4/26/2026,Frag Swap member feedback

[MichaelB]

Thanks everyone that volunteered and made the swap possible. It was great seeing everyone that came out.

I'm just seeking some general feedback on the swap as a whole. Rather positive, negative, or suggestions for future swaps.

If you prefer to stay incognito feel free to message me and I could post your feedback for you.

I would urge people to keep things general this isn't a place to bash or single anyone out.

The goal here is to hear the thoughts from those that attended.

General:
What did we do right?
What could we do better?
Was there adquate notice given of the swap date?


Location:
Parking? (If we get this place again we will look into prepaid Parking passes)
Layout?
For those that brought kids or family what where there general thoughts?
Food? (Just don't ask for steak and lobster)
Raffle?
General start and end time of the swap?

Swap related:
Ultra/ Bonus Rounds/ regular picking rounds ?
Time allowed for each round?
Coral variety?
Section of Ultra/bonus coral?
Coral picking area layout?


*Keep in mind sharing your ideas, or feedback won't mean that things are going to change specifically because you mentioned something.

I plan to take all the feedback and ideas into consideration along with the rest of the Bod to see what's practical that we can do/adjust to improve our future memeber only frag swaps.

Lastly the above questions are only a guide and your not expected to answer all of them or stick to the script. I plan to feature this for a few days to give members a chance to respond.

Thanks, Michael

 

[clownvan]

it was my first one, so really all i have are positives.

positive -

• all around camaraderie!!!
• the location was great
• liked that the bathroom had more than one of eveything
• food was plentiful
• parking was plentiful
• lots of space to mingle around

negative

• parking kiosk was not obvious to me. thankfully @supra pointed it out to me.

 

[MichaelB]

it was my first one, so really all i have are positives.

positive -

• all around camaraderie!!!
• the location was great
• liked that the bathroom had more than one of eveything
• food was plentiful
• parking was plentiful
• lots of space to mingle around

negative

• parking kiosk was not obvious to me. thankfully @supra pointed it out to me.

I admit I never found the parking kiosk myself. I was only told there was one.

 

[SupraSaltyReefer]

it was my first one, so really all i have are positives.

positive -

• all around camaraderie!!!
• the location was great
• liked that the bathroom had more than one of eveything
• food was plentiful
• parking was plentiful
• lots of space to mingle around

negative

• parking kiosk was not obvious to me. thankfully @supra pointed it out to me.

I ended up using the QR code that was posted on the doors.

 

[L/B Block]

Overall this swap went well I thought.
I thought venue was spacious enough and tables well laid out.
Good space for freebies and DBTC.

My only two suggestions -
1) Signs -it was not so evident where it was-if I had not followed another car and then person-it may be been a bit more challenging to find that specific spot.
2) Time-overall time allotted is fine for each round-but for those with #5 that get to choose two but they only get the same amount of time as numbers 1-4# as they are going up and down. I think that they should get some extra time.

My two cents.

 

[MichaelB]

Overall this swap went well I thought.
I thought venue was spacious enough and tables well laid out.
Good space for freebies and DBTC.

My only two suggestions -
1) Signs -it was not so evident where it was-if I had not followed another car and then person-it may be been a bit more challenging to find that specific spot.
2) Time-overall time allotted is fine for each round-but for those with #5 that get to choose two but they only get the same amount of time as numbers 1-4# as they are going up and down. I think that they should get some extra time.

My two cents.

Fair consideration on the time group 5 is allowed.

Will also put more thoughts into signage.

 

[jaysway]

It was not only my first swap but also my first bar event and I was thoroughly impressed, I'll be sure to attend as many as possible and look forward to giving more frags back once these grow out!

 

[Qckslvr]

Fair consideration on the time group 5 is allowed.

Will also put more thoughts into signage.

The BAR might want to consider investing in a nice sandwich board or 2 with a magnetic arrow that can be easily flipped. Doesn't need to have a date or anything on it, just something pointing the way. It could have a blank spot on it where you could write the event with a dry erase marker. Kinda like the sample bellow (something nicer than 5 minutes on a dealership work PC)

But the Wife and I both really enjoyed the event, and talking with everyone. At some point during the event maybe announce on the PA a reminder of the raffle.

The parking permits were kind of a PITA. Only one working kiosk and a QR code that was more geared towards student registration than visitors.

 

[MichaelB]

The BAR might want to consider investing in a nice sandwich board or 2 with a magnetic arrow that can be easily flipped. Doesn't need to have a date or anything on it, just something pointing the way. It could have a blank spot on it where you could write the event with a dry erase marker. Kinda like the sample bellow (something nicer than 5 minutes on a dealership work PC)

View attachment 79267

But the Wife and I both really enjoyed the event, and talking with everyone. At some point during the event maybe announce on the PA a reminder of the raffle.

The parking permits were kind of a PITA. Only one working kiosk and a QR code that was more geared towards student registration than visitors.

Not a bad idea. I actually have a single a frame sign used for my catering stuff. If we could get a sign with arrow that goes both ways we could easily attached it.

Lol granted how that parking lot surrounds the building we would probably need at least 5 a frame signs.

In addtion I could definitely get a little more fancy with a Google map image to point people the way. Over my last minute attempt to help people the day of the swap.

Thanks for all the help from you and your wife. Is it safe to assume your our raffle guy for the next swap?

 

[Qckslvr]

Not a bad idea. I actually have a single a frame sign used for my catering stuff. If we could get a sign with arrow that goes both ways we could easily attached it.

Lol granted how that parking lot surrounds the building we would probably need at least 5 a frame signs.

In addtion I could definitely get a little more fancy with a Google map image to point people the way. Over my last minute attempt to help people the day of the swap.

