Retro Computer Swap Meet - July 28th
Mike Begley
Hello!
I posted this on facebook a week or so ago, but I should post it in the official organ as well. So...
I am hosting a retro computer swap meet in my back yard, in a couple of weeks:
Sunday, July 28, 11AM to 3PM
1015 NE 72nd St, Seattle, WA, 98115
Full information/discussion is in this Facebook event, for those of you on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1176198726857507/
You may need to be a member of the Seattle Retro Computer Society facebook group to view it:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SeattleRetroComputing
Here’s the essential details, copy/pasted from the group post:
Let's swap our stuff!
We've all got extra retro computer stuff in our basements, garages and attics. Let's all get it together and share our excess treasures around! Bring your excess gear, software, documentation & other ephemera, for sale, swap or to give away. Show up to look at what's on offer.
We'll use my side and back yards to host this event. Hopefully it will be a big enough space! I will set up a few tables, but please bring one or more yourself if you can and be willing to share table space if need be. I'm concentrating it to just a few hours so we can pretty much get everyone there at once.
Come by and meet some of the other local retro computer fans!
This is the first time I'm doing something like this, so we'll be making this up as we go along. Hopefully if this is successful, we'll do it again sometime.
Rules & regulations:
1) Anything you bring that doesn't go home with someone else goes home with you. I have no interest in becoming a dumping ground for your excess. This is crucial to Spouse Acceptance- consider this to be a Leave No Trace event.
2) If you'll be vending your gear, please try to show up within the previous hour so we can have as much set up as we can.
3) Parking is limited in my neighborhood, so consider moving your car to the next block once you've unloaded.
4) Sales are fine. Swapping & giving away is recommended! Let's keep prices reasonable and take steps to demonetize the hobby.
5) Please restrict the items you bring to retro computer gear. Some related test equipment is fine, but for the most part it should be in the retro computer world.
-mike
Gia Ferrari
Ah, fun idea. I'll try to get out there with some gear. Thanks for cross posting for those of us allergic to Meta.
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Gia Ferrari (she/her)
https://giferrari.net
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SRCS Admin
On Jul 14, 2024, at 10:58 PM, Mike Begley <sp...@hell.org> wrote:
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Clay Erickson
I'm in the same boat as Gordon. Otherwise sounds like fun. Good
luck!
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Mike Begley
I just want to put out a reminder that this weekend we’re having a bit of a Swap Meet here in north Seattle. See the details below, and I hope to see you and your excess stuff!
I also added an additional rule:
0) Don’t be the reason we need to add more rules in the future.
-mike
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Shane
SRCS Admin
On Aug 2, 2024, at 8:37 PM, Shane <shane....@gmail.com> wrote:
So how was it? We were (unfortunately) out of town. Is it worth trying to make this a semi-regular thing?
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Mike Begley
I’m glad you asked!
I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, the event exceeded expectations.
I didn’t take any sort of formal count, but I would say that between 30-50 people showed up throughout the day, roughly.
The items people brought centered mostly on mid-80s to mid-90s micros. Think Commodore, Atari, TRS-80, TI99. In the mid-range machine world, people brought a good representation of SPARC-based machines, and one Alpha server showed up. There was also a fair amount of software, peripherals and other ephemera. I threw some burgers & hotdogs on the BBQ, and people brought sides so it was a nice social event as well.
Lots of good swapping/selling went on, and I personally reduced my load of extras considerably. I saw a lot of connections happening, so there’s value in that as well.
Most importantly, the whole place was cleaned up and organized before my wife got home from the weekend. A lot of people pitched in and it made the work easy. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the event, and an interest in doing it again. I could see it be an annual thing.
I have no problem hosting it in the future, although we were approaching capacity so it wouldn’t have much space to grow. Maybe if we crammed in very tightly, we could have gotten 50% more tables in the yard, but that would be pushing it. Also, if the weather turned on us (as it did the next day) the event would have been a lot less successful. So while it was fun to host, a large indoor space would be something to look into at some point, if costs can be managed.
It came together very easily, with very minimal fuss. I would be willing to talk further with anyone about doing this again in the future.
-mike
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Alan Perry
From my perspective, it was pretty good. As I discussed with Mike, I think it should be a regular thing.
alan
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