My take on BACFM

[zapata41]

ok well after going to the event here is a little of what i thought of it.

everything was great, lots of nice corals some good prices and a fair amount of ppl.

now here is what i wish would have been different and probably would have had a higher turnout.

given the 30$ a ticket price, somthing like a free poster wouldnt be bad, not charge 5$ for one.
maybe a t shirt or hat or something like that, they dont cost much to get them special made.

there should be no reserve on the auctions, since they were donated the proceeds dont have to have a minimum.

maybe a cheaper ticket price

but all in all it was a fun event. i felt it a little hard to swallow the 60$ for me and my wife to go, not like you have to pay to go to the grocery store, and the vendors paid a hefty price so the ppl that were coming in shouldnt have had to. it was fun seeing everything in person that i see online.

so if you went let me know what you thought.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Yeah $30 would be too much if I wasn't planning on bringing back any junk.

The auctions weren't donations, they were the company selling them ebay style just in a live format, but I agree the reserves were so high no one wanted them. But for an good piece it's not like the value is going to go down.

 

[Unarce]

In SoCal and the East Coast, those pieces would have easily gone above the reserve.

 

[zapata41]

i am sure the pieces could have gone above the reserves, i was just saying that i feel more ppl would have came if the door price wasnt as high, shoot i paid 60 for me and my wife, so then add a few frags to the deal and i spent a few hundred bucks. it was just kinda odd to pay soo much to get into something that you are gonna already spend soo much at. and from a vendor standpoint i would be a little arsed that the door price was soo much since it would deture a lot of ppl that might have been on the fence about coming, potential customers lost due to the shocking ticket charge. mainly what i am getting at is where did all the ticket money go to. i thought the vendor money purpose was to pay for the conference room charge anyhow, and the vendors knew this but also knew that they would get a lot of sales.

anyhow i hope the next ones will be less for ticket prices and maybe could make up for it in either extra sales like t shirts and hats and what not or maybe a few more bucks for a booth. i am sure turnout would have been ten fold had the price been 10$, and the ticket revenue would have been more than it was at the 30$ price too.

 

[Unarce]

The entrance fee was actually lowered for this event. I'm sure the vendors were more surprised that more people didn't show up.

I don't know if it's because of our Northern Cali mortgages that forces us to be tight wads:lol:, but I hear it's very different from the SW-CFM. The entrance fee was well worth the chance to purchase all that eye-candy from one place, and meet and get to know some great vendors and fellow hobbyists.

 

[tacocat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7635454#post7635454 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unarce
The entrance fee was actually lowered for this event. I'm sure the vendors were more surprised that more people didn't show up.

Gay Pride and Oakland vs SF. Someone should have scheduled a little better.

I dug it. $30 may sound steep, but you did save some coin. If I had a tank to fill and hung around till the end, I could have completed my shopping list.

The high door price was probably there for the following reasons:

1. Banquet rooms aren't cheap.
2. Encourage discounted advanced ticket sales

The reason they charge admission:

1. Avoid flakiness
2. Provide vendors with an appropriate head count.

I more than made up for my $30 admission fee, and I got to enjoy some killer tacos from Hugo's (SniperSPS) brother's restaurant.

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Fun chance to hang out with a bunch of nice reefers all at the same time and place. Most were people that I ordinarily wouldn't run into except for online. Hiya Whodah, Jendub, Shrek's mom(who I got to talk frogfish with)... and a bunch others

Got a chance to see all the vendors' crazy corals in person. Picked up some cool stuff at a nice price.

I didn't get any for myself, but Reef Nutrition was passing out free samples left and right that were worth more than the price of the admission ticket.

Was even able to schedule an awesome speaker for the October BAR meeting presentation. Details are "secret" for now, but definately will make for an impressive and educational October event

 

[Apon]

Next time buy the tickects early- (Bar was selling discount tickects)

"special offer for BAR members for discount tickets 15 days prior to the event at $15."

It was a fun event, I spent most of the time running the BAR booth, but made up for it at the end at the end. : )

 

[trmiv]

$15 wasn't too bad, but they should have just kept that the price the whole time instead of raising it if you didn't buy early. I ordered mine early so it was only $30 total for myself and my wife. We were going to bring someone else last minute, but they didn't want to pay the door price. If it was still $15 they would have come though.

All in all it was a cool event, and I'll definitely be there if they have it again. I spent more than I was planning to or should have though, but I ended up with nice stuff! I ended up with 10 corals in all (6 sps frags for me, and three mushrooms and a nice bunch of clove polyps for my wife).

The best part was it being so close to where we live. We went early and got some nice stuff, won a raffle (pink birdsnest) and were able to go home get the corals acclimated and still had time to head back and pick up four more corals on some awesome deals people had right before it closed.

