Re: [GSAS-board] auction system mod suggestions...

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Rockin.  I'm hoping to chop up some surplus "clipboards" tongight for the 
runners to write on.  The printer checks out -- just barely.  If you and 
Meredith are getting the plants, then everything else is ready.

Google maps reveals the way to "African Northwest"...470 S Kenyon St, 
Seattle, WA (206) 267-4434 
(though they also show a Federal Way address, so I'm not 100% sure it's 
the Kenyon one)

   - Erik

On Mon, 12 Feb 2007, SUSAN WELENOFSKY wrote:

> I can bring scotch tape.
>
> Susan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gsas-board-bounces@thekrib.com [mailto:gsas-board-bounces@thekrib.com]
> On Behalf Of Erik Olson
> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:56 AM
> To: gsas-board@thekrib.com
> Subject: [GSAS-board] auction system mod suggestions...
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Last night's meeting reminded me that the plant auction is next month.
> Yes, I will still take responsibility for it this year.
>
> At last November's AGA convention, I ended up being auction chair.  I made
> some upgrades on my computerized auction system to enable it to work with
> a wider variety of auction styles, including the one that is used by
> virtually every other club out there.  It worked incredibly well!  So
> good, that I wanted to try some of the changes out back home to see if we
> could eliminate some of our own bottlenecks:
>
>   * items put in someone else's bag by mistake
>   * the big run on the runners at the end
>   * the need for three stressed-out computer ops at the same time
>   * no easy way to do silent auction items or multi-item auctions
>     alongside usual single live items
>   * late sellers trying to pre-register their items
>
> So here is my proposal:
>
> (You can see more info, including pictures here..)
> http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Auction/system.html
> http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Auction/seller.html
> http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Auction/bidder.html
>
> 1. Items are delivered directly to the bidder as they are won, instead of
> kept behind the scenes until checkout.
>
>   * Instead of a sticker, we have a "tag" associated with each item.  The
>     bidder signs off on the tag, on which the runner writes also the
>     bidder number and amount.  The bidder keeps the bag.  The runner takes
>     the tag back to the computers.
>
>   * If we are concerned with theft, we require each participant surrender
>     a drivers license or similar collateral for their bidder card.  It is
>     returned when they check out.
>
>
> 2. Tags are delivered to an 'inbox' next to the computers where they can
> be scanned at the leisure of the operators and moved into the 'scanned
> box'.
>
>   * Computer ops no longer need to be watching the auctioneers like a
>     hawk.
>
>   * Only two people need to be running computers, possibly only one.  Easy
>     to take breaks. :)  I found I can go through a stack of tags very
>     quickly.  Computer ops can more easily switch between check-in,
>     entering bids, and checkout.
>
>   * The box of scanned tags effectively replaces the extra person writing
>     down each bid.  It becomes our paper trail!
>
>   * Weak link: Checkout people need to insure there are no tags in the
>     inbox corresponding to bidders that are checking out!  Otherwise, they
>     end up not paying for all their items!
>
> 3. Runners become the critical step!
>
>   * Bring item to auctioneer (optional -- we could still have auctioneers
>     pick out items, something I prefer)
>   * Record bidder and bid amount on the tag
>   * Take item to the winner, have them sign off on the tag
>   * Drop off tag to the inbox
>   * Repeat
>
>   * Should have a surplus, because we no longer need the extra computer
>     person, the two "back runners", and the extra recorder.  Kids like
>     being runners!
>
> 4. We can still keep our multiple-auctioneer system!
>
> Though every other club has a single auctioneer up there for 30 minutes at
> a time, I really prefer the GSAS approach of multiple auctioneers.  In
> fact, we actually can have hybrid auctioneer/runners: pick an item off the
> table, auction it off, and bring it to the winner.  I think we would need
> to have four auctioneers if we want to keep things running fast, so maybe
> it's not doable.  But the point is, we could actually run the whole thing
> with, say, only five volunteers, down from the nine we usually have.
>
> 5. Silent auctions, Fixed-price auctions, Multi-item auctions
>
> Because of the magic inbox and tags, it's easy to do fixed-price.  Just
> grab a tag, write down how much it went for and to whom, and send it to
> the inbox.
>
> Multi-item auction?  Just fill out several tags!
>
> Silent auctions have a special bigger tag with spaces for people to write
> their bidder number and amount (see weblinks above for a picture of this).
>
> I'm not saying we'll actually do any of these, but you never know...it
> would have been cool last year with the bogwood sales.  It's good to have
> the option available.
>
> 6. Sellers & splits
>
>   * Red tags, similar to the red labels we've been using
>   * Space on the red tags to write the seller number.
>   * Can be pre-registered like we do now, or the seller number entered
>     as it's pulled out of the inbox (NEW behavior for computer!)
>   * Need to have lots of scotch tape
>
> The idea here is that there are two chances to enter the seller items.
> One chance is the one we do now, pre-registration.  That makes it nice for
> the people running the computers later as they just enter the bidder
> number and amount, not the description of the item or seller number.  But
> we have this problem where someone brings in a box late, and one of the
> computer people is tied up entering stuff for them.  Now, we can say "OK,
> here's your bidder number.  Take these tags, write down your number and a
> description on each, tape them to you twenty things, and then just leave
> them on the table."
>
> I also can now use a wider range of printers.  If anyone can volunteer to
> bring a printer, it'd really be nice!  I might actually be able to bring
> plants this year instead of just tech gear.
>
>   - Erik
>
>

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com
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