I view the LUG as an entity which allows me to interact and collaborate with others who share interest in Lego as a hobby. One of the main benefits to that is collaborative creations, like train/town displays or library displays. Another major benefit is the opportunity to interact with others whose primary Lego interests are currently different from mine. I am primarily a town builder but would love to get back into space (which was my focus growing up) and do more castle/pirates as well.
Collaborative builds are usually dictated by the opportunities to do public displays. However, as much as we can, I always want to include as many of the varied interests in our hobby as possible in each display (whether the display is active – like a train show – or passive – like a library display case).
Stand alone displays in the context of a larger collaborative display can also lend a unique difference, when compared to non-Lego displays. For example, the regular model railroad displays would never have awesome space robots in their displays but we do! And that shows off the creative flexibility that Lego provides. Perhaps we need to plan our larger displays to work in the stand alone elements more so that everything contributes to the overall narrative of the display. Kind of like the Bill and Mary Idea Book from 1980. The book starts with two minifigs (Bill and Mary) building a house and then a town, eventually going into space, and then ending up in the middle ages in the land of the Yellow Castle. See http://lego.wikia.com/wiki/6000_LEGOLAND_Idea_Book So even though I am currently a Town builder and most of my ideas and plans are focused in that direction, I always want to explore other areas of the hobby and interact with my fellow LUG members whose primary interests lie there. Hope that makes sense.