CHANT BID CALLING SEMINAR ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY CELESTE SETTRINI
Students from Oregon, California and Colorado joined together for an intense 3 day training at the Turlock Livestock Auction Market for the Champions Chant Bid Calling Seminar. World Champion Livestock Auctioneers Ralph Wade and Max Olvera began the the Champions Chant 7 years ago to offer students the fundamentals of bid calling. This year with the assistance of John Rodgers the team of three World Champions worked with students both individually and in groups honing the skills of those who had previous experience and bringing out the talents of those just trying for the first time. Celeste Settrini, social media strategist provided a workshop for students, “ Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!, How to stand out in a crowd and sell yourself.” The upbeat presentation encouraged the budding auctioneers to make use of social media to get themselves out there. Tips on social media content creation and the “ hows” to market yourself were the key takeaways of the workshop. Question and answer time brought inquiries on how to share thoughts on Auction Yard animal handling and the right way to answer questions from the curious public. After the event Celeste helped students set up their own social media channels to promote and showcase their auction skills. Each student then had the opportunity to sell in front of a live crowd with industry buyers in the seats. Students were videoed and then critiqued one on one by the World Champs. Some students had zero knowledge of creating a chant and by day two they were on the block PG. 36 :: SUMMER 2019
selling cows. It was fun to see the transformation and progression in just 24 hours. The youngest bid caller at 12 years old, Grace Haydn-Myer, of Oakdale, CA said that “My favorite part was all the time we got to practice on the block. We got to sell cattle during a real live auction and it was a blast.” The Champions Chant has become a popular event among those interested in the auction profession. Whether you plan on selling livestock, cars, antiques or cakes there was help for everyone. Jim Glines, auctioneer from Santa Maria ,CA says “After several years of auctioneering, I discovered that my chant had picked up some bad habits and needed some enhancement. These gentlemen and their sales assistants cleaned up my chant and added some appropriate marketing terms to make my delivery more smooth, rhythmic, and easy for the bidding audience to understand. You can bet that I will be attending future auction seminars put on by these two gentlemen as I continue to pursue perfection of my auction profession.’ Colonel Ralph Wade sums it up best, “ Always strive to make the best better , you can never stop learning. If you never lose sight of the shore you will never find new land. Your opportunities are only limited by your will to follow your dreams.” No matter what level in your selling game there is something for everyone.
