itZme
New member
First of all, the entire C-SEA board would like to thank all who volunteered to help! You are what makes this hobby great. I am pretty sure that I haven't seen any negative comments about the swap from anybody who gave some of their time to help make the swap go more smoothly. It is an ironic twist that those who work the hardest complain the least isn't it?
When we set out on this venture of trying to find another place to set up our swap we asked at several meetings and several threads online if anyone knew of ANYWHERE that might be better suited for our needs than the old hall with the screw in fuses that kept blowing (what a headache that was for last year's board of directors)
We received several suggestions and checked into every one. Most would laugh us off when we suggested thousands of gallons of saltwater being set up inside their halls. Those that didn't have a problem with that would follow up with how much it will be per outlet and per table needed for the event. (some even charged for parking space)
If they weren't going to charge us for tables then they told us we were free to bring our own tables from where ever we rented them. (that would add considerably to the cost of the event.)
Most of the places that were suggested seemed like they were bigger but when we checked them out they actually were considerably smaller. There are pretty standard fees out there based on square footage so we weren't going to find any miracle places that had more footage, more tables, more parking and more electricity for the same price.
The venue that we ended up with was the best blend of those things with no additional charge for the huge parking lot, no charge for electricity, no charge for the tables they supplied and no charge for the bar. They supplied us with all of those things at one very fair price.
In previous years there had been about 10-15 vendors tables requested and the rest was left for hobbyists so we should have had about 70-100 half-table spots for $5 each but this year the vendor table requests were overwhelming and we actually had to stop selling them in order to save room for hobbyists. Let me rephrase that... We turned away $50 per table to save room for $5 hobbyists spots. We were not in this to just make money for the club although that is the main goal here. We recognized the problem and attempted to address the issue as fast and effectively as possible by holding the rest of the tables for hobbyists.
We were thanked by several vendors and hobbyists alike for having a great turnout. They said the C-SEA swap this year was outstanding and they sold more corals than ever. We only hope to improve it in the future and we welcome any suggestions. Please use those spots in the survey that Jen set up to fill in anything that may help the board of directors next year in finding that GEM of a venue where we can have an outlet at every table and no breakers tripped by overloading the circuits.
I can only speak for myself but I feel fairly certain that there was nobody at the entire event that wouldn't have preferred more room and a bit less body heat in the place. That room will always come at a cost and our goal was to have a bigger swap without costing the participants significantly more than previous swaps. There were very few complaints about the $5 fee for a table space but there were still those that didn't like it. I think the swap has reached a breaking point where there are many who want a bigger space and are willing to pay for it, those who want it to retain the old-style "swappin corals" feel and those that know they will walk out of there with a wad of cash in their pockets no matter how much the tables cost.
I tend to think maybe next swap could benefit from having 3 levels of table space available. We could have Vendors, Hobbyist Sellers, and Free Sellers. Obviously you would get what you pay for and they would be graduated sizes with free spots being the smallest and probably no electricity provided.
I guess we have about 355 days to do it again and improve on the solid base provided by years of hard work by the previous board members and volunteers.
Thanks to those who have helped form the foundation by giving their time so selflessly to make C-SEA a fantastic club over the last 40 years! Thanks again to all who helped make it a great day!
Most of all a "BIG THANKS!" to all of those who currently serve or have served in the past, in our great military, to make it possible for us to enjoy our daily freedoms and the right to pursue a hobby at all! You are the epitome of volunteering and we should all have much respect for you!
-- Kevin
When we set out on this venture of trying to find another place to set up our swap we asked at several meetings and several threads online if anyone knew of ANYWHERE that might be better suited for our needs than the old hall with the screw in fuses that kept blowing (what a headache that was for last year's board of directors)
We received several suggestions and checked into every one. Most would laugh us off when we suggested thousands of gallons of saltwater being set up inside their halls. Those that didn't have a problem with that would follow up with how much it will be per outlet and per table needed for the event. (some even charged for parking space)
If they weren't going to charge us for tables then they told us we were free to bring our own tables from where ever we rented them. (that would add considerably to the cost of the event.)
Most of the places that were suggested seemed like they were bigger but when we checked them out they actually were considerably smaller. There are pretty standard fees out there based on square footage so we weren't going to find any miracle places that had more footage, more tables, more parking and more electricity for the same price.
The venue that we ended up with was the best blend of those things with no additional charge for the huge parking lot, no charge for electricity, no charge for the tables they supplied and no charge for the bar. They supplied us with all of those things at one very fair price.
In previous years there had been about 10-15 vendors tables requested and the rest was left for hobbyists so we should have had about 70-100 half-table spots for $5 each but this year the vendor table requests were overwhelming and we actually had to stop selling them in order to save room for hobbyists. Let me rephrase that... We turned away $50 per table to save room for $5 hobbyists spots. We were not in this to just make money for the club although that is the main goal here. We recognized the problem and attempted to address the issue as fast and effectively as possible by holding the rest of the tables for hobbyists.
We were thanked by several vendors and hobbyists alike for having a great turnout. They said the C-SEA swap this year was outstanding and they sold more corals than ever. We only hope to improve it in the future and we welcome any suggestions. Please use those spots in the survey that Jen set up to fill in anything that may help the board of directors next year in finding that GEM of a venue where we can have an outlet at every table and no breakers tripped by overloading the circuits.
I can only speak for myself but I feel fairly certain that there was nobody at the entire event that wouldn't have preferred more room and a bit less body heat in the place. That room will always come at a cost and our goal was to have a bigger swap without costing the participants significantly more than previous swaps. There were very few complaints about the $5 fee for a table space but there were still those that didn't like it. I think the swap has reached a breaking point where there are many who want a bigger space and are willing to pay for it, those who want it to retain the old-style "swappin corals" feel and those that know they will walk out of there with a wad of cash in their pockets no matter how much the tables cost.
I tend to think maybe next swap could benefit from having 3 levels of table space available. We could have Vendors, Hobbyist Sellers, and Free Sellers. Obviously you would get what you pay for and they would be graduated sizes with free spots being the smallest and probably no electricity provided.
I guess we have about 355 days to do it again and improve on the solid base provided by years of hard work by the previous board members and volunteers.
Thanks to those who have helped form the foundation by giving their time so selflessly to make C-SEA a fantastic club over the last 40 years! Thanks again to all who helped make it a great day!
Most of all a "BIG THANKS!" to all of those who currently serve or have served in the past, in our great military, to make it possible for us to enjoy our daily freedoms and the right to pursue a hobby at all! You are the epitome of volunteering and we should all have much respect for you!
-- Kevin
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