If you don’t know the name Dick Friel, well then you simply need to re-evaluate how much money you give to charity, because it’s not enough.  There’s a small number of A-list auctioneers in this town, so if your event was any good, you had about a 1 in 3 chance of seeing Dick and Sharon Friel at the mic.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that Mr. Friel has passed away at the age of 76.  I had the pleasure of working with him and his wife on the Cure Autism Now Auction back in the early 2000’s.  He was a genuine professional, with a jovial smile and demeanor that was all about business – the business of making money for charity.

I was naive to how auctions worked when I first saw him prepping.  He asked for the attendee list and list of items.  He then ran through his mental rolodex as easily as I remember baseball stats.  “Oh, Mr. Brown loves vacations.  He’s good for $1000 every event so let’s save this Italy trip and focus on him.” “The Jacobsons would go nuts for this necklace, but they always leave by 9:00.  Let’s move it to Item 3.”   “I know Mike and John are Pearl Jam freaks.  Let’s get a bidding war on that studio session and then convince Eddie to let them both in.”  From a marketing perspective, it was a thing of beauty to watch.  And the winners were always the charities.  

Farewell, Mr. Friel.