[vcf-midatlantic] VCF East Swap Meet - Save the Date - Saturday November 7 (Rain: Sunday November 8)

[Matt Reynolds]

MIT flea has been my favorite one outside of Dayton hamfest.

The idea of having it in a parking garage is one I've not seen beaten
anywhere.

On Wed, Sep 16, 2020, 8:32 PM Jameel Akari via vcf-midatlantic <
vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

> I’ll just reply to the original here to bump some of the important
> information and ask a question:
>
> > On Sep 13, 2020, at 12:32 PM, Adam Michlin via vcf-midatlantic <
> vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
> >
> > DATE: Saturday, November 7, with Rain Date Sunday, November 8
> > TIME: 9AM TO 6PM
> > Location: InfoAge, 2201 Marconi Road Wall, NJ 07719
> >
> > $20 for vendors for first space, $10 for each additional space. 4 spaces
> max - BRING YOUR OWN TABLES/BLANKETS/WHATEVER
>
> How big is one “space”?  Given that it’s outdoor, “one 10x10' popup tent
> size” is where my head’s at.
>
> In order to get any crowd down to Infoage for this swap meet, it needs to
> be advertised outside this email group.(Various Reddits, Facebook groups,
> and Discords come to mind.). What’s been done on that front?
>
> It has to reach some critical mass of sellers and buyers to make it
> worthwhile for anyone.  I’m not driving a frankly miserable 3.5 hours with
> a carload of stuff for three people to show up.  So, how do we sell it?
>
>
> Part II:  Swap Meet Stories:  Maybe this will scratch my itch that the MIT
> Flea normally did for me.  That had to be cancelled the entirety of this
> year and won’t be back until April or May.  The crowds wax and wane with
> the seasons at MIT Flea, but it’s the sort of weird intersection of
> computers, electronics, and oldskool boatanchor-ham-radio I’ve always
> enjoyed, and it attracts a varied and diverse crowd.   (Though some of that
> crowd last time I was there was scrappers looking for gold and copper, and
> that’s quite sad to see.)
>
> Best MIT Flea find: an SGI Indy in the middle of he floor of the parking
> garage, with the words “SCRAP! LEFT FOR DEAD!” scrawled on the top cover.
> Fine, I’ll pick this thing up and if nothing else I can pry off its badge.
> Got it home, threw in some memory and it fired right up.  Still have it.  I
> selected a nicer looking Indy for my first VCF East exhibit, but it
> probably had that very-nearly-a-wheel-chock Flea machine’s power supply in
> it.
>
> Best MIT Flea moment: Selling my Tek 500 series scopes for something
> approaching actual money to somebody who genuinely enjoys them.  Better
> still: not having to have carried them back home.
>
> Worst MIT Flea moment: coming down with heat exhaustion & dehydration from
> being outside in the sun all day excitedly selling said stuff.  Circling
> back to the beginning of “why a tent even if it’s not raining.”
>
> —
> Jameel Akari
>
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