2018 Kansas Auctioneer Championship to be held in Hutchinson in September

Since 1992, auctioneers throughout Kansas and the surrounding states have traveled to Hutchinson to compete with one another at the Kansas State Fair, vying for the title of Auctioneer Champion. The Kansas Auctioneers Association (KAA) hosts the Auctioneer Championship that will be held this year on the stage of the Bretz and Young Injury Lawyers Arena at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, September 12.

This public auction will give all fairgoers the opportunity to bid and buy from the best auctioneers in the state. The public is encouraged to attend and observe the contest or participate by placing bids. Anyone unable to attend in person can watch the contest live at www.kansasauctioneers.com.

The Auctioneer Championship featured a preliminary round conducted during the KAA’s Winter Convention last January in Wichita. Of the seventeen contestants entering the contest, ten were selected to compete in the final round at the fair.

2018 Kansas Auctioneer Championship finalists
2018 Kansas Auctioneer Championship finalists

Finalists, pictured above, from left to right.

  • Titus Yutzy – Hutchinson, Kansas
  • Daniel Gutierrez – Wichita, Kansas
  • Hunter Sturgis – Oskaloosa, Kansas
  • Troy Wedel – McPherson, Kansas
  • Tony Wisely – Perry, Oklahoma
  • Jessica Pluff – Kansas City, Missouri
  • Arlin Eicher – Partridge, Kansas
  • Donnie Stumpff – Cassville, Missouri
  • Ross Daniels – Humboldt, Kansas
  • Ty Patton – Benton, Kansas

From livestock and auto auctioneers to real estate and benefit auctioneers, each bid caller’s performance will be judged by presentation, chant, voice, effective auctioneering skills and the ability to be an ambassador for the KAA. While the preliminary round focused exclusively on bid calling, the final round at the fair will include bid calling as well as an interview component.

The winner of this year’s KAA Auctioneer Championship will receive a belt buckle, plaque, $200 cash prize, membership to the National Auctioneers Association and an entry in the International Auctioneer Championship to be held July 2019 in New Orleans.

Headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, the KAA comprises auctioneers throughout Kansas and adjoining states. The members voluntarily join the association to receive further education and promote their profession. When joining the association, members agree to a code of ethics and are governed by their peers. When it is your desire to obtain an auctioneer, the members of the KAA would appreciate the opportunity to be the first choice. To learn more about the KAA and its members or to view a list of upcoming member auctions, visit kansasauctioneers.com.

2018 Kansas Auctioneer Championship preliminary round

The preliminary round of competition for the 2018 Kansas Auctioneer Championship was held in Wichita, Kansas, on January 26. The top ten from this preliminary round advance to the finals at the State Fair on September 12. Congratulations to the top ten qualifiers! We’ll see you in Hutchinson! Contestants in competition order.

  1. Donnie Stumpff
  2. Ross Daniels
  3. Hunter Sturgis
  4. Tony Wisely
  5. Karl Allen
  6. Titus Yutzy
  7. Troy Wedel
  8. Ty Patton
  9. Jessica Pluff
  10. Arlin Eicher
  11. Nick Nelson
  12. Daniel Gutierrez

2018 Winter Convention Recap

Excellent networking and auctioneer education, plus the 2018 KAA Auctioneer Championship preliminary round at the DoubleTree by Hilton Wichita Aiport.

Thursday while the Board of Directors has its Board meeting and the President-Elect, Kevin Borger, has a meeting with Past President’s, everyone else enjoys the President’s Reception. 

Friday kicks off with real estate courses so members who deal with real property can get their continuing education hours for license renewal.  This year, the Required Salesperson/Broker Core: Agency Toolbox Essentials with Amanda Rempe and elective course, Anatomy of a Real Estate Auction: Legal & Ethical Issues for Professional Auctioneers with George Michak was held.  Everyone enjoyed a lunch with speaker Jeremy Hill of Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research.  Casey Stoneman Roberson with McCurdy Auction did a photography session.

The second Winter Convention Extravaganza included the Fun Auction, the 27th Annual Kansas Auctioneer Championship preliminaries where the top 10 of the twelve will be competing in the finals on September 12th at the Kansas State Fair.  Along with a wonderful dinner, everyone enjoyed the music of a teenage bluegrass group call the TrebleMakers.  We were honored to have Jeff Blubaugh of Wichita’s City Council in attendance.

Congrats and good luck to our finalist: Hunter Sturgis, Daniel Gutierrez, Ty Patton, Titus Yutzy, Donnie Stumpff, Jessica Pluff, Troy Wedel, Tony Wisely, Arlin Eicher and Ross Daniels.

