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AAW Symposium EOG Grant Banquet Auction

Gynia

Gynia

Joined
Apr 25, 2004
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Milkyway
Hi

I heard a rumor that the auction held at the end of the Symposium Banquet will turn to a jury process so fewer items will be auctioned and the auction doesn't take so long. Those pieces which don't pass the jury would be in a silent auction.

What do you think?

Any ideas for other ways to save time?

Richard
 
Bad idea, although some filtering to sift out hockey pucks and door stops could be instituted informally if such stuff were offered. Didn't see any such last month, so don't see any present need as individual members' self-analysis seems sufficiient.

"Juried" denotes a policy of exclusion, and, in the context of making a charitable contribution, will result in pouring gas on the fire of "elitism." Not a good path for an organization that wishes to grow and promote. There is one juried show at each Symposium; that's enough.

Mark Mandell
 
As a first timer I didn't think the auction went on too long. It was a bit tough on the bladder, as I wanted to stay to the end because I was bidding.
More items made for a longer auction.
It also made for a greater total for the EOG fund.
The 'items of less interest' went pretty quickly and perhaps added only 5 or 10 minutes to the whole process. The items which took the longest were those which would have been 'juried in'.
I think a juried only auction would just be for collectors with deep pockets. Perhaps it would bring a nice purse, but be less interesting to the other 1200 people in the audience. It would also limit pieces offered at the last minute, regardless of quality..

The overall length of the banquet/auction was IMHO made longer by the extended viewing of the auction pieces after dinner and because the auction viewing tables were lined up without a break in front of the stage it took a lot longer to present awards. Folks had to walk all the way to one side or the other of the stage and back. A different arrangement of the tables in front of the stage would have made for a bit shorter overall program.

Mark.
 
I agree with Mike. There was a WIDE continuum of pieces, both in terms of fame and talent. I enjoyed goading folks into bidding high, which all goes to support AAW. That was a lot of money on the line in KC. Thanks to all who contributed.
 
I agree not to have a juried auction. Once we got to that portion of the banquet it was efficient and ran smoothly. One thing that would significantly shorten the banquet time is to present as many awards as possible (i.e. club website, club newsletter, symposium organizational crew, etc.) during the opening ceremonies. Save only the recognition announcements and awards that should come at the conclusion of the event for the banquet.
 
Having sat through 18 of the 19 AAW banquet auctions, I would like to offer an alternative view to the prevailing consensus of this thread:

I think it is a foregone conclusion that the auction procedure has to change for a number of reasons:

First, as the organization grows, the attendees to the symposium will also, and the same can be assumed with respect to the number of pieces donated. Under the present system, this will undoubtedly lengthen the auction event. Previous auctions had donations of, along with artwork, wood, tools, vacations, etc. This became unwieldy, and the silent auction came into being to accommodate non-turned items. There needs to be a time period for viewing the work at the time of the banquet, since many folks come there for just that event, and do not have the opportunity to see the work at the instant gallery.

Your audience of bidders, especially after consuming a large meal, will have difficulty staying with an auction late at night lasting more than say 3 hours. Taking this into consideration more or less dictates the placement of pieces up for bid. This can be challenging to create a good "mix," since you want to refrain from putting all the potentially high-dollar work up first, but then you don't want to wait too long before you lose the audience because they're too tired. Let's face it--we're not all young enough to have unbounded energy at 11pm!

The auctioneer, especially a good one like John Hill (who is volunteering his services, BTW), has a daunting and exhausting task of coaxing money over an extended period of time. He is not a professional auctioneer, and perhaps we need to have two or more split the task as the number of donations increases. I make the effort to personally thank him for his efforts after the event, and hope other attendees do likewise.

Other uncontrollable circumstances often come into play--in KC, for example, the air conditioning was cranked up so high that a number of people were very uncomfortable and left early.

I've heard of a number of suggestions to keep the duration of the auction within reason. One of these is to have ALL the donated work in a silent auction mode at first. This will establish prices from which the bidding will start, thus saving time. It will also let bidders know if a desired piece will be out of their range, which gives them time to select other work. An independent responsible third party will then select an appropriate number of pieces for the banquet auction.

I'm not sure what changes will be made by AAW, if any. However, I'm sure, it will not be to discourage any member from donating work to the auction. Like anything else, things have to be tried to see if they work. There's a challenge to it, having the auction a fun and exciting part of the symposium, as well as the serious side of raising as much money as possible for a worthwhile cause.
 
