This was my first year to attend Brickfest. The following reflects my experience at the fest, and I've tried to include as much as I could. Unfortunately, I didn't capture everything. There was too much to see and do!

The following also focuses on the Technic, Model Team, and Mindstorms creations and events at the fest. If I've mislabeled anything, called anyone a wrong name, or missed something in the pictures, please email me.

Thanks to all who organized and sponsored the fest. I had a wonderful time and look forward to next year.

thanks,
TJ Avery

The Technic/Mindstorms Room

The room containing most of the Technic, Model Team, and Mindstorms creations was most impressive. If you stepped into the room, you would have seen this:

Tractor and trailer transport for a competition dragster, a creation of Lewis Valentine III.

Bram Lambrecht and Adrian Drake's Jeep Cherokee (with extra large tires).

Adrian Drake's A10 Warthog.

Miscellaneous creations and sets (some of Bram's cars are in the first pic). You can see a few 'bots in the first pic too. RTLToronto was there, so you know there were some impressive bots :-)

John Barnes' train loop with computer controlled speed (keeps two trains running at equal distance apart). Steve Hassenplug's M&M sorter can be seen in the far left.

Ah, the master builder's corner ;-) Creations of Jennifer Clark, Tim Courtney, and myself.

Close-ups of the models Jennifer brought.

Close-up of Jennifer's amazing Demag AC50-1 model with Tim Courtney's mini-AC50.

That's me trying to untangle and fix one of the hoist lines on the crane.
(photo © Calum Tsang, used with permission)

Jennifer and John watch on as I "boom down" the big guy.

Heaviest load lifted at Brickfest (by a Lego MOC): I picked up my 9.5 pound (4.3 kg) R996 excavator model with my crane. A special note to this one: Brad Justus was there and viewed the lift.

Award given to my crane! It was voted best Technic/Mindstorms MOC.

Doug Carlson's Creations

Doug set up an awesome display in an adjacent room. He also participated in all three Technic/Mindstorms competitions. The creations below are all his!

A Special Note

Derek Iddison pulled me aside to tell me about his amazing creation, the Flying Bobs. It was sort of hidden downstairs, but I was fortunate enough to see it. I don't know what theme this should be in, or any at all, but it's certainly an amazing creation!

Flying Bobs contains over 30,000 pieces and took over 1000 hours to design and build. It is powered by a hand-held power drill mounted in the base.

Jennifer Clark's Presentation
Function and Form

This was a great presentation by Jennifer. She described her experiences and philosophies of building with Lego bricks. She talked about what inspires her, and moves her to create what she does.

Scree Runner Competition

The scree runner competition was held Friday evening, and was a lot of fun. These aren't all the entries, however- sorry.

Jennifer's AC50-1 hits the scree, and sinks :-) (it was a just-for-fun run)

Steve Hassenplug (right) demonstrates his loophole bot with the big scree-wacking stick. Todd Thuma (and his runner- on table corner) watch on. John "Fuzzface" McMahon turns to locate Fred.

Steve's more legitimate entry, the "X-bot" smokes the competition, and later wins.

Jennifer judges closely as Doug Carlson's runner (with way too many treads) hits the scree. John Barnes is on the stopwatch there.

The crowd watches as the slope increases, and the scree runners begin to succumb to gravity.

Crevasse Crosser Competition

Unfortunately, I missed most of this. Again, too many things to do at the fest! Doug Carlson won this one.

Sumo Bot Competition

I missed most of this too because I was packing. I made the mistake of getting a flight too early, and bringing too much stuff.

Kevin Loch and Steve Hassenplug's bots face off.