Spotlight Auctioneer: Micki Pickering

Who is Micki Pickering?

Micki Pickering is an auctioneer with an extensive background in and passion for events and auctions. 

Micki’s career began in event management, planning, coordinating, and executing all types of events. Micki’s journey into auctions started while producing an event in 2017. The event needed an MC, and no one wanted to take the mic. Micki said, "Give me that," and the rest was history. Micki says that a decade as an Event Producer before becoming an Auctioneer and MC gives her a unique perspective.

At Hoot Auctions, her experience allows her to guide organizations in planning for a successful fundraising event!

What is it that you love about your job?

Everything! 

I love the opportunity to make a difference in the world. My Goal is to inspire an audience to care for organizations and their causes, and hopefully have fun while doing so! I enjoy connecting with people; what I love most is activating a crowd to help do more!

What is the hardest part about being an auctioneer?

When there are missed opportunities, sometimes, despite your best efforts, decisions are made that inhibit fundraising; catering off schedule, speakers talking too long, audio visual issues, un-strategic fundraising, these all play into how happy donors are, and in turn how much they donate during the auction. 

Why is it important to have a great auctioneer at your event?

Your goal is to make money! A good auctioneer will help you look at all the fundraising opportunities to make sure you are utilizing your resources most effectively.

If you're going to do it,  maximize your resources! A good auctioneer should more than bring in the cost of their services in value to your organization. Also, we are professionals, getting the room to do what you desire is an artform. Managing events in an elegant, unaggressive way where people enjoy it and have fun is an art. Professional artists get paid for a reason.

What is the coolest item you have ever sold? The highest-priced item?

The highest price item I sold was a 3.7 million dollar asset. I had fun practicing and learning the “million dollar numbers”! I do those types of numbers a lot now. Numbers-wise, that's pretty cool and fun. 

The coolest item I sold, or more of a moment, was when I was on stage with Drew Pearson, former Dallas Cowboys football player and Hall of Famer, selling a Dallas Cowboys football, he offered to sign it, and it sold for $10,000! He was so inspired by the room that he decided to add his own auction item, a private dinner and a personal tour of the Cowboys stadium with him. I looked over at the Executive Director, she shrugged, and I said, “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we are adding another live auction item”…the room lit up! 

The organization tripled its fundraising goal, more than they’ve ever done in a night.  

What stands out to you about Event.Gives compared to other platforms? 

It’s user-friendly! 

It actually does everything you need for your event in one place. I haven’t found that elsewhere. A few platforms are trying to do this, but I have not found anyone who is doing it really well other than Event.Gives. Event.Gives is not trying to take advantage of the nonprofit; they know what’s reasonable and accessible. They are not basing their pricing on market prices. That is really cool to see. 

The functionality - don’t worry about the dreaded “integration”; everything is in-house. They accept feedback and actually implement changes. 

I’ve met Sam, the owner, developer, and creator. Everything is in-house! Coming from the event world, that is probably the most valuable piece of the puzzle. Event.Gives listens to auctioneers, addresses our needs, and actually makes changes. 

You all being good people is just a bonus!

How does Event.Gives make your job easier?

I have a trusted resource to give to my clients. I know Event.Gives will take care of them. I don’t want to take on managing a platform—the partnership with Event.Gives is nice because I know I can recommend it to my clients, and the EG team will take it from there. I know Event.Gives will take care of my clients professionally and reliably. 

What is your favorite Event.Gives feature?

The “Draw” button for raffles; it’s simple, but it makes so much sense! Everything’s done quickly. Every second wasted is less revenue.

I’ve had the unique opportunity to connect with the team. The platform is top-notch, but the icing on the cake is the people. You want to enjoy the people you’re working with! Sam has a unique way of finding people that really care. I care about the roots of the company I am working with; that shows me that this is a relationship I want long-term. 

Why partner with Event.Gives?

We hold forums regularly to allow you to collaborate with fellow partner auctioneers through your Event.Gives partnership, and you’ll be exposed to new clients as we help market your brand. We have dedicated auctioneer partner support and give you our highest concierge service (read: we have people working to support you specifically!). 

As a partner, we will take your feedback and run it to our in-house coders; in other words, you will gain the opportunity to help build a product you would love to use. We will fanatically support your clients with demos, training, support articles, and more. 

Oh, and our help desk is available seven days a week!

Book a call with Customer Success to see how we can take your event to the next level! We look forward to hearing from you!