I like Molly's idea of shortening the Banquet presentations, but some "pre-bidding" to establish floor prices would certainly move things along as well.

Mark
 
J. Paul Fennell said:
I've heard of a number of suggestions to keep the duration of the auction within reason. One of these is to have ALL the donated work in a silent auction mode at first. This will establish prices from which the bidding will start, thus saving time.
Click to expand...
I don't know if I like that, it removes the illusion that I may be able to afford one of those pieces for my own collection.
 
People donate work because they want to help the organization. If only the "big hats" have a chance to get into the auction I think many others will think, why bother? Let's face it, we have all levels in the organization and those who are not at the top should have the same chance to help the organization as everyone else.

I certainly agree that the auction is quite long and getting longer, but I enjoy sitting there and experiencing the excitement of the entire process. One of the hightlights of the last auction was Eileen Duffy's excitement when she got one of Molly's pieces!

Joe
 
First symposium, donate a piece?

Because next year's symposium will be the closest to me, I planned to attend and make a donation to the auction. Since I am by no means a big hat in the world of woodturning, I must assume that my donation would be second-tiered and not part of the juried auction if that system is put in place. My immediate reaction to that possibility is to forget the donation and enjoy the show.

I am sure that for some people the minute or two their piece is offered by the auctioneer accounts for half of the fun for their time at the symposium. For that brief moment they are as important as any other woodturner there - that's their time in the spotlight and they can gauge whether their offering to the Turning Gods is acceptable or not. If people bid on their item then they get the sought after satisfaction of having donated and having been validated by the fraternity. Everyone wants to be a valued member of the team and changing the system has the potential to diminish one's perceived value.

The cost of growth is not cheap. What I have described above is akin to discussing your bowl at Show and Tell. While efficiency is a desirable goal, at what cost do we achieve it? My prediction is that donations will drop off if the system is changed as described. Will that cause a drop in the amount taken in? Who knows? 😕
 
Personally, Once I've donated a piece it does not concern me if I see it sell. My only concern is that somehow it makes some money to be used by another turner. I guess I'm a stick in the mud but I find the auction loud, long and boring. Now John doesn a wonderful job of keeping it from being that way and I congratulate him on the effort and especially his ability to make it entertaining as well as raising the prices on everything. I guess I'm just not an auction kind of guy. Even at local auctions I bid what I'm going to bid and that's it. No price wars for me it's just not my style.
I don't know how many others are like me but I would like to have a good dinner with new friends and have some fun with the presentations and then be able to relax for another good day at the sympsium. I will happily go along with whatever the majority decides but I think it would be nice to be able to bid on something and not have to sit through a 3 hour auction. I have enough trouble sitting through a 1 1/2 hour demo and I really want to be at those. I guess I just have to be moving.
 
Ed - I'm not sure your piece would get second tiered in the next symposium as you said. Each piece is put on display for all to see. The pieces are initially displayed in the instant gallery. Then on Saturday evening they are put on display at the banquet prior to everyone eating. You get further exposure for the 1-2 minutes that the piece is displayed on screens in the room during the actual auction.

So far the AAW board has not published any change in this auction process for next year.

Like most others I get a bit tired near the end of the auction. This year it ended at 11:15pm which is pretty late. But it is a great cause and every donated piece helps the EOG fund. So I have attended 2 symposiums, and I stayed thru the entire auctions at each one.
 
Fireman?

Jeff,

I have not been to a national symposium, so I was trying hard not to be judgemental. Ten years ago when I designed the position of Director of Tutoring Programs at the Naval Academy I told the Dean that basically I am a "fireman", meaning that I try to anticipate problems and that when I see one I act quickly to eliminate it. And in truth that was how I operated. (However I forgot to tell him that I was also the Lone Ranger and he unfortunately was paranoid about being kept in the loop.) Another day, different problem. 😀

I understand the dilemma facing the Board because of the generosity of the members of the AAW. But sometimes when a problem is solved there are secondary considerations and negative consequences. My effort here was to provide a point of view of "the little guy" that might get lost in the shuffle, thereby allowing those in charge to make an informed decision. I just wanted to make sure that if the proposed change was adopted then they would be aware of possible reactions of some members and the associated consequences.

