Yesterday I prepped you about my work with the Convention Industry Council®. From morning until early evening today, I sat with ~40 reviewers (I'm pretty sure I was the only Virginia benefit auctioneer) at the Westin Arlington Gateway and scored ("reviewed") application after application. We were seated at round tables to facilitate group help. If one of us had a question or wanted a second opinion, she could easily pose it to another CMP® for feedback. We read applications, checked math, ... Read On >
Tomorrow I’m beefing up for my CMP recertification
Though I'm now a benefit auctioneer in Virginia, my corporate past included working as an event planner. As part of that career, in March 2005, I was relieved to learn from the Convention Industry Council that I had passed its difficult CMP exam. They sent me a letter with an official sticker. Sweet. Here's some background. What is the Convention Industry Council®? An organization of national and international members who are involved in the meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry. ... Read On >
Two lesser-known labs of the Smithsonian can be great benefit auction items
Although securing a private behind-the-scenes tour of any of the Smithsonian Museums is a fascinating donation, the Smithsonian Institution has two lesser-known research facilities that make for unusual benefit auction items. These work great in the silent auction or possibly the live. (I've written before about the popularity of research-related benefit auction items.) The Feather Identification Lab (jokingly called "CSI for Birds") of The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is one ... Read On >
Use signage (a bid board) to let silent auction bidders know they won
Here's one of the most common questions you'll hear from auction guests: "How will I know if I won anything in the silent auction? If I didn't win anything, I don't want to stand in the check-out line." How can you easily let bidders know they won? Relaying winning bidder information should become part of your silent auction checkout process. One option is to invest hundreds to thousands of dollars into technology so you can text or otherwise alert your winners, but that's a big ... Read On >
Buying a prize for a raffle? Consider Woot!
When your conducting a raffle, the best prize is often one which is donated. But if no appropriate donations are forthcoming, another option is to buy an inexpensive prize with the understanding that your modest investment will be handsomely rewarded in ticket sales. Consider shopping (or at least monitoring) the Website Woot for an appropriate prize for a raffle. Woot sells one product per day, and prices are worth watching. Here's how Woot works. Woot sells one product per day until it's ... Read On >