I believe 'swap meets' actually originated with car enthusiasts. The idea was that people restoring vehicles often had all sorts of bits and pieces they'd accumulated over the years. And the original computer swap meets were in the same vein. Of course, now they are just an excuse for retailers to flog their wares on a Sunday.
My intent wasn't so much to 'swap' although there's nothing to stop that from happening if it suits people to do that. I suppose I see it just working like a stall at the Sunday markets, or a garage sale.
That doesn't mean you couldn't invite some retailers - eg., Gifts for the Geek, Card Mania, Minotaur (mmm, Minotaur).
(The idea actually came from the last garage sale we had. When I looked at all the stuff I was about to take to the op-shop, I realised that there were hundreds of SF videos, a couple of dozen SF books, SF posters, etc. And years ago I took a few boxes of stuff up to the Chapel Street Bazaar - Star Wars / Trek collectibles that were surplus to requirements. I know that not everyone who is into SF is into collectibles, but I suspect many of us are.)
You could probably charge something like $5 or $10 for a stall to help cover costs (discount for SF Club members, of course ;) maybe something more for retailers. Don't know. Then you'd just need to get some tables, find a venue, and work out the advertising (Ben, this is why you get paid the big bucks ... I haven't seen or heard of it being done locally anywhere. Maybe if you put the word out through AusTrek or some other clubs you could get some expressions of interest, or they might tell you not to waste your time. Either way, it might be worth an email.)
Food for thought.
David Two-Sheds
(I'm not a geek, I'm NOT a geek - they dressed me up like this)
-----Original Message-----
From: GeelongSFClub@... [mailto:GeelongSFClub@...]On Behalf Of Ben Hughes
Sent: Saturday, 21 July 2007 9:11 PM
To: GeelongSFClub@...
Subject: Re: [GeelongSFClub] ideas...
Hi Two Sheds (You must have been expecting that :-) )
I love the idea of a swap meet, I'd like to hope I can find some things that I could bring along, not sure off the top of my head.I definitely agree though that we want more people likely to come along - so let's give it some time to discuss, then we can choose a date and I'll be happy to print up some ads and distribute them.So anyone else have comments/suggestions for this? Guidlelines for swap meets (I've never actually been to one)? ~Ben
On 21/07/07, davencarmel <davencarmel@ozemail.com. > wrote:au
Hi Ben et.al.You were asking about ideas for SF club events...I was tidying up the shed (i have two sheds...) and noticed that I have a surplus of junk - much of it SF or SF-related. (Spare flux capacitors, that sort of thing.)I don't know how many other people are in the same boat, but it occurred to me that maybe a 'genuine' SF swap-meet might be fun - if there was enough interest... You'd want to be assured of a reasonable attendance to make it worth the effort, I guessI could easily fill a table (or ten...)Just a thought.Cheers,David
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Ben Hughes
Programme Manager
Nullus Anxietas 2: The Australian Discworld Convention
www.ausdwcon.org
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