Podpora LEGO v Maďarsku

[Jindroush]

V Maďarsku má podle mých informací LEGO přibližně stejné prodeje jako v ČR, jsou udávaní jako první 'východní' země, kde bylo LEGO v prodeji (tuším ale, že ho ČR těsně následovalo, bylo to někdy okolo 1972-3) a jejich klub existuje o trochu déle.

Napsal jsem proto šéfíkovi jejich klubu Ákosovi, jaká je situace v Maďarsku, co se týče podpory firmy LEGO. MaLUG se podílel i na té akci v Bratislavě. Kvůli délce mailu nechávám v původním znění bez titulků. 

Moje dotazy byly:

Basically I'm interested in your cooperation with the Lego Company - do you have any? If you were doing some events, have you got anything from them, I mean some media kit, media support or even direct funding?

I know you were partially involved in the Toy Fair in Bratislava this year in May. Were you the 'main powers' behind this or you joined the other toy collectors?

Is your club legally registered with your state, or is it just the virtual community?

A odpověď:

Well let's talk about the LEGO company, it will be short :-)

Basically there is an office in Hungary, but it almost exclusively focuses on marketing and toy dealers, and only in some extent deals with other things, but those are almost always marketing related.  For example, they may announce some kind of contest in some kind of media, for example who can build a Bionicle set in the shortest time.  And LEGO Hungary would provide the prices.  So it is usually kids stuff, they are not very AFOL-oriented.  However, they know about our LUG, and occasionally contact us regarding various things.  Last time they contacted me was before (and only 2 months before!!!) that Barbie and LEGO exhibition, I mean the Budapest one, the Bratislava exhibition was right after that one.  So that was a tight schedule.  They were only involved with the legal aspects of the exhibition, whether the LEGO logo could be displayed on the posters or not. We did not get any support from LEGO Hungary, no t-shirts, no posters, not even a single brick, nothing.  But that was still a special event, as it is owned by a Bavarian private company (it is their private Barbie doll collection) so for that one we did not just work for free.  We did not actually get money but we got some ShopAtHome sets for our club.  As you brought the question up, we are not a legal business or not even some kind of non-profit entity, so we can't bill someone for our work.  But we don't do this for profit so there is no point to become a company for now.  (It would cost way too much to run a company that would not necessarily generate any revenue, not to mention profit.)

As for the stuff that were on display in Bratislava, most of it is the property of that company who runs the exhibition.  Some of the stuff they purchased from 1000Steine members. (René, El Caracho, etc.)  Budapest and Bratislava was too far away for the 1000Steine guys, so they recommended our club.  We've been to a couple of TSL events already so we have a not-so-close but friendly relation between the clubs.  What we presented was some mosaics (Einstein, Ferrari), the "Budapest" display you might have seen in Berlin (The Lánchíd/Chainbridge with the Sikló/Cablecar) and a fictional town layout.  In Budapest, we also had that big crane that was also in Berlin.

And going back to the original subject, that is LEGO Hungary, my experience is that they might contact us if they need some help (i.e. free work) but they will not throw free stuff at you.  Of course I'm not blaming them for this, they now that we are enthusiastic about our hobby and we can get at least some publicity if we help them out, so it is not a bad relation at all, it is just that the relation could be deeper.  For example, there is the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest, where they show the regular folk history kind of stuff but they also have contemporary exhibitions, for example the World Press photo exhibition is usually on display in that museum.  Anyways, the museum is running an exhibition titled "Müanyag" which is plastic in Hungarian.  When the exhibition will close, there will be a "Family day" with a LEGO contest with prices. Do you think LEGO Hungary informed us about his event.  NOOOOOOOOOO!  We spotted it on some kind of news site.  That really shows how little they care about the AFOLs.  So I went to the Museum, looked up the PR office, introduced our club and we talked the thing over.  We will get space, equipment, labor etc. from the musem, to set up our creations, do presentations or whatever we can think of.  That day will be a club meeting for MALUG, our members will be on the guest list.  The museum is so happy that the Family day will be much more exciting than they could ever have organized a LEGO event on their own. LEGO Hungary could have introduced our club to the Museum and it would not have cost them a dime to do it, but it just not in their thinking, apparently.  Well of course this hasn't actually happened yet, as the saying goes "Don't count your eggs before they hatch", but let's hope it will work out OK.

