# ***1st Annual BCA Auction Thread ***



## BCAquaria

THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT CAME DOWN! Was a good turnout. Managed to get through alot of the stuff. Meet alot of people. I hope those that participated had fun.

This was our first auction so we understand there will be some gripes and we're learning as it comes.

So if you have some complaints, suggestions or praises feel free to share them here.


A few things I think we could've done better

1. FOOD (we ran out early, we were expecting a smaller crowd. Maybe a bit more variety too.)
2. Organizing the bids and items for sale better (one computer wasn't compatible with the program we designed which slowed us down a little). Got a little chaotic near the end. 
3. More time. We were very rushed at the end with piles of stuff to go. Would've been nice to be able to talk to more people and get to put names to faces.

Feel free to throw some more at us for we know better for next time.

Extra special thanks to those that helped out with the setup (Luke, Anthony plus the many others. You know who you are. I apologize I don't know everyone by name), the vendors that donated the giveaways, Stu AKA CRS Fan for being the auctioneer (you did an awesome job) and lastly.....Shawn AKA Nicklfire for more or less setting up and organizing the whole thing. Without them this wouldn't have been possible.

Thanks again everyone!!! Hopefully we'll do better and be a bit more efficient next time around.


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## effox

Hopefully I'll make it around next time to be able to provide a little support. I've heard nothing but praise about this, so congrats to a successful expo\auction!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Slopster

Real sorry i had to bow out, but with the Knee Surgery and all, would have been hard to get there, next yr for sure.
Hope all went well..


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## Tazzy_toon

Also just had knee surgery or I would have been there as well. Sorry I missed it but look forward to next time and would love to help out any way i can. 



Slopster said:


> Real sorry i had to bow out, but with the Knee Surgery and all, would have been hard to get there, next yr for sure.
> Hope all went well..


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## rescuepenguin

I mentioned this in another thread, but maybe 2 or 3 auctioneers. Stuart is a very tough act to follow, but he did the whole thing himself. With more auctioneers, he could have more of a rest.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

rescuepenguin said:


> I mentioned this in another thread, but maybe 2 or 3 auctioneers. Stuart is a very tough act to follow, but he did the whole thing himself. With more auctioneers, he could have more of a rest.


But Stu loves to talk:lol::lol::lol:


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## fraggalrock

I had a great time and boght some fantastic items! Thank you for for everyone involved!! cant wait for next year!!


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## bonsai dave

I had fun can't wait till next year.


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## Hi Im Mike

Had fun too! Bought a 20g tank for $1 and a 25+ ug filter for $4..
Ended up giving both to Claudia for free


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## Nicklfire

Wow, was that a great auciton, it went much smoother then i thought.

Thanks C for starting this thread, much needed and we are very thanksful to everyone who showed up as well all of the volunteers. I have said we have a GREAT Staff and to take battle wounds (seahorse) that's taking one for the team  Luc who i drove to the auction turned into a runner which saved our butt. The concession girl was a nice treat wasnt it!!! she did amazing and saved us in a pinch. Also shaobo who had to do a petty cash run to the tank and took his time out.. much appreciated

I'd like to thank Tom our SOLE expo vendor, i hope it was wroth his wild and he was a GREAT asset there. He's a really nice and knowledgable guy.

VAHS- i'll apologize for our auction taking place so near to yours, glad you guys could make it, i welcome the support and the offering for the help which i should have taken you up on your offer  

STU- you were a bad ass auctioneer, you did amazing, i was very very impressed, you were comedic and grat knowledge, im very satisifed in your ability and would ask you again in a sec.. (if you accepted)

I believe about 350 items went through if my calculations are correct. All said and done i think we made a profit of about 75$ lol. That may seem not like alot but we had ALOT of fun, the venue was GREAT , overpriced but GREAT i loved it... AND we didnt LOSE money lol.. Again thanks everyone


If anyone has any pictures then please post them i'd love to see them.

