Photo Gallery

The Icebreaker Reception & Silent Auction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 30th AATA Conference started out with the Icebreaker Reception
on Sunday Evening, with the
food, drinks, tour desk and entertainment sponsored by:

Click on the thumbnails below to see larger photos. To see more photos, clicks on the right or left arrows.
[photogallery/photo00013619/real.htm]
The Vienna conference was the first time in several years that the Icebreaker Reception included entertainment. The piano, cello and violin trio playing classical Viennese music was very popular with attendees – so popular, in fact, that we took up a collection to keep the musicians playing long after the 8pm closing time. At 10:30 p.m., they were still playing, the food and bar was still open and the reception room was still crowded with those busy renewing old friendships and making new ones. A tour desk was offered during the Icebreaker Reception to assist attendees with sight-seeing during their stay in Vienna. SILENT AUCTION? This was also the first chance attendees got to see the items being included in the Silent Auction. We started with one table to display items on, then added another, and another. The items ranged from a wooden puzzle of Austria and a stuffed bear to an original drawing and watercolor painting to airplane models and two worldwide airline tickets. The most unusual item? “Sheep Dip” donated by Tim Harris and, no, you don’t pour it on sheep . . . you drink it! On Tuesday following lunch, the highest bidders found out what they had won. We had 14 companies / individuals donate over 35 items bringing in $3,250 to AATA. The highest bids were for the model of an A380 cargo plane (1/100th scale), donated by Airbus, and the two round trip worldwide airline tickets, donated by Continental Airlines. In fact these two items were so popular that the “silent” auction had to become “live” at the last minute to resolve the contest. A special thanks to all donors and bidders! We are planning on another auction next year so be thinking of what you can collect over the next year and bring along or send to the Annual Meeting in Calgary to be put up for auction. Don’t be afraid to get creative! It is for a very worthy cause. A special thanks to Mike Kuntz for volunteering to be the auction coordinator for this first auction and to his wife for her on-site help – though it’s unclear if she “volunteered” or was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!

[ Back to Top ]