So everyone, how was the swap?
- Thread starter rickyfins
- Start date
CJ
Premium Member
I for one enjoyed the swap. It was great to see old friends and it's always fun to pick up nice new corals even if they break the bank, lol. It was very gracious of Dr. Mac to bring so many beautiful frags and I thought his prices were quite good.
One suggestion, not to be construed as a criticism, but instead of having two speakers, how would you feel about having a question and answers session where everyone could ask the group for help with whatever problem they may have. These questions would not necessarily have to be related to the presentation, although the speaker may well have some insight he/she might want to share. Also that time could be used for sharing special experiences which may benefit the group. Just a thought.
Thank you Rick and all who helped make this event great.
One suggestion, not to be construed as a criticism, but instead of having two speakers, how would you feel about having a question and answers session where everyone could ask the group for help with whatever problem they may have. These questions would not necessarily have to be related to the presentation, although the speaker may well have some insight he/she might want to share. Also that time could be used for sharing special experiences which may benefit the group. Just a thought.
Thank you Rick and all who helped make this event great.
saltbox125
New member
The best place, food and speakers of all the swaps I've been to, but the lowest attendants.
P.S the closet location so far
only an hour and 15 min.
Tran
P.S the closet location so far
only an hour and 15 min.Tran
Sanjay
Premium Member
Re: So everyone, how was the swap?
Ok.. you asked for it
Things done well:
- Well organized, from the operational perspective. Check in, registration etc., seemed to be quite smooth.
- Venue was very nice
- Great food
- Good Speakers
- Lots of good corals at swap. Possibly some of the best selection.. People had "rarer' corals and Dr. Mac was a good addition.
Things to be improved:
- Attendance. this had to be the smallest swap in terms of attendence. Not a good sign if we have declining attendance.
- Advertising and Hyping the event. Saw very little excitement being generated for the swap. This could account for the attendance
- Need to create a better environment for speakers, such as less distractions while talk is on going. Simultaneous swapping and fragging in the same location do not seem to mix well. need to think about how to address this - separate speaker room ? stop all swapping during the duration of the talk ?
Overall I had a good time, and as CJ said, its good to meet old friends and have a good time. Its not just a frag swap. its also a social event.
sanjay.
Ok.. you asked for it
Things done well:
- Well organized, from the operational perspective. Check in, registration etc., seemed to be quite smooth.
- Venue was very nice
- Great food
- Good Speakers
- Lots of good corals at swap. Possibly some of the best selection.. People had "rarer' corals and Dr. Mac was a good addition.
Things to be improved:
- Attendance. this had to be the smallest swap in terms of attendence. Not a good sign if we have declining attendance.
- Advertising and Hyping the event. Saw very little excitement being generated for the swap. This could account for the attendance
- Need to create a better environment for speakers, such as less distractions while talk is on going. Simultaneous swapping and fragging in the same location do not seem to mix well. need to think about how to address this - separate speaker room ? stop all swapping during the duration of the talk ?
Overall I had a good time, and as CJ said, its good to meet old friends and have a good time. Its not just a frag swap. its also a social event.
sanjay.
crazy_reefing
In Memoriam
Good:
-Great location
-great food
-friendly people
-nice to see a swap down in this area
-entry/registration area was setup nicely and went smoothly
-liked receiving receipts
-announcing and showing appreciation of sponsors/vendors
-having the swap on a Saturday with good hours
-zooqi not being there j/k
Needs Improvement:
-only 1 speaker not 2
-better advertisement
-coral raffle should have been more fair by not having winner pick through corals but by raffleing off each coral on it's own (ex: the person that does raffle should pick up a coral, call off number and then give to the winner not winner tossing bags to find the "best" piece which causes coral stress and damage plus unfairness)
-more vendors
-better raffle items
I had a really good time for my first swap with you guys and hope to see another swap down here again!