Another "project" I feel they should be doing for their own good is this: there is another museum-like place called the House of Future.  (If you ever come to Budapest, you might want to check it out) In this place they display all kinds of "future-y" things and it is not just a static museum-type display but they have lectures and classes for schools, etc.  They are interested in setting up an "NXT-area" with LEGO robots and offer NXT classes to visiting schools!  I could only say "WOW!!!" when I first heard about this.  Well, think about this.  They contacted LEGO Hungary, and the only help they got was a phone number in Germany.  Again, I don't want to criticize LEGO Hungary for lack of enthusiasm, it is probably that their hands are tied, they just can't deal with random-stuff that is not about selling LEGO to toystores...  So it looks like our club will be negotiating with LEGO education on behalf of the Museum :-)  And if it will eventually happen, it might result in higher NXT sales in the country, so ultimately LEGO Hungary would profit from the exhibition :-)

Regards,
Ákos

[***Banana.com]

Ve zkratce - importéři Lega v Maďarsku také nepustí ani chlup a s klubem nic moc nespolupracují..

[otaznik]

Ve zkratce - importéři Lega v Maďarsku také nepustí ani chlup a s klubem nic moc nespolupracují..

Je také potřeba dodat, že to nutně nemusí být jejich chyba, je to, stejně jako u nás, pouze malá pobočka s omezenými možnostmi.

[***Banana.com]

Spáchám pro neanglofily volný překlad...Nemám státnice ani žádné jiné oficiální zkoušky vyjma maturity, takže za případné chyby se předem omlouvám 

Basically I'm interested in your cooperation with the Lego Company - do you have any? If you were doing some events, have you got anything from them, I mean some media kit, media support or even direct funding?
I know you were partially involved in the Toy Fair in Bratislava this year in May. Were you the 'main powers' behind this or you joined the other toy collectors?

Is your club legally registered with your state, or is it just the virtual community?

Zajímám se o spolupráci s TLC - spolupracujete s nimi nějak? Když pořádáte nějáké akce, dostanete od nich nějáké media kity, podporu v médiích či přímé finance? Vím, že jste se částečně podíleli na Veletrhu hraček v Blavě letos v květnu, byli jste "hybnou silou" Vy, nebo jste se přidali k jiným sběratelům?
Má Váš klub v Maďarsku právní statut, či je jen virtuální komunitou?



A odpověď:

Well let's talk about the LEGO company, it will be short :-)

Basically there is an office in Hungary, but it almost exclusively focuses on marketing and toy dealers, and only in some extent deals with other things, but those are almost always marketing related. 
For example, they may announce some kind of contest in some kind of media, for example who can build a Bionicle set in the shortest time.  And LEGO Hungary would provide the prices.  So it is usually kids stuff, they are not very AFOL-oriented.   However, they know about our LUG, and occasionally contact us regarding various things.  Last time they contacted me was before (and only 2 months before!!!) that Barbie and LEGO exhibition, I mean the Budapest one, the Bratislava exhibition was right after that one.  So that was a tight schedule.  They were only involved with the legal aspects of the exhibition, whether the LEGO logo could be displayed on the posters or not. We did not get any support from LEGO Hungary, no t-shirts, no posters, not even a single brick, nothing.  But that was still a special event, as it is owned by a Bavarian private company (it is their private Barbie doll collection) so for that one we did not just work for free.  We did not actually get money but we got some ShopAtHome sets for our club.    As you brought the question up, we are not a legal business or not even some kind of non-profit entity, so we can't bill someone for our work.  But we don't do this for profit so there is no point to become a company for now.  (It would cost way too much to run a company that would not necessarily generate any revenue, not to mention profit.)


As for the stuff that were on display in Bratislava, most of it is the property of that company who runs the exhibition.  Some of the stuff they purchased from 1000Steine members. (René, El Caracho, etc.)  Budapest and Bratislava was too far away for the 1000Steine guys, so they recommended our club.  We've been to a couple of TSL events already so we have a not-so-close but friendly relation between the clubs. 
What we presented was some mosaics (Einstein, Ferrari), the "Budapest" display you might have seen in Berlin (The Lánchíd/Chainbridge with the Sikló/Cablecar) and a fictional town layout.  In Budapest, we also had that big crane that was also in Berlin.

