I hope this article finds everyone doing well and recovered from the holidays and ready to go again in 2024!! Crazy to think that this is already my last article as the current president. Time flies when we’re having fun!!
As some of you know, I am still going through my phone list and membership list to reach out to past and current members that we haven’t seen in a while!! It has been fun getting to catch up with some of you that I have not talked to in quite some time. I hope that you all will help me in reaching out to members that you know of as well to help build our membership to support our industry. Please take time out of your schedule, to make a phone call. That phone call might possibly be the next little push that person needs to make them want to come and join and be a part of our wonderful association.
I know we talked last year about late nights during the convention and we are working on adjusting time schedules to help with that! Instead of a “President’s Welcoming Party” on Thursday evening, we will have a social hour to congregate, intermingle and catch up, and then we will let the KIDS HAVE SOME FUN! Children on stage was a tremendous hit last year! I love family and nothing makes me happier than encouraging and sparking even the tiniest bit of interest of this industry into our kiddos. I want to encourage any child that is interested to come “auction” an item or two! We will close the evening after the children’s auction with our ANNUAL FUN AUCTION to raise funds for our association! IT IS A GREAT TIME, AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO ATTEND!
COMPETITION TIME! I’m not making any promises to an early night on Friday night! Even with an earlier start time, I am hoping that we have so many contestants that we still run late!! It’s just one weekend a year that we all get to spend together, so I hope we can all pull together, push through another late night and give these contestants the attention they deserve!! So many contestants come from all areas of the state and from all different disciplines of our industry, and I hope you will be there right alongside the rest of us to give them plenty of encouragement and support!!
We have many longtime sponsors at our convention and we are certainly grateful for each and every one of them!! Please help promote our industry, and allow us to recognize and promote your brand! If you would like to be a sponsor at the upcoming event, please feel free to reach out to Stacy or myself!
Jayme Moore presented an idea last year of adding an “All Around” award to our contest. We find this to be a great idea, and we will provide more information on this award soon! Scott Swenson also pitched an idea of a “support page” on our social media site to give auctioneers a place amongst the group to reach out to peers when looking for help in any area of our industry (whether that be needing an auctioneer to fill in, needing someone to come clerk for you, or for seeking advice from fellow peers). Stacy has already started working on this, and I will have more to share on this topic at the convention!
Americas Auction Academy just had their first class of the year, and they are scheduled to have another class before convention time. We hope to have numerous first-time attendees at the convention this year. I encourage you all to make them feel welcome, encourage them to return, and show them the advantages they have with endless networking opportunities amongst their peers. We were all in their shoes at one point, so let’s help promote their eagerness and welcome them into our extended family!
In closing I cannot express how much I’m looking forward to attending the convention in June!! It has been quite the privilege to serve as your president. Having the opportunity to serve with this board and former board members has truly been an honor!! The TAA is in great hands for years to come!! As always, if there is anything I can do for you, or if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me anytime! I look forward to seeing each of you June 13-16th in Frisco!!