Over the last two weeks, you might have seen some of the publicity surrounding the predictions made in the 1985 movie, Back to the Future. In the movie, the lead character Marty McFly travels to the future date of October 21, 2015. I've read articles and seen video clips of late-night television show skits about the predictions made in that movie. Thirty years later, some prophesies came true (or nearly so); others were off the mark. Today's blog post follows this theme. ========== In ... Read On >
Gambling, drinking and smoking at Tennessee fundraising auctions
Tennessee benefit auction planners, this post is just for you.Admittedly there's nothing in this post about smoking. But all three rolled off my tongue as I typed. Let's cover the other two.The Tennessee Auctioneer Commission, a regulatory board under the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, published two articles in its Fall 2015 NewsLine newsletter. One addressed the sale of alcohol and the other looked at charitable gaming at auctions. I found the articles easy to read and ... Read On >
School auction theme: Night at the Museum
I recently showed a few photos from this 2009 auction to a client who was going to be doing something similar. The memory of that event still impresses me, so I thought I'd post a few of the photos on the blog. ++++++++++++++ When the Development Director told me that the school auction committee had settled on a "Night at the Museum" theme, I wasn't overly enthusiastic. Many times I'll have some ideas on how to support the theme. For this one, I was a tad stumped. I ... Read On >
[VIDEO] Embarrassing your auction donor with a (too) high opening bid?
I recorded this video a few minutes after getting off the phone with a potential client. She and her committee weren't fond of their previous auctioneer. "She started with a high opening bid," she said. "Too high. And then in order to get anyone interested in bidding she had to drop it down. Way down. It was so embarrassing to our donor." The subject of where to start the opening bids on your live auction items can be a divisive topic. I've observed a discrepancy between what many ... Read On >
[VIDEO] Four styles of bid stickers for silent auction bid sheets
A couple of months ago I posted a video tip about how you can read bad handwriting on silent auction bid sheets. Spoiler alert: It's the use of bid stickers. I explained that auction chairs shouldn't require guests to write their name, address, email, phone number, or any other information on the bid sheets. To generate the highest bids, the only information required should only be the bid number. If the idea of only asking for a bid number troubles you (perhaps because you are ... Read On >