RE: Board Meeting - Auction Discussion

["Hess, Clay A" <clay.a.hess@boeing.com>]

Good Afternoon,

I would just like to toss my two cents into the mix on the Auction
process if I may.  I enjoy the process we have now, for reasons similar
to Erik's.  I like the opportunity to be moving about and picking up
things at random, to auction off....and I really like being in control
of the flow of the items we auction...ie, mixing the good with the bad
or the new tanks with the old beat, possibly dead back filters and such
that we get.  Working with the audience one can get a sense of what they
would like to see and play that to the best advantage of the club I
think.  Thus, when I see the interest level starting to drop some I can
auction off a new tank and bring the level back up.  This way I can work
to sell off the less desired products in between the more desired ones.
If I didn't have this luxury I would most likely find myself working
with a disinterested audience.  The tough part is learning what the
audience is interested in....it seems to change each year.  I really
don't think our current process is too much work....it takes time
yes....but, it is fun as we have it.  If we lost the fun, I would find
it to be work.  Sure, each year I think of things we could do
better....but, we do great as is too!
I do think that each auctioneer needs to know the rules prior to our
start.  I think this would have helped Matt some.  He got frustrated
when we told him he couldn't do something he was wanting to do, selling
multiple items.  Well, I knew we could not do that and I told him
that.....but, he went ahead with it and caused some confusion and
frustration.  But, the beauty of our system is, we worked through it.
Now, if we only had one auctioneer and they got to do as they pleased,
we would soon be in chaos I think.
Finally, the mix of personalities putting on the auction I think
attracts the audience into the Auction game.......and, afterall, isn't
Participation a must in any auction?  Without it, we won't be selling
much.  I agree that with some auctions a serious auctioneer is
necessary.  These types of auctions are usually huge ones with very
serious buyers involved in them.  We do not have that type of audience
or that much material to auction.
Our auction is in a more intimate environment and is small enough we can
interact with the audience some.  I find it amusing and fun to hear how
much people remember our auctions not only because of the items we sell,
but, also because of the way we sell them too.  The Auction has become a
show in its own way.  

I wish I could be there for the Board meeting, but, with the kid's
sports and all now, I cannot seem to find the time to make it to the
meetings anymore.  I miss them though.  But, I know you are all doing a
great job and really appreciate all the time you folks put into the
effort as well.  And, as Erik noted, the final decision in this matter
is in your hands.

Clay

>  -----Original Message-----
> From:         owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com
> [mailto:owner-gsas-board@thekrib.com]  On Behalf Of Rick Rose
> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 9:41 PM
> To:   'GSAS Board'
> Subject:      FW: Board Meeting - Auction Discussion
> 
> Fellow Board Members,
> 
> I corresponded with Erik off-list to see if he might be able to attend
> this week's Board Meeting given the fact that Matt Kaufman has
> indicated that he will probably be attending and is wanting to discuss
> our "unique auction methods."  Unfortunately, Erik won't be able to
> make it, but he did take the time to provide some good input and he
> gave permission for me to forward his comments to the Board List.  I
> will have a copy of Erik's comments with me for reference, but I
> probably won't include it in the text of the agenda, so, please read
> on...
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rick
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Erik Olson [mailto:erik@thekrib.com] 
> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 2:03 PM
> To: rick-rose@comcast.net
> Subject: Re: Board Meeting - Auction Discussion
> 
> Hi Rick,
> 
> Matt e-mailed me as well.  From his e-mail, I think he definitely
> would
> like to see GSAS go the direction of the other 99% of the clubs out
> there
> in their auctions, i.e.  having the auctioneer stand in one place
> while
> people bring things to and from them.  He felt it was a lot of work
> running around all evening.  Maybe he's right, we do end up working
> all
> three auctioneers ALL night, where other clubs rotate so they're only
> working the auctioneers 1/3 the time, but have more runners to pick up
> the
> slack.  But I like our own approach, if only that we're the only club
> that
> has this little quirky system, and also because I think it actually
> works
> very well for us.  I actually *enjoy* going and picking up the items I
> sell, coming up with little stupid jokes about them, or combining
> weird
> items into an unexpected lot.  Another cool perk is that we can swap
> out
> or add auctioneers completely seemlessly (as worked with Gilead and
> with
> myself last Tuesday).  I've seen the other clubs have "slow"
> auctioneers
> that just drag the evening down.  WIth us, that's only every 3 items
> at
> worst.
> 
> If the issue of selling a dozen of one item comes up, it's important
> to
> note that we CAN do this, but only if the auctioneer and the recorder
> agree to it in advance AND the recorder is ready to jot down all the
> bidders by hand on a piece of paper (and spend the next few minutes
> scanning each won item into the computer & labeling the tags with the 
> winners themself).  The problem is that once things start going at
> 7:30, 
> it's very hard to stop everything and say "OK, let's review some
> basics."  
> Better to say "No, no mult items!"
> 
> I don't think that "melding" the approaches is necessarily good,
> because 
> then you have a group of pre-runners, computer operators, post-runners
> and 
> auctioneers, i.e. TWELVE people!  Twice as much as we have right now 
> (auctioneers and computer people).  I think it's far better to stick
> to 
> one or the other.  Note that with the single-auctineer approach, the 
> computer setup typically used is far different than ours.  We could 
> probably use it, but it would need some modification.  
> 
> I kinda wish I could be there on Thursday, but kinda am glad I can't.
> 
> Kathy's working full days now, and we've got to be packed for Portland
> 
> Thursday if we're going to take off when she gets off work Friday
> night.  
> Markus is home sick with me today, so they'll be wanting me to do more
> 
> work Wednesday and Thursday.  What a week.
> 
> Hopefully this will be of some use to you -- if you want to forward to
> the
> board or bring to the meeting, that's OK.  But this is your guys'
> fight
> now.  If you like the current approach, explain why and stick with it!
> 
> But there's no reason we can't try something different, right?  I
> bucked
> the system when I added the computers.  We couln't have done $800+
> worth 
> of splits before then, and now it's pretty painless.
> 
>   - Erik
> 

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