Help starting a frag local frag show

65newbie · Dec 20, 2022

Hello everyone! TIA for your help.
I have read some posts on here about "How to start your own local frag swap" and wanted to ask how anyone who has started one has is doing?
Has your frag swap continued to be a success year after year? Do you have the same vendors return year after year?

-I did not see anything discussed on how to calculate how many visitors you may have.
-We have one local aquatics store. It is right in the path of a bypass that will be put in so I want to keep saltwater alive in the area. There are many hobbyist's who I have traded with or sold to locally.
-The closest to me is 1hr+ away.
-The location I am looking at is a brand new convention center. It's right in the middle of down town, attached to a hotel. I work in the restaurant business and would be willing to feed vendors the night before the event as a thank you.
-I am in SW Indiana on the Illinois border.

-I have been to "local" (1hr 30min away) frag swaps in Indianapolis, IN, I have been to Aquashella in Chicago and Orlando, amazing experience!
How do I know how much sq footage for a room? how much space her vendor?
The building main room is 12,500sq ft. it can be broken down smaller into rooms of 1,250sq ft, 2,500sq ft, or 5,000sq ft.

any help if getting something set up, prices to charge vendors, ticket/event prices.
If you want to reach out through social media or call or text you can shoot me message on here if you don't want to post of the thread.
I appreciate any help.

Thank you
Zach

65newbie · Dec 26, 2022

anybody?

Jhoekstra84 · Jan 5, 2023

65newbie said:
anybody?

PM’d you

Fish Think Pink · Jan 9, 2023

@65newbie I'm Secretary for our local hobby club, and I've personally organized three frag swaps so far since COVID restrictions lifted.

I'm lucky to have built on efforts of many others from previous years. In a nutshell, this is what I've focused upon for the frag swaps I've organized:

cost
- keep it affordable
location
- ground floor & easy in/out for setup
sellers
- hobbyists and/or companies
date
- don't compete with national shows and/or local events
advertising
- create a plan
- if there is only one store and its closing... you've also lost your advertising source...
- THOUGH some stores consider shows (and hobbyists) to be competition and are not keen to advertise show (so know your audience)

Our local hobby club subsidizes location, meaning tables are free and free to attend.

Community center we have used most frequently/recently has vinyl floors, which makes for easy mop up. Carpeting and hotels look nicer, but prices are higher, so prices must be paid by someone... Our hope is that sellers (hobbyists & businesses) at our event(s) pass along savings to buying hobbyists. If you are truly trying to organize a 'swap' ... remember its roots come from growing out corals and needing new homes for those extra coral animals... its evolved into a big business and aquaculture facilities... MORE... but its roots were cheap (but if everyone shows up with xenia and kenya trees BLAH (LOL))

Church we used last summer looked gorgeous, cheap price, had carpets, and (afterwards) all aquarium related anything are banned at Church going forward... guessing damp Sunday school experience following day didn't go over so well and our club ruined it for any other 'wet' club/event at that nice Church. If you use that 'nice new' Convention Center, then don't ruin it for everyone afterwards; make sure they understand what your event is like.

Recommend start small and build as you go. Sellers will not appreciate paying $ and no attendees, attendees will not appreciate paying $ and no sellers. It seems better to all (mentally) if small space is crowded than large space feels empty...

We've outgrown our community center BUT we were still there in Fall 2022 and likely will be again in 2023. Our area has so many bigger shows coming thru in DFW metroplex area that I'm challenged trying to find a date for 2023.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info or to exchange ideas! I'm always seeking to do better than done in the past, so love any suggestions!

Welltankgoodness · Jan 31, 2023

65newbie said:
Hello everyone! TIA for your help.
I have read some posts on here about "How to start your own local frag swap" and wanted to ask how anyone who has started one has is doing?
Has your frag swap continued to be a success year after year? Do you have the same vendors return year after year?

-I did not see anything discussed on how to calculate how many visitors you may have.
-We have one local aquatics store. It is right in the path of a bypass that will be put in so I want to keep saltwater alive in the area. There are many hobbyist's who I have traded with or sold to locally.
-The closest to me is 1hr+ away.
-The location I am looking at is a brand new convention center. It's right in the middle of down town, attached to a hotel. I work in the restaurant business and would be willing to feed vendors the night before the event as a thank you.
-I am in SW Indiana on the Illinois border.

-I have been to "local" (1hr 30min away) frag swaps in Indianapolis, IN, I have been to Aquashella in Chicago and Orlando, amazing experience!
How do I know how much sq footage for a room? how much space her vendor?
The building main room is 12,500sq ft. it can be broken down smaller into rooms of 1,250sq ft, 2,500sq ft, or 5,000sq ft.

any help if getting something set up, prices to charge vendors, ticket/event prices.
If you want to reach out through social media or call or text you can shoot me message on here if you don't want to post of the thread.
I appreciate any help.

Thank you
Zach

Hey there, my name is Sarah and I started the local Reefclub four years ago, and we are still going strong.
I started off, small, renting a hotel conference room, and at first I did for events a year with like three vendors. Once I started outgrow that we doubled, and when we aren’t sure that we doubled.
The big thing is that our success is based on the fact that we are not just a frag swap. We partner with a local fish store and every month we do something for the community with the funds that we gather from the Frag swap.