If anyone has any follow up you can always pm me

also slight apology to anyone who bought the crush sodas and hated it, my wife pointed out they are diet... DOH!!! cant blame anyone but myself.


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## arash53

Thank you so much for the fantastic Auction! and the Eheim 2232 ecco gift


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## CRS Fan

arash53 said:


> Thank you so much for the fantastic Auction! and the Eheim 2232 ecco gift


You lucky bugger..... The Ecco 2232 is an awesome filter, Arash. Congratualtions .

Best regards,

Stuart


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## hlee72ca

It was a very well run event, thanks to everyone involved. I had a great time, reconnected with some old friends, overspent on livestock. All in all, a day well spent.


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## arash53

Thanks Stuart, it was really nice to meet you there.

These are the gorgeous guppies I got :


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## Luc

I had an awesome time! Thanks to Clarence, Shawn, Anthony, and Stu! And of course all the buyers and sellers! There was so much to bid on, both awesome live-stock and equipment! I'm looking forward to next year because it will be even better. You guys can write me down as a volunteer in advance Running around was tiring but fun, I have no complaints, I enjoyed all of it! 

Thanks again to everyone!
Luc

P.S I love my new Betta  He's loving the planted 33


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## InfraredDream

Oh, I just posted in the other thread! It was GREAT event! Thanks so much to everybody that help! And so glad to hear you did not lose money! I won't reapeat myself from the other topic, just big thanks again! I had much more fun than I expected and left with some wonderful deals!


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

I was supposed to go back home and work at noon but had so much fun I ended up staying the whole day. It was great. Waaaaay smoother than I thought it would be considering its our first go at a big auction. Thanks Shawn & Clarence for setting it up, especially our buddy from the Wack. Luc, good "running" with you. I thank everyone who came, saw, bought, sold, talked & hung out. Thanks to Pam and all for the Fluval Flora. Mr. Frogfish loves his new home.

BTW, Fraggelrock has volunteered to take charge of the food next year if we do it again (she's a baker)

Anthony


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## effox

Anthony, the only thing sweeter then Sherry could be her cooking, right on!

Cheers,
Chris


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## davefrombc

The auction went very well indeed; especially for a first for BCA..Next year might call for a bigger venue with a little more time given to BCA. Unfortunately it had to be ended this time with quite a number of things that didn't make it to the auctioneer .. Thanks Clarence and especially Shawn for setting it up ... and to Stu for doing the barking .. Anthony and Luc for doing the running .


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/memb...ogfish-home-auction-special-20861/#post169951

Link to that Fluval tank I bought and set up as a sw nano reef for my red frogfish.


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## gklaw

There were still quite a few nice items in my big tub  Must we wait another year ?

I still can put together a tub of 50 better goods. It is getting tougher though - but will certainly better  Cannot believe those VHOs went for under $10 ea  Hate my remaining treasures go unreserved after that. The rest did make it up pretty good. Thanks to all the buyers.

Two lateral filing cabinets almost completely empty !! I think I will fill them back up by cleaning up the goodies from my laundry room  My wife would love that for sure.


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## The Guy

Wow! what a great turn out for the first one, yes there was a few bumps but all in all I think it went very well and got some great deals to boot. Well done Shawn & mods.


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## Momobobo

arash53 said:


> Thank you so much for the fantastic Auction! and the Eheim 2232 ecco gift


SOOO LUCKY  I was 2 numbers off~  If only I got that hotdog abit later.

I think perhaps putting items and auctioning them off by category would be easiar for some people.

Also having sellers send in what they are bringing and putting a limit on what they are putting in. That way we dont have those items that are brought in and take up time repeating "One dollar? One dollar?"I was actually quite peeved by that HC mat coming up over and over again, though that is rather selfish since people still wanted it


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## kaptin99

Pleco cave and Needle java fern I bought at auction.


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## fraggalrock

effox said:


> Anthony, the only thing sweeter then Sherry could be her cooking, right on!
> 
> Cheers,
> Chris


Oh so sweet Chris  Cinnamon buns coming your way......


