Empire Brick Con: Through the Looking-Glass… Museum
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One of the first articles I ever wrote for BrickNerd was about my efforts to cultivate a local MOC building community in my current hometown of Louisville, KY (USA). Having just returned from Empire Brick Con, held in another hometown of my youth (Corning, NY), I’m inspired to write once again.
Along with fellow BrickNerd contributor Daniel Zimmerman, we will not only share the unique experiences of attending a LEGO Convention inside of a world-renowned glass museum, but also share the story of another group of people striving to cultivate their own local building community.
“The Empire State”
As someone who lived in “Upstate New York” and still has family there, I always feel the need to dispel common misconceptions about New York whenever it comes up in conversation. When people hear “New York,” they most often picture New York City: the hustle and bustle of Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, and the towering Empire State Building.
Well, let’s just say that the only thing towering over the town of Corning, NY (250 miles/400 km away from NYC) is the “Little Joe Tower” and the surrounding hillsides of the Southern Tier.
Photo of Downtown Corning, NY that I took from Other side of the Chemung river
The Empire State nickname for New York State grew out of the state’s historical wealth and resources in the early days of the United States. During that time, trade goods largely traveled by boat along the state's waterways: from the Great Lakes, up and down the Finger Lakes, along the Erie Canal, and finally down the Hudson River to New York City.
The legacy of that Empire State moniker still inspires today. This is evident in the naming of an independent, authorized LEGO retailer in Painted Post, NY called Empire Bricks (although, I guess the owners being fans of Star Wars could have also played a small part).
The Origin Story of Empire Brick Con
Matt & Juliet Towner, with their young LEGO padawans.
Empire Bricks is owned and operated by Matt and Juliet Towner. They have been operating their online BrickLink store under that name since 2016. In 2023, they opened their brick-and-mortar retail location in Painted Post, NY. Just two and a half years later, they started a local LEGO convention at the Corning Museum of Glass.
How did it all come to be? I got the chance to catch up with Matt at Empire Brick Con, and in doing so found a kindred spirit when it comes to building local LEGO communities:
Interview with Matt Towner
Ted: So how did the idea for holding the first-ever Empire Brick Con in 2025 come about? Did you come up with the idea and reach out to ROCLUG to participate, or did they have the idea and reach out to you?
Matt: After opening our retail location for Empire Bricks, we were looking for different ways to let locals know that we were here. The idea of having a local LEGO convention came up, and we started conversing with ROCLUG [our closest RLUG/Fan Community]. Between conversations with ROCLUG during a BrickUniverse convention in Rochester, NY and during their member visits to our store, a partnership was formed, and they were excited to be part of it.
Ted: Was the Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG) always the venue you had in mind for the convention, or did you consider any other local locations?
Courtyard entrance to the Corning Museum of Glass… Welcoming vistors in every language.
Matt: The CMoG connection came last. We were thinking of places large enough to host a convention and also offer us more than just an empty space. There were two other options that were considered (the local high school gymnasium and the events area at the Arnot Mall), but both of them had downsides that made them our 2nd and 3rd choices.
Holding an event like this was a new concept for the glass museum. When we approached them with the idea, they were open and excited for the opportunity. We came to a mutually beneficial arrangement; they would let use their space for free as long as the public convention access was through a museum admission ticket. The museum offering us the space for free was definitely what made the convention happen.
Ted: Given those three options, I think having it at the CMoG was a great call… not to mention that museum admission for kids 17 and under is free! Holding it there also lets public attendees not only experience a LEGO convention, but also lets them access the various CMoG glass exhibits and glass-making demonstrations too… speaking of which…
On the large display screens in the hall, we all noticed videos of CMoG's master artisans making different LEGO elements out of glass… which had us all asking how we can get our hands on that glass LEGO frog!? Someone mentioned the creations were tied to a visit The LEGO Group made to the CMoG during the summer.