And going back to the original subject, that is LEGO Hungary, my experience is that they might contact us if they need some help (i.e. free work) but they will not throw free stuff at you.  Of course I'm not blaming them for this, they now that we are enthusiastic about our hobby and we can get at least some publicity if we help them out, so it is not a bad relation at all, it is just that the relation could be deeper.    For example, there is the Museum of Ethnography in Budapest, where they show the regular folk history kind of stuff but they also have contemporary exhibitions, for example the World Press photo exhibition is usually on display in that museum.  Anyways, the museum is running an exhibition titled "Müanyag",   which is plastic in Hungarian.  When the exhibition will close, there will be a "Family day" with a LEGO contest with prices. Do you think LEGO Hungary informed us about his event.  NOOOOOOOOOO!  We spotted it on some kind of news site.  That really shows how little they care about the AFOLs.  So I went to the Museum, looked up the PR office, introduced our club and we talked the thing over.  We will get space, equipment, labor etc. from the musem, to set up our creations, do presentations or whatever we can think of.   That day will be a club meeting for MALUG, our members will be on the guest list.  The museum is so happy that the Family day will be much more exciting than they could ever have organized a LEGO event on their own. LEGO Hungary could have introduced our club to the Museum and it would not have cost them a dime to do it, but it just not in their thinking, apparently.  Well of course this hasn't actually happened yet, as the saying goes "Don't count your eggs before they hatch", but let's hope it will work out OK.

Another "project" I feel they should be doing for their own good is this: there is another museum-like place called the House of Future.  (If you ever come to Budapest, you might want to check it out) In this place they display all kinds of "future-y" things and it is not just a static museum-type display but they have lectures and classes for schools, etc.  They are interested in setting up an "NXT-area" with LEGO robots and offer NXT classes to visiting schools!  I could only say "WOW!!!" when I first heard about this.  Well, think about this.  They contacted LEGO Hungary, and the only help they got was a phone number in Germany.  Again, I don't want to criticize LEGO Hungary for lack of enthusiasm, it is probably that their hands are tied, they just can't deal with random-stuff that is not about selling LEGO to toystores...  So it looks like our club will be negotiating with LEGO education on behalf of the Museum :-)  And if it will eventually happen, it might result in higher NXT sales in the country, so ultimately LEGO Hungary would profit from the exhibition :-)

Regards,
Ákos

Dobrá, popovídejme si o firmě LEGO, bude to krátké :-)

