Recipe for Success
Charity Auction & Culinary Adventure
In Partnership With The New RO & Maison Aubrey
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CLICK HERE FOR GOLD SPONSORS
CLICK HERE FOR SILVER SPONSORS
CLICK HERE FOR BRONZE SPONSORS
EVENT SUMMARY
APRIL 21, 2005
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Total raised (subject to adjustments): $47,000 Total raised since moving to The New RO in 2003: $112,000 Total raised since first auction event in 2000: $162,000 2005 Attendance: 300+ (exact figure unavailable) Previous attendance high (set in 2004): 240+ RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: THE BIGGER PICTURE Ottawa Citizen columnist Margo Roston summed things up nicely when she commented on this year's auction: "This is quite a hooha when you think back to the early days of this event." Quite a hooha indeed! There was actually a line of people that built up down the street and around the corner before 6:00 PM. By 6:10 PM, just ten minutes after the doors opened, the CHUM Market Media Mall was already starting to burst at the seams. There were about 100 people on the second floor enjoying the incredible spread of food offered up by Maison Aubrey catering, and another 100 people checking out the silent auction on the first floor. Within half an hour the total numbers were over 275, and eventually topped 300. Ticket sales prior to the event exceeded 400. Publicity efforts with The New RO included an on-air promotion, a special appearance by SMILE participants on Speaker's Corner, and an interview on Breakfast at The New RO with Julie Kingstone and SMILE participant Laura Stewart. Keenan Wellar did an interview on Rogers 22. And the LiveWorkPlay website and email network was a buzz of activity for more than a month. The huge team of volunteers out recruiting donations did their best to get everything in by Monday. Within 24 hours the baskets, boxes, envelopes, and bags were sorted into 106 silent auction item packages and 37 in the live auction. Information cards and bid sheets were produced for each item. Then 275 programs (24 pages each) recognizing sponsors, donors, and listing all the items up for bids, were created at the LiveWorkPlay office between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. Door prize tickets were stapled to each program and everything was packed into vehicles for transport to The New RO. Arriving at the CHUM Market Media Mall, LiveWorkPlay staff met up with volunteers from MBNA and Alastair McAlastair from The New RO and the set-up process began at 1:00 PM. Maison Aubrey was already at work upstairs. On the main floor the MBNA volunteers were setting up for the Balloon Bust, which this year featured 200 items with values of $5 - $20. Before arriving they had already stuffed about 250 loot bags. LiveWorkPlay staff toted in all the auction items and started setting up tables and displays. Dale Kerr was busy in the front studio preparing for the live auction. Julie, Keenan, Fran Childs, and Allison Moores were setting up the silent auction and coordinated with CHUM security staff to set up the registration table. A camera and monitors were set up so the live auction could be seen from anywhere in the building. Jennifer Nihmey from MBNA held a meeting with all their volunteers to hand out assignments for the night. All this and of course the event hasn't started yet. While one might rightly think that this all gets accomplished in panic mode - and perhaps there was a bit of truth to that in previous years - that just wasn't the case in 2005. Yes, there were late nights and some lack of sleep, but that's just the nature of the beast for the time between when the items come in and the programs get produced. The event day itself was remarkably calm...so much so that the LWP staff team actually sat down and had something to eat in the middle of the afternoon! The planned chaos of 300 people having a blast is what it's all about. The food was so popular it actually created a bit of a problem. The upstairs was so packed that those who had finished eating had a hard time getting through the crowd and back down the stairs. But it all worked itself out, and the last ten minutes of the silent auction saw a frenzy of bidding. SMILE participant Cooper Gage had set his sights on a special lightweight golf bag and he was not to be denied. An announcement that the silent auction was being extended by 15 minutes brought cheers - from those still trying to get their bid at the top of the list - and jeers - from those who thought they were about to triumph. One of the donated items contributing to the grand tally was an original work of art by SMILE participant Caroline Matte. Given that the silent auction had been extended, the night should have been behind schedule. But the bid sheets were swept off the table and soon Keenan was announcing the winners and MBNA runners delivered them into the crowd. 