Thanks!

[Jim_Leyland]

Thanks to everyone that sold me some nice frags at the swap today! Was nice meeting you and just talkin to everyone!Everything is looking great in my tank!! I didn't stay for the raffle this year but it didn't look 1/2 as good as the 1 last year! Hope somone local won some stuff! And if anyone has any blue acro out there that has a nice multi branch frag please let me know! I only found 1 booth with it and they wanted 40 per frag..

 

[Kreeger1]

It's hard to get people to donate to swaps these days when theres a 100 different clubs asking the same vendors for items. a few vendors said they get 10 request per week for donations. A good amount of the items in the swap this year were purchased at a discount rate. Big thanks to salty critter for giving us the discount on the items we did buy.
The days of the big awesome raffles are over.

 

[Bowman]

Very well put Eric soliciting raffle items is probably one of the biggest and MOST THANKLESS jobs associated with the club as you are at the mercy of the vendors. Feel free to volunteer to solicit next year.

 

[Fdfiremedic]

I give thanks to those that but in all the effort to make this years frag swap a success. It was a good time like always, except for all the power outages LOL!!!! Anyways Thanks again to all the volunteers and solicitors. JOB WELL DONE!!!!!!!!

 

[jh2pizza]

I dont know. I thought the raffle was awesome!!!!!

I want to thank all involved for putting on a great swap again this year. Until you volunteer, its hard to realize all the little details and the amount of behind the scenes work it takes to put on such an event.

Again,

Thank you.

Joe, wife monster and reef keeper

 

[Kreeger1]

I think were going to find a new location next year for the swap. The power outages point blank sucked but it wasn't the fault of C-sea as one vendor that won't be back acted like it was.
Erik

 

[Murphs205]

All in all it was a good swap, lots of nice stuff, the raffle was still a good raffle. There were some great items up for grabs ( would have loved some more ) , i picked up a few goodies too ,
It was crowded all heck ,,, next year you should look into the local county fair grounds, ( cuyahoga, lorain , medina ) all 3 have TONS of parking, and they do have some buildings that would really work nice for a swap, worth calling around for
might have to charge a few more bucks at the door , but with as much money that changed hands there today , everyone would still come.

Murph

 

[jh2pizza]

room at the zoo?

 

[serpentman]

Eric,

If we want to keep it in the same general vicinity, you might want to check out this location for future shows. Its just south of the airport.

U.A.W. Hall
Local 1250
17250 Hummel Road
Brookpark, Ohio 44142

 

[Python73]

Just for the benefit of anyone who has never tried to put on a frag swap... let me toss in some facts.

1 - Getting a decent site to set up for 300+ people and vendors and have it NOT be a complete goat rope is next to impossible.

2 - Frag swaps are ONLY good if you have turn out! That's right. It's the PEOPLE through the door that drive the whole thing.

3 - Vendors and raffles are gravy for the swappers. We guys that volunteer to run our clubs don't get paid for it. We don't get sweet lovin for it. We rarely even get a beer for it. So if you come to a swap, you get as good as you get. We aren't party planners, we aren't trade show organizers. We are winging it. So please, relax.

Personally, I've been to a lot of these sort of things. From basements to halls. And the Cleveand swap is F A N T A S T I C hands down. These guys bust their butts, and I'm very appreciative of their combined efforts.

So... great swap again guys, and thanks. Have a beer on me.

S !

 

[calypso1]

yea the power outages suck!didnt we have that prob b4? well it was a great swap accept now i found out the hard way that 1 of my fish loves to nibble on my faivite i bought! hes quick to! little bastard is hard to catch.lol

 

[spoggy]

Erik,

I was talking to the hall mgmt, they realize that there are issues w/ the power and are looking into redoing it over the summer.

You know, we bear some responsablity for the outages as well. We let 10 vendors set up on one outlet. There were 6 MH's 4 or 5 PC's and every one of them had a 300w or better heater, plus all the pumps. You know as well as I do that you can't run all that on 1 15 amp circuit. We (C-SEA) need to do a better job of spreading the heavy electric users around the room to get them off the same circuit.

It's a good venue, rather inexpensive, we don't have to set up or tear down and there is food and drink attached. We should work to retain it because we're not going to find another one with this type of deal.

My $.02

 

[Kreeger1]

The holiday inn in strongsville was 100 dollars more. They set up and took down too and had outlets all over the place so there was no need for extension cords.

C-sea had nothing to do with the running of cords or placing them all on the same circuit. The power cords were also ran by the hall. I personally had no clue that the hall would run them on the same circuit.

It's time for a venue change

 

[EYESEEU]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12320668#post12320668 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bowman
Very well put Eric soliciting raffle items is probably one of the biggest and MOST THANKLESS jobs associated with the club as you are at the mercy of the vendors. Feel free to volunteer to solicit next year.

Why wait until next year to start looking for donations,whats wrong with starting tommorow? Give your self a years time to work it. Should be locking up next years event this week and set the date in stone this would allow more time to seek out vendors for your event, if I recal this wasnt booked till the last minute that being why the date was off from the last swaps. How about charging non Csea members more at the door. Now for the props thank you to those who make it happen the elected officials,volunteers,vendors,members and sponsers.

 

[spoggy]

The Holiday Inn may be $100 more, but has anyone asked them about their feelings on saltwater on their floors. Having participated in local fish shows for the last 20 years here, including 3 National Conventions, I can tell you that as soon as you say "water", there's a lot of backpedaling. They don't want to get wet. I know that's why NOKA had to cut back on shows.

As far sa the electric, it really was a no brainer. We are aware of the limitations, so we look for them next year. There's no guarantee that the outlets at Strongsville aren't wired in a similar manner, with more than one wall of outlets on one circuit.

Sometimes, it's about the "devil you know"

 

[Kreeger1]

We booked it 3 years ago. They were fine with us.
Power was totally fine there.

 

[spoggy]

Why did we move to the Hall on Brookpark? That decision was made just before I re-joined the club.

I know of a place we (NOKA) used off of Bagley Rd. in Berea, and I want to say we paid $300 or so for the spot. I'm not quite sure it would hold the 300+ participants we (C-SEA) get for these swaps though.

 

[serpentman]

Even though todays turnout appeared excellent, I think switching the venue on occasion also sparks curiosity and might create a little more draw.

 

[Kreeger1]

At the time of the move I believe the hall was 400 cheaper to rent
Erik

 

[vietcu]

This was my first time to the swap meet, and I have to say it was great. Thanks to the organizers and those who volunteered to make it as successful as it was. I think my wallet was empty when I left that place. On a side note you will always have complainers, thats why we live in America . Keep up the good work guys, my gratitude to everyone who ran the show, and the sellers who sold me some great frags. I will definitely be there next year.