Yup, she did.

But would it have mattered if she didn't?

Yes. Not sure that it is any of your business or of any ones business.

Is there a reason you ask??

I would guess wissmiss has been involved in more fur sales then 95+% on the site. So maybe she has a clue how one should be run. All she said was get a computer program that works. What they have might of been fine the first sale or two, but they have out grown it. I am guessing they know that too.

You should take these questions as a compliment. Obviously, there is a lot of interest in the results of your sale because it is recognized as a major event that helps set or adjust the market. If you had a little podunk sale that no one cared about, then there wouldn't be any questions or interest. I am sure both buyers and sellers are anxious for the results because of other upcoming sales across the country.

I’ll admit I had some frustrations with how the sale went. My biggest frustration was the lack of clear communication about the schedule changing. The never even updated the posted schedule and I only found out about changes because someone was telling someone else in passing. I had to find a volunteer to verify what I heard. I wouldn’t have spent money to stay there Saturday night if I knew I could drive up early Sunday to put bids in.

I would be all for splitting up into a couple different days. Cats one day, long hair the next or whatever. I’m happy to help out and was helping some of the cat buyers put their bids into the tablets. I was going to help shag fur before getting my own but, at 1 am, I still had to drive home so I could sleep two hours before going to work.

It was just a simple question, since your posts have been critical of the sale. A sale which admittedly was a bit of a fiasco. Rusty and crew are well aware. I guess I just am pretty patient. It makes no difference to me if I see results in a day or in a week. I understand you have had a lot of involvement in other sales and I don't take that for granted. I'm sure you can run a sale very effectively. Perhaps ITA would appreciate some help next year, if you were to show up and offer your expertise.

I believe she would rather volunteer at smaller sales that are easier to run that to show up at a large sale where far more moving parts are in play. ITA is well aware of changes that need to be made, now whether those changes are made is another discussion entirely. The averages that have been posted elsewhere look pretty good, and far more categories than I realized. Lots of cats that needed to be herded. Easy to see though why the averages were posted elsewhere first, considering trappers seem to be the most detrimental to other trappers of any outdoor group.

Don't worry about me boys and girls I got thick skin. We will adjust and persevere. If I couldn't handle the criticism, I wouldn't have taken the NTA President position as well. I attended the Livingston Montana sale last year and was pushing a broom at 3 AM while some pouted in the corner about sale that took too long and didn't want to pitch in and help. I told everyone, don't sweat one bit, I know Chris Morgan and that Montana crew, and they will be back with vengeance next year. The Montana sale this year was quick and clean and I wasn't surprised one bit. I have been up in Rathdrum helping out they guys with this sale, rushing back home for 48 hrs and then I am off to a NTA conference in Fairbanks for a few days. Once I get back the following weekend, is a NTA leadership conference in The Dalles. Somewhere in the middle of that push we will be having a fur sale committee meeting. We will look at issues and fix them. Our program is the one that Intermountain Fur Harvesters, Wyoming, Utah and NM use. We will be talking to buyers and figuring out how to split the species up at our sales and adding some length to it. Not trying to brag but the momentum on our Idaho sales is building and we will have to adjust with more attendance and more fur coming. That is a good problem to have instead of not having enough fur to fill the space. As I always remind everyone, the MAIN purpose of trapping associations is NOT to have fur sales. Ya they are sure nice, but it is not the MAIN purpose. The main purpose of a trapping association is to protect, promote and educate about trapping. Their ain't no fur sales if you lose trapping in your state. Hopefully these state organizations are being PROACTIVE and aggressive with their money they made off of these sales this season.
Rusty

Good post Rusty.

People should also realize that there is a difference between feedback and criticism. Feedback helps the organizers of the event plan better for the next one.