Connected By Distance

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!