- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
Considering NONE of the people who actually organize these things live anywhere near NJ, I'd say the chance of that happening is well... none .
Be Part of the SWAP Solution!
- Thread starter House of Laughter
- Start date
- Location
- Central Jersey
ah... ok that makes sense. i wasn't even thinking about that.
i think just a bigger venue would solve a lot of the issues. comfort and having enough personal space for people including attendees and vendors is really important. plus it seems like there's too many people which is proof that the space should be bigger to accomodate. when i'm not comfortable, i'm not thinking about looking around and purchasing coral, i'm thinking about how quickly i can get out of there.
oh and if parking could continue to be free that would be great.
i think just a bigger venue would solve a lot of the issues. comfort and having enough personal space for people including attendees and vendors is really important. plus it seems like there's too many people which is proof that the space should be bigger to accomodate. when i'm not comfortable, i'm not thinking about looking around and purchasing coral, i'm thinking about how quickly i can get out of there.
oh and if parking could continue to be free that would be great.
- Location
- poughquag, ny
Ok on the larger venue idea, pending the place it is held could be a plus or minus, dont let it be a union building { macna in jersey } as a vendor you cant do anything and the union workers had to do all the electric, water ect which raise's the price considerably.
i dont think ive been to a event that wasnt crowded atleast one worth going too. for me the admission price is fine, i would say cut the food out and have the place offer food, which will benifit them in sale's and keep the traffic out of the middle of the room for the swap. even though the chairs are in the way after being there for x amount of hours it is nice to have a place to sit down, but then again if the caffeteria is open that gives a place for people to gather chat and sit. places to look would also include a good size firehouse as the jersey swaps was.
i dont think having separate time slots would work nor is it needed.
i dont think ive been to a event that wasnt crowded atleast one worth going too. for me the admission price is fine, i would say cut the food out and have the place offer food, which will benifit them in sale's and keep the traffic out of the middle of the room for the swap. even though the chairs are in the way after being there for x amount of hours it is nice to have a place to sit down, but then again if the caffeteria is open that gives a place for people to gather chat and sit. places to look would also include a good size firehouse as the jersey swaps was.
i dont think having separate time slots would work nor is it needed.
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
I didn't go to the swap, but I recently went to a beer event that was possibly the best overall event I've been to in a long time. Since space seems to be a big issue, I thought I'd throw this out there.
The event was held at the Bell House in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It's a large venue, with a sizeable stage and it has a few rooms. They had creative food vendors outside in a roped off area, and tons of room to mill around. (They also have a photo booth, which could make for some interesting post-swap threads.)
I can't imagine that a venue that serves drinks would be all that concerned with liquid on the floor. Since they host music acts, I imagine a PA system is wired already, or at least easy to set up. Most of their shows are in the evening, so you may be able to get a decent rate for a daytime event.
If you want to check out the event, it was called Beer for Beasts and the site for it is here:
http://beerforbeasts.com/
Now for my disclaimer...
I have no clue what this type of space costs, or if there are considerations that I'm not thinking about. I just went to a great event there, and thought that I'd provide it as something to potentially check in to.
The event was held at the Bell House in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It's a large venue, with a sizeable stage and it has a few rooms. They had creative food vendors outside in a roped off area, and tons of room to mill around. (They also have a photo booth, which could make for some interesting post-swap threads.)
I can't imagine that a venue that serves drinks would be all that concerned with liquid on the floor. Since they host music acts, I imagine a PA system is wired already, or at least easy to set up. Most of their shows are in the evening, so you may be able to get a decent rate for a daytime event.
If you want to check out the event, it was called Beer for Beasts and the site for it is here:
http://beerforbeasts.com/
Now for my disclaimer...
I have no clue what this type of space costs, or if there are considerations that I'm not thinking about. I just went to a great event there, and thought that I'd provide it as something to potentially check in to.
- Location
- Bay Ridge, BK
Beerfish, that sounds like a really good spot . Any idea of attendance # s for the event you were at ?
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
FYI, if anyone does contact them for this or any other event, please let them know that a Beer for Beasts attendee suggested the spot. It was a great event for a good cause, and it would be nice to let them know that they are potentially getting other business because of it.
- Location
- Flushing, NY
So far the best suggestion yet IMO.
The only question that comes to mind is, will there be enough outlets / circuitbreaker be enough to handle all the reef equipment?
