How To Lose A Lot Of Money
February 12th, 2013
I was astonishingly fortunate to attend the MusiCares tribute to Bruce Springsteen last Friday. More than a tribute, it was a fundraiser for a great organization. To swipe their home page copy:
MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. MusiCares’ services and resources cover a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies, and each case is treated with integrity and confidentiality. MusiCares also focuses the resources and attention of the music industry on human service issues that directly impact the health and welfare of the music community.
Now, I have been to a number of charity events over the years, and I have participated in my share of auctions. I’ve never seen anything like what MusiCares offered in their pre-event silent auction. There were nearly 900 items, from jewelry to sports memorabilia to trips and so much more … and, of course, the music memorabilia. An original Peter Max painting of Springsteen. Signed guitars and concert posters. Framed museum-quality photos of Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Hunter Thompson and so many others. Original art by Yoko Ono. Imagine another 850 or so items, and you begin to get the idea.
The worst part of it all, though, was that they lost a lot of money because the technology used for bidding didn’t work well at all.
Each item had a small tablet that was tied in to a central database for taking and managing bids. More often than not (at least in my experience, as well as the experiences of everyone I spoke with about the bidding process), the tablets seemed to take the bid, but the bid didn’t register. Which meant that you had to fight the crowd to get to one of the few kiosk computers that were working properly.
Bottom line? Lots of bidding went unregistered and lots of items sold for far less than they otherwise might have. I’m guessing some went unsold that otherwise might have sold had the bidding system worked properly. It’s a shame. A ton of money was probably left on the table.
Takeaway for marketers: If you’re involved in something like this, test the technology. Then test it again. Then again. Then stress test it. Then test it once more. In the end, it’ll be worth it.