Pittsburgh Pennluggers?

I am getting the meet up emails, but most of yinz (intentional use) seem to be on the east side. Are there any people from Pittsburgh here?

We are actually in the process of gathering all the western PennLUGgers together with the idea that the 2 halves can meet once in a while before big shows for layouts. I will bring up the idea again at the meeting on Sat. and someone will update. Thanks for the interest.

Mac

I am on the west side of PA also and would be interested in what might developed around here. Flickr mail me if you wish. www.flickr.com/busterbuilder

LEGO Dog wrote:We are actually in the process of gathering all the western PennLUGgers together with the idea that the 2 halves can meet once in a while before big shows for layouts. I will bring up the idea again at the meeting on Sat. and someone will update. Thanks for the interest.

Mac

did this ever get any discussion?

No one from the west side of the state ever contacted me or posted, so the answer is no. It was discussed at several meetings earlier this year. We were actually going to help start a new club for the west side PittLUG or something catchy like that. I and some of the other members are willing to still help, but there has to be a western commitment too.

oh, it seemed like you had a list of people already. Did you reach out to them and not hear back? I see buster's comment above that he was interested. I could probably get a few others involved, but I'm curious what you want as qualification for commitment, ie: commitment to what? meet monthly? attend events? contribute $ for membership to pennlug and pittlug?

What help would you offer in setting one up?

I don't have a list of western PA folks, but there has been enough people asking in the forum that I had hoped posting here would have sparked some interest. The had figured that there either wasn't interest or the folks asking were only passing by. There is a lot of interest of being online members, but those numbers dwindle down in the real world. As far as help, we can tell you everything we know about running a LUG. We can help you get in contact with TLG, you guys are more then welcome to use the forums here to establish yourselves. Basically just ask and we will see what we can do. First thing to do would probably start to drum up some members, so perhaps come up with a club name. Something other than PennLUG would be good, maybe PittLUG, we can be together, but let's have a little bit of separation. That will also make the state of PA look like a bigger LEGO state with 3 LUGs. So once you have a name I would try to get a website going. Even if it's just a basic page for now. There are folks here that will help you with that if you need it. The website will help later with TLG and establishing yourself. There are perks for being around for a bit. Then I would try a Facebook/Twitter page. Get yourself out there. Try holding meetings at malls, libraries, etc. even if you only get a few members to start off with. That's would be a good start. We average a few new members every quarter just by being on the web. People are searching, give them something to find. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do.

If anyone else has anything to offer please chime in. Let's get this LUG going!

I wonder if we should take this to PM or email...let me know what you think.

What are some incentives in forming an official LUG? I know there's LUGBulk, but what else does it earn you? Special rates on expos? insight into products? Anything you can provide so that I can present it to potential members would be great.

What are some good levels of expected participation for a new lug? yearly membership fees? monthly meet ups? Going to events?

do you have any by-laws for penn lug you can share?

sixf00t4 wrote:I wonder if we should take this to PM or email...let me know what you think.

What are some incentives in forming an official LUG? I know there's LUGBulk, but what else does it earn you? Special rates on expos? insight into products? Anything you can provide so that I can present it to potential members would be great.

What are some good levels of expected participation for a new lug? yearly membership fees? monthly meet ups? Going to events?

do you have any by-laws for penn lug you can share?

At times all the above. Expected participation is hit and miss and will rise and fall and rise over the years. Membership dues is a personal issue within the club PennLUG has them, DelVaLUG doesn't, but DV makes you participate in the club to get the perks, while Penn you just have to pay. I like the idea of the LUGs for the reason of getting together with friends and building some pretty amazing layouts that individually I don't think many of us could pull off. Also we have some great times at meeting and events with each other. I have a club meeting tonight at the mall, but you can pm me and I will give you my #. We can talk sometime. It will save a lot of typing. By-laws for pennlug should be within this site somewhere. If you can't find them, I will get you a copy emailed.

What's the concusses of PittLUG for a name for our western PA LUG?

i was thinking pittlug, pghlug, or even something like steellug. my thought was to get a few "members" together and have them vote on a name, to have them feel some ownership.

I'm going to be out of town for a week. I'll keep brainstorming on organizing this and I'll send you my info in pm and I'll get back to you when a good time to talk will be.

That sounds good. I'm the Web Guy/Social media guy for PennLUG so if you need help or advise on websites, etc. I'd be happy to lend a hand.

I am excited to see someone step forward and try to get this idea going. I am willing to help where I can.

I posted our By-Laws on the public side last night. I can answer questions about it. I could also help you folks in modifying them to your needs.


GO PITTLUG, or PGHLUG or whatever you decide to call yourselves.

sixf00t4 wrote:I wonder if we should take this to PM or email...let me know what you think.

What are some incentives in forming an official LUG? I know there's LUGBulk, but what else does it earn you? Special rates on expos? insight into products? Anything you can provide so that I can present it to potential members would be great.

What are some good levels of expected participation for a new lug? yearly membership fees? monthly meet ups? Going to events?

do you have any by-laws for penn lug you can share?

LUGs also gain ambassador contact with Lego and invitations to events (like KidsFest) that they might not otherwise receive. For a fledgling LUG, I'd suggest working toward a core group at first, then as you find out who's really on board and who's just curious you can start formalizing things (that's what we did with PennLUG).

D_Runyon wrote:

sixf00t4 wrote:I wonder if we should take this to PM or email...let me know what you think.

What are some incentives in forming an official LUG? I know there's LUGBulk, but what else does it earn you? Special rates on expos? insight into products? Anything you can provide so that I can present it to potential members would be great.

What are some good levels of expected participation for a new lug? yearly membership fees? monthly meet ups? Going to events?

do you have any by-laws for penn lug you can share?

LUGs also gain ambassador contact with Lego and invitations to events (like KidsFest) that they might not otherwise receive. For a fledgling LUG, I'd suggest working toward a core group at first, then as you find out who's really on board and who's just curious you can start formalizing things (that's what we did with PennLUG).

As a collective too we have the opportunity to do charity shows and paying events (something I am working on right now).

TLG does offer programs such as bricks and play areas for doing events, at a cost of course, but they are willing to work with LUGs and even come up with new ideas. Kevin and Jim are really good like this.

The best piece of advice I can give anyone who wants to start a club is this.

Just do it. Don't worry about how many members you have, don't worry about how to organize the club, and don't worry that you don't know what you're doing. Just get things started. You'll make mistakes and you'll have some bumps in the road but you'll figure it out as you go. Every group is different and how the club takes shape is really dependent on it's members and what they want out of the group. As the club grows you'll find the right path for you. But it can't happen with out planting that first seed.

Cale

Here's the facebook group that was set up, incase we have some google visitors or something - https://www.facebook.com/groups/277030575731274/

Thanks for setting it up, Mike!


I think that will be our home base for now, and once we have a few members I'll throw up a poll on the official name and get a website from there.



I've sent a few emails out to locals and I'm getting positive responses so far...

I'm in Cranberry Township. I just moved this summer from Richmond, Virginia, where I was a member of RichLUG (Richmond Lego Users Group) for the past 11 years. I would love to help get a Pittsburgh area LUG going. How about "BurghLUG"? :-)

Feel free to email me at timfreshly@hotmail.com. I will also continue to check the PennLUG forum here for more information as to a first meeting. Saturday afternoons work best for me. Thanks!

Tim

hi Tim! welcome to the area!

Do you have facebook? we've got a few together there and have been using that as our central location as we gather ideas and such for what will be named...

STEEL CITY LUG

*Applause*

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SteelCityLUG/