On a post-visit survey for the LEGO House, I had recommended that they should visit the CMoG due to their similar focus on showing the history, art, and innovation potential of a raw material (glass vs. LEGO plastic bricks)… but assuming my LEGO House survey response was just a coincidence, did you ever learn the actual reason for their visit?
Matt: The connection with The LEGO Group over the summer came through one of their external marketing partners. I was invited down for the second day to watch and talk with the team, and it was exciting to see the new ideas the CMoG team was able to create.
Ted: Ah, well hopefully they pass any cool ideas along to the LEGO House or at least pass along the glass frog to put on permanent display. Thanks, Matt, for the time!
Matt: Anytime, Ted. I’m glad you could make it up to the convention this year. Hope to see you again next year!
Building a Community
Matt also mentioned that after the first Empire Brick Con in 2025, they saw not only a significant, sustained increase in people coming to their store, but also more people getting involved in the local building community. Daniel also spent a lot of time with Matt and Juliet, and with the community of builders that has grown out of the convention. I’ll pause and let Dan share his own thoughts below on what makes this building community so special to him, and touch on some of the reasons why we awarded Matt and Juliet BrickNerd’s “Nerd of Note” award.
Picture of Matt Towner holding the “Nerd of Note” Award (along with Ted’s Own “Tip of the Cap” token)
Dan: Thanks, Ted! Awarding Matt and Juliet a “Nerd of Note” was super well deserved. I had some lovely conversations with Matt throughout Empire Brick Con, and I had a great dinner at his place before making the trip back home... I had anticipated a good time with friends, but I wasn't expecting how much more it would become over the weekend.
This was also my first Empire Brick Con (EBC), but I’d heard of it before. My close LEGO-building friends attended the convention last year and had nothing but good things to say about it. It made me eager to attend this year, and I am happy to say it really lived up to the hype! I didn't expect to leave having made even more friends and witnessing such a special community coming together.
I have attended many LEGO conventions over the last 10 years, and Empire Brick Con was my 22nd. Over the years, I've attended many BrickFairs and Brickworlds—shows where the number of LEGO displaying attendees reaches +1,000. I didn’t start attending smaller conventions like this one until this year. Empire Brick Con had only around 100 LEGO displaying attendees this year, and it was a fun, close-knit experience.
Maybe some of you can relate, but over the years as a LEGO fan I have tended to experience the hobby by myself, since not many of my friends build with LEGO. It wasn’t until I became good friends with fellow professional LEGO builder Joey Klusnick (lego.joey) that I found a close-knit circle of friends I can relate to through our passion for LEGO. I’ve been looking for that kind of community for some time, and I owe it in part to Joey, Matt, Juliet, and everyone who makes Empire Brick Con happen. They’ve worked to cultivate a local building community that now extends far beyond their corner of New York State. They are all friends I am very grateful to have in my life every day.
Because of EBC’s smaller size and the time of year it is held, many of the builders and RLUGs who could attend lived within a reasonable drive of this part of New York State, myself included. With many of the displayers knowing each other because of their proximity, the convention felt almost like a casual hangout, like a weekly get-together of friends at the end of the work week.
Even though it had been a few months since we were last all together, it felt like no time had passed at all. (L-R): Ben Wilkins, Brad Wells, tyler Desilva, Dom Forte, Joey Klusnick, Daniel Zimmerman
As we walked through the main convention hall, the rest of the glass museum, and even the town of Corning itself, a friendly, familiar face was around every corner. There was always time to stop, chat, catch up, grab some food, and talk about LEGO. At larger conventions, I sometimes feel a sense of urgency to rush around and do everything I can. Instead, Matt and Juliet have created this space and community that feels much more relaxed and casual. The Corning Museum of Glass plays a big part in this too. You could tell from the museum entrance that there was palpable excitement in the air from having this big LEGO event within their walls.
It’s clear this is exactly what Matt and Juliet wanted when they started both Empire Bricks and the convention: a new space and event for this region’s LEGO community to gather around. As I talked to Matt over the weekend, I could see on his face and hear in his words how happy he was to see us all come together to put on this show. It is always fun to see new friends and familiar faces, surrounded by LEGO. Matt wore nothing but smiles all weekend.
