🧱 OrangeTeam LUG: The Rules of the Game and the Community Spirit. (cerchi la versione in italiano, e nella scheda accanto)
Welcome to our great family! Being a Recognized LEGO® Fan Community is a privilege that fills us with pride, but it also requires transparent management toward our members and The LEGO Group. In this guide, we have gathered everything you need to actively participate, understand how we work, and know how we protect your privacy.
1. Our Mission and How We Decide
Our main goal is very simple: we want every enthusiast (AFOL) to find a serene, stimulating, and welcoming environment here to share their creativity.
To ensure everything runs at its best, the LUG Board makes operational decisions during private monthly meetings. However, we never decide "in a vacuum": we take into deep consideration the opinions and suggestions that emerge during monthly public meetings and reports that reach the staff personally. Our aim is to transform every piece of feedback into harmonious collective growth, distinguishing constructive criticism from mere complaining, ensuring a leadership that is always attentive to the real needs of the community. The current leadership team is composed of a President, an Administrator, a Board Member, an AFOL Relations Officer, and a Community Ambassador. These roles were assigned on a voluntary basis following a formal application process. The leadership team selected candidates based on their active participation and contribution to the LUG's growth, as demonstrated during our monthly public meetings. To ensure future leadership renewal and sustainability, the community is currently formalizing established term limits for all positions.
We are a reality based entirely on volunteering: patience and respect for the time that others dedicate to our common passion are the heart of our "relational culture." For this reason, we facilitate the onboarding of new AFOLs with training sessions and tutorials (available both publicly on the website and in restricted member areas) and encourage everyone to join our specialized workgroups—such as editorial, logistics, or graphics—to enhance everyone's talents and carefully prepare future group leaders.
2. Requirements for Active Members: Being There Makes a Difference for Us
We believe that engagement in the real world is fundamental to creating true connections between fans. For this reason, "Active AFOL" status requires some minimum annual commitments:
- Regularly attend monthly meetings (in person or via streaming) to stay updated on our activities, events, and projects.
- Contribute to our flagship event, PisaBrickArt, which represents our identity and history.
- Support at least two other annual events organized by the LUG.
What does it mean to contribute? It is not just about displaying your MOCs; valuable contribution is also operational, such as managing a workshop, helping with reception, or supporting setup and teardown at physical events. It also includes writing articles or reviews, proposing ideas or suggestions, volunteering to lead projects, or proposing and running events independently with our official support.
For Remote AFOLs (Out of Region): We know that distance can be an obstacle, so we ask you to officially represent the LUG in at least two external events (wearing company colors, our shirt, or requesting recognition material from us: rollers, flyers, etc.) and to participate in one of our main events during the year, whether it be PisaBrickArt or another.
3. Transparency, Social Impact, and Relationship with the LEGO® Brand
As an official LUG, we have a duty to be fair toward the LEGO® brand. Our visual identity is intentionally distinct from the official one to avoid public confusion. We strictly respect the "No Leaks" policy: it is forbidden to share images of products not yet officially released. Furthermore, the Board and the Ambassador operate in total transparency, declaring any potential conflict of interest with other entities.
As an ethical choice, we also emphasize that there are no affiliate links or any type of paid advertising on our site, ensuring a clean browsing experience focused exclusively on our common passion.
We love using bricks for good by participating in charity initiatives. For maximum transparency, the LUG never collects cash directly but always directs donors toward officially recognized non-profit associations.
4. A Safe Space: Communication and Conflict Management
Our private official channels (WhatsApp, website, social media, Flickr) are a space reserved exclusively for registered AFOLs. To ensure a safe environment compliant with international standards:
- WhatsApp "OFFICIAL READONLY": This is our fundamental channel for institutional communications; leaving it is equivalent to resigning from the LUG.
- Reporting and Confidentiality: If conflicts or inappropriate behavior arise, we ask that you do not discuss them in group chats but send an official email to the Board (Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.). Every report is handled with the utmost privacy and protection for the reporter, ensuring there are no retaliations for those acting in good faith.
- Impartiality: If a report concerns a member of the Board, you can write directly to the Ambassador (ambassador@orangeteamlug.it), who will act as an external guarantor. We commit to giving you an initial formal response within 20 working days.
- Sanctions: To protect the serenity of the group, we adopt proportionate interventions: these range from a simple verbal warning to a written warning, up to expulsion in the most serious cases.
All of this is summarized in our Pact of Kindness, which we are part of at a national level: every interaction, even in disagreement, must be constructive and respectful. As we always say: kindness is not an optional extra, but the foundation upon which we build all our work. (https://costruiamogentilezza.org/)
5. Our Archive and the Protection of Your Ingenuity
We document everything on our Official Website and on Flickr, which holds the historical record of our milestones. We care deeply about protecting your work: the photos and texts published on the site are protected by the CC BY-NC license, ensuring that intellectual property always remains with the respective creators.
6. Privacy, Data Protection, and Web Management
Browsing our site and participating in the digital life of the LUG must be a safe experience. Therefore, we manage your data according to these principles:
- Transparency and Purpose: We collect only the information strictly necessary for LUG management (such as registration or event communication). We do not sell or disclose your data to third parties for commercial or advertising purposes.
- Multimedia Content: During our events, we may take photos or record videos to document the group's activity on the website or social media. If you do not wish to appear, please inform us in advance: we always respect your wishes and your right to your image.
- Data Security: The information provided during registration for restricted areas of the site is protected by appropriate security measures. Access to this data is limited and defined as written in the site's Privacy Policy.
- Your Rights: At any time, you can ask us to view, modify, or delete your personal data from our databases or restricted areas of the site by sending a request through your user control panel or by sending us an email.
👉 Check the OFFICIAL CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND MEETINGS here: orangeteamlug.it/eventi-partecipazioni/
💡 One Final Note: Our wish is for every AFOL to have a rewarding experience. If you feel that this way of living the passion is not in line with your expectations, we respect your freedom to seek a different reality.
We are human, we follow ideas and inspirations... we might change something along the way, but we will always do our best to keep the promises we've made!
"This is an automated translation; it may not be 99% consistent with the message we wish to convey to the Italian public. For any doubts or questions, please contact our official email address."
Il Direttivo.