[AGA-mcm] [AGA Convention Feedback] (fwd)

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

--
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 00:51:06 -0800
To: erik@thekrib.com
Subject: [AGA Convention Feedback]

Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
 () on Saturday, December 11, 2004 at 00:51:06
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registration: very-good

agatable: good

vendor: very-good

hospitality: good

field: good

diana: good

mike: very-good

paul: missed

oliver: good

janf: very-good

jan: very-good

amanot: excellent

amanod: excellent

wall: good

awards: very-good

banquet: good

auction: good

hotel: very-good

cost: good

heard: Have been an AGA member for a few years, have received notices from the 
AGA website and e-mail.

favorite: Amano's presentation.

least: Auction.

overall: The convention overall went as expected (been to 3 of them so far). 
The biggest concern that I have pertains to how the auction is conducted. Here 
are a few recommendations:
1. The only hard goods that should be put up for auction should be donated 
items from vendors, not from general consignments. Exceptions can be done on a 
strict case by case basis. An example would be if somebody brought in a 
particular type of rock for landscaping (2003 convention).
2. The silent auction tables should be abandoned. They are a distraction from 
the main auction and many items that I see in the silent auction are also 
showing up in the main auction. By eliminating the silent auction tables it 
frees up people to be runners for the main auction (there was a shortage of 
runners at times).
3. There should be a limit on consignments that are allowed to be brought it. 
Each person or household should be limited to a maximum of 50 bags and no more 
than 6 bags per species. This will eliminate flooding the auction with too many 
of one species from a person (can you imagine somebody bringing in 100 bags of 
Vallisneria?). Too many bags of a species can depress the auction prices which 
cuts into the profit.
4. Consignments should be accepted up to a certain and then cut off, if people 
can't plan there time wisely then they lose out. In my club (2 auctions per 
year, running between 700-900 bags per auction) consignments are accepted from 
10:30 am to noon and then the auction starts. The average auction runs about 5 
hours. An idea would be to auction the donated hard goods from 10:30 am until 
noon. After that the plant auction can start. This keeps it focused and going. 
Raffles can be thrown in periodically during the auction if planned.
5. Tables should be set up for laying out "all" of the consignments. It is 
unnerving when you still have people unpacking boxes and trash bags with plants 
throughout the auction. If you eliminate the silent auction you will gain more tables and 
space to do this. Also to eliminate potential problems and security issues the viewing 
tables should be open until the main auction starts and then closed off (roped off). This 
eliminates people getting in the way of the auction workers and causing problems. A club 
Sergeant @ Arms can be used to patrol the area. By people properly managing their time 
they can get in and see the consigments with plenty of time to do it in before the main 
auction starts.
In closing I know that conducting a large auction is not easy and there are 
always issues that arise but by steamlining some of the processes it will save 
time and effort with the potential for more profitability.

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