Live blog from Kansas regional auctioneer bid-call contest

KAA east regional bid-call contest contestants (from left to right) Lance Fullerton, Aaron Traffas, Dan Bales, Luke Hansen, John Kisner, Ty Mitchell; picture by Diane Poe

12:25
Leaving now for Abilene, Kansas, to the Kansas eastern region bid-call contest. This is our first event with CoverItLive, so we’ll see how it works! More within the hour!
1:24
Nearly to the fairgrounds. 7 contestants to compete. I’ll post a roster when I get there.

Aaron Traffas, CAI, ATS, CES

1:28
90 degrees today. Going to be hot in the suit.

1:55
Lance Fullerton, John Kisner, myself and three other contestants. One no-show…looks like six total.

2:20
Ron Shivers selling chainsaw art pieces. Contest will begin soon.

2:31
Ty Mitchell starting as contestant 1.

2:35
Luke Hansen from Beloit selling second now.

2:39
third to sell is Dan Bales from Garden City.

2:39
I’m going forth. Here we go!

2:49
I just finished…feel ok about it.

John Kisner

2:49
Lance Fullerton now selling fifth.

2:52
Final contestant is John Kisner, selling sixth.

2:54
The PA system here in the barn is pretty aweful, but the simplified scoring system and lack of a finals round means we should have results soon!

2:58
Three judges are all from KAA hall of fame.

3:14
Final places: Lance Fullerton champion, John Kisner reserve champion.

Aaron Traffas, CAI, ATS, CES

Aaron Traffas, CAI, AMM, CES, is an auctioneer from Sharon, Kansas. For the last 22 years he's worked for Purple Wave. Aaron served as president of the Kansas Auctioneers Association in 2017 and on the National Auctioneers Association Education Institute Board of Trustees from 2009 through 2013. He is a past instructor at CAI and co-wrote the original ATS and AMM designation courses from NAA. An active contract bid caller, he has advanced to the finals in multiple state auctioneer contests. During the summer, Aaron operates a farm in south central Kansas. Aaron is an active singer and songwriter and the Aaron Traffas Band's latest music can be found at aarontraffasband.com as well as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon.