Mandatory Fun: LUG Building Contests

A big goal of BrickNerd since Dave Schefcik took over as Nerd-in-Chief in 2021 (wow, time does fly!) has been community building throughout the wider LEGO community. Two of the earliest articles were Ted’s MoC talk articles (Part 1 and Part 2) about creating more of a MOC-building local community. I really enjoyed Ted’s thoughts, and since the beginning of BrickNerd’s reboot, I have wanted to write about running building contests and challenges for Gateway LUG for the last several years.

Honestly, this has been a hard article to write the past few years, and I’m not entirely sure why. But if you run a building contest for your LUG and need another viewpoint, or if you’d like to see your LUG have contests, I hope my thoughts will help!

The Beginning

When I joined Gateway LUG in 2015, it was at the beginning of a somewhat rapid increase in membership, an increase in the number and type of events the club participated in, and eventually some drama. After a while, the meetings got very business-orientated, and we lost a lot of the fun. In an attempt to bring some fun back to the meetings, I proposed having the occasional building contest that I would be happy to run since it was my idea.

Food Contest Entries: Karen, David W, Brian H (2), Michael B (2), Megan, and myself (all pics by the builder).

The club thought that was a good idea and “Mandatory Fun” contests were established. (I stole the term Mandatory Fun from a coworker who used the term to describe retirement lunches, holiday parties, etc., at work.) I’ve been running contests for about seven years now (my records start in the summer of 2017). I’ve learned a few things, forgotten some, and ruffled some feathers, but hopefully encouraged people to build and find some fun and community in my LUG.

Gathering Contestants

This is both the hardest and easiest part! “Hi LUG, we’re having a contest. Build something for the next meeting!” You never know how many people will build something! At any given monthly meeting, we have 25-45 people show up, and I usually get around eight entries in our bimonthly contest—that’s not a bad amount. I’ve had as few as two entries when people were busy and as many as 16 people when the contest theme and timing really hit. I have a few members who I can reliably count on to have an entry, which is great—they love building from prompts (or maybe for prizes too).

Set Re-themes Contest Entries: Chris, David W, Mac, Mike S, and myself (all pics by the builder).

You will have to accept that not every contest is going to be in every member’s wheel house. Some builders like to be encouraged to dip their toes out of their comfort zone—others have no interest in venturing into the unknown. Measure the challenge’s success by the comments of those who entered as liking the prompt or by the debate and conversation during voting.

Choosing a Theme

My intent in selecting contest subjects is to keep it accessible. Set the parameters so everyone can participate. Some members may be very new to the hobby and have a very small collection (by AFOL standards), while others may have vast collections. Time is a consideration, too—not everyone has a lot of time between meetings, thus I’ve noticed that smaller prompts get larger participation. Vignettes in various forms are something I’ve done a few times (including habitats). Seed part challenges are good too, especially if the LUG can provide them.

If you have a show or exhibition coming up, that’s new to your group that has a specific theme, this is a good way to get relevant builds. In 2018, GtwLUG started displaying at Anime St. Louis so we conducted a little anime MOC contest to help the group have a few more things to add to our initial display—and we were a big hit at the show! I also like when club members need small builds to flesh out a bigger display they are working on. For example if the LUG has a big city display, have a contest to make parade floats going down the street! Other small builds that look better together include minigolf holes, minifigure habitats, go-carts, micropolis, or even just trees. It’s a great way for a small collaboration, and I usually see larger turn out for thm.

Parade Floats Contest Entries: Derrek, Jeff, Carl, Karen, Michael B, and myself.

Another well-received contest I’ve conducted is a part count limit build. The first contest of every year in our LUG has been “build anything only using the two-digit year number of parts” (except in 2020, when people had to build two twenty-piece builds that were related). You’ll also have to accept that you’ll have flops, too. Our “Quarter SHIPs” contest was a failure (25 studs long spaceships that only two people entered… and one was me.)

