2006 Auction: going--going--gone!

The Auction took place a week ago today, and went, I am glad to say, extremely well. We didn't quite make our fundraising goal, but on the whole the event was a brilliant success.

And some quick backstory about the Auction, so you get a little bit of an idea what it was like: It's a big event -- 432 people attend, alongside 100 volunteers, to bid on fully or partially donated packages, the net from the sale of which benefits the Center for the Homeless. Our annual operating budget at the Center hits the 2.4 million dollar mark, and the Auction is our biggest annual event. This year, with the sale of auction items and sponsorships from community businesses, we grossed $260,000.

And I was in charge of running the whole event. Namely, I was in charge of organizing our Auction Committee, comprised entirely of long-time volunteers from around the community. They all know what they're doing, so I didn't have to run anyone's life, but I had to make decisions, network behind the scenes, and do a lot of navigating in what is for me completely uncharted waters. It was thoroughly rewarding work, and of course left me exhausted afterward.

The particular challenge was making this year's auction experience better for everyone than last year's. Last year my boss, Angie, came into her position and had to handle the Auction, with no preliminary experience, three weeks before the event; it was the first year being held at a new venue; and it was the first year using a new brand of auction software to make keeping track of sales easier (but, since it was the first year, it wasn't easier at all).

I was lucky in that the second year of doing something new is bound to be easier than the first, and in that I had Angie to coach me along the entire way; but something also made everyone on the Auction Committee, and the other Center staff who worked their arses off to pull this off, very relaxed. The day before the Auction we all set up at the Palais Royale, and it was entirely low-key. So was the day of the Auction. And that -- everyone's chill, roll-with-the-punches attitude -- is what makes me think I did a good job.

So I've been putting in 60-90 hour work weeks the past month, and I took a three-day-weekend this time around, and midway through April I'm taking off a week just in flex time. I'm looking forward to it greatly.