Marketplace Roundup

The 2004 Springtime Motorcycle Marketplace is in the books.  It was a warm day in May and the event drew 800 riders from all over the sound.  Special thanks to those who took the time to fill out the exit questionnaire which will assist us in planning future marketplaces. Based on the feedback here’s what we learned and what we plan to do next time around.

More Vendors – a number of people commented they’d like to see more vendors.  So would we.  We sold a total of 40 vendor spaces this year and have the ability to grow that to more than 80 for coming events.  It’s a bit tricky trying to get a dealer out on Sunday, particularly if they have their business open on Sunday (Seattle Cycle Center, Cycle Barn etc…)  However, we’re glad to report that the vendors who came were satisfied overall with the debut event and will be back.  I suspect they’ll be good at evangelizing it to others and we will grow the amount of vendors in the future.  That’s our goal.  We were disappointed a few vendors didn’t make it in who had booked space – Moto Com, Ducati Seattle, Philip Wakefield and Dominic Dobson.  We’ll look forward to getting them in the next time around.

Swap Meet – Few people took advantage of the swap meet option as we had envisioned it.  It appears what you want is an old-style throw-down-a-blanket-and-sell type of swap meet and that’s what you’ll get at the next event for sure.  The plan is to nestle all the used bikes into one section and open up the excess floor space for the swap meet.  We’ll also be able to accommodate those who just show up and want space.

Club Corner – This portion will probably go away.  Instead the floor space will be used for the swap meet.  If a club wants to promote a charitable cause they are involved in we will make a table space available.

Broader Food Selection – For our first year we minimized the food offerings because we didn’t know how many people would come.  Now that we have an idea we can expand the offerings in the future.  A special thanks to Otis who had enough food to go around!

Better Marketing and Advertising – A few people mentioned they would have liked to have know about the event sooner.  What – not reading your Sound RIDER!  Events like this are better promoted word-of-mouth when they are young and we’ll continue to do it that way until the volume of people would ever warrant spending exorbitant amounts of cash on the radio or in print.  We appreciate every reader who took the time to tell a friend so we came out in the black.  You made the difference and will in future events.

Exit Coupon – Look for an exit coupon at the next event that will more than provide savings equal to your gate fee. 

Northwest Harvest – You people rocked when it came to the request for canned food for Northwest Harvest.  The was approximately 300+ pounds of food that came in on this event.  Since last December Sound RIDER! has been able to give 1,000 pounds of food to Northwest Harvest and it’s all because of those who brought it in! 

For 2004 we kept the vendor fees low, the admission was only $5 and you took a chance and made our first event a success.  We look forward to putting the next event together and seeing you their.  Your feedback is appreciated and we’ll keep working to make this a bigger and better event each time.

Thanks to the first year vendors as well:

Tom Mehren/Spring 2004