2016 Frag Swap

[Wall_Tank]

Gary has volunteered to be the 2016 Frag Swap Chair.

If you would like to help with the planning or help with the frag swap, let us know.

[Keith92]

Thanks for taking the lead on this Gary. Let me know what I can do to help

[AJ]

Danielle and I are always ready to help.

[CoralBeauties]

Has any date been set for this years swap yet?
thanks
Jeff

[AJ]

Not yet, we are still working out some details.  We will post as soon as we can.

[Kenn]

    



Frag Swap Happy Dance !

[Gary]

The venue from the past few years in under construction and not contracting. We are in the process of developing a list of facilities that may meet our requirements. We are still open to other facilities and suggests are welcome! We are looking closely at 12 March, but not firm.
Just fyi,
Thanks,
Gary

[JayMc]

looking forward to this!

[AJ]

What are everyone's thoughts on having the swap a bit later, say May?

[CoralBeauties]

If the current venue that we have been using in the past is available in may I think we should go for it.  I think if we start switching venues we get in trouble with attendance.  The union hall, other then parking, is a great place with plenty of room.
Jeff

[soldiers4christ50]

I agree if the same venue is available then wait for it.

[Kenn]

My only concern is that if we have it later it might drop attendance due to the fact that a lot of people use their income tax refund and take advantage of good pricing at the swap

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[soldiers4christ50]

That is true too 👍🏻

[merlin3]

I believe earlier is better as the weather gets better people are focusing on more outdoor things.  There are other venue options that are close to the original that are available and suggested.

[AJ]

Did Gary talk to you and Erin about our ideas from Sundays meeting?

[The Zoanthid Garden]

   



Frag Swap Happy Dance !

Hi Everyone.

I have never been to the Ohio Reef Frag Swap but have only heard great things about it from many different Reefers.

I hope to attend and be a Vendor this Year.

The thing is is I am in Michigan and there are a lot of different Michigan Frag Swaps.

Unfortunatly, they seem to often end up on the same weekends as the Ohio Swaps  so I have to go to the Michigan Swaps because they are closer (I would love to go to all of them).

For instance this Year LEAR is 2-20 but Lansing is 2-21

So now I have to Skip LEAR (I went last year and was amazed at how awesome it was) (But last year Lansing and LEAR were a week apart so I attended both).

I also had to Skip C-Sea this Year too because the Centerline, MI show was the next day.

Luckily, I did get to go to CORA which was awesome.

Is there anyway to not have any swaps the same weekend as the Michigan Swaps and Vice Versa so us Michiganders can attend the Ohio Swaps and Vice Versa?

If that is possible here is a list of all the Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois Frag Swaps this year.

2-13-16 Bowling Green, OH
2-21-16 Lansing, MI
3-19-16 Indianapolis, IN
4-10-16 Ann Arbor, MI
4-30-16 Chicago, IL
5-07-16 Sturgis, MI #1 of 2
9-10-16 Bloomington, IL
10-1-16 Chicago, IL

There are others but they have not been announced yet (I have added last years dates to give you an idea of when they will be this year since Frag Swaps are usually held the same time year after year).

Dayton, OH - was 3-21-15 last year
Flint, MI - was - 8-16-15 last year
Portage, IN - was 9-20-15 last year
Columbus, OH - was 9-26-15 last year
Cleveland, OH - was 10-10-15 last year
Center Line, MI - was 10-11-15 last year
Sturgis, MI - was 10-18-15 last year

Also, here is a Link to all the Frag Swaps in the United States if anybody is interested (It is not complete since many have not been announced yet).

http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/2016-frag-swaps-and-shows.218597/page-3

Any consideration would be greatly appreciated as I and many other Reefers from Michigan would love to attend all the Ohio Swaps.

[The Zoanthid Garden]

The venue from the past few years in under construction and not contracting. We are in the process of developing a list of facilities that may meet our requirements. We are still open to other facilities and suggests are welcome! We are looking closely at 12 March, but not firm.
Just fyi,
Thanks,
Gary

March 12 would be perfect 

[The Zoanthid Garden]

If the current venue that we have been using in the past is available in may I think we should go for it.  I think if we start switching venues we get in trouble with attendance.  The union hall, other then parking, is a great place with plenty of room.
Jeff

Switching Venue (In my opinion) would be the lesser of 2 problems.

People tend to go outside and do family oriented activities in warmer months.

That is why most Frag Swaps are held in Colder Months since people stay indoors and look at their tanks more and therefore spend more time and money on them.

In Warmer months people spend less time doing aquarium stuff.

If you do not believe me go to your LFS and ask how business is in the Summer.

They do much more business in the Winter for the same reasons that Frag Swaps are in the Winter.

Also, Frag Swaps are always held the same time every year so people don't forget.

If people are used to a Swap being the same month year after year and you change it they may forget about it.

Changing the Venue would be much better than changing the time of year for those reasons.

[The Zoanthid Garden]

My only concern is that if we have it later it might drop attendance due to the fact that a lot of people use their income tax refund and take advantage of good pricing at the swap

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

An excellent point.

Either way as long as it does not fall the same weekend as any Michigan Swaps I as well as my friend Marc will come as Vendors.

The more Vendors you have the higher attendance will be as well since it is a bigger incentive for people to go because there will be more Corals to choose from.

So adding 2 additional Vendors will definetly help attendance.

[AJ]

I completely understand. 

Being a potential seller, what would you consider adequate notice of a frag swap?  A month? Two months?

[The Zoanthid Garden]

I completely understand. 

Being a potential seller, what would you consider adequate notice of a frag swap?  A month? Two months?

That is tough to say (Depends on Seller).

Frags take time to heal.

You can't chop them up the night before a swap and sell them as they will probably die.

I like to have everything fragged a minimum 30 days before the swap to ensure they are healthy and happy and ready for the new persons tank.

For me during Swap Season Probably 2 Weeks is enough notice so I can take time off Work.

But I go to so many Swaps that I start Fragging in December so I am Ready to go to them all.

Alot of Vendors do not travel outside of their home state to go to swaps so they may need more notice than me.

There are 2 Swap Seasons a Year (February/March and September/October).

There are alot of Swaps concentrated during those 4 months (At least in the Midwest) so that is why I call them Swap Seasons.  The other 8 Months or so out of the year is down time and growout time.

So if you did one in say July I would need much more time.

So really it depends on what time of the year (For me anyways).

March is not a problem at all.

Most Swaps are at least announced a few months before they happen.

There are some Swaps that are already announced for October in 10 Months.

[Topekoms]

Not to pressure anyone but a date would be helpful so I can request it off. I personally don't have an issue with another venue. I JUST NEED TO KNOW WHEN!!!!!!!

[The Zoanthid Garden]

Any Updates on a Possible Date?

[Topekoms]

So we are at the end of Jan here and no dates yet? Are we not doing it this year? I am willing to help out but I need to know when we are doing this so I can request time off.

[budman]

Is there going to be a swap this year as the longer you wait to announce the harder it is going to be to get good vendors