-Great location
-great food
-friendly people
-nice to see a swap down in this area
-entry/registration area was setup nicely and went smoothly
-liked receiving receipts
-announcing and showing appreciation of sponsors/vendors
-having the swap on a Saturday with good hours
-zooqi not being there
j/kNeeds Improvement:
-only 1 speaker not 2
-better advertisement
-coral raffle should have been more fair by not having winner pick through corals but by raffleing off each coral on it's own (ex: the person that does raffle should pick up a coral, call off number and then give to the winner not winner tossing bags to find the "best" piece which causes coral stress and damage plus unfairness)
-more vendors
-better raffle items
I had a really good time for my first swap with you guys and hope to see another swap down here again!
I agree with Sanjay. The speakers were sometimes drowned out by all the chattering in the back of the room. The directions to he swap were the worst yet. A sign would have been nice or a mention that it was in the rear of a restaurant would have helped ALOT! I know (myself included) that quite a few people drove by the place a few times before they found out where it was.
Other than that, the food was good and it is always good to see friends. Dr. Mac was a nice touch and I hope the trip was worth his time so that he may want to return in the future.
Other than that, the food was good and it is always good to see friends. Dr. Mac was a nice touch and I hope the trip was worth his time so that he may want to return in the future.
Here's 1 more "bad"
Need more lead time on the anouncement of the swap date.
Not just for some guy who works 3rd trick Fri. night & can't make Sat. swaps,
but to also allow some of us who don't have frag grow-out tanks to get some frags mounted & growing before the swap.
I missed you guys, & hope you had a good time.
see you all at the next swap
Bill
Need more lead time on the anouncement of the swap date.
Not just for some guy who works 3rd trick Fri. night & can't make Sat. swaps,
but to also allow some of us who don't have frag grow-out tanks to get some frags mounted & growing before the swap.
I missed you guys, & hope you had a good time.
see you all at the next swap
Bill
I have to agree that knowing ahead of time would be great. We were lucky enough to have this date fit into our schedule. However, the Spring swap is certainly one that should be scheduled way in advance to avoid June (wedding season, vacations, HS graduations, etc.) and the middle to end of May (college graduations, college finals, etc.) as these would be times that most people are already very busy. Sometime in the beginning of May or even April would be better for most people. Plus, if you put your date out in advance, hopefully others will try to avoid that date.
I personally like the Saturday swaps because I don't have to be up late on a night that I have work the next day acclimating my frags (sorry Bill)....especially if it is a far drive.
Any ideas yet for a date and location for the Spring swap?
I personally like the Saturday swaps because I don't have to be up late on a night that I have work the next day acclimating my frags (sorry Bill)....especially if it is a far drive.
Any ideas yet for a date and location for the Spring swap?
rickyfins
New member
I am glad to hear all the good news, as well as those things which we NEED to improve on.
This is a great starting point for us to change things around and do them the way our members and attendants want them to be done.
Advertising time is definitly something to work on.
So if we gave everyone more time would that help with a similar schedule? Or do we definitely need to limit to one speaker and then have a talk session? I like the idea and we wouldn't neccessarily have to have a speaker up there for this but maybe just someone to direct the Q and A. Great ideas and keep them coming!
I wish I had more time to try the food so I could say oh it was great. But I did have the pasta and yes IT WAS GOOD!
THANK YOU ALL, without these ideas and directions we wouldn't know how to make things better for you.
This is a great starting point for us to change things around and do them the way our members and attendants want them to be done.
Advertising time is definitly something to work on.
So if we gave everyone more time would that help with a similar schedule? Or do we definitely need to limit to one speaker and then have a talk session? I like the idea and we wouldn't neccessarily have to have a speaker up there for this but maybe just someone to direct the Q and A. Great ideas and keep them coming!
I wish I had more time to try the food so I could say oh it was great. But I did have the pasta and yes IT WAS GOOD!
THANK YOU ALL, without these ideas and directions we wouldn't know how to make things better for you.
I had trouble getting there but did arrive before the speakers.
I have no complaints -- everyone was as friendly as always!
The place was very nice.