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## gklaw

fraggalrock said:


> Oh so sweet Chris  Cinnamon buns coming your way......


 Getting pretty sticky and gooey here - must be the cinnamon buns. JK

Glad to see all the nice people, friendships and fun on the forum  Particularly touching when people jumping in to help those in need.

I am not far from Guildford and love fresh cinnamon buns. Would scroll a name or two for some hahaha :lol:


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## Pamela

I really enjoyed the auction. It was great to see some familiar faces & to meet some new people as well. Thanks so much to Shawn, Clarence, Stuart, Anthony, Luc, & anyone else whose name I missed for all the hard work. Thank you also to the two kind gentlemen who carried in 75 lbs of sand for me. Shaobo/Ed - I'm loving my new Betta albimarginata's


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## anessa

I had a really good time and was happy with the few things I picked up. I laughed when I realized that my plecos were already fighting over the double slate pleco cave within a few minutes of putting it in my tank! Maybe that means some more babies will be on the way soon. I picked up some HC for my nano tank which is exciting to try out and I am looking forward to planting all the rest of my plant acquisitions tomorrow.

I agree that it went really well for a first go and thanks to the organizers.


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## mikebike

By the time I got all my livestock sorted and plants planted it was dark and my lights had shut off so I did not get the opportunity to sit and stare at my new fish.
Fortunately I had a couple of 5 gallon tanks cycling with 50% of the water from water changes in other tanks and the AC sponge filters wrung out into the tanks to start them.

The endelers went into one with 10 of my ABNP fry.
And the mixed bag Swordtails, Platies, and Guppies along with the L 144 male BNP went into my BioCube.
I will have to remove the lace fin ABNP and put one of my other female L144's in with him to start setting up house <I hope>


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## AndrewL

For a first time event, it was well organized. Everyone involved deserves a big thanks. You seem to smoothly handle the typical little surprises that come up at all events. Glad to hear you made a little money.


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## taureandragon76

Sorry I couldn't make it, just trying to take it easy after my surgery, next year I will be there for sure. Sounds like a missed a fun day


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## InfraredDream

Enjoy the endlers, Mike  We met before in Surrey for another batch. I was sitting right behind you, but when I realized it was you, my daughter came and I moved so she could have a seat.


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## charles

sorry I missed this annual event. I tried to get out from family things but I just can't.

I hope next year will be on a different date other than Oct/22


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## InfraredDream

charles said:


> I hope next year will be on a different date other than Oct/22


If it's Sat again (which I think is perfect!) it will be Oct 21


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## CisBackA

InfraredDream said:


> If it's Sat again (which I think is perfect!) it will be Oct 21


yes always on a weekend, for us with the normal mon - friday work days.


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## Momobobo

(Just to add, maybe add some icebreaker activities? I didn't really get to know many people off the forum that attended)


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

There was no time for icebreakers. Didn't even finish selling everything off.


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## cowis

i wasnt able to go but from what i heard it took a long time. so my thuoght was maybe have the decos and plants as a slieght Auction and then have a live auction for the live stalk. that way when a fish is up for sale that someone doesnt want they can get up and bid on other things speeding everything up. just a thuoght.......


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## CisBackA

cowis said:


> i wasnt able to go but from what i heard it took a long time. so my thuoght was maybe have the decos and plants as a slieght Auction and then have a live auction for the live stalk. that way when a fish is up for sale that someone doesnt want they can get up and bid on other things speeding everything up. just a thuoght.......


Yeah i agree with this.


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## gklaw

May be a limit on how many items for each person? Or if everyone is up to it, run the auction from 9:0am to 3:00pm. I know that would make a very long day for Shawn.

I was a big offender of that as I don't know how many people and how many items will be there to be sold. Thought the more the better. I even brought stuff down that I know I won't get good $ for to add to the fun.


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## BCAquaria

If he had more time it would've been nice to have some ice breaker events. We'll see what we can do next time. I'm sure people don't want to stick around for 8+ hours. 

Maybe next time we can try a swap meet + auction.