 

[tacocat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7639939#post7639939 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trmiv
$15 wasn't too bad, but they should have just kept that the price the whole time instead of raising it if you didn't buy early. I ordered mine early so it was only $30 total for myself and my wife. We were going to bring someone else last minute, but they didn't want to pay the door price. If it was still $15 they would have come though.

All in all it was a cool event, and I'll definitely be there if they have it again. I spent more than I was planning to or should have though, but I ended up with nice stuff! I ended up with 10 corals in all (6 sps frags for me, and three mushrooms and a nice bunch of clove polyps for my wife).

The best part was it being so close to where we live. We went early and got some nice stuff, won a raffle (pink birdsnest) and were able to go home get the corals acclimated and still had time to head back and pick up four more corals on some awesome deals people had right before it closed.

They probably did it to discourage walk-up sales. Encouraging early sales is the best method to determine an accurate headcount. The vendors are dealing with living organisms that can perish, not dry goods.

Packing a bunch up of frags up, setting them up in a tank and packing them up for a trip back home is extremely stressful. I'm sure many vendors lost a few in the process. In order for a vendor to determine how many frags are appropriate, they need an accurate head count. The easiest way to get this is to give incentives for early ticket sales.

If the event had 50% walk-up attendance, and the vendors only brought enough frags for the anticipated audience, they would have sold out early. Just like a wedding reception that runs out of food or alcohol, There would have been many unhappy people crying about it.

On the other hand, if the vendors brought enough frags to go around 10 times over, there would have been a sizeable loss of life due to the stress of transportation. Some of these vendors drove 6 or more hours.

I bet if the ticket price remained the same, most people would not have purchased their tickets early. This would have most likely guaranteed a lower turnout of vendors or frags and many unhappy people.

 

[trmiv]

Maybe if the price was lower at the door, they would have had more attendance and not have had to cart home as many frags.

I'm not pretending to know how to put on an event like this, I'm just speaking from an attendee's point of view. I know at least one more of my friends would have gone last minute at a lower door price. If another 30-40 or more people did the same thing, that's more people buying those frags, and they don't have to be brought back.

You can make arguments either way, I can see your logic as well. I'd say that as more of these events are put on in a particular area, the vendors that participate as well as the organizers will get a better idea of the average attendance they can expect and be able to plan accordingly without knowing advanced ticket sale numbers.

 

[tacocat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7640343#post7640343 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trmiv
I know at least one more of my friends would have gone last minute at a lower door price. If another 30-40 or more people did the same thing, that's more people buying those frags, and they don't have to be brought back.

If they would have brought enough to begin with.

I know many vendors were sold out of their super premuim corals by noon and a half. They did a fair job of selling most of their corals. There was some nice discounts as it wound down though.

 

[Qwiv]

You all missed one big thing, the person putting on the event needs to make money or they will not do it again. Trust me, they aren't doing all this work to not make some cash.

 

[2x210g]

"Show me the MONEY"

 

[2x210g]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7640715#post7640715 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Qwiv
You all missed one big thing, the person putting on the event needs to make money or they will not do it again. Trust me, they aren't doing all this work to not make some cash.

i agree "Show me the MONEY"

 

[JenDub]

The next one is going to be in Feb. and the prices at the door are going to be cheaper. Steve and Art are still fine tuning everything so be patient. They listen to any advice you guys have to give so just shoot over some ideas, questions, and comments.

And I know they are not making huge amount of money. They do these events cause they love what they do and are trying to spread the word of propagation along.

And about the prices and reserves on corals...I know almost all the vendors were selling there corals cheaper then they normally would. I had a $150 micro up for auction with a $60 reserve. That person had a smile from ear to ear when he picked that one up for $60.

There was complaining about prices being to high but if you look at the vendors prices online or at their stores, you can see the difference.

All in all it was a great event (looong drive). I love to meet people that I talk with on the boards and finally put faces with names. I hope everyone is able to go to one and experience a good event in this hobby.

Till next time....

 

[zapata41]

yes it was a great event and a great experience for me. i was simply giving my take on this and it is only intended to give ideas for future events.

can wait for the next one though

 

[JenDub]

I think the next one is going to be down here in LA but don't quote me. I know Steve wants to branch out even further.

Zapata41 you should send an email to Steve and give him your thoughts and ideas on the event. He would love to hear feedback.=)

 

[Unarce]

Steve is very passionate about this hobby. I'm sure he'll give any feedback, strong consideration.

 

[orientalexpress]

i know i got some premium frags at a great discount compare to online.jendub micromusa is just awsome,u not going those colors anywhere else,include our great bayarea lfs.i end up with over a box full of frags from friend tank and the event.it's great to see all the great farmers at one place.that priceless .gl




lapsan:smokin: