As I read this thread, I see that overall, everyone posting has good intentions about respecting other auction time slots, and maintaining mutual respect among auctioneers. I am not an auctioneer but i do buy (and sometimes sell) kitties at auctions, and the overlapping times do bother me (Tuesday evening is my problem ... auctions only 1 hour apart).
It's not about the "newness" of an auctioneer -- some of our old favorite auctioneers have retired and left gaps for others to fill. Speed, and fast pace, and limited number of panels, could help a lot in some cases where auctions are scheduled only one hour apart, and the earlier one runs over an hour.
Looking at the auction schedule, I don't actually see visibly listed double-bookings for a time slot. But I do see far too many where the auctions are only one hour apart. Too rough on the spectators/ buyers /sellers -- to have to jump around that fast, even if each of those only runs for 55 minutes (which is unlikely).
But again it is not just the speed, or the lack of overlap. It's just too many auctions, too many kitty sims, too many groups to join. I don't have enough group slots to accommodate everybody's wish to "be the boss and run the show." My heart sinks when a friend (or acquaintance) tells me, "I've created a new group! Here's your invite!" Oh please, no more groups. How about consolidating some of these groups , as Felis and Crazy German are doing? Hopefully one can leave both Felis and Crazy German groups, and keep only the United Kitty Friends one.
For me, it's a group-joining issue. Example : I used to belong to Neck's group and receive auction notices, and just LOVED attending ! but something happened and the rental box ejected me from the group, and the group slot got snapped up by something else. (And I can put up with kitty spam, but was dreading getting spam about too many other kinds of breedables.) So now I'm no longer made aware of the timing of auctions that I truly enjoyed for a long time. There's no way to filter group notices so that you receive all the kitty spam and you don't get any fairy, horse, sheep, or gempanda spam.
I'm also detecting a tiny bit of scorn / disrespect in this thread. I see people saying they respect other auctioneers, but underlying it there's "you noobs are clueless -- go read the memo!" But I also see people saying they have been considerate about scheduling, when in a way they haven't -- by not allowed enough time between their new auction and existing ones. I also see people saying that they know things when they don't know. Example: to make a true claim to be "the fastest XYZ on the grid," you would have to go and research the speed of all the XYZ on the grid. And then here comes that scorn again, rebuke, in the reply.
Let me just say that I also detect a bit of umm ... insufficient familiarity with breeding ... occasionally among auctioneers and their helpers. Mind blown, for example, when an auctioneer's helper commented that my Blush kitty might be hiding Flair from the grandma. Does this make me trust that auctioneer / helper? I always used to think the Auctioneer was an Expert! I looked up to them and looked to them for wisdom. Some people are wonderful at the presentation aspect of it -- entertaining and lively and fun -- but please let's be accurate! Those who are awesome at showmanship but a little weak on kitty genetics -- those people need to go study to make their auctions as great as they should be! Let's not propagate myths and misinformation. I'd like to suggest that people who undertake to be an auctioneer, or act in ANY official capacity involving a tip-jar at an auction -- should ... well, study extra-hard to make sure they know their material! Or remain silent, refrain from speculating on the breeding aspect of the kitty, and be Assistant only in helping to fill the panels and advertise the auction. Is this a "newness" thing, maybe, the little official flub-ups?
You should form an Auctioneer's Club group, maybe appoint someone as Head Scheduler to make the timetables (as Ruby suggested...) , and invest in a Subscribomatic offering Kittycats-Only spam/ information about auction times ... and just ... help and educate each other. Collectively you could maybe work out a way to ... make it easier for us buyers to find and attend your auctions, without time conflicts.
---P.S. Cutie sent me LM to the Subscribo at Little Bit, so I'm all set now to get informed about that! YAY for subscribos, and ty all