi and I made a decision. We decided that, in one year, we would depart on a year long trip. We reserved a web site address that night: http://www.theworldisnotflat.com (TwinF). In January of 2006 we departed, dedicated to blogging the whole trip.
After a glowing recommendation from another traveler along the way, we added Sri Lanka to our itinerary, with some apprehension. Sri Lanka experiences some domestic terrorism, but it mostly stays in the northern part of the country. Further, the southern part of the country was devastated by the tsunami a year before. We knew it would be an adventure. Thanks to connections via Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forums we were introduced to Mervyn, our driver for 10 days in Sri Lanka.
Like others in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka, Mervyn depends on tourists coming to their country. Tourists who start their plans by searching the Web. We became friends with Mervyn and had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka. We always felt safe and Mervyn was a perfect driver and guide – he gave us a local’s perspective and became our friend. He introduced us to Arrack, a favorite alcohol of locals. We told him that we would write about him on the Internet and hoped it would help his business. It was the least we could do. Last night, on Christmas Eve, 4 years after deciding we would go on the trip, we received this email message from Mervyn:
DEAR SIR, HOW ARE YOU? I AM FINE AND ALL OK WITH ME. I HAD GOOD BUSINESS FOR THIS YEAR. THAT IS BECAUSE OF YOU. THIS YEAR 90% FROM THE BUSINESS I GOT FROM YOUR WEB SITE THAT YOU RECOMAND ME. I SAY AGAIN AND AGAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I WISH MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR WIFE. MERVYN
This message made our Christmas extra special this year. Mervyn is honest, has a good heart, is very hard-working, and deserves to have a successful business. It’s inspiring to me, as a blogger, to think that a couple of blog posts can make such a big difference to someone like him on the other side of the world. Our post is the #3 result for “Driver Sri Lanka” on Google. I hope we can continue to help Mervyn’s business in 2009.
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My name is Lee LeFever and I run Common Craft. We make explanatory videos from our home in Seattle Washington. In 2006, my wife Sachi and I traveled around the world for a year and found lots of ways that we are, indeed, connected by distance.