I also wonder whats the price comparison between Pratt and this new place, and then compare the size LxW of the place
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- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
No idea about cost, but it's a music venue, and a Marshall stack draws more power than a metal halide! lol
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
There's also one HUGE advantage having it at a place like this instead of a school...
They can serve beer!
They can serve beer!
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
just a small suggestion.what about hotels.the reptile expo here in LI has plenty of room and free parking and very easy to get to 
- Location
- Stamford ,CT
Why not have it in westchester were they have the reptile shows?
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Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
- Location
- Franklin Lakes, NJ
Hotels usually have carpet and aren't fond of saltwater.
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
but they are fond of money.and the westchester one is a pain to get to and there is no free parking.also its a convention center which is probably more mula
Since we do 2 swaps a year, I would be great if we kept the Pratt one for MR. And for the Fall one did a huge one with all of the near by clubs(CT, LI, MR, NJ, DE Valley) to create a North-East event. I feel like they do similiar things in other areas of the country but not near us.
there are a few schools in the area CT, That would be a perfect place. Rippowam school Gym, huge and not much to rent, Tons of free parking and easy to get to, off 95 or the merritt. Also what about having a two day event? Saturday and Sunday, this should help with the crowd. Also food should be sold as an extra item seperate While supplies last. The high school Im taking about is maybe 3 times the size of Pratt, well ventilated. You could bump the tickets up to 40 per entry thus weeding out a lot of well you know.
The two day event could house more vendors and stock, with both days having equal quality pieces.
The two day event could house more vendors and stock, with both days having equal quality pieces.
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This is a very interesting thread. It?s amazing how many different opinions you get the more people you have involved in something. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
I've been involved in planning the past 4 NJ Reefers Swaps including being the Co-Chair of MANCA 2009. (Don't get a union conference center they are very expensive). After MACNA in 2009, we decided to go another direction and hold our 2010 fall swap at a fire hall in NJ. A lot of fire halls at least in NJ have large conference rooms attached to you. The one we found had a 10,000 square foot room. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
One major concern we had leading up to the event was power. They had about 60 AMPs in the outlets around the room and we were worried about that not being enough. I was able to rent a large generator (Outside truck type) and a power distro box that we wired up to the 220 power outlet the firewall had for dj\bands to use. We ended up never needed the generator. Most vendors used LEDs which saved a lot of power. After all the stress of worrying about the power we solved that problem for about $1000. I can give you guys the name of the guy I used not sure if he would come to NYC but he might. Let me know. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
As for food, this is something we talked about a lot. Some swaps provide food and lot do not. My take on this is that people don't come to a swap for food. They come for the corals, speakers and to meet up with old friends. In our case last fall Volunteer fire fighters had a cafeteria and they sold food and all the profits supported the fire hall. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
I've only been to one of the MR Swaps I had a great time. I hope to make it to the next one.
<O:p</O:p
I've been involved in planning the past 4 NJ Reefers Swaps including being the Co-Chair of MANCA 2009. (Don't get a union conference center they are very expensive). After MACNA in 2009, we decided to go another direction and hold our 2010 fall swap at a fire hall in NJ. A lot of fire halls at least in NJ have large conference rooms attached to you. The one we found had a 10,000 square foot room. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
One major concern we had leading up to the event was power. They had about 60 AMPs in the outlets around the room and we were worried about that not being enough. I was able to rent a large generator (Outside truck type) and a power distro box that we wired up to the 220 power outlet the firewall had for dj\bands to use. We ended up never needed the generator. Most vendors used LEDs which saved a lot of power. After all the stress of worrying about the power we solved that problem for about $1000. I can give you guys the name of the guy I used not sure if he would come to NYC but he might. Let me know. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
As for food, this is something we talked about a lot. Some swaps provide food and lot do not. My take on this is that people don't come to a swap for food. They come for the corals, speakers and to meet up with old friends. In our case last fall Volunteer fire fighters had a cafeteria and they sold food and all the profits supported the fire hall. <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
I've only been to one of the MR Swaps I had a great time. I hope to make it to the next one.
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- Location
- poughquag, ny
edward i was at the last NJ swap as with a vendor, was a great set-up and i had no problem buying my breakfast and lunch from the fire house,
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
I feel this deserves to bumped back seeing alot of great ideas.
Anyone else with any?
Anyone else with any?
- Location
- Staten Island
Isn't this thread sort of old? Look at the dates, I think this was from the spring swap.
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