Note that John Lucas has been involved as a photographer at the national symposium and he knows that his work was appreciated. In other words, his "position" in the woodworking community has been validated. I suspect that he has donated several pieces at other symposia, so that it is not a big deal with him NOW. But I was presenting a perspective of a "first-timer" who is less established and I don't think he took that into account in his recent post. While he may not worry about the reception received by his donation, there are definitely others who care very much whether their piece brings a good bid or not.
 
Suggestion

One thing I have seen done at other banquets in other fields is a total silent auction. Once the meal starts you end one of the silent auctions at designated time periods. For example if you have 30 pieces and figure everyone needs 1.5 hours to be served and eat - you would end an auction every 3 minutes. You walk around the items and keep announcing during the meal what is ending. Still generates excitment yet does not take extra time period. I have seen folks that could not stay in their seats to eat for running to sign on another bid. Usually bidding started a day or 2 before the banquet. As I say just an idea for thought. Would keep everyone on "equal" basis.

Wilford
 
The proposition that started this thread was based on recommendations from several "regular donors". This last symposium had 109 pieces in the auction and was completed in 2 hours and 55 minutes which meant that I sold a piece every minute and 37 seconds. That is the time from when Phil introduced the piece till he introduced the next piece. That is as fast as an auction can go. With that pace, the prices are higher and the excitement is greater for everyone, the donor, the bidders, and the rest of the audience. Being faced with possibly even more pieces being donated next year, something needs to be done.
After much discussion, the real problem has been identified as "the auction ending too late". Next year we plan on beginning earlier, doing some of the announcements during dinner and starting the auction sooner. That way, we can end on time and still show case all of the great pieces that our members so generously donate.
We expect that the quality of the work presented will become evermore exciting as members learn that with all of the collectors that now know that the AAW auction is "the place" to buy great work and the donors realize that their pieces will fetch great prices. This year we raised $69,000 up from $52,000 the year before and $30 something before that. I predict that we will raise $100,000 in the near future because the quality of the work offered is going up and the collectors are sharing the word that this is the place to be.
So, next year we will have the same proceedure as this year but will begin earlier so that we will end at an early hour. Once the pieces are counted, I will be able to tell everyone what time, within 5 minutes, that we will end.
Thanks to all who have commented in this thread.
John Hill - Auctioneer
 
Aaaand . . . . .

John Hill said:
The proposition that started this thread was based on recommendations from several "regular donors". This last symposium had 109 pieces in the auction and was completed in 2 hours and 55 minutes which meant that I sold a piece every minute and 37 seconds. That is the time from when Phil introduced the piece till he introduced the next piece. That is as fast as an auction can go. With that pace, the prices are higher and the excitement is greater for everyone, the donor, the bidders, and the rest of the audience. Being faced with possibly even more pieces being donated next year, something needs to be done.
After much discussion, the real problem has been identified as "the auction ending too late". Next year we plan on beginning earlier, doing some of the announcements during dinner and starting the auction sooner. That way, we can end on time and still show case all of the great pieces that our members so generously donate.
We expect that the quality of the work presented will become evermore exciting as members learn that with all of the collectors that now know that the AAW auction is "the place" to buy great work and the donors realize that their pieces will fetch great prices. This year we raised $69,000 up from $52,000 the year before and $30 something before that. I predict that we will raise $100,000 in the near future because the quality of the work offered is going up and the collectors are sharing the word that this is the place to be.
So, next year we will have the same proceedure as this year but will begin earlier so that we will end at an early hour. Once the pieces are counted, I will be able to tell everyone what time, within 5 minutes, that we will end.
Thanks to all who have commented in this thread.
John Hill - Auctioneer
Click to expand...


THANK YOU, JOHN !!!! for a GREAT JOB

Mark
 
John I too congratulate you on a job well done and especially for listening to all sides. I'm going to try to be there next year and from the sounds of things I need start working on my donation today.
 
quality work

john lucas said:
John I too congratulate you on a job well done and especially for listening to all sides. I'm going to try to be there next year and from the sounds of things I need start working on my donation today.
Click to expand...

John, if it is as nice as your recently acclaimed lidded mushroom box or your bowl "Born Again", then it will be well-received and highly sought after. 🙂
 
John,

If you can move an auction that fast - I know some cattle sale barns that could use you!!!!

Thanks for helping the orginization!!

Wilford
 
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