Reserve your spot: Virtual Holiday Party and Barter Fair – Dec 5th, 6-9pm

Sustainable Ballard is celebrating the Holidays with its 15th Annual Holiday Barter Fair on Saturday, December 5th. This year we are going virtual with our event! More info below about how this will work and how to reserve a table space if you want to barter. Nothing to barter? That’s fine!! Guests who just want to browse or come say “hi” are also encouraged. $5 DONATION REQUESTED

What do you have to offer?  If you have the ability to produce homemade goods, share excellent condition re-giftable items or offer personal services OR if you are interested in obtaining any of the above, this event is for you! For ease of trading, items should be have a $5-10 or $15-20 value.  Bigger items or services can be traded for multiples of the lower value items. This year you can also barter with money.

So, SAVE THE DATE and make plans now to participate in the Holiday Party and Barter Fair! – an enjoyable alternative to the more commercial holiday gift buying experience and a chance to catch up with Sustainable Ballard friends and to make new ones. We will also be announcing our raffle winners at 8:30pm, so be sure to Get your Raffle Tickets ASAP!

HOW IT WORKS:

THE PLATFORM:When you arrive in our virtual platform, you will see a floorplan with multiple tables. Your avatar will be placed at one. Each table is like a mini-zoom meeting. You will see others in the room, but will only be able to talk to people at your table. You can double-click on another table to move there. There will also be a stage in the room where we can make announcements to the whole group.

BARTER ITEMS: Each barterer gets a table. When you register to offer goods or services, we’ll ask for an up to 4 word description of what you have to offer. That will be the label for your table. You will be able to paste more information at the table for everyone to see when they get there, you can even paste pictures! Or you can just hold up the item that you’ve got for people to see. It will work best for the virtual world to have multiples of just a few items. You won’t need to have your items all prepared before the event, but being able to show a sample will be helpful.

BARTERING: If you are bartering, you must show up at 5:45 for a 15 min tutorial on how to use the platform. Then you will have 1/2 hr to paste info about your items at your table and browse around to other tables. At 6:30 pm, we will start the bartering. If there are many people we will organize the bartering in rounds, which we will explain at the event. Visitors without goods/services to trade are welcome to circulate at this time also. Both parties will discuss suitable arrangements to make the exchange after the barter.

You must register for a table by Nov 27, so that we have time to set up the virtual room.

In past years, barter items have included:

  • hand-crafted hats, scarves, aprons, jewelry, soap and artworks
  • home-made jams, truffles, dried fruit, granola, beer, vinegar and other delectable goodies
  • services such as yoga classes, sailboat cruises, refrigerator deep clean, massage and more
  • re-giftable items such as lamps, tapestries, never-used small appliances, pottery