The real challenge is keeping the rules for each contest simple and clear. You will at times have someone who takes things very literally in an attempt to be funny. Someone inevitably will want to argue they meet the rules when they don’t, along with other hiccups. Be patient—sometimes it’s ok to let it go and other times not. I’ve had vignettes that clearly violated a minimum overhang rule, people who interpreted the rules in a different way, or even people who wanted MORE rules. I have a habit of saying to people who wonder, “If you ask yourself, ‘Does this violate a rule? Chances are it does,’” as a way of prompting consideration of the rules and not having to spell out every tiny detail.

Minifigure Habitats Contest Entries: Beth (3), Brian E (3), Chris (3), Michal B (2), Mike S, David B, Karen, and Jeff (I didn’t take a pic of my own, all pics by the builder).

On the other hand, our last contest was micropolis and the prompt was for a 16x16 quarter block, but over half the entries were whole neighborhoods. In this case, I rolled with it and threw the 16x16 rule out, ruling all the entries to be micropolis. Remember, people are building for (mandatory) fun! Also don’t be afraid of suggestions. I got “A million ways to die! Let’s build minifigure deaths!” as a suggestion, and it was maybe two years before I used it. Honestly, I wish I had used it sooner because some very funny and creative builds were produced (although very few of the resulting builds could be displayed at a “family” event—we are ADULT Fans of LEGO…).

Listen to Your LUG (and Yourself)

If you’re running the contest and the goal is to build the community, it’s for the LUG—not for you. For the longest time, I resisted switching from an announcement at one meeting to a vote at the next meeting format (we meet monthly). I didn’t think it would get more entries if we extended the time to build more than a month, which was one of the main arguments, but I agreed to switch and try it.

One Stud Balance Contest Entries: (base plate was allowed for voting due to table bumps) by Mark, David W, Sara, myself, Derrek, Tabitha, Mike S, and Kathleen.

I’ve found the number of entries has not changed on average with the longer time period. But people are a bit more positive about it, so it works out. I was honestly afraid the number of entries would fall as it’s easier to forget a two-month dead line, but that didn’t happen either. I do have to promote and remind people a little more now (which I’m not always the best at!). Ultimately, be open to feedback and have the discussion—perhaps give it a trial run, but be honest if you cannot do it. If running the contest is stressing you out, figure out why and make a change, but be as open as you can be about it.

Prizes!

Everyone loves a prize! Again, having prizes hasn’t driven participation significantly, although my data is less clear about participation rates when we started offering prizes. We initially began only offering bragging rights, then we moved to giving away some of the small support sets we got from LEGO as part of being officially recognized. As my LUG is in a good financial position, we also shifted to giving away small LEGO gift cards for first and second places, and we recently increased the value and added a third-place gift card as well (changes we made based on the results from an end-of-the-year survey—again listen to your community).

21 Pieces Contest Entries: Michael B, Brandon, Derrek, Megan, Cameron, Karen, Chris, David W Brent, Brian H, and myself (all pics by the builder).

We also have an end-of-year drawing. Everyone who enters a contest throughout the year gets a “ticket” and each contest winner gets two. Then the list is randomized in Excel and a random winner gets a prize, usually something of decent size from provided LUG support. Having a prize for contests is going to be very dependent on your community. It’s not necessary, but it does make winning more fun.

Voting Style

My preference for voting is to keep it simple. I have a ballot with three lines. The directions are usually to pick your favorite two or three entries. All votes are equal weight. (When I have fewer entries and only two votes make sense, I do get some people who can’t follow directions and write a third choice in. That choice is ignored, and I’m open about that). My tipping point for a third vote is eight or more entries. If I ever have less than four entries, I’d likely do a single vote—but that is thankfully uncommon.

Micropolis 2020 and 2024 Contest Entries: 2020 - Derrek (3), Karen, Parker (2), and myself (pics by builder); 2024 - Derrek, Ben, Chris, myself, Sara, Mike S, and Josh.

