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

["S. Hieber" <shieber@yahoo.com>]

Seems everyone knows how to run an auction yet there is
little concensus if one looks at how they are actually
performed.

So I'll toss in here again. Don't think I agree with some
of this person's views on the auctions:

No Silent -- The silent moves the most goods, if set up
right, can produce the most revenue in the shortest time;

Limit number of goods for sale per person (goal is to limit
number of instances of speicies) -- why do this unless time
is an issue (which again I think is only an argument for
having the silinet auction)?

Personally, I like the idea of allowing viewing bags only
before the auction. Potentially, it can keep things more
orderly. I think NEC runs their auction this way. But I
don't see it as a big deal either way. Bigest prob with
previewing bags only is that they must all be checked in
before the viewing which pushes the work back way into the
prior evening or very early morning -- and that cuts the
fun short early on Saturday night.


sh

--- Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> -- 
> 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
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 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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