Auction Courtesy. Your Thoughts

[LyricaBlues Resident]

Lately I am wondering if I am the only person who is bothered by contant IMs during auctions that have nothing to do with the cats. Whether I am a buyer, seller or auctioneer, I find this to be distracting and rude.

I also find it hard when my kitty is up and the local chat is flooded with greetings to late comers...Time is limited, and its my cat's time. I think a general Hello is better than taking what limited time we have to say individual greetings. What are your thoughts?

[Winter Phoenix]

Without the social, its just business.

And business is dull.

Perhaps someone should invent a 'business only' auctions,
where friendly stuff is minimized and its strictly timed out.

Those who just want to sell a cat and get the hell out can do so
without having to hang out with a bunch of people they don't want to.

Myself, I prefer to say " HEYYYY WHATS UP!"
and chat the cats with other feline enthusiasts.

Lots of folks cant get out much, and this is their only place to socialize.

So that auction may one of the few places where they get a chance
to visit others who share the same interests.

I wouldn't want to interfere with that ability, so...

Promote a business only auction for those who want such a thing.

[khloe Wyx]

I dearly love auctions and the chance to see what is "NEW" out there. It does get distracting to see reams of chat as a kitten is being presented or the BID gets lost amongst a sea of chat lines. I use a simple "Hello everyone" or "thank you". and turn back to listening to the Auctioneer.

And i have that "KINJA blood" so sometimes I just sit quietly and plot my BID. Truly love your auctions. They are well timed, full of information, and you do wonderfully presenting each kitten and its uniqueness.

[Priestess Firanelli]

Hi Miss P Yes I have thought about it actually. I was thinking it might be just me being "too Swedish" when I felt bad drawing attention tomyself as a late comer. I asked an american friend about it because there are of course different social and cultural codes in the world and she said I was to sensitive and that it was only nice to say hi to severals etc. Because I DO see what you mean I decided to at least not say "good bye" as WELL... if I leave when the auction is still on

[Ivy Lane]

Public chat is just that public and for communications, unless you create a spacific auction channel i don't see how you can weed out the typed chat, at least you are not dealing with people chatting in voice over the auctioneer

[Mizaki Resident]

My personal opinion is that it is very nice to see an active auction with people interacting. It is plain boring to just listen to the auctioneer rant on about traits without some personal feel and interaction with their patrons. I don't find it an issue if my panel is up and people are chatting away. A good auctioneer is always capable of steering the auction in the direction they want too anyways I know a few who are good at it.

[Nocshadue Balbozar]

I've been to auctions in the past where a timer was actually set per panel and it was dismal. NO talk was allowed in local once the auction began, not even comments or questions about the cat being sold. There were a lot of no sales as not enough time was given for potential buyers to really consider whether to bid or not, or get into their own pedigree to check on a potential partner etc, and those that did sell went for the opening bid and many were worth much more. I never went back. That was a while ago and it's not around anymore.

A good auctioneer allows for some randomness, has fun, but always steers the auction back on track. I'd say, if you want to sell at a kitty auction, and you want a chance for you cat to sell well, go with the flow. Now if you're getting a lot of unrelated personal IMs, I think a polite "I'm really interesting in the auction right now but would love to chat when it's over." would suffice. I don't think that would offend anyone wanting to chat you up in IM.

I do agree though that if things are getting really out of hand, the auctioneer should take control of the situation. I've only seen things get bad a few time but that was from a group of griefers showing up so it wasn't "kitty people" causing a problem.

I've often showed up late and been greeted in the midst of a panel. The auctioneer usually say hi once I ask what panel they are on, then a few others, but the overall interruption is brief. I also chat in IM with a few friends if I see them, though if they don't reply, or it takes a while for them to reply I don't get bent out of shape and visa versa.

[MsMagick Resident]

I only attend auctions occasionally. I am usually there to support friends and/or because I'm learning what the new & hot traits are, as well as about the best avenues for selling different types of cats.

The first time I came in late, I wanted to sneak in quietly, but then apologized for not sitting because I was waiting for things to rez. The auctioneer welcomed me, and that made me feel a lot more at ease, and set a nice tone for the rest of the event.

I do think a general "Hi, everybody" is enough, with special allowances for the guy you're dating, etc., but I like to see chat about the cats. I also think it's a great way to learn about the community and who is who and what's what. The banter does make it more fun, and puts people in a better mood for bidding.

I do understand that tracking bids can be difficult with all the back and forth, especially if you're looking at the pedigree. I'm newish, so this might be totally off-base, but...
I know that auctioneers use some devices, but don't know how they work. Why not have a board that someone clicks and inputs a number to bid, which then announces it to the room as confirmation? The auctioneer would input the minimum, start it, read the last amount aloud as needed, click individual buttons for the count down emotes - and could do that several times, then finally clicks to close and lock it.

In as far as IMs, make it clear that you're not checking anything non-auction-related during the auction and stick to that. I might IM a person, not realizing that they were working, but I completely understand when I get their away message.

Also, would it help to ask people at the auction to IM an assistant if they need help, who could handle basics and only pass on the things that you need to know or do? You should certainly designate someone else to handle things like TPs, and to chase up any late sellers.

BTW - I was at an auction where griefers came in, and PrettyPoizen handled the situation VERY well.

[Arwen Swordthain]

Personally I have not noticed any of this so called rudeness at auctions, I find them to be very social events, yes sometimes local chat gets a little off course and away from cats but its my experience that the auctioneer can refocus attention easily.
I have fond memories of Mizakis auctions and the amount of laughter there always was from her as well as from the people attending her auctions.
As for IM's I have a lot of friends that are not in KittyCats! are we saying they must not message us during auctions? I frequently chat with other auction goers in IM and have yet to find it distracts me or be tlod by them that it is distracting, to my non kittycats friends I say I'm at an auction, they know this means they are not my main focus at that time.
Local chat cannot be controlled by one person nor can you tell people if they can IM each other, if people don't like it they should take it up with the person distracting them directly. We are all adults after all.
I have heard auctioneers including you Pretty, greet latecomers in voice, I think thats a good thing it welcomes people. In reality there will always be latecomers for whatever reason so unless you want to ban anyone arriving after you Call out the first panel you are going to get people greeting them.
Auctions are social events and are fluid and uncontrollable, just go with the flow and have fun, Auctions start late, auctions over run, people arrive late, people leave early and chat rarely stays focussed on one topic, such is human nature.
The most important reason any of us are here is to have fun, if buying and selling our cats stops being fun we will stop doing it.

[Zarabeth Langer]

I also consider auctions social events as well as places to buy cool kitties, and I don't think Pretty means the general banter. If she did, she'd have to yell at me, and she hasn't so that's not it. I think it's more that there is no need to come in mid auction and say hi to each person separately. It's enough to just say hi all with maybe a special hi to your significant other or best friend. Because it IS distracting. I've been thoughtless and done it myself so I'm not innocent here but I do agree that it's not necessary and it doesn't hurt to be courteous to the auctioneers. They are people too.