2014 NAPgA Rendy

[deschutes dawn]

I sent a message to Larry through the NApgA site. There are some very active goat 4-H clubs in the area that include pack goats. I might be seeing one of the leaders this weekend at the Central Oregon Goat Assoc. meeting. Who knows, maybe some of those members would be interested in getting involved. I also know a retired vet that is into packing with her goats. She might be interested too.

[joecool911]

If we are not successful with the NAPgA, we could do an event anyway.

[Nanno]

I doubt I'd be able to get to a Rendy in Oregon, but I'd sure love to! It's such a hot area for goat packers I'm sure it would be a highly popular event. I wouldn't mind buying a couple more Alpine does up there to bring home with me.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Sure you could. If you start packing now you could be there by spring

[vigilguy]

Larry said that no dates are set yet, because he has been waiting for somebody to step forward with a location, and also a time of year. Who knows how to do a "poll" with different dates?

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I have also heard that Washington State is also being considered.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

I liked the end of July day from 2012. It allowed me to vanish for my birthday to attend. The way I figure it, if you dont have a birthday party, then you didnt actually get another year older. Well its a theory my mind can accept but my body insists is a lie

[deschutes dawn]

Is that how you count birthdays? In that case I would be 5 years old! Don't think I want to go back that far. On a different note, mountain camps would be nice in July except for mosquitoes!

[Charlie Horse]

The silent auction is a bad idea. Its purpose is to raise money for Napga but the "silent" part of the auction and the time limit work against making money. Here's what I experienced at the last one:

People bid super low at the start hoping that they're the only bid.

Bidding wars only start in the last 10 minutes.

There is no time to out-bid people in that final rush since bidding requires going to the object and writing stuff down.

Its awkward to be in a bidding war right next to someone, shoulder to shoulder, where you back-and-forth write stuff down vs. bidding wars in a normal auction format.

Lots of things I would have bid higher on were sniped at the last second and I ended up spending almost no money at the auction! This included items and goats.

Last time I brought my ger (yurt) which housed the auction items and kept the rain off of them. I like this idea, but in retrospect perhaps the auction could have been on-going for a couple days vs hours so people had more time to browse and think stuff over. I'd have been happy to use the ger in that way. (It was used as an overly complicated camping tent most of the time.) Personally my biggest regret is not going for goats. There were 3 I would have loved to buy, but indecision due to the short time caused me to chicken out. I guess I had plenty of time to think about the baby goats, but their presentation speech/sales pitch didnt happen till the main auction.



I think the normal auction format is the way to go. No need for a fast talking auctioneer, but the normal format can be more fun in the end and if you can start with small things to get people over the "I dont want to bid against my friends" shyness, I think it'd be a better fund raiser and more fun.

[Nanno]

Hear! Hear! I feel the same way about the silent auction. Having the yurt to house the items in was wonderful. It was nice to be able to look around and get a close look at things. But I think it would have gone better with a regular auction format, and those are so much fun! Our local saddle club does a fundraiser auction every fall at the banquet, and people have an hour or two during dinner to browse at the auction tables. Then a volunteer does the auctioneering. We do have a professional auctioneer in our saddle club, and he's been able to call the auction a few times, but usually it's just one of the guys who does his best impression of an auctioneer. This past year we paid way more for a few items only because one fellow kept bidding up Phil on purpose every time just to give him grief. Since it's a fundraiser we didn't mind. Also, the auctioneer can usually coax a higher price from reluctant bidders by pointing out the merits of the item on hand and putting specific interested parties on the spot.

[vigilguy]

I appreciate your thoughtful comments and suggestions. I will pass them on to Larry.