Plant Auction Job Description [Excrutiatingly Long]

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Sorry I didn't make it tonight; I had a really bad stomach flu on Sunday, 
and am still not quite up to par (& not wanting to pass it on to others 
either!).  Hope it was fun!

Since I'm on the hook for the plant auction, I thought I'd diagram out
what we'll need before the board meeting... and maybe between the auction
itself & this document, it will help whoever organizes the April auction,
next year & beyond...


                 PLANT AUCTION --- JOB DESCRIPTION

PLANT ORDER: 

Typically $250-500 wholesale order of plants, depending on how gutsy we
feel each year.  Source has been primarily African Northwest the past few
years (thanks Sam!  Any chance of doing it one more time?).  ANW has given
us some really great discounts.  Another source I used a few times was
Delaware Aquatic Imports; back in the early 1990's, they were the only way
a local club could get good plants mail-order, but these days everyone
seems to just wholesale from Florida Aquatic Nurseries -- so it's just a
matter of getting who you buy from to ask for some of the unusual plants
along with the Bread & Butter varieties.  ANW has been very nice about
getting a good mix & quality.

If the source gives us a nice deal, it's important to thank them on the 
website and/or the newsletter; make also sure they have a complimentary 
subscription extended a year.

Oh, almost forgot... we've also supplemented the plant order with some 
"plant related" items.  One year we scored several copies of Oriental 
Aquarium's catalog (this would be cool to get this year as it's just been 
reprinted and re-edited!).  Another year we shipped in a big bag of 
Siamese Algae Eaters (back when you couldn't get them everywhere).  
Another year it was fertilizer.  We've done bogwood a few times (perhaps 
good to not do it this year & let some more time pass before doing it 
again).

SPLITS:  

In addition to the bought plants, members may bring plants of 
their own to sell.  In lean years, we've also allowed livestock (i.e. 
fish).  We do not allow dry goods at this auction; we'd quickly go over 
our time if we had to auction them the same night.  There is a limit of 20 
lots per member, which means members can bring as many plants as they 
want, but they have to combine/divide them in such a way that there are no 
more than 20 things to sell.  This rule was added a few years ago when 
someone brought in a ridiculous number of tiny bags of Java moss that took 
us forever to sell.  The split ratio is 60% to the seller, 40% to the 
club.  Non-members are encouraged to join (by having the first $15 
subtracted from their split, if they prefer) or donate their proceeds.

Here the procedure splits (ho ho ho) based on whether we're using the 
computer system or not.  In the pre-computer auctions, the seller filled 
out a split form (see http://www.gsas.org/seller-form.html for what we 
used to use), and each of their items was labeled with their initials plus 
the lot number (i.e. "EO19").  As the donated items were not labeled at 
all, it was crucial for the auctioneer to notice the special label and 
call it out to the special split recorder.  Oftentimes this was missed, 
and certain sellers would be quite angry at the end of the night.

In the computerized system, the seller works with one of the auction
volunteers before the start of the auction, entering each item into the
computer and associating it with a special bright red neon label (which is
then affixed to each lot).  One of the biggest headaches we've encountered
is people showing up at the last minute & trying to get their lots into
the auction.  Thus, it is important to have one person in the back with a
computer, able to check in straggler sellers, or alternatively turn their
items away.  This is CRUCIAL; the auction has stopped dead in its tracks
because of lack of check-in people.

PREPARATION:

OK, let's back up a bit; I'm getting a little ahead...so the order comes
in, and someone has to pick it up or be at home if it arrives at a home,
etc.  I've often done that when Sam can't.  If the order comes in a day
before the auction, we can just leave it in the box until auction night.  
If it comes in a weekend before or more, we need a place to store it, i.e.
a good holding tank at someone's house. 

Another bit of preparation is the printing of bidder cards and labels.  
In non-computer auctions, bidder cards are just cards with a number
written on them.  In the computer auctions, they also have a barcode;  
the labels are also basically barcodes.  I have all the software to create
these label sets; it's about the same level of difficulty as printing the
mailing labels or the Fisho game.  For the fluorescent red labels, I was
able to special-order larger quantities from Office Depot to last us
several years.  Red works best.  Green doesn't work at all.

