After a very busy weekend of selling at auction, I traveled to Milwaukee for the State Championship Auctioneer Contest held at the state fairgrounds. It was nice this year to not have a leadership role, and I was able to just enjoy the contest. I brought a good friend along, and she and I not only experienced the contest but also attended the Betthauser Auction Company auction that evening at the Serb Hall in Milwaukee.
There are so many people that have worked (or attended)for multiple years that don't get the recognition that they deserve...WAA President-Elect Bob Hagemann and his wife Sally, buyer Leanne from Chicago who atttends religiously, Gene & Rosemary Schmidt, Tom Kleist and his wife, and a multitude of other auctioneers and buyers!! THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US!
It was a very fun day at the fair, and because of the heat & humidity, my friend and I limited our grazing of "fair food" to just Wisconsin cheese curds and the famous "Wisconsin Cattlemen's" ribeye sandwich.
The highlight of the contest to all, of course, was the announcement of the winners! The top 6 finalists held some surprises for me personally, but you never can doubt the judges, who are all experienced in the trade. The finalists were ALL worthy of the title, and I was pleased to see two female auctioneers in the final round. (Male auctioneers typically have an advantage due to emanance of their voice) and our state contest does not allow for separate male and female categories (as the International Contest does).
Getting to the quick of things, when they announced the runner-up, reserve champ (and there were still 4 auctioneers standing), and said "SHE" dada tada....we knew it was CAROL MILLER who won!! She was the only female standing amongst the remaining six finalists!! FIRST TIME A FEMALE WON IN THE HISTORY OF THE CONTEST!!
Carol is very deserving in so many ways and will represent the Wisconsin Auction Industry well! Her next debut in competition will ocurr in Orlando, Florida during the July 2011 NAA Convention, where she will be sponsored by the Wisconsin Auctioneer's Association in the International Auctioneer Contest.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Cichocki Moving Auction Results
The Chichocki Moving Auction was one the most fun and succesful auctions of the year! After almost sixteen years in the auction business, I am confident in relaying that the main components of a successful auction include good merchandise, targeted marketing, and the cooperation of the seller.
We definitely had all three going on with this auction! The beautiful log home, barns and outbuildings are currently for sale and include acreage AND a whole lot of Menominee River frontage! Diane and her late husband were avid antique collectors, and there was an abundance of high quality merchandise available on auction day!
Our crew pulled into the auction site at 6:30am and were amazed at the activity going on! I bet there were at least 25 family members - from little kids to octogenarian Grandma Laveta, working already!! We are so appreciative of that, as the merchandise being offered that day grew somewhat from my original visit...Talk about a cohesive family!! AND they were HAVING FUN!!
The weather was pretty good - not as hot and humid as usual, but we still opted for tents so that people could get in the shade if they needed to. Crowd sizes at our auctions this year have been amazing - this auction produced over 350 buyers !!
One of the eventful parts of the auction day included the "Waterfront Festival Motorcycle Ride" that passed on River Road while we were selling. At the time, we had two rings going, and BOTH auctioneers had to shut their auctions down until the 300 or so motorcycles passed! Customers from both rings got into the spirit of the motorcycle ride, waving and cheering the cyclists on! (I heard from a reliable source that Cozzy's mentioned the auction they would be passing, and encouraged the cyclists to be careful - thanks Cozzy & team!) And thanks to the motorcycle riders that were suporting our local St. Vincent de Paul Store!
Our office manager Jennifer. will be posting result of the Cichocki auction soon on our website - take a look!
We definitely had all three going on with this auction! The beautiful log home, barns and outbuildings are currently for sale and include acreage AND a whole lot of Menominee River frontage! Diane and her late husband were avid antique collectors, and there was an abundance of high quality merchandise available on auction day!
Our crew pulled into the auction site at 6:30am and were amazed at the activity going on! I bet there were at least 25 family members - from little kids to octogenarian Grandma Laveta, working already!! We are so appreciative of that, as the merchandise being offered that day grew somewhat from my original visit...Talk about a cohesive family!! AND they were HAVING FUN!!
The weather was pretty good - not as hot and humid as usual, but we still opted for tents so that people could get in the shade if they needed to. Crowd sizes at our auctions this year have been amazing - this auction produced over 350 buyers !!
One of the eventful parts of the auction day included the "Waterfront Festival Motorcycle Ride" that passed on River Road while we were selling. At the time, we had two rings going, and BOTH auctioneers had to shut their auctions down until the 300 or so motorcycles passed! Customers from both rings got into the spirit of the motorcycle ride, waving and cheering the cyclists on! (I heard from a reliable source that Cozzy's mentioned the auction they would be passing, and encouraged the cyclists to be careful - thanks Cozzy & team!) And thanks to the motorcycle riders that were suporting our local St. Vincent de Paul Store!