At the end of the weekend, Matt and Juliet invited me, my friends, and everyone else who helped organize and run activities at EBC to their place for dinner. It was a perfect way to end an already perfect convention, and it really secured that friendly “hang-out” feeling the convention gave me all weekend. We talked about how excited we were to see all our friends, and how excited the public was throughout the weekend. Matt talked about how excited he was for next year's Empire Brick Con and about growing this LEGO fan community even more. I am already looking forward to coming back next year!
The Empire Brick Con Experience
Promotion flyer seen at my hotel for the week.
Ted: After I got back home, I shared my convention experience with some of my more well-traveled convention-going friends. Their immediate response was “that sounds like how European LEGO conventions are run.” Unfortunately, Dan and I wouldn’t know that from international convention experience, but we’ll describe it all for you below. Maybe some of our more well-traveled readers can help confirm.
Registration Process
The primary reason it reminded people of a European LEGO Convention is that there was no convention registration fee ($0.00). This is likely thanks to the convention’s favorable arrangement with CMoG: free use of the museum space in lieu of public access through paid museum admission. The convention managed registration through a sign-up request form on the Empire Brick Con website… or, if you were a late registrant like me, you needed to email them to be placed on the waitlist and hope for the best…
… And “the best” I was hoping for came in the form of Jeff Johnson and Shyra Murphy; Jeff is ROCLUG’s LAN Ambassador. He helped me get my registration request back on track after it got lost in the email abyss and connected me to the official convention Discord channel.
Shrya is the Lead Organizer of Empire Brick Con, and the unsung hero behind the scenes. She managed the con registration process, display table requests, communications and coordination with CMoG, and a slew of other things I’m sure we attendees weren’t aware of. She helped ensure that my registration and table request were all accounted for. In the end, I was very impressed with how well-run and organized the convention was, and how much of a hand she played in its success.
At check-in, I finally met Shyra in person as she managed the registration table. In addition to our attendee lanyards, she handed each of us the convention SWAG of an EBC 2026 brick badge and a convention T-shirt (provided by Empire Bricks).
T-shirts, I tell you!!! T-Shirts!!!
Number of Attendees
As Dan mentioned earlier, this year's registered displayers totaled close to 100 (up from 60 in the first year in 2025). In addition to ROCLUG members and their chapter CNYBricks, there was also a significant number of displayers from other LUGs within a reasonable driving distance: ILUGNY, ColonialLUG, Steel City LUG, and BuffaLUG. That said, if RLUG members hadn’t needed to wear their official LUG t-shirts during the show, you wouldn’t have been able to tell we were all from different groups. Everyone was welcoming and interacted seamlessly as one big LEGO convention family.
Attendee Group Photo - Empire Brick Con 2026
Schedule
Another parallel to the European LEGO convention experience is that EBC is just a three-day event: We had six hours of set-up time on Friday, and the public hours were 9 am to 5 pm Saturday and 9 am to 4 pm Sunday. During public hours, I spent most of my time behind my display tables, as many family and friends came to see my builds in person for the first time (and operating my motorized horse racing game for the public kept me busy, too).
However, for those not tied to their displays, plenty of activities and games were scheduled around the museum. We’ll cover some of those activities in a moment, but I want to give my next big shout-out to “MC” MacKenzie Kenyon. While normally that MC stands for him being the Membership Coordinator for ROCLUG, at Empire Brick Con he is another kind of MC: Master of Ceremonies. MacKenzie kept everyone informed about all of the sign-ups for building competitions, part drafts, community builds, garage sale, set giveaways, etc. In short, he had his finger on the pulse of the convention and seemed to be almost everywhere.
