GFS2007 - The Official Announcement

Happy New Year wishes to one and all from the GFS2007 Swapmeister; and
herewith, the Official Announcement for the 2007 edition of the annual ROFF
Great Fly Swap. If you have no idea what this is about or how it works,
first check Stan Gula's page at http://gula.org/roffswaps/faq.html. On with
the details:



Sign up period: 12:00:01 a.m. January 1, 2007 through 11:59:59 p.m. January
14, 2007. Two weeks ought to be enough time for you to make up your mind.



Completion and submission date: February 20, 2007. All flies should be in
my hands by that date. That gives you 4 weeks to tie and another week or so
for shipping. Piece o' cake.



Number of Participants: While many swappers think nothing of tying scores of
flies, it does tend to become a bit tedious after the first couple dozen.
OTOH, I've found the swaps to be a great forced learning tool, and after a
couple dozen, mine start to look a lot better. So unless things really get
out of hand (arbitrarily, let's say 50 or more), there will be no limit on
the number of participants. If you sign up, be prepared to tie several
dozen if it goes that far.



Tags: Please securely attach a tag to each fly indicating your name and the
name of the fly. More than that is not necessary. Too large a tag can make
packaging and sorting somewhat of a problem in some instances (see the
Return Packaging comments below.) I'd also recommend avoiding tied-on tags
that can tangle together in transit. A simple piece of stiff paper is
usually sufficient; but be certain it's substantial enough to withstand the
trip both ways.



Return packaging: All fly sets submitted should include a return package
that is already addressed and containing the correct postage. Second to
sorting flies, addressing and affixing postage to packages is the most
time-consuming task for the swapmeister, IME. NB: One thing to keep in
mind - some folks send larger flies and/or larger tags than you. If you tie
up 40 brassies and send me a film container or small fly box, that's not
going to be big enough to send back 39 other flies the size of #2/0 Clousers
with 3x5 index cards for tags. Back when VCR tapes were the media du jour,
those boxes were just about the perfect size.



Extra flies and extra postage: Please don't. It's a fine gesture and one
that has been appreciated in the past, but it isn't necessary. If you wish
to include and designate and extra fly or two for a good cause, that's fine;
but please, nothing extra for the swapmeister.



That's about it for now. I'll probably get around to posting all of this on
a temporary website http://mysite.verizon.net/gfs2007/; and I heartily
recommend a visit to Stan Gula's page for the FAQs
(http://gula.org/roffswaps/faq.html), especially regarding tags & packaging.



Swapmeister's address:

Joe Fleischman

P.O. Box 171

Bel Air, MD 21014



I recommend the USPS, but if you are from outside the USA and plan to use a
courrier service (e.g. DHL) that will not deliver to a PO box, let me know.



Swapmeister's email:



There's no prize for the first to sign up after midnight; and I probably won't
check until after a Bloody Mary & two Advil tomorrow, but at 12:00:01 a.m.
the fun begins. Gentlemen/women, man your vises.



Have fun,

Joe Fleischman

GFS2007 Swapmeister