When you use Qtego for your virtual or hybrid fundraising event, your guests can participate in all of the action from their devices—watching the livestream, bidding, donating, interacting, and more. The technology is fast and fun, and it works well for an in-person as well as a virtual auction.

But maybe your organization has a tradition of using bidder paddles. Maybe you like the action and energy of seeing all the paddles waving, or maybe you like to tie the paddles to the event theme. Maybe your auctioneer has a terrific routine built around the paddle raise. Good news! You can still use bidder paddles for a hybrid in-person/virtual auction.

Keep In-Person Paddles Straight

Even if you only have some of your guests at the venue while others watch the livestream, it pays to organize the paddles in advance.

  • Put the guest’s name and table number on the paddle assigned to him or her.

  • Hand out assigned paddles at registration to ensure that the guest and assigned bidder number are linked in Qtego’s system.

  • Make sure bidder numbers are large enough for the auctioneer to easily see them.

Use QBidder for a Hybrid Virtual Auction

Our QBidder tool matches virtual auction bids with in-person paddle raises while the emcee screen on stage helps the auctioneer keep track of what’s going on for the in-person and virtual auction.

  • Our QBidder tool matches virtual auction bids with in-person paddle raises while the emcee screen on stage helps the auctioneer keep track of what’s going on for the in-person and virtual auction.

  • Last second bids appear on the emcee screen immediately, whether they came from at-home bids or in-person paddles.

  • If bidding is fast and close, Qtego can easily reset the countdown timer to give people in both locations an extra 15 or 30 seconds—it’s your call!

Doing a hybrid or virtual auction definitely adds some new twists to your usual program, but there’s no need to ditch the bidder paddles if your organization loves to use them. At Qtego, we’re always finding solutions to make your event run more smoothly, no matter what!

Have questions about doing a hybrid/virtual auction or virtual fundraising in general? We’re always happy to help.