Finally, we need sharpie pens, extra plastic fish bags and rubber bands,
large bags (grocery or otherwise) to store the won items, and little
colored "dot" labels.

COMPUTER:

Not sure what to say about the computer, because this is basically
something I home-brewed together.  If someone else does it, it may be
better to design a system that they're happy with.  But what *I* have is a
laptop running Linux, connected to a wireless access point or card, and a
crummy old parallel printer from 1981.  It's running a CGI script I wrote
a couple years ago that I've cleaned a little, but not a lot.  This
comprises the "server", and it is accessed by any number of laptop
"clients" with wireless cards and only a web browser.  The barcodes are
read by cheesy "CueCat" readers that were distributed free a few years ago
as part of a failed global media domination scheme, so I snapped up a
small collection of them.  Some laptops do not connect properly to them
without an external keyboard, so I've had to bring in lots of external
keyboards!  The best laptops are the ones with two separate keyboard and
mouse connectors instead of a combined single connector.  Here the board
and others can help by bringing their own laptops -- these could even be
tested at the board meeting.

TREASURER:

The night of the auction, the treasurer has the magic cash box with 
change, rolls of quarters, ones, fives, etc.

SETUP:

One area in the front for people to check in.  Before the auction, it may 
be OK to check people in at the recording stations.  That's why it's 
probably good to have four or five laptops, not just 3.

One area needs to be kept separate from the public; that's where the 
runners store all the completed items.  When we're in the main room, we 
use that little classroom to the side, and it works GREAT for keeping nosy 
people out before they've checked out.

AUCTIONEERS/BID RECORDERS:

The best system that's worked since we started using the computer has been 
3 auctioneers, each working with a recorder "buddy".  Each recorder has a 
computer & barcode scanner, and watches their auctioneer buddy like a 
hawk.  This way, if one of the items gets held up with a problem, the 
other two auctioneers keep everything moving.

The procedure for each item is:

        1. auctioneer selects a lot from the table
        2. auctioneer brings it to their buddy who either
                a. wands over the bright red label (if it has one), or
                b. wands a boring white label & types in a quick 
                   description of the item.
        3. auctioneer gets in line and sells the item
        4. auctioneer gives item to runner, telling runner amount and bidder

In the pre-computer auctions, things run a little bit different:  There is 
still a team of 3 recorders, but two of these recorders have a page for 
each BIDDER in a notebook.  One has all the odd bidders, one the even.  At 
the conclusion of each bid, they frantically turn to the appropriate page 
and record the amount of the bid.  A third recorder simply writes down 
each winning bid and bidder number sequentially as the evening progresses.

RUNNERS:

I've never been a runner, so I'm not completely clued in on how all this 
part works, but the runner team consists of one or more people who record 
the bidder number on the item (usually writing it on a small colored "dot" 
label), and some sort of organized system in the back room to sort the 
items by bidder number.  I think it's been done by just putting the bags 
on chairs by row.  Bob or Steve Ward can fill in the details here, as 
they've been faithful runner organizers for years.

CHECKOUT:

We CAN do early checkout if we have an extra person and computer to do
this.  In fact, I like to bring a little Pocket PC just for doing early
checkout, as all that's required is to wand or type in their bidder card,
read them the total, get their cash or check, drag down "full pay", and
click the Pay button.  The printer (situated in the back room, hopefully) 
prints out their receipt, attracting the attention of one of the runners, 
who grabs their bag and brings it (and the receipt) to them.

As a general rule, we do not subtract the splits the night of the auction,
because this slows down the whole process; rather, we print out the splits
and mail the checks in the calm of the next few days.  It is up to the
discretion of the treasurer and auction chair should they want to do this,
though!

Whew, congratulations, at this point another auction has completed and
it's all over but counting the net and sending off those split checks and
thank-you's to African Northwest... and realizing you don't have to go
through it again for another year...or maybe just 2 months...

[Short version to follow]

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com


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