Do you participate in chip trading during the CCA Convention each year?
I've got some questions for you, if you can help...

My email address is: pardue@cox.net.
Or you can answer here.
Or if you'd prefer to talk by phone, respond here and I'll give you my phone #, or I will call you. Either way.

So, here's the deal. After the last convention, we had an idea about explaining what goes on at the convention, to encourage first-time attendees to come to the Convention. Nothing is locked down yet on how / where / what we'll put together to be posted on the club website and/or elsewhere.

I need some Trader "pros" who spend time in the Trading Room to give me info about what Trading is like, tips for successful trading, what to expect, what to bring, etc.

While I have attended many Conventions, I haven't spent much time (actually, no time) in the trading room. So give me some tips on what you like, how you go about trading, looking at others' chips, making fair trading proposals, etc. Maybe your tips will encourage some new trader members next summer...

Here's what I DO know --
1. The trading room (Cypress Room in years past) is open for a total of 22-1/2 hours from Wednesday through the Saturday night "Last Dance" trade session... but not during hours the show floor is open (in fairness to the dealers who have paid for tables on the show floor).
2. Entrance is free to CCA members (only) with a Convention ID badge. (Not including the daily public name tags available to the general public, only CCA members). Gotta wear you name tag to enter.
3. There's absolutely No buying or selling, just trading.
4. There's usually (or always?) a designated member representing the club to monitor the Trading room -- particularly the "no buy or sell /just trade" rule.

What I'd like to hear about is --
a. Are some of the trade sessions better than others. For instance, the Wednesday pre-show times or the Last Dance on Saturday, or ???
b. What do you bring & not bring? Chips only; anything else? A carry case of a few hundred traders? Or thousands? How arranged - loose in carry cases? Binders? Flips?Doesn't matter? Arranged by geographic area or ??
c. Do you just pick one of the round tables (or share a table with other traders) and display your chips for others to come by and look? Do you use signage to show what you've got, from where?
d. Do you pair up with another trader, and look at each other's traders to see if some swaps can be made?
e. How do you determine equal values for trades? 1-for-1, or multiples to 1, depending on book values / rarity /etc.?
f. Are there any unwritten rules for courtesy or other things that a newbie trader should know about?

You get the idea.
Any imput for me is appreciated. And some first-timer traders will thank you too.