Swap Input...

DMBillies

DMBillies

Active member
I thought I might start this thread to get opinions on the swap. I know a lot of people had a great time and got lots of great stuff. What I'm looking for here is opinions about things that worked very well and things that might be improved upon for next year. You might also make suggestions about things that you've seen done at other swaps that we might be able to incorporate into the next one. If our goal is to make this thing bigger and better every year, I thought it would be good to get opinions while it is all still fresh in your mind. I plan to copy this thread and save it for when the club starts planning for next year so that we can think about the things that come up.

In any case, I'd like to keep this constructive... thanks, in advance, for the input.
 
i thought it went great. the only hang up was waiting in line for a pick up that was held for me while other people browsed, but that couldn't be helped at all.
 
My only complaint was that the area to the left of the entrance was a little crowded. Maybe taking out the island of tables between the 2 walls would have created a little more space on that side. There were several empty tables straight ahead against the back wall where people were sitting and reading newspapers. Maybe the island folks could have been there?

I know it's hard to judge that sort of thing before it is actually executed. But now that there's been a swap there, maybe that could be taken into consideration next time. The island in the middle on the right side was fine and there was plenty of room to navigate on that side.

Other than that, it was fantastic! I had a great time.
 
I thought the swap was good and there was a great variety of things to partake of. I got a lot of frags that I have been looking for and the Pink and Green Birdsnest I got from you are in the tank and doing well already.

Improvements: spacing of the tables. It was hard to walk around. And I thought the fragging of the two corals from R. M. was great, but needs to be more about how to frag corals and explanation of the techniques. Maybe just more information or "how-to" type of clinics.
 
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This was my second year and it was better than last.

It was a lot easier to get around than last year- wider isles helped.

You need to have them twice a year! Nashville is a great CENTRAL location and easier to draw large crowds and should consider merging with other clubs for frag swaps.
 
I think the sign-in and raffle tickets could be a little better organized for next year. Granted, I know there were some SNAFU's this year, and Gary and Jennifer busted their a**es getting this thing together, but hopefully next year it will go a little more smoothly.

People showed up early for the swap as expected, but they were allowed to walk in without anyone noticing. All of the volunteers were rushing to finish setting up, so there were a good number of "wanderers" were unaccounted for. I think next year, it would be nice to maybe keep the entrance door closed until our actual start time and maybe have a seperate entrance for people who are setting up to sell. (???)
 
It was a great swap and I look forward to the next one. Thanks to Gary and everyone who worked hard on it. I am more than pleased with all I got. I just need to figure out what to do with that little tank I won. :D
 
In my Opinon: spacing of the tables was ok.. but maybe next year you may just consider having tables set up of individuals that have larger amounts of corals located in the larger end of the building. It was hard to walk around and look at what everyone had. Maybe the tables in the center of the room left for the coral fragging, refreshments tanks etc... I did not get to see the fragging as I had to leave early, but I think it would be great if you could have demonstrations going on 2 - 3 times during the swap and not just at one time only. I believe maybe flip charts or boards with explantion about how to frag corals and explanation of the techniques. Maybe just more information or "how-to" type of clinics. Also... I would have bought a Tshirt... but 18?? That's a little expensive for a tshirt. 10-13 would have been alot better. Over all... <b>
The frag swap in my book was a success. Thank you MTRC for a great swap!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9036106#post9036106 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coral_reefer_25
People showed up early for the swap as expected, but they were allowed to walk in without anyone noticing. All of the volunteers were rushing to finish setting up, so there were a good number of "wanderers" were unaccounted for. I think next year, it would be nice to maybe keep the entrance door closed until our actual start time and maybe have a seperate entrance for people who are setting up to sell. (???)
Click to expand...

I was one of the early birds, and I thought that I'd have to wait outside. I was surprised that I could walk right in and join in on the early shopping. It wasn't fair to the others that decided to show up at 12.

If you 'lock' the doors until 12, ban all selling and 'reserving' until then as well. Otherwise, that would give the sellers time to get first picks.

Food for thought...
 
More organization on the receiving of people... I should have scheduled people to be at the front door to check people in as early as 9:00. I have a feeling a large number of people didn't sign in or get door prize tickets, so I planned to try to go around and make sure everyone that got there early had signed in, but that never happened... Brian and Moriah (DMBillies and Mamagoose45), Daniel (montemans), Steve and Lauren (turboex901), and Jenn (jflat) took control and things started happening. It was nuts there for a long time, so you guys did a great job keeping everything running. If I'd planned better for the early crowd, I think we could have controlled some of the chaos.

All day yesterday up to 5:00 was a blur... My only disappointment is that I didn't get to see a single tank other than mine and Casey's (his were right next to me)... Well and not winning the Christmas wrasse or the Aquapod;).

If we could get more vendors, that would be good, too. I'm sold on the Solaris. Just go to get through this move and figure out how;).
 
yea, I made it there right at 2:00. I didn't sign in or get a door prize ticket either. I just walked in, went straight to where the raffle tickets were bein' sold, then started makin' the rounds. If you are workin' on how many people was there, add my name to that last.

Steve
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9038863#post9038863 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gflat65
I'm sold on the Solaris. Just go to get through this move and figure out how;).
Click to expand...

I noticed today that the Critter has a 6 ft long solaris on their frags in the back. It is so cool, but that's a chunk of change.
 
I was told he has a 2nd on order and that they are ordering some frag out tanks from GC. One of hte guys at that Solaris booth told me. plans on using 2 of the 6ft fixtures over these...
 
man, i just seen the prices on those solaris lights...:eek1: The one they had on display was nice though.

Steve
 
Huh? What? Who said that? Did you say that? All these voices in my head...
Everybody stop talking to me at once !!
 
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