V podstatě zde v Maďarsku je oficiální kancelář, ale ta se zaměřuje téměř výhradně na marketing a obchodníky s hračkami, a jen ve zvláštních případech se zabývá jinými věcmi, které však téměř vždy souvisejí s marketingem.
Mohou třeba oznámit nějáké soutěže v některých médiích, například kdo nejrychleji postaví Biohnus set. Maďarský LEGO importér pak zajistí ceny, obvykle dětské zboží, které pro AFOLy nemá valný význam..Tak či onak, ví o nás, a příležitostně nás z různých důvodů kontaktují. Naposledy mne kontaktovali pouhé dva měsíce před Budapešťskou výstavou Barbie a LEGO, Bratislavská byla až poté. Časově to tedy bylo dost napjaté. Zajímali se jen o právní aspekty výstavy, zda logo LEGO může být na plakátech či ne.Od maďarského importéra jsme nedostali žádnou podporu, trika, plakáty, ani jednu jedinou kostičku, prostě nic! Byla to ale speciální výstava soukromé bavorské firmy a její kolekce panenek Barbie, takže zadarmo jsme to nedělali. Nedostali jsme sice peníze, ale zato nějáké SH sety pro náš klub..Když jsi nastolil otázku právního statutu, nejsme právnická osoba, ani jakýkoliv druh nevýdělečné organizace, takže nemůžeme někomu fakturovat naší práci. Neděláme to ale pro zisk, není tedy důvod stát se firmou (stálo by to moc a náklady by se nejspíš nevrátily, o zisku ani nemluvě)..
Co se týče zboží vystaveného v Blavě, většina je majetkem firmy, která výstavu pořádala. Část zboží si obstarali i od členů 1000Steine (Reného, El Caracha aj.). Budapešť a Blava byly pro tyto členy příliš daleko, proto firmě doporučili náš klub. Již jsme se poznali na pár TSL výstavách, takže máme sice ne nijak zvlášť blízké, ale přesto přátelské vztahy mezi našimi kluby. My jsme vystavovali nějáké mozaiky (Einsteina, Ferrari), panoráma Budapešti, které jste mohli vidět v Berlíně ( Lanchidův řetězový most s lanovkou ) a fiktivní městskou scenérii. V Budapešti jsme měli i velký jeřáb, stejný, jako v Berlíně..
Když se vrátím k maďarskému importérovi LEGO, má zkušenost je taková, že nás kontaktují, když potřebují nějákou pomoc (například práci zdarma), ale zbožím zdarma nás rozhodně nezasypou. Samozřejmě jim to nekladu za vinu, oni ví, že my jsme nadšení našim hobby a pokud jim pomůžeme, přinejmenším nám to přidá na publicitě, takže to  není zase až tak špatný vztah, jen by spolupráce mohla být hlubší. V Budapešti máme například etnografické muzeum, kde vedle stálých expozic věcí souvisejících s lidovou historií pořádají i dočasné výstavy jako World Press Photo. Každopádně muzeum pořádá výstavu nazvanou "Müanyag", která je v Maďarsku známá (slovo plastic použité v originále jsem si vyložil takto, plastická mi nedává smysl). Až výstava skončí, bude tam "Rodinný den" s LEGO soutěží o ceny. Myslíte si, že nás maďarský importér LEGO informoval?? NEEEEEEEEEEEE! Všimli jsme si toho na informačním serveru. To výmluvně dokazuje, jak málo se starají o AFOLy. Šel jsem tedy do muzea, našel PR kancelář, představil náš klub a probral to s nimi. Dostaneme prostory, vybavení a a spolupráci ze strany zaměstnanců, abychom mohli vystavit naše MOC, prezentaci či cokoliv jiného. Tento den bude i klubovým setkáním MALUG, naši členové budou na seznamu hostů. Muzeum je celé šťastné, že Rodinný den bude daleko atraktivnější, než by sami byli schopni zorganizovat v rámci LEGO soutěže. Lego Maďarsko nás mohlo představit muzeu samo a nestálo by je to ani špetku úsilí, ale zdá se, že mají v hlavě jiné věci. Samozřejmě, že to ještě není definitivně dané, protože jak zní přísloví, proč stahovat kalhoty, když brod je ještě daleko. (v originále nepočítejte Vaše vejce před snůškou, nahrazeno českým příslovím). Další projekt, který by myslím měli udělat pro jejich vlastní dobro, je toto : Je zde jiné místo podobné muzeu, které se nazývá House of Future. Pokud někdy přijedete do Budapešti, měli by jste se tam podívat. Jsou tam vystaveny všechny futuristické věci a není to jen statická expozice , ale pořádají i hodiny pro školy atd. Mají zájem i o ustavení NXT zóny s LEGO robity a nabízejí NXT i školám navštěvujícím výstavu. Mohl jsem jen zajásat, když jsem to prvně uslyšel. Kontaktovali LEGO Maďarsko, a jediné pomoci, které se jim dostalo, bylo telefonní číslo do Německa. Znovu říkám, nechci kritizovat LEGO Maďarsko za nedostatek nadšení, asi mají svázané ruce a nemohou se zabývat věcmi, které nesouvisí s prodejem LEGA do hračkáren. Zdá se, že náš klub bude tedy vyjednávat s divizí LEGO Education v zastoupení muzea. Pokud to eventuálně zvedne prodeje NXT v zemi, bude z toho profitovat jen LEGO Maďarsko:-)

S pozdravem Ákos

...translation finished...

[Petrjr]

   Díky Vám oběma.
   Jindroushovi za skvělý nápad zjistit jak to vypadá jinde a Kanálovi-K1 za překlad (sice jsem to EN jakžtakž přelouskal, ale kdybych tušil že přijde i CZ verze, tak jsem si zaručeně počkal  )