There will be some fast talking during the weekend of Feb. 18 to 21 when members of the Auctioneers Association of Ontario gather here for their 26th annual convention.
Most of the events will take place at the Cambridge Holiday Inn, but the feature event of the weekend, the Ontario auctioneers championship competition, will be conducted at Grand Valley Auctions Inc.
Len Metcalfe, President of the Auctioneers Association of Ontario, and his wife, Barbara, are hosts of the convention.
The owners of Grand Valley Auctions Inc., Roger Gourlay and Tim Bowman, are hosting the auctioneers competition at their auction facility at 154 King Street East in Cambridge.
The theme of the convention, Achieving Success, was chosen to provide a variety of educational and professional development seminars, a trade fair, and exhibition, a provincial auctioneer championship competition, and valuable social and networking opportunities. Nearly 100 auctioneers and their spouses are expected to attend the weekend program.
Guest speakers and association members will present seminars on various aspects of the auction industry. A panel of association auctioneers, including Manson Slik, Krista Richard and Teresa Taylor will discuss on-line auction sources via the internet. That type of technology connects buyers who are unable to attend a live auction, to participate in the bidding.
Ted Wigdor, vice-president of government and corporate affairs with the Certified Accountants of Ontario will provide information about the new Harmonized Sales Tax. A provincially appointed bailiff, Kevin Richards, will speak about tenant default remedies and commercial distress under the Commercial Tenancies Act.
A Ringman fact-filled seminar will also be presented by association auctioneers Frank Stapleton and David Moore. And an enforcement specialist with the Ministry of Natural Resources, David Critchlow, will present an MNR seminar on various aspects pertaining to the possession, buying, selling, and transport of wildlife, birds, and fish.
The high point of the weekend for many will be the provincial auctioneers championship competition that will take place on Feb. 20 at Grand Valley Auctions, commencing at 11am.
Gourlay and Bowman want to make sure that the 20 or more auctioneers competing for the experienced or novice titles are competing in a real auction of consigned items.
Bowman said, "We will be having a household consignment auction that day, and the competitors will be able to demonstrate their skills by selling actual consignment items to actual buyers. It will be a level playing field for the auctioneer competitors, and the audience will get to hear a variety of auction chants and selling styles. The public, including all our regular auction goers, are welcome to attend this auction and competition at Grand Valley Auctions.”
At the banquet on Saturday evening, awards and honours will be presented and Metcalfe will hand over the president’s gavel to incoming-president Ken Sheward, of Grassie.
The auctioneers convention will conclude with a live tribute to Elvis Presley presented by Peter Irwin from 8 to 10:30pm. To obtain tickets to the Elvis Tribute (which is open to the public) get in touch with Ken or Ruth Ann Scott at: business 1-877-392-7037; cell, 519-357-8967; or email: scotts@scsinternet.com.
The Auctioneers Association of Ontario was founded in 1984. It is the voice of all auction professionals in the province and pursues excellence in the auction industry through a combination of legislative programs, uniform standards of professional practice, professional development, and a code of ethics, designed to ensure the highest quality of service to the public.
