Bid day

The luncheon/auction went well, but I am exhausted. I didn't get home until after 4 PM yesterday, and then didn't go any further than my couch. I slept until noon today, and even then, had to peel myself out of bed before the day completely got away from me.

Overall, I'm glad I participated, but it was an awful lot of work for something that took place within the span of one hour. It took me from 10:30 until the very start of the auction at noon to set up; at 1:00 the auction closed, at which point we had to take everything down. I haven't had time (well, okay, the desire) to go through the bid sheets to figure out how much money was raised, but I don't think it was as much as in recent years. I might have set some bid prices too high for the crowd, but for the most part, I think the prize selection was lacking. In truth, it was kind of deflating to see items that I had spent so much time writing up not getting a single bid.

The crowd was a mix of alumni from the most recent graduating class up to people who had graduated 50 years ago. The luncheon chair had organized a group of recent graduates to help me set up, and I marveled at how truly young the 22 year old boys looked. Did we really ever look like that? They were wonderful and I couldn't have done my job without them, but I suddenly felt like a camp counselor on a field trip with unruly children. If the children were at a fraternity formal, anyway. There was also an older woman who showed up an hour early. She kept offering to help me, but I didn't think she could balance any bid items on her walker.

There were about 5 or 6 people from my age group there, most of whom I have seen since I have been in LA. During the auction hour, I fluctuated between wishing I could socialize with the crowd and being glad I had an excuse not to make small talk with a bunch of nerds. On the other hand, the whole reason I joined this club was for networking, and I really didn't get to do any of that during my short tenure.

Will I do this again next year? I don't know. The work wasn't hard, and was even enjoyable for a time, but I do feel like so much energy was expended for little return. I suppose I will have to see where I am, professionally, next spring, and whether I will have the time to dedicate to this, without being bitter that I spent the time in the first place. Not that I am bitter now. Just like I said, a bit deflated.