Social Media

This past monday was the halfway point of the month, and what better way to celebrate than with a fundraising event? The Federation of BC Writers held a fundraising auction on the 16th at the Vancouver Police Museum, featuring a silent auction, wine and beer sales, and last but not least, a date auction. That’s right, dates with some of Vancouver’s finest were auctioned off on Monday. An exciting evening for all involved, with beer and wine, good conversation, and saxophony.

Or at least, that’s the theory. Having attended, it seems to me like most people came for the spectacle and the shoulder-rubbing, but no one came with chequebook in hand – or at least, few people did. I came with every intention of bidding, but it seemed at points like I was the only one. I quickly became paranoid, lest I inadvertently bid on (and win) every auction. The excitement seemed to be limited to the people trying to get everyone bidding, but not to the bidders themselves. Everyone came broke or reluctant. I was perfectly willing to engage in a spirited bidding war on many of the dates, but knew that I would rapidly surpass what everyone else was willing to bid, and find myself broke much faster than intended.

In the end, I’m sure the money raised was a big help, but it seems like more people who came to participate in the festivities instead of sit on the sidelines would have made it a more spirited and lucrative evening.

Among the people auctioned off were several people from Twitter, including Raul Pacheco (@hummingbird604), Jules Morgan (@julesjulesjules), Chris Matheson (@cognoscento), April Smith (@aprilfilms) and myself, but what seemed to end up happening was we all bid on each other. I nearly won Hez’s auction, I temporarily won Jules’s, and Chris won mine and eventually outbid me on Jules as well. Despite everyone being bid on, getting people to start bidding was like pulling teeth, and most of the prizes were only bid on one or two times, it seems.

Ironically, the final auction, the one that was held when the party had essentially wound down already and most people seemed to be leaving (and the one held two whole hours after the festivities were *supposed* to start), was the most lucrative. @Zoeyjane (Terra) was the last individual to be auctioned, and went for, in the end, $270 – about $90 more than any other auction went for. Despite her trepidation about the whole affair, Terra fetched the largest sum of all the participants, so congratulations to her for that.

In the end, I don’t think anyone went for what they were really worth, and a more spirited bidding war would have benefitted the Federation much more, as well as made the evening more exciting and energized, and a better time would have been had by all. Still, it seems like people had fun, socialized, and gave some money to a worthy cause, so it’s hard to complain about a good event not being better.

Thanks goes to Lorraine (@Raincoaster) for organizing the show and Chris for hosting us at the Police Museum, and congratulations to Lorraine and the Federation for an excellent (and hopefully profitable!) evening. And of course, congratulations to Terra for being the Federation’s breadwinner for the evening. ;)