I sat down the other day with Brickworld’s Mark Larson. Actually, it was just a Zoom meeting. Social distancing, you know, safety first!

ElBarto!: So, this is your first year at the helm of Brickworld. What a challenging time to take over this massive operation! Do you hold a grudge against Bryan? I know I would.

Mark Larson: Not at all.

EB: Not even a little? Be honest.

ML: OK, yeah. A huge grudge. How dare he know the future and sell me the company anyway? He TRULY got out at the right time. Luck was on his side, not mine. Bryan has been amazingly supportive during all of this. He has several times expressed how terrible he feels that this is happening in my first year of ownership. The last thing it is is his, or anyone's fault. And it's only the first year. I purchased a strong brand and the shows are already amazing. It was a good investment, even if it's not immediately paying off. Or even if it's immediately making life incredibly difficult. :D Bryan is the structure behind all of the virtual shows. He's spent a ton of time building the website to have the capability to host the virtual shows and learning a lot in order to make them operate smoothly. I couldn't be doing this without him, but I'd be dead without Kathie.

EB: It's called Brickworld Virtual. As a member of VirtuaLUG, it seems fair that we should get some sort of cut of the proceeds, you know, with the name and all. What do you think?

ML: What percentage of 0 would you like? These virtual events, while I do plan to incorporate them somehow into future in-person shows and even do some virtual events in the future, once this is all over—whenever the Jack Stone that will be—they're no replacement for the live events. These events are great and I'm happy to be continuing to connect the community but they're not a profit-making model quite yet.

EB: I see that the event is going to feature some of the contestants from the Brick Masters TV show. What's all that about?

ML: They will be doing some really fun activities all day. At 11am, 1pm, and 3pm CDT they'll be competing in challenges designed by fans. Stop in and maybe you'll get a chance to design a challenge for them. At noon and 4pm, they will be building #MessagesOfHope for Wish Kids. The Make-A-Wish network is running a social media campaign since #WishesAreWaiting. Stop in and build some messages of hope for them to post on social media for all the Wish Kids who aren't able to have their wishes fulfilled due to social restrictions right now.

EB: Is Amy Corbett going to be there? I really dig her accent. Do you have her contact info?

ML: I love her too. I have a platonic crush on her. I could listen to her talk for days.

EB: I hear that Dave Kaleta is going to be showing off his Alphabet Fighters, and Bart Larrow is presenting his worlds famous Battlestar Galactica. Those guys are so cool, right?

ML: Who? Dave and Bart are doing something else really cool, besides just presenting their amazing MOCs in great detail and sharing their creative secrets with the community, they're doing a build challenge every hour. So, stop in at any hour and participate in a cool challenge and maybe get to show off what you built!

EB: Anything else you want to mention? Are you presenting? I hear you're a pretty decent builder.

ML: Meh, I'm OK. Because I'm at the help desk, I'm not displaying. I designed the Escape House game which will run at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm CDT. Maybe some day I'll find somebody to cover the help desk for me and I'll do some stuff.

So there you have it, folks! Exclusive behind the scenes content on the upcoming Brickworld Virtual. Click on any of the pics in the slideshow to find out more.