John Schulz, John Nicholls and a bid calling panel provided a power packed Saturday with lots of educational sessions. The sessions included information on consumer trends, data use in finding buyers, mental strength and how to take to it to the next level. The auxiliary held their scholarship luncheon and auction. The Annual Meeting was held where members were able to hear from the Committees on the work they have done for the year, get a look at the financial review by the association’s accountant and hear about incoming President, Kevin Borger, went over his Presidential Plan.

The Awards Banquet recognized our speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors.  Scholarships were awarded to Bryson Meinhardt, Kaylie Doll, Kelsie Doll and Katie Krehbiel.  The Award of Distinction went to LaDonna Schoen-Gehring, the Award of Support was given to Wanda Dusin of 31 Gifts, Julia Sparks was recognized as our 2017 Kansas Auctioneer Champion, Ethan Schuette was recognized as the 2018 KAA Livestock Auctioneer and Rick Brock was inducted into the KAA Hall of Fame.

Sunday finished out a great convention with it’s Inspirational Worship Service & KAA Memorial, a Great Ideas – Ask the Experts panel session and the installation brunch.

Education

Friday Saturday Sunday

2018 Winter Convention

January 25 – 28, 2018

DoubleTree Hilton Wichita Airport

2098 Airport Road, Wichita, KS 67209
Call 316.945.5272 | Online

REGISTRATION FORM

SCHEDULE

Thursday Evening ~ January 25

5:00 PM Registration Check-in
6:00 PM President’s Reception
7:00 PM Board of Directors followed by Past Presidents’ meeting

Friday ~ January 26

7:30 AM Registration/Check-in
Breakfast & Fellowship
8:30 AM Legislative Update by Dan Murray, KAA Legislative Monitor
9:00 AM Real Estate Mandatory Salesperson/Broker Core CE with Amanda Rempe
12:00 PM Vendor Spotlight Luncheon (Included with a full Conference Registration)
12:45 PM Auxiliary Tours (meet in the lobby)
1:00 PM Real Estate Course Elective CE with George Michak
Photography session
4:15 PM First Time Attendees Orientation
4:30 PM Fun Auction Item Check-in
Rookie Contestants Meeting
5:00 PM Kansas Auctioneer Contestant Roll all and Orientation
5:15 PM KAA Auction Extravaganza (Doors open at 5:00)
Kansas Auctioneer Championship Preliminary Round
Banquet | Fun Auction | Rookie Auctioneer Competition

Saturday ~ January 27

7:00 AM Breakfast & fellowship
Christian Auctioneer Fellowship (Not a KAA sanctioned event)
8:00 AM Candidate speeches for KAA Board of Directors/Officer Elections
8:00 AM *** Auxiliary Board meeting
8:35 AM KAA Election Voting
9:00 AM Modern Consumer Trends with John Schultz
Bid Calling with Champions
9:30 AM *** Auxiliary Annual Meeting
10:45 AM How to Take It to the Next Level and Maybe Help Your Auction Business in the Process with John Nicholls
Hands-on Marketing Workshop with John Schultz
12:00 PM *** Auxiliary Scholarship Luncheon -OR- Lunch on Your Own
1:30 PM Using Data to Find the Right Buyers with John Schultz
3:00 PM Mental Strength in the Auction Industry with John Nicholls
4:45 PM KAA Annual Meeting
7:00 PM Awards Banquet
9:30 PM Hall of Fame Reception

Sunday ~ January 28

8:00 AM Non-denominational Inspirational Worship Service & KAA Memorial
9:00 AM Great Ideas: Ask the Experts
10:45 AM Installation Brunch
Immediately following Brunch
KAA Board meeting
*** Auxiliary Board meeting

2018 Kansas Livestock Auctioneer Championship

The Kansas Livestock Auctioneer Championship was held on October 14, 2017 at the Fort Scott Livestock Market in Fort Scott, Kansas.

We are proud to announce our 2018 Kansas Livestock Champion is Ethan Schuetee of Washington, KS.  Reserve Champion is Jeremy Miller of Fairland, OK with 3rd place going to Brandon Hamel of Damar, KS, 4th place being Cody Davis of Kincaid, KS and 5th going to Ross Daniels of Humboldt, KS.

Our outstanding competitors were Cody Askren of Whiting, KS, Danny Deters of Whiting, KS and Jase Hubert of Emporia, KS.

Ethan took home the Champions belt buckle and will receive $500 cash prize at the Awards Banquet of the KAA’s Winter Convention, plus will be the MC of the 2019 contest next fall.

Kevin Borger of Legacy Auction Professionals, Trenton Johnson of Johnson Auction Services & Crown Realty and Wade Dillinger, a cattle buyer/rancher were on hand to judge this fierce competition where they were judged on: Presentation | Clarity of Chant/Voice Quality | Bid Catching | Execution of Sale | Would you hire this auctioneer?

