At our Club meeting tonight, we reviewed the results of the 2024 Tri-County SwapFest. All in all, the news was very, very good. We sold out on our planned tables (adding 4 extra that morning), with 91 vendor tables sold, and had an official attendance of 426. Both of these numbers were increases over our 2023 results of 86 tables and 396 tickets. While costs were up again this year, and projected to increase again in 2025, the event was financially profitable for the Club and will support our ongoing efforts to rebuild the W9MQB repeater.
At the meeting, Michael Zore (AE9MZ), our Fest Coordinator, made a number of recommendations for the Club to consider, as we begin to plan for Ham Fests in 2025 and in the second half of this decade. Those recommendations included:
- … that the club continues to offer up to 12 Free Table to other clubs, to help them engage new members
- … that we maintain our online presence and offer web ordering and fulfilment again in 2025
- … that we change our marketing focus to include the public, not just hams, centering our 2025 marketing and day-of-Fest actions on invites via Email and QR codes
- … that we increase 2025 prices to $10 (online) tickets and $20 (online) tables and attempt to hold prices level for ~5 years
- … that we consider dropping our “cash only” rule and bring back credit/debit card sales on the day of the event
These recommendations will be considered later this year as we begin to execute plans for the 2025 Fest will till take place on Sunday, March 16, 2025.
Two long-term recommendations were also made, which might take a few years to consider and implement:
- … that we examine the options to move the Fest to a Saturday in February event starting in 2026
- … that we examine the options to add informational forums in a Full-Day event starting in 2027
Copies of the PowerPoint presentation are available, if you wish to learn more, by emailing a request to the Club.