Contact: Hannes Combest
Chief Executive Officer
2012 International Auctioneer Championship Contestants Announced
Overland Park, Kan., June 15, 2012 - Since 1988, the world's top auctioneers have competed for the title of International Auctioneer Champion (IAC). Hosted annually by the National Auctioneers Association (NAA), the competition takes place at the International Auctioneers Conference and Show. This year's competition will take place Friday, July 20 at the Spokane Convention Center in Spokane, Wash.
IAC competitors will be judged on their presentation, chant, voice timbre, body language, interview answers and other performance elements of effective auctioneering. Sixty men and twenty-four women will compete in this year’s competition. The IAC preliminaries will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, July 20. The top seven female contestants and fifteen male contestants advance to the finals which will begin at 6:00 p.m.
IAC champions serve as industry ambassadors and will spend the next year traveling throughout the country training auctioneers and representing the industry before the public. A highlight of an IAC champion’s year is serving as the lead auctioneers at the annual St. Jude Toy Auction. Every year St. Jude Children Research Hospital hosts an afternoon auction in partnership with the NAA where patients learn to bid call like an auctioneer and bid on free toys donated by the NAA.
In 2011, Joseph Mast, CAI of Millersburg, Ohio, was selected as the men's division IAC champion. Camille Booker, CAI, CES of Eltopia, Wash. was the 2011 women's division champion.
Click here to watch video of Joseph Mast, CAI
Click here to watch video of Camille Booker, CAI, CES
2012 International Auctioneer Championship Contestants
Paul D. Adams, CAI, Middleton, ID
Regina Andrijeski, Curtis, NE
Darrell D. Anstine, Holden, MO
Austin Bachmann, Ottertail, MN
Rose Backs, Hayden, ID
Patti Baldini, CAI, CES, Nashville, TN
Denis A. Barrett, Cork City, Ireland
John Beechy, Nappanee, IN
Toni Benysh, Wabash, IN
Darren Bok, Hicksville, OH
Michael Bonnell, Greenfield, IN
Austin Booker, Eltopia, WA
Chantel Booker, Eltopia, WA
Alesha Booker-Russell, Eltopia, WA
Gwen C. Bryant, CAI, AARE, CES, Florence, SC
Chance Crawford, Louisburg, MO
Chase Crawford, Edwards, MO
Jeff Crissup, Helena, OK
Brian Damewood, Purcellville, VA
Richard (T.J.) Freije, Clayton, IN
Letitia Frye, CAI, Scottsdale, AZ
Peter D. Gehres, CAI, CES, Lewis Center, OH
Brady Hammrich, Port Orchard, WA
Dallas Hansen, Plainview, NE
Josh Hickey, Steward, IL
Heidi Hill BAS, CES, Union, OR
Troy Hill, BAS, Union, OR
Steven Holt, Chattanooga, TN
Matthew Hostetter, CES, Beaver Falls, PA
Joshua Houk, Boise, ID
Jim Huff, CAI, Mount Pleasant, IA
Kurt Johnson, CAI, BAS, White Bear Lake, MN
Rod Johnson AARE, BAS, Cannon Falls, MN
Jerry E. King, CAI, Fletcher, NC
Kathy Kingston, CAI, BAS, Hampton, NH
Charla Kitch, Keller, TX
Jonathan Kraft, Valparaiso, IN
Wendy Lambert, BAS, Coppell, TX
Taylor Linkous, Blacksburg, VA
James (JimBo) Logan, CAI, CES, GPPA, Clyde Park, MT
Tasabah Malone, CAI, CES, Paragould, AR
Laura Mantle, Gahanna, OH
Joey Martin, Pelzer, SC
Whitey Mason, CAI, Guthrie, OK
Michelle Massart, CAI, BAS, Green Bay, WI
Murray McCandless, BAS, Elizabethtown, KY
Paul McCartan, Spring Valley, MN
Megan McCurdy, CAI, BAS, Wichita, KS
Robert McDowell, BAS, Butte, MT
Angie Meier, Ennis, TX
Craig Meier, Ennis, TX
Chad A. Metzger, CAI, Wabash, IN
Scott Mihalic, Chardon, OH
Carol Miller, Oconomowoc, WI
Jason Miller, CAI, Quaker City, OH
Jeremy Miller, Fairland, OK
Timothy Miller, Merton, WI
Trev Moravec, David City, NE
Justin Travis Ochs, Hendersonville, TN
Stef Olivier, Capetown, South Africa
Paul Ramirez, Tucson, AZ
Dustin Rogers, Mount Airy, NC
Beth Rose, CAI, Maumee, OH
Sara Rose, CAI, Naples, FL
Justin Schultis, Fairbury, NE
Brendan Scott, Vale, OR
Daren Shumway, CAI, Mesa, AZ
Art Smith, CAI, CES, Cedar Springs, MI
Kelly Strauss, King George, VA
T. Kyle Swicegood, BAS, Mocksville, NC
David Taylor, Inman, SC
Kevin Teets, CAI, CES, Shinnston, WV
Shawn Terrel, CAI, AARE, Smithville, MO
Tammy Tisland, Hines, MN
Sherry Truhlar, CAI, BAS, Alexandria, VA
Justin Vondenhuevel, CES, Maplewood, OH
Emily Wears, BAS, Solon, IA
Curtis Wetovick, Fullerton, NE
David Whitaker, Ames, IA
Andrew White, Ashland, OH
David Yearsley, Kennedyville, MD
Wayne Yoder Jr., Wautoma, WI
Mark Younger, Maryville, MO
Lynne Zink, CAI, BAS, CES, Joppa, MD
Click here to learn more about this year's IAC competition.
# # #
About the National Auctioneers Association (NAA)
Headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) represents thousands of auctioneers in the United States and across the world. Founded in 1949, the mission of the NAA is to promote the auction method of marketing and enhancing the professionalism of its members through education and technology. To learn more about auctions or to find auctioneers an auctioneer, visit www.naaauction.com.
