Blog
The world of SR Dorsey Auctioneering via collector cars, fundraising, vintage motorcycles, and real estate. Steve writes a biweekly blog year-round on the topics of auctions, auctioneering, bikes, cars, fundraisers, and real estate. He blogs in conjunction with his other social media channels Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
What is an auctioneer?
auc·tion·eer
ˌôkSHəˈnir/noun
Why do auctioneers talk like that?
The Colonel auctioneering for The Colonel!
https://www.facebook.com/KFC/posts/10154873511261560
http://www.srdorsey.com/blog/2017/11/6/v1g52q49xvouwbup1ghkryefgdy01y
I got a call the other day from an auction chair asking if I was available to work an auction on short notice. The original auctioneer that had been hired ended up refusing to work in the space that was selected for the fundraiser. In my entire time as an auctioneer, I had never heard that before!
While some venues may not be the ideal space for live auction, this one seemed completely workable to me. I have always believed that any space can work as long as there are these two things - a place that guests can gather and a sound good system with which the emcee and auctioneer can work.
So I got to thinking about all the places where I have worked as an auctioneer - hotels, schools, country clubs, golf courses, fairgrounds, basements, garages, parking lots, junkyards, airplane hangers, kitchens, sound stages, radio stations, galleries, courthouse steps, under the shade of a tree, a bowling alley. I have even worked in some unusual and harsh conditions; like in a rainstorm, a snowstorm, a thunderstorm in the Tetons.
Any kind of auctioneer can make any auction work anywhere!
All of my Saturday nights through the spring and fall are filled with fundraising auctions. This last week though, our team had back-to-back-to-back auctions Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings! I am glad to report that we managed to meet or exceed the goals at each and every event and surpassed the expectations of all those who were involved.
It really is satisfying for me when my clients feel that we knocked an event out of the ballpark. It is especially rewarding when they are loyal clients whom I have had the pleasure of working with the longest in my auctioneering career. In today’s fundraising world, if the same auctioneer is invited back for three or more years in a row; that is considered a long stretch. So, I consider myself supremely lucky to have working relationships of upwards of ten years with some of my schools and non-profits.
I still have a few full weeks ahead, so see you at the next auction!
My grandfather enjoying a swim with his cousins.
I remember when I was a kid in school, all through elementary, middle, and high school; the common thread of what my teachers would say to me went along the lines of "Steve, you'd be an straight-A student if you would just pay attention”. I loved daydreaming, especially during class. Looking out the window at the clouds passing by was a lot more interesting to me than what I was supposed to be learning in class.
Daydreaming transitioned naturally to picture-taking. Throughout most of my adult life, I have been the picture-taker of the family. It must have been in my genes; because my dad and my grandparents too, were into photography. I am fortunate enough to have some of those pictures that were shot back in the early part of this past century.
Last summer, I was lucky enough to have had the chance to ride and drive through some lesser-travelled roads of Oregon. Through my lens, I thought I would share a few of those trips with you.
The Ferrari 458 is both a beauty and a beast. The sleek curves of its body and thunderous power of its engine are reminiscent of both starlet and stallion in their primes.
While I have laid eyes on and auctioned off many a luxury car, a Ferrari always catches my attention. Its flawless lines and powerful purr make my head turn every time. This particular one, basking in the California sun at the auction last week, was no different.
Even if you are not a car buff, you would notice a Ferrari driving down the street. It has a uniquely beautiful appearance and you cannot miss the sound. When your neighbor starts his Ferrari, the whole block knows it and we all want to go along for the ride. If you ever get the chance to take one for a spin, buckle up Buttercup!
I like Aston's too.
Sunny days are here again! Well, at least this weekend they were and I hate to waste a day inside when the sun is out.
Saturday was the first that we have had a mild, sunny day in awhile. It was too nice of a day to not go on a quick ride, so I hopped on my 1983 Kawasaki GPZ 750. It was great to get her back on the road, but too nice to ride just the one bike. So I thought it was time to exercise my old 1979 Honda CBX 1100 too! It had actually been quite awhile since I had taken it out for a spin. What a blast from the past that was.
