The Piggy Swap is great, and so have been a number of similar swaps.
What makes each one special is the different spin each host puts on the rules and procedures. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one plays out.

Hemophobic said:
Since Ella will not be coordinating this one, Jay will create his own system, I'm sure. Greene's suggestions are spot on.

DogsNDaylilies will be running this one not me.

Here's a vote of confidence in whatever DND & Dave decide on.

Maybe its too late this year for the following to happen, but I would be tickled pink if, next year, two, three or five people ALL decide that their variation on the theme of seed swapping is THE way to go, and ALL of them announce different seed swaps on different dates with slightly different rules and focus on different kinds of seeds.

Maybe seeing a few members, or a few dozen, or a few hundred, all create up-to-date OFFER lists and WISH lists will motivate more people to set up swaps.

Has anyone ever heard of a centralized plant or cutting swap? I'd guess it was not practical, but maybe someone was very imaginative.

Oh, I'm so sorry. DND will conduct this swap in a fine manner, I'm sure.

I'd like to join in--just adding my comment so I can be on the thread. I gathered dozens of seed varieties from the garden over the long weekend... to add to my already-way-too-big stash...

I'll throw in my two cents worth---
Keeping it simple is a good idea. People will stray away if too complicated.
Listing of seeds trades and wants should be left with just the botanical and common names. If people want to no more, they should google the plant or ask the person offering the seed for more details.
Collecting seeds can be time consuming and posting a bunch of info makes it even more time consuming. Keep it simple.
I don't think you have to post how many trades you have of that particular plant or seed. If you run out--you run out and just let the person know. Just my opinion.
Duane

I'm going to try to have a system up soon for people to start using.

When are you all wanting to host your first trade using this new system? Is this something to happen soon, or early next year?

Physically - I have seeds available now.

Many details still needed - particularly the cost involved.

I'm just one person, but I would start making a HAVE list as soon as the mechanism is in place, and would prefer to do the "busy" parts of the swap in October and November, or January.

December is too busy, and I personally would rather have a month or two between getting the seeds and first sowings.

But any time is a good time to trade seeds, to me.

It would be cool to see a bunch of Wish Lists before hunting up end-of-year seed sales. But that is more of an "ongoing" issue than a "first swap" issue.

Are you thinking of trying to get everything into a final, polished form for this swap, or use the first few swaps as experiments?

I know the modern approach to software is to think, think, design, design, design, then implement just once. And you have an excellent track record for "first version works great".

I lean toward the lazy approach: try it one way with an easy prototype, to learn what the users like or dislike. After all, we are totally whimsical and unpredictable. Then rework isn't so expensive.

I agree with Rick, Dave! As soon as you have something ready I want to start using it! I agree also that I'd rather do the swap sooner rather than later. I start sowing seeds indoors in early January and some I really should start in December.

I plan to spend this weekend cleaning and packing up seeds for the swap!

Ditto to Rick & Elena.

Dave, I remember, that when Illoquin originated the piggy swap around 2007(?) on the DG Cottage Forum, she did much of what your database will do in her head. Wish she was here to see this.

That said, if we do anything like the piggy swap, I won't be surprised to see variations on the piggy theme, as it has already morphed a few times under Ella through the passing of years, as I expect it may continue to do.

Whatever comes of this, I can't wait to see how it turns out

I know a lot of you are looking forward to this, and that makes me really happy! The response is almost overwhelming, in a great way!

I hope some of you will understand that this won't be just like the Piggy Swap, but I hope you will all find it very rewarding and fun to participate in. I am looking to create something that can be set up and, with luck, be the 'right way' from the start. Inevitably, everything always needs a little tweaking, but I'd rather start from the 80%-90% solution rather than the 20% solution, if that makes sense. So, while I completely understand the sentiment of wanting to 'just do it and figure it out as we go'--and there can be a lot of merit to that philosophy--I want to get as much setup done to make it smooth as possible. (Keep in mind that if something goes 'wrong' in the first round, it could turn a lot of people off to the idea...so it's important to me to make this work well.)

Dave and I are still working on the idea, but please know that I'm working to make sure that this is EASY and FAIR for everyone to trade seeds. I don't mind putting the time and effort into thinking out a great solution, so please don't worry that it will take months to get things figured out--it won't. I've set aside time from my work schedule to work on this so that this can be successful and implemented SOON, pending approval(s) from Dave.

We all have to remember that Dave is a busy guy, too, though! But do know that it's being worked on, I promise! With luck, we'll have all the details out to you very soon.

Just want to add that I am grateful to Ella for keeping the piggy swap going, since, imho, it has the advantage of maximizing the seeds participants want, relative to what they contribute.

Am looking forward to whatever develops - there's a rainbow of possibility here.

This swap could never be like the PIggy Swap because over on Cubits we have had Starlight/Ella who acts as cheerleader/piggy mother/ear cuffer/fearless leader all rolled into one. Golly, she even reminded us to stop for a minute and eat lunch. Ella is involved in the Piggy Swap every minute of each day from start to finish.

I am imagining this will be a more...basic swap, at least the first time around.

As for me...the sooner we start the better because it takes time to create our lists of available seeds. We also need time to check info on the seeds offered to see if they will grow in our area. If we don't have a clue how many people are participating, we have no way to know how many packs to prepare. So as the newly create swap takes shape I hope we (the swappers) will be given a heads up so we can be ready.

My hope is sometime in the coming week to have a basic system ready for you all to start making your trading lists with. When I get it started, I'll be hoping for early feedback from as many people as possible.

I'm ready to go, have seeds saves and can start updating a list asap

Great, thank you Dave and DND!

I think I'll start counting seed packets and making a paper list some I'm ready to enter data into dave's ssyetm when it's ready.

Say, a frill that I would appreciate would the ability to export our lists into flat text so we can print them and pull them into personal docs or spreadsheets ... like my "pick list" when I go to pull pkts out of my S5ash boxes and put them into baggies for individual traders.

And, less importantly to me ... import bulk HAVE data from a flat text list, like a comma-separated file.
That would let me pencil in and type up my lists any old way, then import them into ATP in one swell foop.

(But frills are not important for the initial release.)

I guess the repeated references to enforcing "fairness" make me nervous, but as long as that doesn't intrude too much onto "easy", it doesn't hurt. And if it miraculously repels Greedy Gusses and Sneaky Sallys without the moderator needing to nail our ears to the fence, , it's a very good thing.

No nailing of eats, I promise

The repeating of fairness is to reiterate that these will be agreed upon trades and this is not a round robin style where the end person risks having to accept the things no one wants.

dave said:My hope is sometime in the coming week to have a basic system ready for you all to start making your trading lists with. When I get it started, I'll be hoping for early feedback from as many people as possible.

Thanks Dave.

Not sure yet if I'll participate this year, but I'll happily give feedback and help beta test the system.

Yep, not sure if I will participate. Could be a wait and see thing for me. If the rules are too restricting and such.