 

2017 Kansas Auctioneer Championship

The finals for KAA’s 2017 Kansas Auctioneer Championship were held on September 13 at the Bretz & Young Injury Lawyers Arena at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, Kansas.

The 2017 Kansas Auctioneer Champion is Julia Sparks of Manhattan. The reserve champion is Justin Banzhaf of Cambridge, Nebraska. Third place was Tony Wisely of Perry, Oklahoma. Donnie Stumpff of Cassville, Missouri, placed fourth and Josh Miller of Beloit, Kansas, rounded out the top five.

Sparks took home the Champions belt buckle, plaque, $200 cash prize, membership to the National Auctioneers Association and an entry in the International Auctioneer Championship to be held July 2018 in Jacksonville, Florida.

The distinguished judges who had the honor of adjudicating the fierce competition were Shawn Terrel, Doug Carpenter and Jeremy Miller. They scored the contestants on their presentation, chant, voice timbre, body language and other performance elements of effective selling. Participants were also judged on their answers to interview questions.

Complete contest video

Photos

8th Annual KAA Golf Tournament

The Golf Committee is excited for 8th Annual KAA Golf Tournament, which is coming up on June 7th at the Emporia Municipal Golf Course (1133 S Highway 99
Emporia, KS  66801).  The tournament will be a four man scramble and include lunch, starting at 12:00.  You can gather up some friends and register your team or register just yourself and we will put you on a team for an afternoon of fabulous fun.  This event is not solely for KAA members, but we would like to have at least one member on each team.

We also welcome, golf hole sponsors for the event.  Sponsors will have a sign at a hole for each $100 given, plus receive recognition in the KAA Sunflower July issue.  If you would like to sponsor or know someone/a company that may like to support our organization for this excellent event, there is a place on the tournament registration form to do so or you can contact Troy Wedel, our Exhibitor/Sponsorship Committee Chairperson, via email.

REGISTRATION FORM

 

Retirement auction scheduled for Richard Garvin

All great things must end. On March 4, Richard Garvin, CAI, ATS, CES, GPPA, will be conducting his retirement auction, selling the fixtures in his auction facility in addition to consignment merchandise. While he plans to continue to conduct real estate, coin and firearm auctions, his days of operating a consignment facility in Topeka are coming to a close.

Not only does Richard have a distinguished career as a leader in the auction industry, he has selflessly given back to the KAA, serving as KAA’s president in 2013 and as the presidential appointee in 2015. In 2009, he received the President’s Award of Distinction in recognition and appreciation of his lifetime of dedication and service to the Kansas Auctioneers Association.

The auction will be at RJ’s Auction Service’s Four Corners facility at 15767 S. Topeka Ave in Scranton, Kansas, on Saturday, March 4, beginning at 10 a.m. Learn more at rjsauctionservice.com

The Kansas Auctioneers Association wishes our colleague and comrade Richard the best in his future endeavors, and an enjoyable and relaxing retirement, as we look forward to his friendship and fellowship in our association for many years to come.

2017 KAA Winter Convention recap

The 2017 KAA Winter Convention featured excellent networking opportunities and auctioneer education in addition to the 2017 KAA Auctioneer Championship preliminary round.

It all started off on Thursday evening with the president’s reception, KAA board meeting and the past presidents’ meeting with incoming president, Aaron Traffas. Real estate continuing education courses were held Friday during the day with a required broker core course entitled “RISK – Your Business is Not a Game” by the Wichita Area Association of REALTORS® and an elective course called “Elevating Your Real Estate Auction Service to the 2017 Standards” presented by Marty Higgenbotham. For the members who did not attend the real estate classes, a second track of education was offered entitled “Build Your Brand with Lasting Impressions” taught by Mary Jean Billingsley. The KAA Auxiliary had their fun, which included networking and a presentation on essential oils.

We were excited to have 16 contestants in the 26th Annual Kansas Auctioneer Championship preliminaries. Ten finalists will be advancing to compete at the Kansas State Fair this fall.

The rookie competition and fun auction were held after dinner where funds were also raised for St. Jude Hospital. Our rookie champion for 2016 is Hunter Sturgis. Our early bird winner is Ross Daniels and the winner of the first-timers’ drawing was Neil Bouray. Both won free registration to next year’s convention.

Saturday was power-packed with lots of educational sessions by Jimmie Dean Coffey, Marty Higgenbotham and a panel discussion on contract work. The sessions included information on technology, multi-par auctions, contract work and the value auctioneers add to society. The auxiliary held their luncheon and conducted their scholarship fund auction. Saturday evening was the awards banquet with many deserving KAA members being recognized.

Education

Friday night rookie contest and fun auction

Saturday night awards and directors’ auction

Sunday morning installation breakfast