Both bikes are not only different in style and vintage. They both have their own unique set of attributes; least of which is how each rides. The GPZ rides like a quarterhorse; while the CBX is a bull. The GPZ handles really well; it was designed to take corners. To me, it is the grandfather of the modern sport bike. Whereas, the CBX is a pure acceleration machine. It has a huge engine and the output can be described as too much too fast. Unlike the GPZ, it is a really heavy bike; so cannot turn or stop on a dime.
Bottom line is the GPZ and the CBX are completely different bikes with completely different riding experiences. So depending on the day or my mood, both suit me just fine.
My new year doesn't start on January 1st. It starts after I take down my Christmas tree. So 2018 started for me on the 4th this year. We spent the holidays here in Portland then headed north to Vancouver, Canada for New Year’s Eve.
Getting to Seattle from Portland usually takes two and half hours; but the Friday after Christmas, it took us over four hours to crawl up the I-5. We pretty much hit every rush hour from Portland out. It didn’t help that it was pouring rain that afternoon and into the night.
Though at the end of the road, we were rewarded with a bit of a getaway to our favorite hotel, The Sorrento. It’s a small boutique hotel built in 1909; it has a great vibe that the newly built ones just can't replicate.
The morning after our stay, we started our trip onto Vancouver. With all the other holiday travelers on the road, we were slowed to a stop at the Canadian Border. It took us a nearly two hours to cross that day!
Once in Vancouver, it was great to see all my friends and to celebrate with them over food, drink, and laughs.
The end is near!
We've come to the final month of yet another year. I hope that everyone had an opportunity to enjoy 2017. Did it seem to you like the past twelve months got condensed into six? It sure seems like mine flashed past my rearview mirror in the blink of an eye.
Though it was a real whirlwind, I really did enjoy my 2017. I had the chance to do some traveling, to ride my motorcycle lots, to reconnect with some of my old friends, and I even got an acting gig! I also could not have asked for a better group of people to work with either. This year; I was lucky enough to have gained some great new clients, while still continuing to work with some very long-standing customers. In 2018, we will be celebrating a decade-plus with many of our working partnerships. It is pretty incredible to have such loyal customers, especially in the ever-competitive arena of auctioneering.
I hope everyone will get the chance to spend some quality time with family and friends, to enjoy some good cheer, and to hit the ground running in 2018. I look forward to seeing you all then. For now, signing off with a Happy Holidays to you all and a Merry Ho Ho!
Thanks to my brother, Richard, for snapping this great shot of the beer wall in the back room at the Imperial Bottle Company on Alberta Street.
Ali here... Instead of bikes and cars, real estate and fundraisers; we’re going to talk about beer this week!
Portland has this great food truck, coffee shop, and wine scene; plus more beer and breweries than the average guy can keep up with. I’m going to share with you here, a few of our favorites.
The Imperial Bottle Shop just opened its second location on Alberta Street this year. It has a selection of 300+ bottles of beer on the wall and cooler, and it offers fresh pours out of 28 taps! There’s even a couple of old-school arcade games for your playing pleasure.
Breakside Brewery has a lot of everything going on. From award-winning IPAs to a pet project of barrel-aged sours, it has got something for every palate. These guys are pretty good in the kitchen too. We’ve enjoyed a great meal or two at both the Dekum and Slabtown locations.
Pfriem has a classic line that perfectly suits the traditionalist. Included in its over two dozen classic offerings are a Pilsner, Pale Ales, a Mexican Lager, and a whole bunch of IPAs for good measure. Pfriem Family Brewers is in Hood River, about an hour drive out of Portland.
With over 100 breweries in the Portland Metro area, it would be easy to find a couple of favorites of your own. Cheers to beer and more beer!
2017 marks 27 years that I have been an auctioneer.
It is a very unusual line of work and I have had some very interesting opportunities. Of course; there were times when I felt discouraged, or I got passed up for a gig that I really wanted, and even been fired from one. I never did give up and sure glad that I didn't. It's not like I grew up thinking I would be an auctioneer when I was a little kid. It just kind of happened.
