International Auctioneer Championship

Contest Rules, Requirements & Champion Responsibilities

Eligibility and Entry

• Contestants shall be 18 years of age or older and must be a current, active (paid) member of National Auctioneers Association at the time of the entry deadline.
• Past IAC champions are not eligible to compete in future IAC competitions.
• The 2023 International Junior Auctioneer Championship contestants are not eligible to compete in the 2023 NAA IAC competition.
• Contestants must register to attend Conference. The Day Pass registration option does not qualify. Exhibitors who purchase a booth may compete in the contest. Conference registration and payment must be received on or before the entry deadline.
• Contestants must complete and submit the IAC Contestant Entry Form (along with bio and photo) and pay the $425 entry fee on or before the entry deadline of May 31. Failure to submit a bio and/or photo by the entry deadline will result in non-inclusion in the printed Contestant Booklet.
• Absolutely NO LATE ENTRIES will be accepted.

Contest Structure

• There shall be two divisions of the contest (men’s and women's). The two divisions shall be treated equally in every respect.
• In 2023, both the preliminary and final round of the competition, contestants in the women’s division will compete first followed by the men’s division.
• Competing order will be determined prior to the event by a drawing conducted by NAA Director of Marketing and Communications and the NAA Finance Director. Competitors for the women’s division will be drawn first followed by the men’s division. Competing order will be announced at the mandatory Contestant Roll Call and Orientation Meeting the morning of the IAC competition.

Attendance

• All contestants must attend a mandatory Contestant Roll Call and Orientation Meeting on the morning of the contest. Check-in and roll call will begin promptly at 7 a.m. In the event a contestant is not present during the initial roll-call, their name will be called two additional times at 10-minute intervals. In the event a contestant is not present when their name is called the third and final time, they will be disqualified from the contest, without refund of entry fees or conference registration.
• Contestants shall be introduced by contestant number in both the preliminary and final rounds. If the contestant is not present when called to the podium, he or she will be disqualified.
• Dress appropriately for a professional presentation.

Judging and Scoring

• There will be seven judges, at least two of whom will be women. The women judges may be either an auction professional or members of the NAA Legacy Youth Scholarship Committee. The men judges will be auction professionals. The same judges will serve both the men and women’s divisions.
• In the event a judge cannot complete his/her duties during the preliminary and/or final rounds of the competition, an alternate judge will replace that judge. All scores from the previous judge will remain in the scoring system. Once the alternate judge assumes his/her position as judge, their score will be used to calculate scores from this point forward.
• Past champions are eligible to judge in future competitions.
• Each contestant sells two items consecutively in both the preliminaries and in the finals. All contestants will sell items provided by the NAA with an equal value to other contestants’ items.
• On the scorecard used for the bid-calling segments, the total possible points in each category will be as follows:
  • Presentation -- 20 points
  • Chant/Voice -- 45 points
  • Effective Auctioneering -- 35 points
• On the scorecard used for the interview segment, the total possible points in each of the categories will be:
  • Presentation -- 25
  • Response -- 50
  • Ambassador -- 25
• The lowest scores in each segment of the contest will be eliminated and the remaining scores will be averaged for the contestants' final scores.
• If a tie score occurs in the preliminary and/or the finals portion of the competition, scores will be recalculated to include the contestant’s low score. In the event there is still a tie, the contestant with the highest score in the Chant/Voice category will be selected. If necessary, the third tie-breaker would go to the contestant with the highest score in the Effective Auctioneering category.
• The scores from the preliminaries determine who enters the finals.
• The number of finalists for each division (men and women) shall be based on a sliding scale:
  • 14 or fewer contestants = five finalists
  • 15 to 30 contestants = seven finalists
  • 31 to 45 contestants = 10 finalists
  • 46 or more contestants = 15 finalists
• Finalists will be announced after the conclusion and the scoring of the preliminary competition.
• Only finalists will perform interviews.
• Each finalist will be asked to report to an isolated room for instruction on the interview portion of the competition.
• Contestants are not allowed in the isolated finalist room until all finalists have been announced.
• Communication devices, of any kind, are not allowed in the finalist room.
• The interview portion is the only part of the contest with isolation restrictions.
• During the interview portion, contestants will be asked three interview questions, of which some may be related to NAA business. Contestants will have up to two minutes to answer each question. Responses will be timed. Contestants are not penalized if they do not use the entire two minutes to answer interview questions.
• Contestants will not be asked to chant during the interviews.
• Final scores are determined by combining the interview score with the bid-calling finals score. The interview score will count for 40 percent and the bid-calling score will count for 60 percent of the total.
• Each contestant will receive his or her own scores by email approximately 30 days after the contest. Contestants will receive the high, low and median scores for the preliminary, final bid calling and interview portions of the competition. A high, low and median score will also be released for the overall combined scores as well as the cut-off score necessary to compete in the finals. Approximately two weeks after the conclusion of the contest, Contestants may request their placement by contacting Jennifer Vossman at the NAA HQ office at jvossman@auctioneers.org.

Recognition

• At the conclusion of each contestant’s performance in the preliminary competition, contestants will be presented with a medallion as recognition for participation in the event.
• Each finalist will be awarded a finalist trophy.
• The following prizes will be awarded to the winners in both the men’s and women’s divisions at the conclusion of the competition:
  • Second Runner Up – Second Runner-up trophy, medallion
  • First Runner Up – First Runner-up trophy, medallion
  • Champion – $5,000 cash prize, championship trophy, and medallion. A Championship ring will be ordered after the contest and shipped to the winners. One-half of the cash prize will be mailed within 30 days and the other half will be mailed in January.

Champion Responsibilities

• The new NAA IAC Champions shall make themselves available to the NAA Communications team for at least 30 minutes following the completion of the contest to ensure that media interviews, if any, at that time are handled and to obtain additional information needed for news releases and other publicity material.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall attend the NAA’s IAC Champions Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. on the Saturday following the competition
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall make themselves available on Saturday morning for the Don Shearer Children's Auction and photo shoot immediately following the auction.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall attend a lunch with NAA CEO Aaron Ensminger, and appropriate NAA staff, immediately following the photo shoot on Saturday following the competition.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall attend a mandatory NAA orientation meeting scheduled for August 2023, at no cost to the champions.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall serve as an NAA ambassador (when appropriate) which may include opportunities with professionally produced television spots, media interviews, public appearances, and seminar presentations at State Auctioneer Association Conventions (based on requests and acceptable scheduling of champion).
• The NAA IAC Committee and/or NAA staff will instruct the new champions on guidelines for conduct and roles in representing the NAA and the auction industry with the media and others.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall serve as members of NAA’s IAC Committee (August-July) for two consecutive terms.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall serve as hosts of the next IAC event.
• The new NAA IAC Champions shall serve as a judge of the next two IJAC competitions.