106 sheets in about ten minutes, and it was off to the live auction with Kurt Stoodley from The New RO and Codi Jeffreys from Majic 100 - co-auctioneers for the second year in a row. Dale assumed his traditional role as crowd-provoker, SMILE participant Jessica Smith continued her tradition as the event's "Vanna" (holding up the items and showing them to the audience), Julie, Fran, and Allison managed the payment table, the MBNA team recorded winning bidders and ran them to the Julie, and Keenan snapped photos and did some crowd management. It soon became obvious that this was going to be a really good live auction. One of the more unusual items was a small chair constructed entirely of sections of NHL hockey sticks used by NHL players. An interesting and unique item to be sure, but would people bid on it? Kurt started the bidding at $50, and up shot the hands...after Codi volunteered to prove that the chair could be used as...an actual chair...the bidders responded to the tune of $250! There was a lot of excitement for the Avril Lavigne box seats, and no doubt Journeys participant Emily was thrilled when her parents came out on top of the bidding war. Not long after that a $125 gift certificate for restaurant Les Fougeres went for almost double the face value! Bob Shnarre from Business Environments Furniture donates a beautiful chair to the auction every year, and sometimes people don't appreciate the value of a really good chair. This year there were lots of people concerned about having a healthy spine and the chair went for more than $500 (still a good deal for an Obusforme!). Soon after came back-to-back $1000+ items. It began with a Malak Karsh (1915-2001) photograph beautifully framed by Peter Germotte. Although donor Barbara Karsh could not be at the auction this year, she was very excited to have this particular piece in the auction, as was Marg Penniston who can't wait to have it hanging in her home. About an hour later Marg also ended up with the Napolean BBQ donated by the Fireplace Center. Brian Kennelly from Aubrey's Meats sweetened this deal by coming forward with an offer to bring the steaks and prepare them too! The next item was a travel package that included a four night stay in Halifax and a return flight for two anywhere WestJet flies East of Winnipeg. The package included a two night weekend stay at the Four Points Sheraton Halifax and two nights at Westin Nova Scotian Halifax. There was furious bidding on this one that drove the price to over $1100. Just a few items later came a beautiful work of art by Levi Qumaluk (1919-1997) who lived on the Kugoalu River and is recognized as one of the most talented carvers in the eastern Arctic. David Keay (father of Journey's participant Peter) was not to be denied on this popular item with a bid of over $1200. Helene Anne Fortin is a renowned portrait photographer, and thanks in part to the beautiful display that she set up earlier in the day, her donation of a portrait sitting resulted in furious bidding. The bidding had temporarily stalled at the retail value of $750, when Kurt handed the microphone to Ms. Fortin so she could explain more about the portrait process. The audience was charmed to learn that it all begins with tea and a chat: "The first rule of choosing an artist to do your portrait is that you don't work with someone you don't like!" After her brief presentation the bidding soared to over $1000! SMILE participant Jennifer Harris has been attending LiveWorkPlay auctions since the year 2000, but until this night she'd never actually taken part in the live auction. It all changed when she went home with a ride for two on a RE/MAX balloon. "Wahoo, I did it!" said Jen. Codi "Queen of the 80s" Jeffreys did a great job driving up the bids on the U2 box seats donated by MBNA, and almost cracked the $1000 dollar mark on this one too! Back when she was herself an on-air personality with The New RO, Cyndi Edwards got involved with LiveWorkPlay as a volunteer and was a big supporter of the auction when the event was just getting off the ground. Cyndi has recently returned from working for a cable network in the United States and along with husband Colin Trethewey came out to see the LWP gang and have some fun at the auction. The couple went home with a "will for two" contributed by Merovitz-Potechin, the law firm that was also a cash sponsor of the auction. About half way through the 37 live items, the program was interrupted for a special announcement. Jack Murphy, although feeling under the weather (feel better soon Jack!) came down because he wanted to hand in a $1000 donation from Edward J Cuhaci and Associates Architects. He handed off the cheque to his son Ian (a SMILE participant) who proudly displayed it to the audience, bringing a reaction of hearty applause. SMILE participant Ryan McBride was one of the most enthusiastic volunteers who helped