Keep the ideas coming guys! Much appreciated.


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## neven

swap meet would be a great idea, maybe for spring, and the auction in autumn


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

I've held a sw swapmeet at my place before (big backyard) but no way could I accommodate 200+ people

Swapmeets are fun though, but the tough part is if you're selling, you can't leave your table and look around at what everyone else is selling.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

I think also limit it to say 3 or 4 of any one type (ie. no more than 3 bags of HC or plecos or crypts) per seller. Different species, fine. Same thing over and over again, not so great.


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## neven

i'd say rent a park and make it an outdoor event


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## InfraredDream

Outdoor will be fun if it's Summer event.


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## Elle

Great job to everyone - it was lots of fun to get out and meet people (oh yeah, and buy lots of good stuff). Djamm and I had an awesome time - so many, many thanks to everyone who made this happen!


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## TomC

BCAquaria said:


> Keep the ideas coming guys! Much appreciated.


 The bird club used to do a raffle table. You stock the table with lots of different items, most donated and some bought. Value can be from $1 and up.

People buy as many tickets as they like at maybe $1 each. When you draw the tickets, first person get choice of 1 item, second chooses from what is left, and so on until everything is gone. Lots of fun.


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## neven

Tom thats an awesome idea, perhaps that could be done with sponsor items at a future swap meet, bbq/get together.


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## roadrunner

I can't believe that was the 1st annual auction! It was extremely well organized. Also great venue (I really loved the view while sitting through the auction. It looked so beautiful even while raining!) and I've got couple of beautiful bettas and plants. Exactly what I went there for.
Maybe next time we could have live stock auction first, then plants, everything else after that. This way, for example people that came for fish and plants only could go and pay right after, and leave earlier if they needed. (not that I mind staying till end). I think we would probably need an extra person with computer to do that, so I'm not sure how that would work out. 
I can't wait till next year!


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## Sliver

yeah, i thought the venue was perfect. next time if we had it for the entire day and made an event of it i think we could incorporate all the great ideas that have been put forth thus far. those that don't want to make a day of it would be free to leave but those that WOULD like to meet and socialize with other members would have that opportunity. seriously, this years auction was awesome, but with an entire year to fine tune it i think next year is going to be spectacular.


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## InfraredDream

I agree for the venue as well. roadrunner and me kept saying to each other how beautiful it was. And it was great for the kids to go out and run as well 
Not sure if renting it for the whole day would be possible. But with selling ruffle tickets it could get easier financially.
And the other thing is, it may be small if more people want to join, family members, etc.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

Yes, although I really liked the venue (beautiful setting, well designed & such), I think this event will only grow if we had maxed out pretty much in the first year. If we could have it for longer and hold another 50-100 people, it would be perfect. I like that its off the beaten path and that it has Burnaby Lake as a natural backdrop.


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## InfraredDream

It was the perfect place for sure! Just too small. I was thinking if maybe we can do it in the Summer and use the outside area as well. So people (family) that are not interested in the auction can socialise outside. Maybe we can think of some kids activities (I can volunteer with that) as well. And if we do the auction in 3 pars - live stock, plants, equipment, people can get in and out thus the venue might be big enough and there will be a lot of time for socializing as well.
Not sure if that is a good idea, just throwing it out there for consideration


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## PaulCheung

Yes. I like the idea of separating items into different timeslot. 

For example, I am only intersted in getting plants. But in order to buy the item, I have to wait for the whole day. Instead, if i know that the plant auction starts at 1 pm, the I can plan and use my time more efficiently.

Anyway, it is a great event. Definitely want to attend the next one.


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## Elle

Definitely like the idea of breaking out the different items into separate time slots. It also gives the auctioneers a break! A bigger venue with space for both sponsor vendors and people who would like to have a table and sell stuff would be nice, as I think we were pretty much maxed out for space.


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## CisBackA

i think there should be a constant cashier, cuz having to wait to the end when your out of money and then bug your buddy for extra cash so you can keep bidding cuz you gotta wait isnt that awesome hahahaha.