Thanks for all the help from you and your wife. Is it safe to assume your our raffle guy for the next swap?

indeed, wife enjoyed taking photos as well. So you can count her in as well.

 

[Turkeysammich]

Not a bad idea. I actually have a single a frame sign used for my catering stuff. If we could get a sign with arrow that goes both ways we could easily attached it.

Lol granted how that parking lot surrounds the building we would probably need at least 5 a frame signs.

In addtion I could definitely get a little more fancy with a Google map image to point people the way. Over my last minute attempt to help people the day of the swap.

Thanks for all the help from you and your wife. Is it safe to assume your our raffle guy for the next swap?

Arnold said we had a few floating around back in the day. He said they were those saw horses. We just had that conversation. Lol
Maybe some old members know where they are at.

 

[Apon]

Arnold said we had a few floating around back in the day. He said they were those saw horses. We just had that conversation. Lol
Maybe some old members know where they are at.

Eric said he has the signs now

 

[MolaMola]

I thought the swap was well organized on all fronts and the location and facility were terrific. (no flea market - haha, for those who remember Chabot). I used GMaps - OC Newark Center and it led me right around the back to what I think was the main entrance, which was great. Time worked very well for me; interested to hear opinions of other members. I do not know why, but it seemed like people arrived in a steady stream and there was never a line of people waiting to check in. I look forward to contributing more frags next time.

 

[MichaelB]

I thought the swap was well organized on all fronts and the location and facility were terrific. (no flea market - haha, for those who remember Chabot). I used GMaps - OC Newark Center and it led me right around the back to what I think was the main entrance, which was great. Time worked very well for me; interested to hear opinions of other members. I do not know why, but it seemed like people arrived in a steady stream and there was never a line of people waiting to check in. I look forward to contributing more frags next time.

Thanks for your wonderful help with registration it felt good that I didn't have to go over and check on things even once.

 

[MolaMola]

Thanks for your wonderful help with registration it felt good that I didn't have to go over and check on things even once.

Your setup was awesome and @Jaggu was a great partner.

 

[spuri87]

Loved the vibe from the get go.. Location was good, not too far from most people.. Check-in was smooth, no lines, easy instructions, quick coral checks.. Everything was well planned - the ambience, the food, and most importantly the corals So many beautiful corals, I came home with 10 healthy frags.. Got to meet so many reefers for the 1st time in person which were just aliases before the swap! Truly amazed by the wealth of knowledge and years people have spent doing something they love!

Nothing negative to say about the swap but had a question in general on something that changed between the 2 swaps I attended.. In the previous (Winter) frag swap, we all got 4 raffle tickets just for attending, this time the number was reduced to 1 and an option to buy more with $$.. What changed? How is the raffle supposed to work in general? Do the raffle prizes come from the annual membership or donations (for instance, I saw someone posted that they won a BRS giveaway and wanted to donate most of it to BAR) or BAR sponsors? What happens to the money generated from the raffle tickets? guess that might be keeping our treasurer Casey busy?

Full disclosure, I won the raffle 2 out of 2 times I attended the swap, so I am a happy camper , but just curious to know!

 

[CaseyP]

In the previous (Winter) frag swap, we all got 4 raffle tickets just for attending, this time the number was reduced to 1 and an option to buy more with $$.. What changed? How is the raffle supposed to work in general? Do the raffle prizes come from the annual membership or donations (for instance, I saw someone posted that they won a BRS giveaway and wanted to donate most of it to BAR) or BAR sponsors? What happens to the money generated from the raffle tickets? guess that might be keeping our treasurer Casey busy?

Raffle prizes are either purchased by the club or donated from our sponsors. Varies event to event. For the winter one, we received a bunch of equipment from Humane Society (I think) but it was all PetSmart grade stuff so we didn't expect much demand or people spending their hard earned money on it. We were thinking $1 tickets but eventually decided on just giving out a bunch of free tickets so everyone could gamble participate in the fun. For this swap because there was a parking fee, we decided to help comp it by giving out a ticket.

Money from raffle goes into the general fund. And as I always try to promote, we're looking for champions and ideas on ways to use the funds that either benefit the wider club or initiatives that we want to support.

 

[BAYMAC]

The BAR might want to consider investing in a nice sandwich board or 2 with a magnetic arrow that can be easily flipped. Doesn't need to have a date or anything on it, just something pointing the way. It could have a blank spot on it where you could write the event with a dry erase marker. Kinda like the sample bellow (something nicer than 5 minutes on a dealership work PC)

View attachment 79267

But the Wife and I both really enjoyed the event, and talking with everyone. At some point during the event maybe announce on the PA a reminder of the raffle.

The parking permits were kind of a PITA. Only one working kiosk and a QR code that was more geared towards student registration than visitors.

Kinda looks like the ones I made and donated. Not sure what happened to those, it was like 13 years ago :/

 

[MichaelB]

Raffle prizes are either purchased by the club or donated from our sponsors. Varies event to event. For the winter one, we received a bunch of equipment from Humane Society (I think) but it was all PetSmart grade stuff so we didn't expect much demand or people spending their hard earned money on it. We were thinking $1 tickets but eventually decided on just giving out a bunch of free tickets so everyone could gamble participate in the fun. For this swap because there was a parking fee, we decided to help comp it by giving out a ticket.

Money from raffle goes into the general fund. And as I always try to promote, we're looking for champions and ideas on ways to use the funds that either benefit the wider club or initiatives that we want to support.

Agreed with what was stated here. That time would have been. A exception not typical. Last swap I would say was more normal. The one free ticket this time was to offered up to offset the cost members had to pay to park fyi.

Raffles will always have some flex to how they are done from swap to swap depending on various situations. It's definitely fair to general expect that how last swap In April went to be closer to the norm minus the free one for parking.