Well, last week I had one of those chance of an auctioneer's lifetime kind of jobs. I got to work with the Portland-based, global advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. The Wieden+Kennedy folks are the ones behind those great television ads for KFC. I was picked to play the role of an auctioneer for KFC's first ever livestream on Twitter. We did a super fun 30-minute bit auctioning off the props from some of the Colonel's best-known TV commercials. It was really fun! It turned out to be quite a hit too, with over 50,000 live viewers, and is steadily approaching 73K views. You can watch it here:
We are now live with the #KFCAuction. Comment for a chance to win stuff. Official Rules: https://t.co/COx9StayjQ https://t.co/Tw5nDHJlC3
— KFC (@kfc) November 2, 2017
October kicks off the fall fundraising season here at srdorsey auctioneering! Instead of the bevy of beer and bratwurst that defines Oktoberfest, our month is chockerblock full of benefits and galas, special appeals and fundraising auctions.
This year, we are back at the World of Speed Museum. We are working again with Chad Brown and his Soul River Foundation in Portland, then onto San Francisco for the Wild Salmon Center 25th anniversary celebration at the end of the month. We will likely raise over a million dollars at these three auctions alone. Very exciting stuff.
On the car side of things; I worked a collector car auction with my old boss Mitch Silver, over the weekend. We'll be meeting up again in Southern California and Las Vegas. Check back in with us at the end of the month to see how we made out!
The weather was perfect here in Portland this weekend. The smoke and ash from the nearby Columbia Gorge fires had cleared; so I decided to head out on my bike for a couple of motorcycle events.
Saturday, I headed over to Cycle Heaps annual fall swap meet. I'd been looking for a couple parts for my Honda CBX. Though I didn't find what I was looking for, I did come across this old 1965 Yamaha 80 80 that I liked. I ended up leaving empty-handed
On Sunday, I joined my friend Glen for a ride over to the Lighthouse Inn. We ended up in Linnton to join the Sang Froid Riding Club for its annual fall ride. The Sang Froid Club is a two-stroke motorcycle club, but this year they allowed a few of us four-strokers to join in on the ride too. There was a good mix of bikes. All-in-all, about three dozen bikes showed up. The ride took us on the old Vernonia Highway and along the Nehalem River. I met some great people and had a blast on the ride.
One of the most beautiful cities in North America is Vancouver, Canada. I'm always surprised how many people have never visited this amazing city. It's just a couple hundred miles to the north of Seattle! Vancouver, much like Portland, is known for its food and coffee culture. I think Portland may have a bit of an edge when it comes to coffee. When it comes to food though; especially fresh seafood, Vancouver has us beat. I have to have my favorites when I'm in town. On that long list are ramen, sushi and ocean-to-table shellfish!
If you have been following my blog, you have already seen and read about the 1983 Kawasaki GPZ that I had purchased earlier this year. I'm happy to say I've covered over 4,000 miles without a problem. It's a really fun bike to ride!
A few weekends ago, I decided to take a trip up to see my parents. They still live in my hometown of Spokane, Washington. From Portland, Oregon; it's around 800 miles round-trip. The first four hours were smooth, but the last two got tough. It happened to be another really hot weekend, which makes for a really uncomfortable ride. But I made it and it was wonderful to spend some quality time with my parents. On my way back to Portland, I took the back roads as much as possible. So I got to travel through the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse, which is some of the most beautiful scenery.
Second to my love of all things two and four-wheeled, is my love of pie!
I felt like I had mastered my apple pie, so this year I decided to try my hand at peach.
My daughter and I headed out to Sauvie Island, just about fifteen minutes west of downtown Portland, to our favorite U-pick farm. We picked our peaches right off the tree.
I'm big into tradition, so I decided to start with my mom's tried and true recipes. Both of her pie pastry and peach filling resulted in the most outstanding first ever peach pie for me.
I hope everyone is having a great summer and getting a chance to enjoy the great outdoors!
I have been busy working and traveling this summer. Last week I took my bi-monthly trip from Riverside to Las Vegas. Driving across the Mojave Desert made me really wonder how people can live in that kind of heat. When we went through Baker, California; it was an extremely balmy 112 degrees. I know it's a dry heat, but that's still too hot for me!
