What is it?

The Mike & Swap Meet is a one-day Hamfest held on a Saturday during the first part of March of each year.  (For those who care about such things, it’s the 10th full weekend of the year not counting weekends that includes New Year’s Day.)  For 2025, that will be March 8th.  It’s held at the Pavilion Exhibition Building on the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup.  This is a two-story building with 40,000 sq. feet of exhibition space.  The event requires setting up over 300 tables and accommodating 600 sellers and their helpers.  We typically draw 1700-2000 people through the door.  While this is a one-day event for the public; for the Club, it requires an additional day of set-up on Friday so, for many of us, it's a two-day event.  This Swap Meet will be our 43nd event. After so many years, it’s a tradition in the Pacific Northwest and arguably the largest Hamfest in the region… certainly in Washington State.  We draw vendors from the entire West Coast and buyers from Canada, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.  (Ok, we even got a guy coming from Texas this year.)

Why Do It?

Well, it’s a heck of a lot of fun but primarily, it’s a fundraiser for the Club’s activities.  Because of this event, we can keep the dues at a ridiculously low rate of $20.  It’s been calculated that if we lost the Swap Meet and had to rely on dues alone that we would need to have dues in the $100-150 range to maintain current levels.  More likely, we would just have to de-fund a number of activities or charge members extra to participate.  We also use the funds to help produce our yearly Special Events and Information Guide Booklet given away freely at the event and at the yearly Communications Academy event.

Club Support

Because all of our members benefit directly, it’s really a responsibility of our members to participate in making this event happen.  It takes a minimum of 120 people to run this event smoothly.  We accept help from non-members too so if you can talk your spouse into it or have some reliable friends, we would be happy to include them in the worker community.  All workers receive a badge that entitles them to be on the premises during setup hours just like the sellers.  That gives you a head start on finding the best deals (a very nice perk if you’ve ever fought the crowds).  We have a number of different areas that require workers and they support all types of physical limitations.  No area is any more important than another though some may require some expertise or on-the-job training.  Members may signup using an on-line signup tool (http://mkarc.ivolunteer.com), or sending an email to volunteer.swapmeet@mikeandkey.org, or catching me at a Club meeting.  The on-line tool includes worker descriptions.  Members are encouraged to work in several areas throughout the event.

Tickets

Working the ticket booths does requires some ability at handling money (making change) and the ability to work under pressure.  There will usually be two of you in a booth.  We sell tickets from 8AM – 2PM Saturday.  Because you are handling Club funds, this position is limited to Club members and their spouses. There are two other ticket related jobs – taking tickets and hand stamping.  Those jobs are open to all but are outdoors so be prepared for the weather of the day.

Announcing

A willingness to interface with the public is good here.  You’ll be answering questions and providing limited announcements.  Announcing is also where the talk-in station is located and the door prizes are drawn.  No physical requirements here, you can sit indoors the entire time.  Announcing is active from 2PM - 7PM Friday and 5:30AM - 3PM on Saturday.

Country Store

This is our consignment area.  People bring in items here when they don’t have enough to fill their own table.  (Workers can place items in the Country Store too and sell them commission free.)  A working knowledge of equipment is helpful in this area and you will be dealing with the public.  The Country Store runs from 2PM - 7PM Friday and 6AM - 3PM on Saturday.  No physical limitations.

Loading Dock

This area requires the most number of people.  You need to be able to work in a team environment.  There is some physical labor required here.  We don’t load people’s equipment but we do move empty pallets by hand and full pallets using “jacks”.  You are working mostly under cover outdoors.  This job takes a bit of on-the-job training to learn the system but it’s not difficult.  You will be interfacing with our vendors and a good attitude is important as they can be cranky at times.  The loading dock is active from 2PM - 7:30PM Friday, 5:30AM - 8:30AM Saturday, and 3PM - 6PM Saturday.

Registration/Traffic Control

Registration hands out vendor packets at the Gold Gate (walk-ins) and Orange Gates (drive-ins).  All of the jobs require being outdoors in the weather and possibly standing for extended periods of time.  (These are usually very special people but highly appreciated.)  This area is active from 2PM - 7:30PM Friday, 5:30AM - 8:30AM Saturday, and 3PM - 6PM Saturday (loadout).

Setup

On Friday, from 9AM - 2PM, a large number of workers are needed to help setup the Pavilion.  This mostly involves setting up 300+ tables and 400+ chairs.  It’s physical work but important. We work in pairs (mostly) to reduce the burden. Also, at this time, Announcing, Registration, and Country Store will be getting ready to open at 2PM.  We do provide lunch at noon on Friday for our setup workers.

Teardown

often forgotten, we need just as many people to help teardown the tables starting at 3PM on Saturday as we did setting up on Friday.  If you aren’t involved in performing loading dock duties or traffic control, we need you to stay on and help teardown and cleanup.  Yes, we are all tired but it needs to be done.

VE Examiners, Hospitality

If you have an interest in giving VE Exams, contact Scott.  For Hospitality, contact Jeanne.