Our office manager Jennifer. will be posting result of the Cichocki auction soon on our website - take a look!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
National Auctioneer's Association Conference & Show
The National Auctioneer's Association Conference & Show was held in Greensboro, North Carolina in July. It's hard to miss a National Conference, especially when it's held in a state that I have never visited. The educational opportunities for professional auctioneers, as well as the networking that it allows, is worth much more than the convention fees and travel costs.
Eli Detweiler, a former Wisconsin auctioneer, holds a leadership role with North Carolina and was very instrumental in this year's convention. Some of our customers will remember Eli as the very energetic Amish auctioneer that worked with us occassionally when he was still residing in Wisconsin. It was VERY EXCITING to be there when he won the INTERNATIONAL AUCTIONEER CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST this year! Last year he was runner-up, but it doesn't always work out to mean that you will win the next year...there are SEVERAL professional auctioneers that are also very deserving of this title. Yeah Eli - I'm proud of you!
I traveled to North Carolina a few days early to visit friends in Hendersonville and enjoyed a couple of days with Pete & Judy. They own a very large produce operation and I went to the convention with a case - plus of the best tomatoes ever! Airport personnel, rent-a-car people and several auctioneer vendors and friends were able to enjoy the tomatoes also - thanks Pete & Judy! Kathy Kingston used the tomatoes and an ice bucket/cooking pot to demonstrate a wonderful Italian recipe.....
My roommates were Wisconsin auctioneers Shirley Baumann & Carol Miller - three women in one hotel room!!! We had a very interesting week, and all still loved each other when it was ending....(Shirley & Carol are surprised that I didn't mention bathtubs or snoring...right)???
The technology seminar by Peter Gehres was OUTSTANDING! Check out the auctioneerchannel.com to see one of the projects that Peter has been involved in. He made all of the new technology that auctioneers must keep up with very understandable - thanks Peter!
Just a very few of the other educational opportunities include seminars I attended on "Legal Issues for Real Estate Auctioneers", "On-line Only Auctions", "Art & Collectibles", "Social Networking for Business", "Selling Firearms at Auction," and the "New Era of Real Estate Auctions."
Several FUN things about attending NAA Conventions included seeing old friends and making new ones...attending the "Great Ideas Forum"...listening to auctioneer's stories about "Auctions Gone Wild"....and meeting up again with CAI graduates....
Attending NAA Conventions helps me to remain focused on what I intended to do when I first became a part of the auction industry, - providing a professional, honest and fair service to the communities that I serve. I am very appreciative of the opportunities that the NAA provides!!!
Eli Detweiler, a former Wisconsin auctioneer, holds a leadership role with North Carolina and was very instrumental in this year's convention. Some of our customers will remember Eli as the very energetic Amish auctioneer that worked with us occassionally when he was still residing in Wisconsin. It was VERY EXCITING to be there when he won the INTERNATIONAL AUCTIONEER CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST this year! Last year he was runner-up, but it doesn't always work out to mean that you will win the next year...there are SEVERAL professional auctioneers that are also very deserving of this title. Yeah Eli - I'm proud of you!
I traveled to North Carolina a few days early to visit friends in Hendersonville and enjoyed a couple of days with Pete & Judy. They own a very large produce operation and I went to the convention with a case - plus of the best tomatoes ever! Airport personnel, rent-a-car people and several auctioneer vendors and friends were able to enjoy the tomatoes also - thanks Pete & Judy! Kathy Kingston used the tomatoes and an ice bucket/cooking pot to demonstrate a wonderful Italian recipe.....
My roommates were Wisconsin auctioneers Shirley Baumann & Carol Miller - three women in one hotel room!!! We had a very interesting week, and all still loved each other when it was ending....(Shirley & Carol are surprised that I didn't mention bathtubs or snoring...right)???
The technology seminar by Peter Gehres was OUTSTANDING! Check out the auctioneerchannel.com to see one of the projects that Peter has been involved in. He made all of the new technology that auctioneers must keep up with very understandable - thanks Peter!
Just a very few of the other educational opportunities include seminars I attended on "Legal Issues for Real Estate Auctioneers", "On-line Only Auctions", "Art & Collectibles", "Social Networking for Business", "Selling Firearms at Auction," and the "New Era of Real Estate Auctions."
Several FUN things about attending NAA Conventions included seeing old friends and making new ones...attending the "Great Ideas Forum"...listening to auctioneer's stories about "Auctions Gone Wild"....and meeting up again with CAI graduates....
Attending NAA Conventions helps me to remain focused on what I intended to do when I first became a part of the auction industry, - providing a professional, honest and fair service to the communities that I serve. I am very appreciative of the opportunities that the NAA provides!!!
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