Idaho LUG Blog

Over the past three months, we have done ten STEM events starting with the BSU Engineering and Science Fair. We participated in eight Elementary STEM Nights and a First LEGO League event at Hubbard Elementary.

MOCFEST! 2024 is about a month away and we need to keep getting the word out. If you would like to put up a flyer you can download one here. Please register for MOCFEST! as soon as possible so we can get a good list of MOCs and Activity registrations. If you need help with registration, entering your MOCs under your profile, or registering your MOC for the show take a look at our FAQ page. We have several workshops and presentations scheduled for this year. If you are interested in presenting this year or in the future please contact Greg. 

Our next meeting will be the day before MOCFEST! setup and load-in. We will be building the show trophies, assembling builder swag bags and other show preparation. 

Future Events

The Village has an event on May 11th where we will display the Saturn V. and provide free play. The Village has another event in June, we will provide free play and we would like to display Space-Themed MOCs. The June event will be on the center green most likely under tents. We will put all the details on our calendar.

We are looking for ideas for a Make-And-Take item for Festival of Trees in November.  Last year Shawn designed a Reindeer which cost $15 and had about 30 pieces. All proceeds for these Make-And-Take items go to the Festival Of Trees. They will pay for the required pieces but we would like to keep the part cost less than $10 if possible.

Many group members will be going down to BrickSlopes this August. We are coordinating carpools as well as lodging so keep in touch if you are going to BrickSlopes.

Show and Tell

Thad brought in his latest weapon a Boneshard Bow	Jake brought in his finished Marionette60
Oliver with a scene from Spiderman (2002)	Greg showed a flower in a vase600
Daniel Killer Whale	Daniel Dinosaur scene

As always take a look at our events calendar frequently to stay up to date on upcoming events. Our next meeting is on 17 MAY hope to see you there!

Our March meeting was on March 21st, and we discussed our many upcoming events. These include several STEM events with local elementary schools, HACKFORT and MOCFEST! 2024.

Events

We have several STEM events coming up in April. We are looking for more volunteers to help with a big event at Compass Elementary on April 12th. There is also a First LEGO League (FLL) event on April 13th. We will also be adding an event for Liberty Elementary on May 1st. These are great events and we encourage all members to volunteer.

We will be displaying MOCs at HACKFORT on Saturday March 23rd. HACKFORT asked us to provide more support, but we did not have enough time to schedule volunteers. With more time we hope to have a much larger participation next year. We would like to setup a Great Ball Contraption (GBC) for next year's event. The Steiners are planning a GBC workshop for some time in late April. 

The Village has several events scheduled for this Summer and have asked us to participate with some builds and activities. They have a car show and a space themed event. More information will be available soon.

BrickSlopes registration is open and IdahoLUG members can get a discount code from Greg. The event is scheduled for 23 - 25 August at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy, UT. 

Keep an eye on our event calendar for all the latest on our activity.

MOCFEST! 2024

  Planning for MOCFEST is in full swing and we have a great plan put together. We are still looking for sponsorships so if you know of any organizations that would potentially sponsor MOCFEST please let us know. There will be a silent auction on Saturday May 18th and we are looking for donations. If you have anything to donate, please bring it to our next meeting on April 18th. 

  This year we will be having more activities, presentations and workshops. If you are interested in conducting a presentation or workshop, contact us at info@idaholug.com. Registration for MOCFEST! 2024 will open on April 1st. Register to display MOCs and participate in the many activities that will be available.

  We will keep both IdahoLUG.com and MOCFEST.com up to date.

Show and Tell

  Several members brought builds to share at our meeting. Zach brought a lightsaber (I didn't get a pic) based on the GWP available with the UCS AT-AT. Thad brought in several arcade and pinball builds and Daniel brought in several wheelbarrow builds for wheelbarrow races.

A big thanks to everyone that attended and your continued support of the IdahoLUG. Our next meeting will be on April 18th 7PM at Bricks & Minifigs.

We had a busy meeting discussing the many STEM events we have been doing around the valley. We have already supported three elementary school STEM nights as well as the BSU Engineering and Science festival. There are still four more already on the calendar.

To help out with facilitating STEM events Greg has put together kits that contain everything you need to support an event. There are signs promoting the group and MOCFEST!, instructions for several STEM activities and all the bricks you need for the event. Two kits are currently available and there are plans to put a few more together.

HACFORT is doing a technology theme this year and asked us to help out with STEM events. Unfortunately we aren't able to support them this year but there is an opportunity to display MOCs indoors at the Grove on Saturday March 23rd. Contact Greg if you would like to display your MOCs. We would like to be able to display a Great Ball Machine (GBC) during the event next year.

MOCFEST! 2024 is scheduled for 18 - 19 May at ABU Games. We are holding weekly planning meetings and all members are welcome to participate. Contact Greg if you would like to attend the planning meetings. There will be several volunteer opportunities as we get closer to the event.

Only one show and tell this month a throwback to some classic Bionical sets, Core Hunter and XT-4

One of our members has two MOCs up on LEGO Ideas if you have an account you can take a look at his contributions under GeckoGamer004. Gecko Diaoramas is currently a staff pick!

In other LEGO news a new gift with purchase (GWP) Micro Rocket Launchpad will be available from February 16th - 18th for all LEGO Insiders with the purchase of $200 or more. There is also a rumor that one of the collectable minifigure (CMF) sets will be based on Dungeons and Dragons. This will probably be available in September.

Many thanks to everyone that attended the meeting. Next meeting is on March 21st at 7PM!

2023 was a very busy year for the LUG. We spent over 3000 hours on the Avatar project and displayed it in Idaho, Utah and California. We participated in many STEM events at several elementary schools and put on MOCFEST! in October. We are going to build on the momentum of last year by starting this year off quickly.  We have eight STEM events scheduled including:

• BSU Engineering and Science Festival
• Koelsch Elementary STEM Night
• Hunter Elementary STEM Night
• Roosevelt Elementary STEM Night
• Hidden Springs Elementary STEM Night
• Andrus Elementary STEM Night
• Adam Elementary STEM Night
• Compass Charter STEM Night

MOCFEST! 2024 will be on May 18th and 19th at ABU Games, planning is already in progress. We had a record number of builders bring MOCs last year and we are hoping to have even more participation this year. We are also planning on having many more events for our builders to make the show more engaging. Let us know if you have some ideas for engaging the builders in the Treasure Valley and beyond.

Show and Tell

Miniature version of the Natural History Museum Modular Building	Very detailed modular house with a full interior
A crown that can be worn	Is this a flail or a mace?
Landscape on a MILS plate for integration into a bigger scene

As always some fantastic builds and some great discussion within the group. Our next meeting is February 15th at 7PM where our theme is "Lovely Bricks"