And I like a bit of chaos -- there should chatter throught out the event -- the audience had plenty of proximity to the speaker to hear.
Sometimes you guys are like Borg and strive for perfection. This is a casual event. It was perfect!
And Ricky finally talked me into joining instead of showing up at every swap as a guest!
Give yourselves credit for another job well done!
I have no complaints -- everyone was as friendly as always!
The place was very nice.
And I like a bit of chaos -- there should chatter throught out the event -- the audience had plenty of proximity to the speaker to hear.
Sometimes you guys are like Borg and strive for perfection. This is a casual event. It was perfect!
And Ricky finally talked me into joining instead of showing up at every swap as a guest!
Give yourselves credit for another job well done!
yellowtruck75
New member
This is only the second swap that I missed and it seems like I missed a good one. It would have been nice to see some of Dr Mac's frags. I just moved into my house and don't have my new tank setup yet so thats why I couldn't make it plus I worked 3rd on Sunday.
I really think there needs to be another location for the speaker or a quite time for the speaker. As our guests, it is rude for them to have to speak over other people speaking. I think it's just common courtesy to make sure they have the attention that they deserve. If you were up in the front of the room, you did sometimes need to strain to hear, and that just shouldn't be. I just don't want the speakers to think we are a rude group of people that they never want to come back and speak to.
Two speakers is probably too many to keep the crowd's interest. One speaker and a question and answer session led by someone might be more useful. I know that we went and spoke to the first speaker after he was finished and that was really helpful to us.
The food and venue were both great. I think NCPARS stepped up a notch there.
I think knowing a date and location by November would be excellent. Then you could spend more time on advertising and collecting raffle items instead of doing it last minute, which adds to the stress level of those planning the event.
I would also like to express my gratitude to those who donated items to the Bloomsburg High School tank project. The teacher was ecstatic when I told him about it. He can't wait until it is all set up in his room. I'll keep you posted with pics and the progress. It's great to see the members of our club helping out our youth to advance the hobby.
Two speakers is probably too many to keep the crowd's interest. One speaker and a question and answer session led by someone might be more useful. I know that we went and spoke to the first speaker after he was finished and that was really helpful to us.
The food and venue were both great. I think NCPARS stepped up a notch there.
I think knowing a date and location by November would be excellent. Then you could spend more time on advertising and collecting raffle items instead of doing it last minute, which adds to the stress level of those planning the event.
I would also like to express my gratitude to those who donated items to the Bloomsburg High School tank project. The teacher was ecstatic when I told him about it. He can't wait until it is all set up in his room. I'll keep you posted with pics and the progress. It's great to see the members of our club helping out our youth to advance the hobby.
I agree with all that's been said. Seemed like organization was good, good venue, lots of frags available, just small turnout. It's always been hard to plan way ahead, which is what would help with the attendance and raffle, but hopefully we will have no problem with that as we work on the next swap.
Dyan (and Larry for the Williamsport project): don't forget to look at the current policies/procedures and get some of the NCPARS fund we planned to help support educational stuff. The directions are somewhere on ncpars.org, we basically wrote it up to ask for a letter from the school verifying that you are doing an aquarium project, and a letter to ncpars asking for what you need with price.
Dyan (and Larry for the Williamsport project): don't forget to look at the current policies/procedures and get some of the NCPARS fund we planned to help support educational stuff. The directions are somewhere on ncpars.org, we basically wrote it up to ask for a letter from the school verifying that you are doing an aquarium project, and a letter to ncpars asking for what you need with price.
Great Building and Food.
I liked both of the speakers very much. These guys were both excellent. But I also agree, 2 is too much ... if swapping and speaking is in the same area! We could also have some more informal chat session topics. I am a relative newbie to corals (<2 years) and learn a lot just talking to the guys especially over their tanks. (Sure beats going to TFPlace and having fish-room rug rats try to lead me astray.)
