As a professional Benefit Auctioneer, I have found that in more than one instance, organizations make a huge mistake in planning and preparation of their event. This is something that may end up costing them money in the long run. Yet they could fix or help eliminate the problem with a simple upfront cost that would more than pay for itself, each and every time.
No this time I am not speaking of the benefits of having a professional Benefit Auctioneer conduct your auction. For more on my discussion on that I refer you to my other blogs here on the page. No, this time I am talking about something materialistic that can easily be obtained.......A Professional Sound System.
I have heard auction committees say we don't need to bring in a sound system, the venue we are using has a house sound system. Which is absolutely correct in most cases, however many of the house systems are not designed for large crowds. Yes they have them, and if you go in and "test" the system it may sound fine, in the preparatory stages of your event. But there are other factors that you cant duplicate in that time frame. Crowd size, which in all honestly is at best a good estimate as to how many people to expect on any given event, background noise, which goes into the crowd size as well. But the fact of the matter is no matter how much noise is present the house system has to overcome that aspect.
Many of the house systems are built into the ceiling, most of which are elevated beyond the 12 foot mark. This means that more power and energy is needed to overcome the other factors that I mentioned. When you turn up the sound or power, many times the end effect is that the sound becomes muffled, which in turn cost your organization money. Why would this cause you to lose money? For several reasons, The first and probably the most evident: If people cant hear what is being said, they will not respond. As an auctioneer, Our job is to generate the highest amount of money for the item we are selling by effectively chanting and working with the crowd. People are often fascinated with the auction chant due to the simple elegance and speed. Many auctioneers, myself included, take great pride in their chant and strive to maintain that elegance and speed. However, if the sound system creates a muffling factor, It causes us to change our efforts and may take some of the mystic away. Also along that lines, while we are selling by using our chant, the audience is getting caught up in "Auction Fever". That is an important element in the auction process because it does one very important thing, It encourages crowd participation. SO, if your crowd can not understand what is being said and more importantly the details of what is being sold, how much profit is lost for the organization hosting the event.
There are several great companies around that you can rent a system from for the event. You give them the details in regard to what kind of venue you are working with and expected crowd size. Many times they can provide the "perfect sound system" for your event. Granted no two events are exactly the same, but they will be able to assist you in the planning so that the sound coverage is throughout the space.
Contact the auctioneer that is assisting you in the preparation and planning of your event, they should be able to get you to some of the businesses that can help you with this. Like I said before, the system will more than pay for itself and you and your guests will truly appreciate the addition.
