Electronic Bidding for Mooney Summit VIII Silent Auction

[Rick Junkin]

Greetings All!

We're looking at taking the Silent Auction bidding electronic for Mooney Summit VIII and we want your feedback on this idea.

We're constantly looking for ways to to improve the Mooney Summit experience for everyone, as well as reduce the cost and administrative burden of executing the Summit. We are looking at existing services and tools that could allow us to make the Silent Auction both more available and easier to access, as well as easier to administer and execute. The most promising service we've found so far requires bidders to download an app to their mobile device (phone, tablet), register with the service, and enter credit card information to be used for payment of a winning bid. We want to get an idea of the impact moving to such a system will have on our bidding audience.

Please complete the poll to help guide our decision to move our Silent Auction online. Thanks for your help and participation!

Cheers,
Rick

[neilpilot]

If I still owned a Mooney and wasn't going to the Summit, I'd be all for the electronic option.  As someone who was involved in the early years of the Summit auction, I can see how going electronic would eliminate serious issues that can mar the last few minutes of a live/manual auction.

[mike_elliott]

Neil, this is your chance to get back into a Mooney, one part at a time! This year, shock disk and fuel senders...next year, who knows, maybe a IO550 TN

 

[carusoam]

Rick, I know you have finance on your mind….  

Looks like Siri was helping you with your spelling.

+1 for electronic bidding.

A fancy altitude over the ground sensor for my ship would really be cool…. 

Best regards,

-a-

[Rick Junkin]

57 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Looks like Siri was helping you with your spelling.

Thanks Anthony, fixed!

Cheers,
Rick

[Hank]

I don't mind an electronic bidding app, and would download it without issue, just not through the free hotel wifi. Also, my phone is not connected to my credit cards or bank accounts, I do that stuff on a PC through a secure firewall. It's about peace of mind, and mine is what matters to me.

[Rick Junkin]

1 hour ago, Hank said:

I don't mind an electronic bidding app, and would download it without issue, just not through the free hotel wifi. Also, my phone is not connected to my credit cards or bank accounts, I do that stuff on a PC through a secure firewall. It's about peace of mind, and mine is what matters to me.

Thanks for the input @Hank.

The system we're considering does allow access through a PC for both registration and bidding. This would allow entry of sensitive registration and credit card information through a secured PC connection and then real time bidding through the app on your mobile device.

Cheers,
Rick

[mike_elliott]

Hank brings up a great point about security. With traffic shaping to catch "domestic terrorist" happening and all the nefarious actors, a VPN in today's digital environment is a must on any wifi you are not in complete security control of. I am sure @gsxrpilot can expand more. Personally I use a product called IPvanish on all my wifi enabled devices, including things like firestick. With this, I am far less paranoid about paying bills electronically, using cash app or zelle, buying more TSLA stock or whatever. In hotels, I will generally just use the carrier's signal vs the free hotel wifi if having to share any sensitive info. YMMV, but thats how I roll.

 

Along the same lines of an online silent auction, we are also considering using an application to choose raffle winners vs the old school ticket in a coffee can, have a cute girl pull the winner method. The upside is it will speed things along, allow us to name the winner by name vs having someone check their ticket numbers and it will make each ticket that much more valuable as once your name is selected, that entry remains in the pool for the next item. 

Thoughts?

 

[Jeff_S]

I'm okay with an app for the silent auction, although I believe it will take away from some of the fun of bidding face to face. But I realize not everyone thinks this is much fun!

Regarding electronic door prizes, I am okay with it but will miss the antics of Richard Simile during the draw.  Perhaps he can still dispense his nuggets of fun with the giveaway?

[mike_elliott]

Rick is enroute to Tampa as I type, and this will be discussed this evening as we vet the official beer of the Summit. Tomorrow promises to be an action packed day of planning with TPA, Atlas, Aloft, Marriott, Barrymore as Seth is also flying in later tonight.  Soon after, registered attendee's will be receiving an email with more info. Thanks Seth, Rick for giving up a few days of your life to make this happen for Mooney and other pilots.