10 secrets for auction success: the "cheers to 10 years" ultimate guide
10. Choose your Patron Dinner
There are 19 Celebrity Vintners and 14 Celebrity Chefs pairing innovative cuisine and the world’s finest wines. With 6 dinners already sold out, you want to pick quickly. View All Pairings.
9. Check out the Catalog
We are bringing back the lots that have been highest in demand as well as providing new luxury lots that are once in a life time experiences for our 10 year Anniversary. Patrons should receive a printed catalog in their mailbox within the next 2 weeks. All Live lots are currently on the website, so take a look and start making notes! With rare wines, art, and special dinners, paddle boards, spa packages, and more, you will definitely want to make a list of all the items you plan on winning!
8. Start Planning Your Planning Party Now
Many of the Live Auction Lot experiences are for groups of 4, 6, 8, or 10. This means bring your friends. We highly encourage planning parties. Grab your favorite travel buddies, a few bottles of wine, and choose your group lots.
7. Create a Bidding Strategy
It’s okay to have your heart set on more than one lot. Go in with a strategy in case the lot you love gets competitive. Have plan B and C ready, and a few options and scenarios for your budget. Most important strategy: Have FUN and celebrate with us!
6. Listen Closely to the Mission Moment
You will have the pleasure of meeting our 14 charities on Friday night at your patron dinners, each with an amazing mission and story. We are inspired everyday by the work they do and how they reach youth and families in their time of need.
5. Don’t Miss the Hangover Station
We understand you may need some fuel on Saturday after your fun-filled Friday night, so catch up with friends while greeted with mimosas and bloody marys before the festivities begin.
4. Keep an eye on Silent Auction Lots
There are more than 35 additional lots this year, and an abundance of wine. We are a wine auction after all. Those two hours can fly by as you mingle, so be sure you don’t miss anything. Remember that the silent auction closes at 3:00 pm but the almost live auction stays open until 5:00 pm!
3. Meet the Vintners at the Reserve Tasting
From Napa all the way to France, we have a fabulous lineup of 24 winemakers (as well as Angel's Envy Bourbon this year) who are bringing their portfolio as well as their passion to the Emerald Coast exclusively for this group of 600 patrons.
2. Check out Live Artist Installations & Restaurants
Mary Hong, Thomas Arvid and Justin Gaffrey, some of our very own local and extremely talented artists will have art available at the auction this year. Justin Gaffrey and Thomas Arvid will be painting live, and Justin’s piece will be auctioned at the live auction. In addition, we have 11 local restaurants generously participating in the reserve tasting, each bringing their own flavor and talent. Make sure you visit them and try the hors d’oeuvres they specifically created for this event.
1. Bid High, Bid often
Remember, every dollar you spend counts towards the lives of our amazing youth in need of health care, counseling, food, shelter, education.
Published on Wednesday, March 25, 2015