recruit donations for this year's auction. The second the Open House event was over with on March 30 he was "auction auction auction." And he was also an active participant on April 21, picking up box seats to the monster truck show at the Corel Centre. The last two items were repeat offerings from last year, but the bids were up! Epicuria chef Jay Hughes and Dale donated a BBQ dinner for 30 that beat last year's top bid (even though no beer was included this year!) and the final item - a behind the scenes tour of Breakfast at The New RO - went for $300, six times higher than last year's winning bid. A furious bidding war erupted between SMILE participants Lucas Rodgers and Paul Hamilton, who left other bidders in their dust. When the bidding got into the hundreds of dollars, the two decided to pool their money and go on the tour together. "I hope our ratings go as high as these bids" quipped Kurt. Keenan handled the thank-yous just before the final item. There was a huge round of applause for Alastair, who managed to get into the Giant Tiger after closing to purchase bottled water for everyone after supplies ran out. Candace Strash of The New RO, who is retiring to spend more time with her kids, got a big round in appreciation for her many years of support of this event. Everyone had noticed the supportive presence of MBNA at the auction, and it took no urging for the audience to show how they felt about it. Likewise with the mention of Maison Aubrey catering, which also brought out some whooping and hollering. It was all over by about 10:15 PM, save for an hour or so of cleaning up. Elaine Kerr, Dale, Keenan, Julie, and Alastair closed the place down around 11:20, just as The New RO news was announcing the spectacular results! Keenan and Julie have already had inquiries about next year, and while it is not fully in the control of LiveWorkPlay to decide, the plan (extremely tentative, please do not mark your calendar just yet) would be to see everyone back at The New RO next April 20th or 27th. While the CHUM Market Media Mall was very crowded at times this year, there's more to the atmosphere of these events than just a physical space. It's an intimate setting of people who mostly share a personal connection. Those who come to the auction totally new to LiveWorkPlay events get a lot more out of their time at this location because they rub shoulders (literally) with those who directly benefit from their generosity. Nobody walks away thinking "I wonder who my donation will benefit?" and that's perfectly consistent with the LiveWorkPlay philosophy of "success through community." Having the auction at the CHUM mall also makes for a celebration of the long-term partnership between LiveWorkPlay, The New RO, MBNA (and, for the past two years, Maison Aubrey). This year and last year alone, this event has brought in $75,000. That's no small accomplishment for a grassroots organization like LiveWorkPlay that does not serve a high profile cause or population. Obviously there are a lot of different reasons for that success, and the location is just one of them - but it's definitely an important one. Another question that's already come up is "How can the event be improved for next year?" Well, there will definitely be lots of bottled water available. And more programs. And maybe some more balloons for the balloon bust, since the MBNA volunteers are so proficient at selling them. Maybe a small rise in the ticket price - especially if Maison Aubrey is going to be back. But to really make an impact on the bottom line, there's really only two ways to do it - continue increasing the cash sponsorships (which accounted for 1/3 of this year's tally) - and continue increasing the value of auction item donations. There were multiple $1000+ live auction items this year, and the impact was enormous. So, see you next year, and don't forget about our New Year's Eve party in the penthouse of the Crowne Plaza. It's not intended as a major fundraiser, but it has a terrific atmosphere not unlike the auction! PS: If you missed out on the auction this year but would like to make a contribution, just visit the LiveWorkPlay home page and click on the Donate button. Donations made until the end of the month will be included in the final tally for the event. PPS: Because so many donations and items came in at the last minute, we are still tracking down logos and other information for appropriate recognition of sponsors and donors, and they'll all be added at once to the LiveWorkPlay website once everything is in order. PPPS: Those who are worried about losing a great contact like Candace at The New RO can relax. She will be greatly missed but her replacement is Shannon Bain, who knows the event and LiveWorkPlay quite well through her previous work as a producer and also as a writer for the Ottawa Sun. Shannon was checking out the event this year and making notes. |