That’s what works for us, but do what works for you. “One person, one vote” is completely valid, as is a ranked or weighted method, although this takes more time if you’re hand counting. Selection by committee is also valid, but I think the LUG membership being able to vote is more in line with community building. Keep in mind that votes need to be tallied quickly so you can announce the winner!

Entering Your Own Contest

This is a tricky topic. I’ve gotten a fair amount of grief for winning my own contests! Contest number 35 is currently running, and I’ve won or tied for first place eight times—once, three times in a row. I almost always build something for the contest. I’ve missed a few voting meetings, though, and in our LUG, MOCs must be present to win! (I’ve entertained photo entries but no one has taken me up on that yet, except when all entries were photos during the COVID lockdown.)

Zoom Contest, for lock down meeting when Jordan form AFOL relations joined us
Contest Entries by Jeff, myself, Mike s, Karen (2), David W, Michael B, Dominic, Chris & Eileen, Kaitlyn, Brian H, Chris C, Parker, and eliteguard (pics by builder)

While I could go through my data and see for certain, I don’t think anyone else has the entry rate that I do. Also, the winner is chosen by membership vote. I haven’t always, but I no longer vote for myself. (But if a small committee selects the winner, those people should absolutely not enter!) Having been on the LUG’s board for the last several years as well as running the contests, I have traditionally turned down the prize.

Again, listen to yourself and your community. If winning your own contest is causing problems beyond reasonably good-natured teasing, change it up! Don’t enter anymore, recruit helpers, draw the prompts from a hat, etc. Or build to the theme beforehand so you have an example when the contest is announced. If your goal is community building, use that to guide your choices.

Things I Love About Running Contests

One of my favorite things that can happen with a LUG building contest is when a new member wins! It can be very intimidating seeing the caliber of builders in an established LUG. I have seen some creative approaches and unique takes on a prompt from newer builders. It’s part of why I keep names off of the entry cards.

 20-20 Piece Contest Entries: Brian H, Michael L, Brandon, Jeff, Jeremy, Cameron, Karen, and myself (names not in order of pictures).

Constraints force creativity, whether that is a narrow ruleset (careful, you can make it too narrow!) or limited parts availability. Seeing every entry get at least one vote also makes me happy. (It really does make me sad when an entry gets no votes, but other than myself and anyone helping me tally votes, I don’t reveal which entries these are.) Overall, I love seeing the growth of the members over several contests because we’re all becoming better builders together!

Awards Announcements

Originally when I started working on this article three years ago, I asked for the thoughts of LUG members who frequently entered at the time. Many of those thoughts show up above in the article, but I thought Derrek (who is our current LUG president) had a particularly insightful reflection that I will share to close.

“I like that regardless of skill level, everyone has a chance to win. Some simple entries sometimes get a lot of votes. It’s not always about the quality of the build, but the idea. I like trying to guess who built each entry based on the typical building styles of other club members. And then I am impressed when I’m completely wrong. I enjoy seeing other club members trying new things that they wouldn’t do for their own MOCs or collections but will try for a small contest.”

Creatures Contest Entries: Kaitlyn, Chris H, Megan (2), Brian H, Murdoch17, Michael B, and myself (all pics by the builder).

In the end, what truly matters is fostering a sense of community and encouraging creativity, no matter the skill level or experience of the builder. The contests are a vehicle for collaboration, camaraderie, and growth within the LUG. Whether it’s seeing a new member win or witnessing a seasoned builder take on a unique challenge, the joy and enthusiasm shared by everyone involved are what make these contests so special. It’s about finding that balance between competition and fun, and ultimately, making each meeting something to look forward to.

So, here’s to more “Mandatory Fun” and the continued growth of our LEGO communities—one contest at a time!

What LUG contests and challenges have you enjoyed? Let us know in the comments!

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