Today I’m sharing a video. You’ll get to see the contents of a gift bag from one of my school auctions.
But first, let me provide some background on this event.
Fundraising auctions — or at least the kind I blog about on this site — are a fairly “American” thing — or so I’ve been told by those who have attended galas in Europe.
One woman who noticed these differences worked for a mobile bidding vendor. She told me that eventually she wanted to return home to London and become a benefit auctioneer. “But I want to run events the way you do here,” she said, “They’re more interactive and fun.”
I’ve worked a few galas in which most of the guests were of a different cultural or ethnic background than I, including Vietnamese, Indian, and French. Each one had its unique aspects that stood out to me.
And at this gala, I could tell these weren’t my typical school auction parents because of what they wore.
- As a group, the audience was exceptionally well dressed. The attire was black tie optional, and a majority of guests wore formal. I saw a parade of long, backless, strappy, plunging gowns. They upleveled their dress. That’s not typical of American school auction audiences.
- Hosiery: Sheer black hose. Fishnet hose. Patterned neutral hose. When is the last time you’ve seen many of the women wearing fancy hosiery at a school auction?
- Lace. Lots of it.
- Feminine cuts. I’m gathering that the French are great fans of alterations. Their dresses were form fitting and fit the form.
- Dramatic. This is harder to describe, but many of the dresses didn’t appear to be bought at Lord & Taylor. And some guests wore traditional dress, like the Africans from countries which had been part of the French colonial empire.
One of the guests carried this floral purse.
But the reason I wanted to write this blog isn’t because of the clothing. I wanted to share the contents of the event’s gift bag, which had a global vibe.
It’s not uncommon to receive a small token of appreciation at a school auction. It is often something small — a boxed chocolate, thank you cards created by children, or a tree ornament.
This gift bag went beyond that. It was a big shopping bag filled with more than just coupons and marketing literature.
In the video below you’ll see the contents of the gift bag.
You’ll notice a definite international flair, representative of their French / European culture.
=======================
=======================
Interested in other ideas?
Over the years, I’ve written other posts about charity auction gift bags.
Leave a Reply