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## roadrunner

Those raffle prices were awesome so maybe we could sell more raffle tickets for those. Let just say sell 10tickets for $5 and then have boxes in front of each price so people can drop as many tickets as they want in the raffle box for each individual items. We would need then to give away both tickets (so people can keep one and put one in the box) and do the draw from the ones from each box. Then we will have people that really want the stuff instead of calling ticket numbers several times with no show.


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## Nicklfire

CisBackA said:


> i think there should be a constant cashier, cuz having to wait to the end when your out of money and then bug your buddy for extra cash so you can keep bidding cuz you gotta wait isnt that awesome hahahaha.


There is lies the problem, we cannot have a constant cashier because the program we use is the ONLY program that keeps track of the items and bids and sellers and each time someone wants to pay you have to reload the report. So we would have had to stop the auction each time a cashout is needed. Maybe next year now that we know what hurdles we have is to have a longer lunch break, more volunteers and the ability to cash out during lunch. Cashing out at any time is not really feasible unless it's a planned cashout mid day or something.

thanks everyone for the suggestions so far, we have learnt alot about the acution.


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## CisBackA

Yeah i figured that was the reason behind it all. but theres nothing more lines of code cant do *hopeful face* lol

If we had more time a mid day/lunch time cash out would of made sense.

Or maybe even a Per-section Cashout, Livestock - cashout - equipment - cashout. etc. like some said they only came for one thing or another. just an idea, plus this would reduce the huge line at the end of the day.
Not that you even have to pay at each cashout, if you want to wait till the end you can wait till the end.


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## PaulCheung

How about have some items for silent auction? For example, allocate a few tables with items (low cost items?) only for hourly silent auctions. For each hour, the items winners collect their items and a new set of items then available for another round of silent auction.

But if the bottlenect is in the application that track the items, we will still need to solve that first.


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

Having an auction, silent auction, swap meet, and sponsors' tables would just be a nightmare to keep track of. We'd need at least triple the number of volunteers and space just to keep track of everything going on at once.


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## TomC

Nicklfire said:


> There is lies the problem, we cannot have a constant cashier because the program we use is the ONLY program that keeps track of the items and bids and sellers and each time someone wants to pay you have to reload the report. So we would have had to stop the auction each time a cashout is needed.


 All the professional auctions have programs that allow buyers to cashout any time at all. What do they use? Perhaps their software is too expensive?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

I think Shawn wrote the BCA auction's software.


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## Claudia

Hi Im Mike said:


> Had fun too! Bought a 20g tank for $1 and a 25+ ug filter for $4..
> Ended up giving both to Claudia for free


Thanks for the tanks Mike, i gave them to Dave (daveformbc) for his daugther


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## mikebike

Would setting up a wireless network at the aucton site help?
I have an old Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router I can donate.


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## Claudia

I think that for a first time BCA did pretty good, not much time but still was fun and it was a good turn out, maybe next time we can actually have chance to meet other members. Thanks to the members that came to me and introduce themselves


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## Shell Dweller

Personally I thought for a first time auction it went so very well. Thanks to everyone involved as I know it must have been alot of work to put on. I am already looking forward to next years. 
For me I had planned on making this a days event, time to socialize and meet other members. So I really dont care how you decide to auction items off next year, I for one will be there for the day.
My only suggestion would be to have a couple of spotters looking for bidders as I know some people who had their numbers raised to bid on items but were not seen by the auctioneer. Not laying any fault but it did happen a few times.
All in all a great day as I think most people enjoyed themselves. Thanks again Shawn and crew, awesome job.


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## Nicklfire

TomC said:


> All the professional auctions have programs that allow buyers to cashout any time at all. What do they use? Perhaps their software is too expensive?


If i had like 3 grand to spend on a program then i could probably make it happen. But the program is only used once a year so it did the job way better then i expected. The only way to do cashouts would be to take 20 minute breaks to generate the report each time.


