I’ve been in attendance at nearly all International Auctioneer Championship (IAC) contests.
Beginning about five years ago (2011) I started to hear one question somewhat regularly: “Is there something in the water in Ohio?”
For those unfamiliar, this question regards the unusual (actually, maybe not that unusual) number of IAC champions from Ohio.
To-date (as of July 22, 2016,) eight in total have won from throughout this state with about 3,000 licensed auctioneers. (We’ll update this number of winners, and no doubt will need to in the coming years.)
Here are the current IAC champions from Ohio: Greg Rice, 1996 Lori Kiko, 1997 Pamela Rose, 1998 Joseph Mast, 2011 Andy White, 2013 Jason Miller, 2014 Peter Gehres, 2015 Beth Rose, 2016
The contest currently has each contestant sell two items. Then, a final round of both men and women are chosen and each of them answers three auction-industry-related questions and sells 2 more items in order to choose the winners.
Ohio has a strong, vibrant auction tradition, with some current Ohio auction companies tracing their roots back nearly 100 years. It’s estimated more auctions take place within 150 miles of Akron, Ohio than any other such circle in the United States.
Will there be more IAC champions from Ohio? Almost assuredly with the number of quality Ohio auctioneers still competing, and more waiting in the wings. And yes, [maybe] there is something in that water …
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at: Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, RES Auction Services and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. He serves as Distinguished Faculty at Hondros College of Business, Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School and Faculty at the Certified Auctioneers Institute held at Indiana University.
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