by Carla Ruschival
The seventh annual Holiday Auction was a huge success! For the first time, the auction was held on a Zoom Meeting conference line rather than at the iHeartRadio studio. Callers could listen and bid on just one item or on several items; they could remain on the line for a few minutes or for the entire auction. They could hang up and call back as they wished. No more dialing and re-dialing after every bid; no more busy signals; no more relaying bids from the phones to the on-air team. Just live bidding on every item on ACB Radio!
Auction pre-registration opened on Nov. 20, and nearly 150 people had signed up to bid by the time we went on the air. At 7 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Dec. 2, everything was in place at the Radio Storm studios in Louisville, Ky. Paula Wiese was at the computer, ready to coordinate the callers; Patti Cox was taking registrations and poised to record every bid; Michael McCarty was at the Radio Storm controls, and he and Carla Ruschival were at the microphones; Angie McCarty was accepting last-minute registrations and keeping us all well-fed with delicious food. Larry Turnbull was at the ACB Radio controls in Springfield, Ill. People were listening on the Internet, on their phones and iPads and Amazon Echos, and on the Zoom conference line. Dan Spoone, ACB first vice president, was on the air, welcoming everyone to the big event. It was time to let the bidding begin!
Nearly eight hours later the bidding was over; all 77 items were sold. We had set a new on-air record of $14,005 for ACB Radio.
Both donors and bidders make an auction successful. A huge thanks to our generous 2018 donors: ACB Families; ACB of Indiana; ACB Lions; ACB of New York; ACB Students; ACB of Minnesota; Anthony Akamine and Terri-Lynn Higashi; Tricia Anderson; Bay State Council of the Blind; Margarine Beaman; Keri Bishop; Blind Mice Mega Mall and Cooking in the Dark Radio Show; Eliana Bryant; Buddy Gray Music Center; Brian Charlson; Kim Charlson; Ann Chiappetta; Connecticut Council of the Blind; Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI); Patti and David Cox; D.C. Council of the Blind; Janet Dickelman; Florida Council of the Blind; David and Shauna Franklin; Greater Louisville Council of the Blind; Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI); Mike Hartwig; Hawaii Association of the Blind; Samantha Hubbard; Illinois Council of the Blind; Connie Jacomini; Kentucky Council of the Blind; Library Users of America (LUA); Michigan Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired; Microsoft Office Accessibility Team; Adele Moller; Regal Entertainment Group; Carla Ruschival; Bill Sparks; Dan and Leslie Spoone; Springfield District Association of the Blind; Emily Starr; Shirley Stivers; and Brenda Williams.
Many, many generous people from across the United States bid throughout the evening. The winning bidders in the 2018 auction were: Bob Acosta, Ruth Ann Acosta, Anthony Akamine, William Baessler, Steve Bauer, Donna Brown, Melanie Brunson, Ray Campbell, Berl Colley, Denise Colley, Natalie Couch, Patti Cox, Debbie Deatherage, Andrea DeKlotz, Chris Devin, Janet Dickelman, Margie Donovan, Jason Eien, Cari Ford, Katie Frederick, Peggy Garrett, Mary Haroyan, Nona Haroyan, Gena Harper, Mary Haupt, Steve Heesen, Connie Jacomini, Deb Cook Lewis, Rick Lewis, Kay Malmquist, Jean Mann, Adele Moller, Merisa Musemic, Jill Noble, Mark Richert, Shirley Roberts, Richard Rueda, Adam Ruschival, Rachel Schroeder, Karen Shrawder, Tammie Snyder, Dan Spoone, Claire Stanley, Leslie Thom.
As Holiday Auction Committee chair, I thank everyone who worked so hard to make this auction a success: committee members Brian Charlson, Keri Bishop, Patti Cox, Michael McCarty, Larry Turnbull, and Paula Wiese for their help and support; ACB Minneapolis staff Nicole Beito and Nancy Christine Feela; Larry Turnbull, ACB Radio managing director, for help and support with the auction web pages, Zoom line and ACB Radio; Michael and Angie McCarty for hosting the auction in the studios of The Radio Storm; and the Kentucky-based broadcast team and Larry Turnbull who handled nearly 10 hours of pre-registration, on-air, and back-up support.
The ACB Radio Holiday Auction Committee is looking forward to the 2019 extravaganza, and we hope you are, too.