The 2024 OVKA Swap Meet will once again be at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, OH, on Feb 3rd. Vendor Registration is now open online on the OVKA website at OVKA.com/swap-meet
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Bumping this with some additional info. We’ll be announcing the Seminar schedule soon with some very cool new speakers. If you’ve never made it out to the OVKA Swap Meet before, we hope you’ll make the trip in February!
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I used to go when it was 2 or 3 days in Springfield. However now that I have moved away from the area, and its only a single day event, I don’t travel for it.
Maybe its smaller than it used to be. But 7 hours between making real connections, tech seminars, and lunch that doesn’t leave a lot of time to browse does it? 234 booths in 420 minutes with no breaks is cookin’ lol.
Why is it not 2 days? Or longer hours on Saturday?
Because all the real sales are done in the first 2-3 hours. Yeah, for the racers its still fun after that, but for the retailers it’s a huge waste of time after about hour 3-4.
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I’ve never been, and will be making the trip. What am I in for?
You are in for a whole lot of used equipment (dirt and sprint). A lot of fun people to talk to.
If I was a first time buyer attending, here is what I would do:
Before you go: Make a list of must haves and a budget. Then bring enough cash to make those things happen. Maybe bring a little extra just incase if you find some deal you cannot skip out on.
Get there early(ish) and do a quick lap looking for those awesome deals. Dont browse too much just look for things on your list and the price. DOnt stop at any of the “retail” shops. They will be open all day and usually have good stock of things.
Once you have done your first lap and scored any sweet deals before anyone else, then do a lap or two of browsing. After that, stop in at the retail shops with new stuff. BUy what you need and take it to your car.
Then come back in for one last browse and start asking questions to anyone you know or anyone who is willing to chit chat. Enjoy the rest of the day knowing you got your deals and are having fun.
When you get home, hide from your wife how much everything cost or just tell her “it was on sale!”
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I’m one of the lucky ones where my girlfriend actually pits for me so she’s excited to go to the show too lol.
But this is the ultimate guide for what to do. Thank you!!
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What @fatboy1dh said. The earlier you can get there, the better. The good stuff goes fast! If you can, stay overnight at the Holiday Inn at the Roberts Centre (book soon… ask me how I know 
). There’s a lot of karters who stay overnight Friday night and the bar/restaurant at the hotel is one of the better ones I’ve seen which is a good thing since there isn’t too much else close by. There’s usually a group of karters/vendors hanging around there.
We’ll be announcing the seminar schedule this upcoming weekend with some cool new ones.
Booths, tables, and hotel rooms are all selling at a higher pace than this time last year (and the big vendors are asking for more space) so it’s definitely looking to be a big year
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Releasing across social media in the morning, the Seminar Schedule for the Swap Meet. We’ll have:
Intro to Karting - w/ OVKA Karting Ambassadors
Branding Speed: Marketing Your Race Team - w/ Author Fritz Wilke
Sprint Karting Chassis Tuning - w/ Dan Schlosser of PKC
Briggs 206 Performance - w/ Gary Lawson of Lawson Speed Shop
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Looks really cool. Will any of these seminars be recorded for those that can’t attend?
I may try with a couple of them. Last year I tried recording our Intro to Karting session and the audio was unusable, even with a Røde videomicro microphone, just because of how I had to position it and how bad the room acoustics were. I have access to some lapel mics this year so we’ll see.
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Does it cost anything to come and browse? What about the seminars?
Adding Info on our Tech Training Classes, these are done through the respective organizers listed, so you’ll have to contact them directly to register:
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Bumping again with a teaser of the major vendors that have signed up already or confirmed their attendance with our Showrunning Team
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Updating with additional vendors from yesterday’s rush to get in while the discount was active! Vendors can still register until the last week of January for $70/booth space!
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oooh save one for me, I’ll have to come find you
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