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Empress Patti here, representing the Silent Auction Committee (Our Co-Chair Janice Lurie and committee members Julieann Swanson and Allan Kohl). This is the first of weekly postings (this one specially served up to both listservs, subsequent ones to the conference blog) to prepare folks for participation in the exciting, second joint Silent Auction since the St. Louis conference in 2002! This event will combine the method of ARLIS/NA’s fund-raiser with the spirit of the VRA VRAffle fund-raiser.

Nota bene: To those unfamiliar with the VRAffle, you will rightly be asking, “Empress who? EMPRESS? What…?” So, We offer this brief introduction. For the past decade or so, VRA has fielded a raffle, or VRAffle (get it? hehehe), run by a slyly witty clothes-horse going by the moniker Empress Patti, aka Patti McRae Baley. The VRAffle is a high-spirited, humorous event, often accompanied by a skit or at minimum, a soupēon of theatricality. It is all in good fun, boisterous, heavy on costume and clowning and most of all, profitable for the Tansey Travel Awards. So, in the persona of this Imperial Fashionista, I will MC the Shhh… Silent Auction! finale.

(http://www.vra-arlis2011.org/SilentAuction.html) and blog page (http://vraarlis2011.wordpress.com/silent-auction/) to familiarize yourself with how the silent auction works (for those who are new to it) and for a plethora of other information. This week We will discourse upon three important things: DONATIONS (We are, ahem, FOR them), VOLUNTEER to help with the Silent Auction on Friday morning and/or Saturday night, and finally, BE A CONTESTANT on the Jeopardy game show!

Offering an astonishing range of donations is what the Silent Auction does best. Anything from hand crafted originals (artists, start your engines!) to alluring technological devices (who better to bestow techno-treasure than members of the two organizations?) to corporate donations of certificates or gift cards for services and goods (oh, the exquisite, singular vendors, the attractions of Minneapolis- it boggles the mind!), and everything in between is encouraged. Let the imagination take flight!

Chapters are especially invited to create baskets/ensembles, perhaps featuring a clear theme or maybe a taste of the chapter's regional delights of all stripes. And here is where VRA's VRAffle participants experience differs with the Silent Auction. Individuals who normally are accustomed to sending single donations are invited to band together and create ensembles in mimicry of Chapters' efforts. The committee will be consolidating individual donations into lots, so you may wish to beat us to it.

The Shhh... Silent Auction! website also offers information on precisely how to go about filling out the online donation form, shipping details and deadlines, and how to send a jpeg image of donations for the Silent Auction Photo Gallery (still under construction at this writing).

Please consider stepping up to volunteer with Shhh... Silent Auction! We hereby issue a call for volunteers to help with deploying the donations in the Exhibits Hall on Friday morning 7:00-8:30 a.m. or helping Saturday evening from 5:30-8:30 p.m. for the Finale. There is a volunteer form up and working on the main Shhh... Silent Auction! website, available with a quick click. Set up on Friday will include unloading, unpacking and arranging the lots on tables with the bid sheets. On Saturday volunteers will be present to help bidders during the last bidding surge, then collect the bid sheets when bidding closes and help with data input of the winners or assist with the final transaction of payment for prizes won. We have already received several volunteer forms and await more! VRAers, this gig is WAY laid back compared to being a Raffle Rouser!

Admit, you have a flair for Jeopardy and surely you are a veritable font of knowledge when it comes to ARLIS/NA and VRA! Strut your stuff as a contestant on our Jeopardy game show, with intriguing categories catering to our professional niches. We are accepting volunteers, 8 total (three are alternates) for 2 rounds of the game, MC'ed by none other than Allan Kohl of MCAD! You have nothing to lose, only renown and some charming Minneapolis and library themed prizes to gain. Just a reminder, there will be a cash bar available if you require, uh, fortification of some variety! We shall look the other way if contestants clutch a beverage in one hand. This We do swear upon our tiara. If We have convinced you, please send an email to Patricia McRae Baley at [log in to unmask], with the word “Contestant” in the subject line. Contestants will be chosen based on the date stamp of their email and randomly assigned to Game 1 or

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