The Incredible Bluesy Celebrity Auction

It was a Wednesday night at Magi McBride's Natchez Trace. The place was packed with blues club owners, celebrities to all of us in our virtual world, all nervous about being auctioned off for a dance to benefit the Blues for Autism fundraiser. The master of ceremonies was the inimitable Thundergas Menges was going to auction the celebrities off. And the place was packed, almost 80 at the start of the event.

The celebrities represented eleven different Second Life blues clubs: JJ Heartsdale, JJ's Joint; DonPaul Cale*, Hotlanta; Judyblue Stand, Judyblues; Pronvelle Cristole, The Wharf; Cidnee Cooperstone, The Riverside; Jaco Fitzpatrick, The Crossroads; Lucinda Bergbahn, Dreamcatcher's Distillery; Raymond65 Docherty, The Riverside; Richardina "Dina" Petty*, Junkyard Blues; MrDs Magic, Underground Garage; Magi McBride*, Founder of Blues for Autism. (Note: *celeb has also been auctioned in past BFA auctions.)

Everything was there for an great party and an incredible fundraiser. Following is a pictorial review.

The event was formal and the bidders filled the ballroom, 78 people at one point!
(photo by Takamatsu Soke)

Master of Ceremonies Thundergas Menges took the microphone with his inimitable deep voice and began presenting the celebrities for bid.

(photo by Takamatsu Soke)

Some of the celebs sashayed up on the auction stand for their first Blues for Autism dance auction, like JudyBlues Stand.

(Photo by Thor Effingham)

Some old friends, like Junkyard Blues' Dina Petty, came back for a second time on the Blues for Autism auction block.

And there were men who took the stand. Here's Pronvelle Christole representing The Warf.

Blues for Autism Market Place hosting sim The Crossroads owner Jaco Fitzpatrick wore his formal jeans and leather jacket.

(photo by Takamatsu Soke)

The Riverside's Cidnee Cooperstone stands quietly as her high bid soars to L$20,000 but the bidding was far from over on Cidnee!

Even Blues for Autism sponsor, Magi McBride took to the auction block (her second time too), anchoring this exciting event.
(Photo by Takamatsu Soke)

The BFA Dance Auction was a unique event in that it brought together the owners of all the blues club owners in Second Life. That in itself is a wonderful commentary on bluesy people. But these owners put themselves on the auction block and that takes courage because everyone wants to do well, but there will aways be someone who brings in the highest bid. At the end of the event, the total BFA auction donations were L$254,769! And there was more, the total for the BFA kiosks was L$55,951.00!

The grand total for the evening was L$310,720!

And grand total for all fundraising now at L$1,122,536!!

This year's BFA dance auction brought in almost 50% more than last year's auction event, and it's no secret as to why. Even before last year's event was finished, Magi McBride formed a vision of an event with blues club owners and with the outstanding help of Leanna Chaffe, Thor Effingham and Tippy Wingtips working tirelessly, this event was a success in every aspect. So, tip of the had to this organizing team!

Special Thanks to each of the club owners who joined this project and who created the atmosphere for contributions! People who've never been up on an auction block might not realize, that for some of us, it can be very lonely up there.

And as always, the kindest and heart felt thanks to those who bid on our celebs and to those who contributed to the BFA kiosks. Without your generosity this would not have been the success it is.

by Yordie Sands

(personal thanks to Takamatsu Soke and Thor Effingham for helping me with photographing the event when my own broadband service was failing me.)

Dance Auction @ The Savoy

On Sunday, we held a dance auction at the beautiful Savoy Jazz & Blues Club. We asked owners of the The Savoy to host this event and Crighton Johin to be our master of ceremonies. The Savoy team has had good experience in staging these events, and that experience helped us make this rather complicated event run smoothly.

The stars of the auction were the people who put themselves up on the auction block. So, we have a special hats off to Galillia Sinatra, WT Beck, Sabbrinna Sinatra, Thor Effingham, Gracee Beaumont, DonPaul Cale, Kitten Lytton, Kiff Clutterbuck, Richardina "Dina" Petty, ML Ferraris, Yordie Sands and Ziggy Neutron. For two hours our stars paraded up on the auction stage while MC Crighton played their favorite songs and told stories about their most embarrassing moments in Second Life.

The evening was successful beyond all expectations. The club maxed out the sim virtually all evening. Many guests bid on our auction stars and an equal number donated to the BFA kiosk. At the end of the evening, the auction itself raised L$127,100 but when the kiosk was added in the amount soared to L$219,892.

The Savoy began to fill up immediately with bluesy and jazzy friends,
the sim limit was quickly hit.

The debonaire Crighton Johin was a bit under the weather,
 but was magnificent in making the auction flow smoothly.

Galillia Sinatra was first up and the auction begins.

The crowd was so large that Crighton increase the sim limit to 80.

 The auction was a team effort (left to right),
 Magi McBride (founder), Yordie Sands, Crighton Johin and Leanna Chaffe

Auctions are complicated events to organize and execute. Special thanks to Blissie Boucher and Connected Consulting who helped Blues for Autism plan the event. A special tip of the hat to Leanna Chaffe who managed the auction while answering dozens and dozens of IMs.

Thank you to all the people who made this auction work. Your contributions helped drive the overall Blues for Autism fundraising total to L$616,166.