SF pros and cons

Thanks for the input John and it was great meeting you. I don't think anyone knew the shape the two tanks were in prior to them showing up. I am confident if we had it would of been rectified prior. The vendor list was pretty good and their seemed to be something for everyone when it came to that. We only had a couple of our normal vendors not make it being Paul who is no longer doing shows and Cherry who was simply to busy too make it. And then we had some new ones which is always nice.
Just like every fest we learn something new each time. what to and what not to do, and we get better at each and every time The biggest obstacle is we have different people putting these together each show. While the folks that have prior experience lend helping hand where they can, it is still a very intimidating thing to tackle the first time.

 

It seemed like a lot of venders were wining the raffel and not the people that came to buy stuff IMO and used tanks what's up with that. Don't get me wrong I had a great time. And got some great frag's. Speaker we really good to.

 

Just to clarify those tanks were only used one time for 3 days at MACNA by live aquria and then donated to the club I think people should be thanking them for donating them and not complaining about them being used. also I personally think this was one of the best raffles we have had as far as total value and variety of items. Every item except for the AI, calcium reactor, and protein skimmer were donated to the club. I don't think people understand the amount of work that goes into getting vendors to give free items to the club especially in this economy

 

IMO I think 2 Fests a year is great! I was happy to see several new vendors and new hobbyists' selling also. As far as the 2 tanks (that arrived late to the show) which were a mess and the 2 tanks that were missing parts, I agree that it didn't reflect well upon our Club. Had it been known that the 2 tanks from MACNA were in such dirty condition, it would have been nice not to include them in the raffle, instead, use them for Fall's raffle. The tanks which were missing parts, although I don't know what was missing, it would have been nice for the donors' to have supplied the parts or the Club. I was disappointed only with these things.

A raffle is just that, the luck of the draw whether it be those who walk through the doors, sellers/vendors or Members. I thought there was something for everyone to buy whether it be dry goods, corals, food or fish. The building was great and space was nice :=0) The people coming through the doors seemed to go more quickly this time :-0) Nice weather and everyone seemed happy. The banners were nice and the signs showing where to go were very helpful :-0)

Considering the short time the new Board Members and Trustees had for preparing for SF, I think they did a great job and hope they feel happy with how SF turned out! I do have an idea which maybe the BOD will consider: how about establishing a permanent position within the Club for a Fest Director/Coordinator who would be either appointed/volunteers/elected at the Annual Business Meeting? Things might go more smoothly and be less stressful on people.

Great job job guys and gals!!

 

very nice show dont see any problem met some people that know sanjay and picked up some nice coral thanks for having the show very nice

 

this was my first spring fest. I thought it was a very well put together show and I had a great time.

 

The fest director/coordinater sounds like a good idea. I guess I was spoiled when the first event was manca show. Thanks again for having sf and hope to make it to fall fest

 

well the fest coordinator director position is actually filled. That is the Vice presidents job actually.
Act as the point person to work with the event organizers (i.e. Fall Fest, Spring Fest) to guide them in organizing and executing a successful show. Matt does a great job at this.

 

Another big plus is we were able to announce fall fest. Andy had some nice simple flyers that I handed out to all the vendors and attendees at the show. Everyone was very pleased about that and it has been scheduled ad announced on reefcentral already.

 

This was my first SF and I thought it was great!! Yes, some things could have been different that may or may not have made it a little better. Hats off to all of the people that planned and put on this event!! I will be sending my membership dues soon. Thanks again to all who worked on this!!! I would love to help next year.

 

I also second the idea of moving to just one BIG maybe two day fest event. We might be able to put Iowa on the map nationally for fests if we focused our time, resources, and money into just one big event. Something to think about for next year I suppose since fall is already on the roster.

I have to give a big thanks and shout out to everybody that helped me hustle in the door and get set up when I was running late! No harm no foul, everything went together flawlessly, I had great sales all day!

 

i also agree that we should think about switching to 1 big show a year with a ton of vendors, 4-5 speakers, a huge raffle and lots of hobby sellers. i think in the long run it would be easier and more profitable for the club

 

I wasn't able to make it to this one, but I do have a question for those who are upset about vendors winning items. Do you all feel the  vendors  got preferential treatment in the drawings somehow? If not, why on earth is it a problem they won? At the end of the day, they are hobbyists too. Why do you feel that vendors should not be allowed to participate?

 

+1 Bella

 

+1 on annually. i would be willing to help. I think we would just need extra people to help oraginze it. I think we could diff try it and see how it goes. I think more vendors would make it a friendly compition on prices to. I mean we get good prices at our fest but when you have more vendors you can have multiple high end frag instead of one or two that can be bought before you even get to the both. I think we could deff get people to help on a big event. But all together it was a great event.

 

I like the 2 a year. It brings the club toghether more and one giant event will end up burning people out. Let's not be silly, this is Iowa. How many more people do your think are going to come here.

 

Personally I've been for one event for years, I've had the chance to be on the board during the planning of these events and its a TON of work. To plan a great event and have it go off without a hitch takes months of planning, meetings and effort. As a volunteer board I've always felt that the two events in a year was too much to ask of people, they all have families, and other hobbies. Also the vendors do notice how often your banging at there door asking for freebies.....everyone likes raffles, if you want good raffle items you have to put in the work. Lastly it's smarter business, the club HAS to make money on a fest, as much as everyone wants to be in it "just" for the hobby.....this club doesn't roll forward without money. If you think it does you should stop paying bills for a few months and see how it ends. If the club has no income from the events it has....we lost money.....if we lost money the events get smaller or cuts in local areas take the hit. Personally I like the club making money, our new PA system is awesome! And i like the area pizza parties and Christmas gatherings.

As for SF, I think the guys and gals did a great job planning the event, the raffle was good....but far from the best we've had....but I also understand getting people to cough up free goodies is hard! I got some awesome corals, got to mingle with the fish nerds, and got out of the house for a day, all was good!