Last weekend, I hopped on my motorcycle and took a 500-mile roundtrip through Central Oregon. I came across some beautiful country. I hadn't been to the upper part of the John Day River, nor Painted Hills, and the Fossil Beds. It was a super fun trip. I saw lots of other riders traveling on the same roads, where I believe are some of the best parts of our state. I would highly suggest anyone's getting out and about this summer to enjoy some of what Oregon's got to offer. She's a beauty.
#SummertimeandtheRidingIsEasy
We've been busy with the end of yet another school year and the start of summer vacation. So far; we already have under our belt a girls' trip to Los Angeles, a couple of rides out to Eastern Oregon, our annual Fourth of July block party and fireworks, Sauvie Island berry-picking, and lots and lots of ice cream cones! I hope that you too, have been enjoying this glorious Portland sunshine!
Here's a video, made by my daughter Jo, of our SoCal trip with her BFF. I think she did a great job. Enjoy!
Last week was my busiest travel so far this year. I covered a lot of miles in a very short amount of time.
It started here in Portland after my weekly Wednesday Crosspoint auction gig. From there, I headed to the airport for my 3pm flight to California; a quick stop in Oakland and by 930pm, I had landed in Ontario. An early get-up Thursday morning to catch my shuttle ride to Riverside got me to the Highline Sale. From there, I caught a ride with my friend Rod for the four-hour drive to Vegas. I happened to be staying at the same hotel where the Mecum Motorcycle Auction was held, so I caught a glimpse of that. As luck would have it; three of the best professional motorcycle racers from the 70's and 80's, Gene Romero, Jay Springsteen, and Don Castroon were all on-hand for a VIP Q&A session. It. Was. Awesome!
I was up early again Friday morning to work the Manheim Nevada auction. My lane started at 9am sharp. I had 150 Kia's to sell. I sold 100% of them. By 1045am, I was jumping back on the airport shuttle to McCarran Airport, where I caught the 1230pm departure back to Portland. My plane touched down at 230pm; from there, I headed home to do a quick repack. My next stop was Rosalia, Washington; where I am a judge for my long-time friend, Jay's annual hot rod bash. So I took off from Portland again and did the six-hour drive up to Spokane, Washington. I made it to my parents' house at 10pm and pretty much, went straight to bed. An early get-up Saturday morning, so I could join my parents for their weekly breakfast meet-up at Denny's. I took the long way around Spokane to Rosalia, driving the old highway which winds through the Palouse. Once in Rosalia, I judged 70 cars to come up with the best in the bunch. It sure was hard to pick a winner. After the show and a quick bit of socializing, I headed back to Spokane to have a visit with my parents and to spend the night. I was up very early Sunday morning for my six-hour drive back to Portland.
What a whirlwind of a week - 4 states in 72 hours!
This weekend marks the end of the traditional fundraising season. This autumn through spring, each of the not-for-profit groups that I worked with saw another solid year of growth. But I didn't do it all on my own.
We have to thank all the volunteers who work tirelessly throughout the year for these schools and committees; so that when I show up on the day of the big event, the audience shows up and is ready to do its part by giving. It really does take a huge team, most of which are your steadfast volunteers, to make sure that your fundraising auction is successful. So when it comes time; before, during, and post-event, make sure that you recognize how much you appreciate the help of your event staff!
I have some exciting auctions coming up, with a bit of a break in July and August. So I'm looking forward to enjoying some warm weather this summer and then to branching outside the Portland area this coming fall.
Hi everyone! It's Ali here. Steve's made me his guest writer this week; so via photo blog, I'm going to share with you a little bit more about the other girl in his life.
As many of you may already know, Steve has recently rekindled with one of his old flames. He spends a lot of time with her, and who can blame the guy? She's red hot! Whenever I can't reach him on the phone, I know he's with her. After hanging up, I'll text him. "You're with Gina again, aren't you?" Usually, he'll just respond back with a photo. Here are some from their latest roadtrip to The Gorge:
Steve Dorsey at srdorsey auctioneering has been Portland's auctioneer since 1993. He is your professional fundraising benefit auction specialist and a real estate broker licensed in the state of Oregon.
srdorsey auctioneering | , Portland Oregon