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## Claudia

U could always have some one to take care of people that are leaving earlier and later on update the program


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## TomC

Nicklfire said:


> If i had like 3 grand to spend on a program then i could probably make it happen. But the program is only used once a year so it did the job way better then i expected. The only way to do cashouts would be to take 20 minute breaks to generate the report each time.


 Most of the auctions I go to work like this:

The auctioneer has a paper bid sheet with maybe 15 or 20 lots on it. Pre-filled information includes lot # and seller #, with buyer # and price realized filled in as you go. (This can be done by the auctioneer or an assistant.) When the sheet is filled, a runner takes it to the sales counter where the info is entered into the computer. The auctioneer then moves on to a new sheet.

If a buyer wants to cash out, he needs to wait ten minutes or so after his last purchase, so that the sheet has had time to be processed. The computer operator pulls up lots purchased by that buyer and marks them as paid.

I'm not a programmer, but it seems like a simple spreadsheet program would work well for that. One added bonus is that there is a paper record to be used as emergency back up if the computer fails.

If you want to see it in action, there are auctions in Chilliwack on many Sundays. I can find the address if you like.

(Sorry if this is too much information. It just sounds like a real pain having to wait until the end of the day in order to pay.)


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## pinhead

Nicklfire said:


> If i had like 3 grand to spend on a program then i could probably make it happen. But the program is only used once a year so it did the job way better then i expected. The only way to do cashouts would be to take 20 minute breaks to generate the report each time.


If the record keeping software was an Excel spreadsheet, the files can be shared and used at the same time. All that would need to be done is to set up a simple network. You could have one computer to record the sales and another to cash out. The computers could be set to sync the files every couple of minutes or at breaks. This would allow you have people pay up and leave at any time.

Even though the view at the venue was great, I couldn't see any of the bagged items because I was not at the front and it was bright outside. How about a camera and a LCD projector? It might increase the number of bids if everyone could see the livestock clearly.


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## mikebike

I guess I'm old fashioned.
My fist auction experience were 60 years ago. I would go to the auction with my parents an hour or so before it started and view the items and make notes on what they were interested in. Then when the items came up the could bid on them.

I still do it that way. I go on the preview days or time ahead make notes of the lot number and description, and how much I wanted to bid.
Admittedly in the bidding wars I spent 2 X as much as I had noted I was going to bid :<( , but I'm glad I did now.

What may work is for the sellers in the day's before the auction to post links to photos of what they will be selling and their seller # and lot # and description so buyers could create their bid list.

Any day of sale sellers and items could be at the end of the auction so that those who took the time to plan ahead would get priority service<G>


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## BCAquaria

pinhead said:


> If the record keeping software was an Excel spreadsheet, the files can be shared and used at the same time. All that would need to be done is to set up a simple network. You could have one computer to record the sales and another to cash out. The computers could be set to sync the files every couple of minutes or at breaks. This would allow you have people pay up and leave at any time.
> 
> Even though the view at the venue was great, I couldn't see any of the bagged items because I was not at the front and it was bright outside. How about a camera and a LCD projector? It might increase the number of bids if everyone could see the livestock clearly.


A few things....Budget cannot afford us to buy a camera + projector + screen. Rental would probably add a couple hundred let alone a hefty deposit. Secondly is that no one would be able to see the projector anyways due to all the light in the room. It would just be washed out and defeat the purpose.

As for the networking, I don't even know how we would set it up. If someone does have the technical know how that could shed light on us it would be awesome. In case we do use the same venue, there was no internet provided. I'm not sure if it was even an option.

Keep them ideas coming. It's helping us alot!


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## mikebike

I can experiment with my spare Linksys WRT54G router and my 3 laptops 1 XP Pro and 2 Windows 7 to see if it can be set up without internet. 
I believe it can as my understanding on networks is they can be independent just as a school would have all the computers in a classroom running off the server/host computer and sharing the data/resources on it.
I will leave that nor knowledgeable people to confirm.


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## effox

You can definitely set up a LAN without internet. The projector, camera and what not would definitely be out of the question. It simply wouldn't be prudent for BCA to be maintained at a loss with its current costs.