MC MAC in Action during the Saturday Morning Kick-Off
Display Layout in the Museum
While most displays were in the main Auditorium, some were also in other areas of the museum. In an interesting twist, the vendors were located in an entirely separate area from the display hall. While this might normally be a cause for concern, the organizers created an EBC scavenger-hunt stamp-rally form to help ensure people found their way to all the different areas of the show. If participants collected all the stamps, they could select a small CMoG souvenir from the museum admissions desk.
Bob GRIER - Steel City LUG: “It’s not every day when you get the opportunity to display one of your builds at the actual location and capture part of it in the background!” His Faithful replica of the Glass museum, displayed on the 2nd level walkway, earned him the “CMoG Award”.
The GBC was located Over in the GLASS STUDIO of the Museum.
Zack Holmes and his train layout located over in the GLASS STUDIO
Activities for the Public
In addition to viewing displays around the museum, ROCLUG coordinated several activities to engage the public. The first is the community mosaic build at Corning’s Centerway Square... I know the focus has been on the convention experience, but this region of New York is a great place to travel for the scenery, the many area museums, the nearby Finger Lakes, and the many festivals that occur throughout the year. Centerway Square itself was voted as the “Best Public Square in the United States” as part of USA Today’s 10 Best Reader’s Choice Travel Awards in 2021.
ROCLUG also hosted a Pokémon “Smart Play” demonstration area, along with a “make-and-take” Poké-Ball that people could build and take home. I didn’t get the chance to make one myself, but I heard it was a popular attraction both days.
LEGO-Trivia & Live Building Competitions
The EBC organizers also arranged other fun activities to engage the public: a LEGO trivia game show and a live building competition among LEGO building professionals. This meant Dan would now be pitted against his close LEGO-building friends in a fierce competition. Would they stay friends after enduring the heat of battle and the glowing glass furnaces surrounding them? I’ll let Dan describe the set-up and how it all went down.
Daniel Zimmerman on the big Display screen (Right), with fellow LIVE BUILD competitors (R-to-L) Ben Wilkins, Joey KLusnick, and Tyler DeSilva
Dan: Beyond being displayers, my friends and I got heavily involved in the convention itself. Matt and Juliet were looking for professional LEGO builders to participate in and guide some of the games and events during the convention's public hours. We’re always happy to help and put our collective LEGO knowledge and building skills to use to create a fun experience for others.
Dom Forte (CoolGuyDom02) and I ran multiple rounds of LEGO Trivia both Saturday and Sunday. We were allowed to host our LEGO Trivia games in the museum’s theatre with microphones wired up, so everyone who played could hear us. It was a small touch that made us feel like real game show hosts! As prizes for the winners, we awarded LEGO sets donated by Empire Bricks and glass sculptures donated by CMoG.
(L-R): Daniel Zimmerman, Ben Wilkins, Dom Forte, Brad Wells, tyler Desilva, Joey Klusnick, carter weinstock
My favorite part of the weekend was participating in a LEGO Masters-style building competition with Dom, Joey, Ben, Tyler, Brad, Carter, and me on both Saturday and Sunday. We built for an hour in front of a live audience, then the museum staff judged us to determine the winning teams. We were first randomly split into teams of two (with Brad and Carter switching between Saturday and Sunday), then the audience gave us a build topic. Each team was given the same three LEGO sets to use as parts.
On Saturday, the teams were Joey and me, Ben and Tyler, and Dom and Brad. The audience chose the build topic as Halloween! The one-hour timer started, and we got to building. I’ve never been on LEGO Masters, but I now have a small inkling of what it must feel like. Building in front of a live audience, answering questions, and trying to create a decent build with a limited set of random parts is tricky! But honestly, I find those challenges the most fun. It made me think hard and push my LEGO skills to the limit. On the other hand, I think for Dom it may have triggered some of his LEGO Masters PTSD flashbacks (Season 3 of LEGO Masters USA).
As the building hour ended, Joey and I built Halloween Horrors on the Beach, Ben and Tyler built a Glass Blowing Monster Tree, and Dom and Brad built a Monster Trick-or-Treater collecting Minifigures as treats. In the end, the museum selected Dom and Brad as the winners on Saturday!
