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

["Karen Randall" <krandall@rdrcpa.biz>]

DO we know who sent this?  If they've been to 3 conventions, they might be
willing to become involved in working.<g>

Obviously different people have different views on the silent auction.  I
still like it best.<g>  I'm not sure, owever, that it should be going on
during the main auction.  That _is_ confusing.

Some of the stuff he suggested, we already do... I seriously doubt anyone
brought more than 6 bags of one species, OR 50 bags in all.<g>  Some of what
he suggested is right on the money.  Likewise, I believe there WAS a cut-off
designated for putting stuff into the auction, and I don't believe there
were any dry goods that were not vendor donations.

There SHOULD be a designated time for viewing auction items, all of them
should be out and view-able, and then that area should no longer be
accessible to the general public.  Again, while I wouldn't want to see the
silent auction go away, if it weren't held DURING the main auction, that
does give you more tables to use.

What about holding the silent auction in breaks between talks, and hold them
in the vendor room?  It could be announced at the end of each talk,
including the time that the bidding will close.  eople could check back
later to see what they had one, and pay up.  That would keep people flocking
to the vendor room!

Karen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Erik Olson" <erik@thekrib.com>
To: <aga-mcm@thekrib.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 10:24 AM
Subject: [AGA-mcm] [AGA Convention Feedback] (fwd)


>
>
> -- 
> 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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