Cheers,
Chris


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## CisBackA

effox said:


> You can definitely set up a LAN without internet. The projector, camera and what not would definitely be out of the question. It simply wouldn't be prudent for BCA to be maintained at a loss with its current costs.
> 
> Cheers,
> Chris


im sure someone could lend one for the day... they are pretty common items.


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## EVANDU

can we do this twice a year？ it would be awesome ！


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## davefrombc

You could set up a wireless LAN with a router.You don't need internet access to do that.... or connect the two laptops with a crossover cable to hard wire a network between them .


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## AWW

I think twice a year would be fit to be honest...


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## gklaw

mikebike said:


> I guess I'm old fashioned.
> What may work is for the sellers in the day's before the auction to post links to photos of what they will be selling and their seller # and lot # and description so buyers could create their bid list.


Yike, count me out for that :lol: It took me hours to bag and to label every bag. To picture and post every item ! No thanks. May be for the odd special items or special livestocks - sellers are free to do that I think.

A 30 minutes preview should suffice for an auction like this ?


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## Elle

Twice a year would be great, spring and fall. It would let everyone clear out stuff without as much building up, and you could even consider splitting it into one livestock and one equipment auction.

I've been around a lot of livestock/tack auctions out at FVA (horses, cattle etc.), and nobody posts photos beforehand. I think it's likely overkill for this, although there's nothing stopping people from posting what they're selling beforehand. A LAN/projector screen and also a spotter to point out possibly missed bidders would be great.


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## pinhead

mikebike said:


> I can experiment with my spare Linksys WRT54G router and my 3 laptops 1 XP Pro and 2 Windows 7 to see if it can be set up without internet. .


You need to set all your computers to the same workgroup/homegroup. It will be easier to try to network the 2 Windows 7 computers first because the network wizard in Windows 7 is a little easier to use. You also can set up file sharing at the same place in the Control Panel. When you plug the computers into the router they should see each other. Networking an XP computer with them is not too difficult either.

Any digital camera with movie mode or any camcorder can be connected into an LCD connector. LCD projectors are also becoming common place in businesses. I'm sure if the call went out, there would be people who could lend the equipment out rather than having to purchase it.


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## mikebike

Thanks, I'm currently running my Windows 7 desktop, Windows XP Prow desktop, Acer Windows 7, HP Windows 7 laptop, and Toshiba Windows XP Pro laptop, all ruining on my home network with a D-Link wireless N DIR-628. Along with any other computer I'm fixing up.
I'm a MS Beta tester since Windows XP and try to be running the various Operating Systems to answer questions from users on the Yahoo groups I own or moderate on. 
I got my first computer a 16 Commodore PET back in 1975.


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## BCAquaria

I'm semi computer literate. When it comes to networking it drives me up the wall. 
It's too confusing.

I'm not too sure how well a projector will work in such a bright room. We'll look into it, but realistically I don't think it's needed. Is it worth us spending a few hundred more on top? I don't think so. If someone were able to lend us one that would be cool. As for borrowing, I'm not too keen on borrowing someones expensive projector for the fear it gets tripped on or broken. BCA wouldn't be able to replace it for someone.

Twice a year eh guys....lol. We just barely pulled off one auction. I think for now once a year should suffice. Takes alot of planning, and time to pull it off. We gotta spend more time planning to make it even better. With Shawns new marriage and kids plus my 7 day work schedule it'll be pretty hectic. We'll see as the time comes. It was pretty fun for a first time. Not as bad as I was expecting. I was actually expecting chaos. LOL


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## mikebike

I'm not good on networking that is why I buy D-Link they have free 24/7 support<G>
Between them an Google I can get a lot of answers

Mike


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## gklaw

BCAquaria said:


> I was actually expecting chaos. LOL


Chaos ? Not at all ! I was very impressed. I cannot even say you can do things better for sure. I would say, we can certainly try something different to see if it is better.

Thanks again for all the hard work !


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