As we look through the internet we can’t help to notice how the clothing swap trend is growing. We can anticipate many people becoming interested in the idea and wondering how to go about organizing their own swap. We have seen many swaps in the past year and have sat down for countless hours discussing what it takes to host a successful swap and thought it would be a great idea to share some of our discoveries with you. Below are 7 steps any organizer should consider in preparation of hosting a swap.
“Purpose is what gives life meaning” Decide on Your Purpose: As an organizer think about what goals you would like to achieve through the execution of your swap. Are you looking to create a networking atmosphere where swappers can connect and mingle? Are you interested in donating to a charity or local shelter? Perhaps you just want to create a fun party experience for friends or maybe you want to do a combination of the things just mentioned. Answering questions like these will really help you envision what your swap will need to look like and what other needs your swap event must have addressed to accomplish your goal.
“A lone ranger is a dead ranger” Get a Team: This is one saying I just can’t stop quoting. Organizing any event, let alone a swap event can be a very daunting task. You want to make sure that the experience is not only enjoyable for your attendees, but an enjoyable experience for yourself as well. Having one or more partners share the load will be a wise choice for any organizer. At our fashion swaps we have a team of over 12 people on staff to ensure our swaps are a success. Of course since our swaps are created to host a larger audience, we need more helpers, but you should decide on the number of hands you are going to need based on how many people you expect to have in attendance and what tasks need to be done, which takes us to our next step.
“He who fails to plan, plans to fail” Plan and Anticipate: Sit down with your team and have a long and documented brainstorming session. During this session try to anticipate what you will need to have in place to accommodate your guests. What problems may have a high probability of surfacing? What challenges need to be addressed? What tools are going to be needed to make your team more efficient? Make sure that everything is documented. Ideas aren’t anything if they are not written down and can be referenced later for application.
“Before you build, count the cost to see if you have sufficient enough to finish it” Create a Budget: This is an old biblical quote that just does a perfect job on driving home the importance of budgeting. There are two types of things everyone wants to do, the thing you want to do, and the thing you want to do, but can’t afford to do it. Identify how much money you are going to need to cover the costs of your event and decide on your plan for funding it. Will it be through ticket sales? Vendor opportunities? Sponsors? It is highly likely that you may come to the reality that some ideas won’t be able to get implemented into your swap, but that’s okay, you can always park that idea for a future event when funding is available to make it happen.
“The Right Place Makes a Difference” Select the Right Venue: Once again, your budget will highly influence your decision in what venue you select. Our biggest advice is to visit as many venues as possible before you decide on a place to host your event. If you need to schedule your event further out in order to find the right place, DO IT!! Venue pricing varies drastically and if you rush this part of the process you may miss out on the perfect place! When selecting a venue think about your purpose, your goal! Ask yourself “Does this venue help me accomplish my goal?” A good example is if your trying to create a glam like environment, renting out an old school cafeteria may not be the best route, but perhaps the local lounge downtown may be the perfect place for that kind of a swap. Make sure the venue has enough space to accommodate your attendees. Of course, if your just looking to get a dozen girls together for a fun swap, using a friends apartment is just fine! To find venues just start by running a Google search in your area for “Event Spaces” and that should get you started, but do know that not every venue available is on the internet so you may have to pick up the phone or ask around.
“Order is the enemy of chaos” Put a System in Place: Okay this is my own personal quote, but it’s true. If you do not have a system in place to manage your event, you are setting your event up for a chaotic experience. Even with sound systems in place, things may get complicated, but without one you will have no shot! Decide what exchange system you will have in place. Will it be bring a bag take a bag? A token system? A cash system where everything is 3 dollars of less? If you’re going to pursue this idea as a business, it is best you create your own unique system. Many swap companies have their current systems protected by copyright and may come after any business that take their unique system for their own business use.
“How will they know unless someone tells them?” Have a Marketing Plan: Depending on the magnitude of your event, marketing will play a more critical role. Think about how many people you are planning for and decide on how you are going to deliver the news of your event and fill it! If your event is for 25 or less, direct network marketing should get the place full, but if you’re looking for a large audience you may need to take the next step in marketing. Be very careful with this area because it is quite easy to over spend. My best advice is to use internet marketing over more traditional means. Traditional advertising can be extremely expensive and difficult to measure. It doesn’t cost you anything to go to Facebook and create a separate event page. Social media ads are much more affordable and are great places to start for events like these. There are many event sites that will host your event for free and take care of all the tracking and sales for you. A great site is Event Brite.
Well there you have it, these are just a few things that need to get covered. Though it may not be everything, we strongly feel that these 6 steps will lay a solid foundation for you as an organizer and will help you plan the rest of the way. If you’re ever in the New York City area we invite you to check out our fashion swaps and experience the fun with us. Feel free to leave any suggestion or comments and we will make sure we respond and connect! Also like us on Facebook for frequent updates on our company.
The Hangersand 