I am amazed how much work people put into their swap setups/tanks. I feel that is a key attraction for this type of event that should be highly encouraged! I really think that you should be able to chat/swap/buy from vendors or anyone with a stand at all times.
A separate area for speakers would be perfect and would extend more courtesy to them ... but it may not be logistically possible at the locations we end up with.
Very good fun. I am happy to say that my 2 Nanos are crammed with corals, and I did not buy a single one at the pet stores. They almost all from the coral swaps. Thanks everybody! I may not have the most awesome tanks, but I feel good about sending my $ to fellow fraggers instead of the commercial coral collectors.
I am going to try to setup a small frag tank so I can contribute in the spring. I wish I could help more, but with a newborn, I am luck I got time to type this reply.
Cheers
Fred (Ganomish)
I liked both of the speakers very much. These guys were both excellent. But I also agree, 2 is too much ... if swapping and speaking is in the same area! We could also have some more informal chat session topics. I am a relative newbie to corals (<2 years) and learn a lot just talking to the guys especially over their tanks. (Sure beats going to TFPlace and having fish-room rug rats try to lead me astray.)
I am amazed how much work people put into their swap setups/tanks. I feel that is a key attraction for this type of event that should be highly encouraged! I really think that you should be able to chat/swap/buy from vendors or anyone with a stand at all times.
A separate area for speakers would be perfect and would extend more courtesy to them ... but it may not be logistically possible at the locations we end up with.
Very good fun. I am happy to say that my 2 Nanos are crammed with corals, and I did not buy a single one at the pet stores. They almost all from the coral swaps. Thanks everybody! I may not have the most awesome tanks, but I feel good about sending my $ to fellow fraggers instead of the commercial coral collectors.
I am going to try to setup a small frag tank so I can contribute in the spring. I wish I could help more, but with a newborn, I am luck I got time to type this reply.
Cheers
Fred (Ganomish)
rickyfins
New member
Fred, this is exactly what NCPARS is about. Through NCPARS swaps we are collectively putting forth the effort to save wild specimen from being collected when they are much more abundant in hobby tanks or overgrow them. HEHEHE
This makes them easily accessible as well as hardier!
It looks as though we have many newbies and many experienced hobbyists and we should do the Q and A so that the more experienced hobbyists can help advise those more inexperienced hobbyists! We can all learn from our experiences. I am not sure that this has been done before here, or anywhere else.
PLEASE USE THE NCPARS TANK SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM!!! That is what it is there for!
Our missioin is to educate and conserve, without using the program we are not meeting our mission!
We will look into having a seperate area for the speaker, and if possible make that happen for you.
For all of those who got lost in transit, I am sorry, BUT... I GOT LOST TOO! I am glad some of you utilized my phone number and got proper directions. I did eventually find the place but the road names were not what internet sources stated. Sorry about this.
BOB WELCOME ABOARD!!! I hope you enjoyed your time and thanks for chatting, I wish next time I have more time to talk to you while you multi task!! LOL
thank you all for your input, keep it up, with your help, the next swap should be the best yet!
Anyone have any ideas about time? What is best for all of you? Was the 10-3:30 not enough, too long, or should it have been later in the day? Don't forget that next swap is elections and we will be posting about help with the nominations committee soon. We will need time for a longer membership meeting which we didn't get to have this time around, sorry we would to have liked to cover some things. I will be sending all of you an email about what we were going to talk about so I can get your ideas on that as well.
Thanks again!
insanefishguy
New member
I am surprised that noone through this out there about the turnout. A lot of us know what these things are all about and dont worry about the distance traveleing to get there (even if ours spouses do), but with the group called North Central Pennsylvania Area Reef Society, this one was REALLY south. Heck we were only 20 miles from Maryland! For those who dont know how much fun the swaps are, it could have been a factor.
Overall, I thought the swap was great. It would be nice to have it a little later in the day to give people some more time the day of to get all their corals together before the swap.
Overall, I thought the swap was great. It would be nice to have it a little later in the day to give people some more time the day of to get all their corals together before the swap.
