Please leave your feedback about the season launch garage sale

[charlie]

To anyone that attended the club`s season launch on Sept. 16th" Garage Sale", please leave your impressions in this thread- what would you suggest we do different?, what did you like about it?  What can we add ?etc.
This would greatly help us in planning future events.
Thanks for coming out
Regards" charlie"

[Anubias]

For me, it was a success. Most items that I was looking for were available and at reasonable prices. All of my own items sold which is always a plus. When items are being sold, more interaction between hobbyists is generated than at the Giant Auction or at one of the guest talks. There was so much chatting going on that the speaker at the mic could not make himself heard. Maybe the demonstration should be re-thought.

Everyone likes to sell, and everyone likes to get a deal. James ought to be commended for bringing in his re-packaged bulk foods.

Regards,

[lucius]

I agree with Anubias.  I felt bad for the speakers that were brought in.  They looked to be trying their best to present but not much people were paying attention and they could hardly be heard.

[charlie]

I agree, presentations did not work - noted

[Jody]

I agree with the difficulty in having the speakers. Unfortunately, they didn't get the attention that they really deserve. Even the ask the expert tables didn't seem to have a lot of people stopping by that I noticed, well not for ask the experts anyways. Lots of people chit chatting.
To me, I would almost concentrate more on taking time to talk to the members and visitors, a social meeting rather than formal stuff going on.
Also, walk around with the raffle tickets..I think we could have sold quite a few more that way..
Overall, the day went smoothly, with only a few hiccups. Everyone I talked to seem to have had a good time, and found some great deals.

Jody

[Gilbotron]

Agreed on speakers not working.  Not unless we do it before tables are open, or after they are closed.

The expert tables were ok.  We did have a number of people stop by to ask questions, and I'd like to think they got some valuable info, but not the volume we were hoping for.   Also, very chaotic in the room (loud and busy) so difficult to have good in depth discussions.

[rivermuse]

I thought the event was awesome. There was a lot of interaction between people. Thanks for doing this.

I do not have much experience in organizing events like this. Here are some layman's view points.

Sale: I was impressed with the range of products that were there. This was my first so I do not have a bench mark. I liked what I saw and brought a few things. The main attraction was the Sale itself that distracted people away from the presentation and the info booths.

Presentation: I actually sat through the presentation for about half of it and thought it was great. The presenter was talking about Show guppies and how they are rated in competitions, storage and movement of fish etc., it was geared towards novices like me. In future, may be we could highlight the presentation / presenter info a bit more than a generic "presentation and demos". May be even try leverage it to bring in "new people". I missed the start of the presentation. A "ushering" type drive to ask people to sit for the demo may have helped - may be it was done and did not help! (Felt even more bad when I learned they were guests from out of town). Net: It was a great idea to have presentations. I enjoyed it. Thanks! 


Membership Drive: Hope it went well with renewals and some new people. 

Info Booth: I think it was good to have this. I hope this does not get terminated in case it generated low interest. This has many uses.

Library: Sad to see it go. But if its not being used, those books better be used somewhere else than collecting dust. I brought a few, may be will bring one of them to the meetings to have you guys sign it!  

Once again, Thanks to all the organizers for the time, planning and work behind it. It was an awesome day!

[Herstead]

Only thing I would note not stated above is that I think the door prizes took away from the raffle.

I think people thought along the lines if I could win something for free, why pay?

I think when it is normal meetings with mostly paid members, door prizes are great but when it is a much more mixed crowd like that raffle only would be better. But that is just a suggestion, maybe just more advertising of the raffle would work too.

While I am sad to see the library go I am glad so much of it actually sold or went to the London Club. I was skeptical beforehand how much would actually sell but it went fine. Almost all of the leftovers were very tiny beginner books.

Kudos to the new exec for a great opener!

- Jonathan

[lucius]

But that is just a suggestion, maybe just more advertising of the raffle would work too.

I didn't even know there was a raffle taking place Saturday until I read this thread so +1 for it being advertised better.

[bergenm]

I pretty much agree with what has been said already - great attendance, good visibility for the club, speakers had a rough time, didn't know there was a raffle.

[limmer]

How about a bulletin board for ads posted near the entrance?