On Sunday, the fun continued. We switched teams (Ben and me, Carter and Dom, and Joey and Tyler), and the audience chose the topic: Mythical Creatures! For this round, Ben and I built a werewolf traveling through London, Carter and Dom built a minotaur battling a griffin, and Joey and Tyler built a raging minotaur. Since we're all close friends with similar interests, that is likely why we got two minotaurs this round! Dom and Carter won this round. Congrats to the winning teams (and especially Dom for beating back that PTSD and being on the winning teams for both days)!
It was a blast to participate in a live show like this and do something I hadn't seen at other LEGO conventions. We were excited when Matt presented the idea of the building competition. It gave us an opportunity to do something fun together as friends, give the audience a unique, fresh experience, and share the skills we’ve cultivated through our own unique professional LEGO-building careers.
World of Lights – In UV
Ted: One of the other unique experiences that EBC and the CMoG venue can provide is during “World of Lights”. After public hours ended on Saturday, they put the entire Auditorium display hall under UV Blue light. This meant that not only did the builds using custom lighting stand out, but also anyone’s builds that happened to use UV-reactive bricks. I took the opportunity to do an encore display of some of my New Hashima cubes, and to try lighting up my “Walk In the Park” vignette for the first time.
…and Brian Baum understood the mission. Not only did his creative sculptural displays stand out during the public hours, but he stood out himself while dripping in his UV reactive day-glow gear.
“Long live the king!” - picture of Brian Baum getting lit during “World of Lights”.
Evening Activities and Events
In addition to the convention SWAG, Empire Bricks (Matt and Juliet) also provided attendees with an after-hours pizza, wings, and soda dinner on Saturday night after public hours were over, held in the ballroom at the nearby Radisson hotel where many attendees were staying.
During the after-hours gathering, various LEGO-themed games and events were run by the different LUGs in attendance; There was a garage sale, a speed build competition, a couple of parts drafts, some set giveaways (“Woohoo, I won!”), and the ever-popular “Saran Ball Unwrapping” game that Jeff Verone coordinated (ColonialLUG).
LEGO Themed Glass Making
Another unique convention experience was that the CMoG offered registered attendees a limited-time opportunity to sign up to “make your own” LEGO-themed glass beads, cups, and pressed ornaments in the Glass Studio. There was a fee, and spots were limited, but they sold out quickly, showing their popularity among attendees.
KC Ross (SnailLUG/ColonialLUG) participated in the opportunity last year and shared some really great photos of her experience.
Displayer Awards
Finally, EBC gave out various building awards this year. A panel of the convention team largely judged the awards. The one exception was the People’s Choice award, where the judging panel narrowed the field to five nominees, and the public voted to choose the winner. This year’s EBC People’s Choice award went to Jeremy Topolski (ROCLUG) for his “Starry Night in Stained Glass,” made using transparent cheese slopes.
Jeremy Topolski, Standing next to his “Starry Night in Stained Glass”
Here is a collection of some of the other award winners, memorable builds, and people from Empire Brick Con 2026.
Nerds of a Feather Flock Together
In the closing remarks, Matt said that although public attendance at the convention was down year over year, the CMoG was still very pleased with the turnout... So much so that they have already locked in the dates for next year’s EBC on October 23rd-24th, 2027! That weekend should coincide once again with one of Corning’s other popular annual events: The Days of Incandescence festival. I understand that festival is quite popular with the Steampunk Nerds… and with EBC and CMoG proving that Brick Nerds and Glass Nerds can get along together, I say, “Huzzah! The more Nerds, the merrier!”
They have T-Shirts, I tell you!!! T-Shirts!!!
As BrickNerds, Dan and I can’t speak highly enough of our Empire Brick Con experiences and the growing LEGO-building community they have cultivated. We look forward to seeing how the convention and its builder community continue to evolve and grow in the years ahead.
How does Empire Brick Con compare to your own convention experiences? Let us know in the comments!
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