Developing An Auction Dinner (Part Four)

I have had the privilege of attending and working with thousands of auction dinners throughout North America for over 20 years. Some had several thousand attendees, while others only had fifty or so. The articles that follow are meant to give an overview of how successful auction dinners are conceived, planned and managed.
For anyone who wants a complete "Developing An Auction Dinner" package, complete with working manuals, workbooks, sample forms and PowerPoint presentations, visit my Festival and Event Planning website.

Event Set-Up

1. Seating Plan
Just prior to the event, organize all the names of attendees and enter them onto a formal seating plan. Once you have made all your adjustments, prepare transpose the information onto a large sheet of foamboard. Take this board to the event and set it up in a prominent area. Make sure your volunteers study the plan before the event so that they can help attendees find their table.

2. Packaging
This is the time to take all the small prizes and package them into complimentary groupings. These larger prizes can now be used as door prizes, raffle prizes and silent auction items. Packaging smaller prizes into larger grouping will give value to all prizes. The people attending your event want and deserve value.

(To be continued)

Developing An Auction Dinner (Part Three - Continued)

I have had the privilege of attending and working with thousands of auction dinners throughout North America for over 20 years. Some had several thousand attendees, while others only had fifty or so. The articles that follow are meant to give an overview of how successful auction dinners are conceived, planned and managed.
For anyone who wants a complete "Developing An Auction Dinner" package, complete with working manuals, workbooks, sample forms and PowerPoint presentations, visit my Festival and Event Planning website.

Event Plan Implementation

22. Taxi Service
Contract a taxi service (or a service club) to transport attendees to and from the event. Many people like drink at these events but don’t because they have to drive. By removing this concern, you not only help your attendees but protect your event from a drunk-driving tragedy.

23. Communications
One final thought is communications. There are now inexpensive walkie-talkie radios available that can be used by key organizer to control activities during an event. These are a useful tool if used properly. They are worth considering for larger events.

(Part Four of this series, "Developing an Auction Dinner" will talk about Event Set-up, Event Management and Event Wrap-up.)

Developing An Auction Dinner (Part Three - Continued)

I have had the privilege of attending and working with thousands of auction dinners throughout North America for over 20 years. Some had several thousand attendees, while others only had fifty or so. The articles that follow are meant to give an overview of how successful auction dinners are conceived, planned and managed.

For anyone who wants a complete "Developing An Auction Dinner" package, complete with working manuals, workbooks, sample forms and PowerPoint presentations, visit my Festival and Event Planning website.

Event Plan Implementation
20. Bidding Paddles
Many auction events use bidding paddle to indicate a bid and identify the bidder. It is an easy way of controlling your auction, both to see who is bidding and to record who won the bid. The best method of numbering is to have the bid paddle number correspond with the attendee’s ticket number. As long as you have good information for each ticket, this method works beautifully.

21. Large Prizes
Many people will not bid on large prize items because they have no way of transporting them home. Since most venues want their facilities cleared as quickly as possible, attendees have a problem with immediate transportation. To overcome this challenge, arrange for a delivery service prior to the event and promote that this service is available (at no charge) to anyone who purchases a large item. Overcoming as many challenges before they become a problem will make your event more welcoming and successful.

(To be continued)

Developing An Auction Dinner (Part Three - Continued)

I have had the privilege of attending and working with thousands of auction dinners throughout North America for over 20 years. Some had several thousand attendees, while others only had fifty or so. The articles that follow are meant to give an overview of how successful auction dinners are conceived, planned and managed. For anyone who wants a complete "Developing An Auction Dinner" package, complete with working manuals, workbooks, sample forms and PowerPoint presentations, visit my Festival and Event Planning website.

Event Plan Implementation

18. Volunteer Training
In order to avoid confusion during the event, it is wise to put your volunteers through a short training session. Letting each volunteer know what his/her duties for the event are and what to expect during the event will eliminate a lot of problems and frustrations during the event. You can’t just expect that your volunteers will automatically know what is expected of them. Training is the answer.

19. Welcome Gifts
If you really want to impress your attendees, present them with a little gift (especially the ladies) as they enter the event. It’s a small gesture that will produce big results. Here a few ideas:
• A flower for the ladies
• A boutonnière for the men
• A free draw ticket for a special raffle
• A Canadian Flag pin

(To be continued)

War of 1812 Celebrations...

For some time Judi and I have been visiting historical re-enactments. The first re-enactment event that we visited was in 2007. We traveled to the Hamilton area to the Battle of Stoney Creek held at Battlefield House Museum and Park. This re-enactment depicted one of the important battles during the War or 1812. We had a great time and have become fans of historical re-enactments ever since! Some notable re-enactments we have attended include Wasaga Under Siege (Wasaga Beach), the Marine Heritage Festival (Port Dover), Rise to Rebellion (Georgina Pioneer Village) and War of 1812 Military Re-enactment (Upper Canada Village). Ever since our first encounter with re-enactments and re-enactors, I have been thinking about ways to further the War of 1812 memories and to honour the men and women who are now organizing the bicentennial celebrations. To do this we have added the War of 1812 Celebrations sub-domain to our popular Ontario Festivals Visited website. Ontario Festivals Visited currently attracts over 17,000 festival web visitors per month. It is our hope that a good number of these visitors will log onto the War of 1812 Celebrations home page. If they do they will find all kinds of exciting information! There are articles with photos about events that we have visited in the past and, as we visit future events, these will been added to our "Celebrations Events Visited" section. Festival and event news already plays an important roll with the Ontario Festivals Visited website through the Festival News section ( 2,500 festival web visitors per month). Our new "Celebrations Headline News" page gives website visitors War of 1812 news. Our "Celebrations Notes" offers readers weekly War of 1812 related articles - past, present and future! The "Celebrations Newsletter" will be published quarterly (more often if warranted) and will contain articles about upcoming events, celebration event organizers and celebration event participants. Finally the "Celebrations Event Calendar" lists upcoming events and each listing is linked back to the event's website. This is a free service offered to event organizers!

It is our hope that all "War of 1812 enthusiasts" will enjoy our new "War of 1812 Celebrations addition" and will participate in it by submitting ideas, photos and articles to us. Judi and I look forward to the War of 1812 (Celebrations) beginning!

NOTE: This article has been simultaneously posted on our three (3) Blog sites... War of 1812 Celebrations Notes, Gary's Blog and The Adventures of the Festival Nomad.