Ryan George heading to Capitol Hill
to lobby for the auction industry
biplane productions' president has been recruited by the National Auctioneers Association to represent the industry's interests in Washington, D.C. The Lynchburg, VA, designer will be part of a 2-person team requested to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions (Alexandria, VA).
Auction professionals from 17 states--from as far away as Idaho--will convene for two days to meet with their elected officials. They will spend a day in training with soapbox consulting and a day of appointments with their senators and representatives.
Ryan will be the only delegate who is neither an auctioneer nor a member of the NAA staff. "This is a tremendous honor," said Ryan, "to be considered an intrinsic part of the auction industry and trusted to convey its cultural role to our government."
This will be Ryan's second time lobbying with the NAA. However, this year's inclusion in the delegation carries more personal significance for him, he divulged, "Last year, the NAA made an open call to its membership to join the contingent. This year, it recruited by individual invitation--with a maximum of two members per state."
This year's focus will be on the looming government foreclosure crisis. Private-sector auction companies, ironically, are currently prevented from auctioning federal government foreclosure properties--except in the role of bid calling for attorneys, sheriffs, etc. The NAA and its membership believes that they can bring better returns on the government's money with the privatization of the disbursal process.
"Auction executives know that they bring more than the sale day experience to the table," noted Ryan, "Acting in the seller's interest, auctioneers use a wider array of media to draw bidders from the economy. It's a commission-based marketing system that yields the best results for everyone but the wholesale real estate buyer. The focus needs to shift from simply liquidating assets to getting the highest return for the tax payer."
Ryan will draw upon his own experience in marketing premium auction properties to illustrate to his elected officials that private companies will reap higher sale values at no additional cost to the government. "With over 90% of biplane productions' revenue generated from auction companies, I have a personal stake in this discussion. But I think there's public interest and common good to be presented," he revealed.
The NAA's "Auction Action on Capitol Hill Day" will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 9 & 10.
Auctioneer magazine welcomes Ryan George of
biplane productions, inc. to its editorial board
biplane productions is proud to announce the inclusion of Ryan George in the editorial board of Auctioneer. The advertising executive joins 5 other industry professionals charged with suggesting, evaluating, and contributing content for the world's largest auction industry publication. The two-year post officially begins with the August 2008 edition of the magazine, which will be hitting mail boxes this weekend.
As a representative of biplane, Ryan serves as the only member of the panel that is not an auctioneer or auction company employee. "biplane works so hard to integrate with the live auction industry—to understand it, to gain intuition as to auction marketing needs. This is a huge validation of that effort," said Ryan. "Plus, to serve with people who've shaped the industry and contributed so much to the craft—well, it's an honor I don't take lightly."
"The challenge now will be gathering insight from more than just my clients and industry peers," Ryan divulged. The challenge is not without benefit for him, though. "This process should help me listen better to the bigger picture behind the feedback I get from the auction professionals I know. That will help biplane focus on solutions larger than projects or tasks," said Ryan, "It's a bit scary, but I think it goes beyond beneficial to necessary. The [auction] industry is rapidly changing; and the more you know about it, the easier it will be to adapt with it."
Ryan George holds a BS in Communications with a major emphasis in Commercial Writing and minors in Advertising/PR and Graphic Design. He has been published in parenting and senior citizen publications, community newspapers, commercial web sites, and a nonfiction book. He writes a biweekly e-article about auction marketing, called AdverRyting. As part of biplane productions' services, he writes press releases and edits copy for multiple media. He has contributed to the marketing campaigns of over 1,400 auctions in 8 years, currently creating advertising for over 250 auctions per year.