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:
-
Champs Karting
-
Conspicuity Reflective Products
-
Custom Classic Paint
-
Cycle Barn Sportbike Club
-
CyclPath
-
Eastside Hog Chapter
-
Freedom Riders
-
Gervassi’s
-
Latham Custom Leather
-
Law Office of Philip Wakefield
-
Mac’s Custom Motorcycle Seats
-
Moto Comm
-
Motorcycle Safety Company
-
Mountain to Sound Motorcycle Adventures
-
Nitro Shirt
-
OnThree Trike Conversions
-
Open Throttle Sport Riders
-
Prototype Graphics
-
Ride West Insurance
-
Run for the Dogs
-
Sullivan Race School
-
Sunglass Guy
-
Tasky’s Metric Cycle
-
University Honda/Yamaha
-
URAL
-
Waldron Kawasaki
Tom Mehren/Spring 2004
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