“We are excited about this year’s auction going virtual as it will introduce this event to many FPSA members and other industry professionals that have never had the opportunity to attend it live at the annual conference,” said Bob Campbell, chairman of the FPSA Auction Task Force, and president and general manager of Marlen. “James Cunningham has done a wonderful job as the auctioneer of this event for the last several years and even has experience hosting virtual auctions, so we are lucky to have him back with our group.”

There is no cost to attend the FPSA auction; however, registration is required — at https://fpsa2021.givesmart.com — to gain access to the event and bid on any live or silent items, FPSA said. Anyone interested in donating an item for one of the worthy causes may do so at https://www.fpsa.org/auction-item/.

“Our membership has asked if we would still hold the auction after cancelling the annual conference due to COVID,” said Matt Malott, chairman of FPSA and CEO and president of Multivac Inc. “Our answer to that was that there is even greater need this year on the part of the groups we support than ever before, and for that reason, we were even more determined to make sure our auction would be held. Thanks to technologies we have all become more accustomed to over the past 14 months, like MS Teams and apps, it will be far easier to participate in this year’s auction than in the past.”

Anyone interested in participating in the FPSA wine tasting may sign up at https://www.fpsa.org/fpsa-events/fpsa-2021-auction/. The $30 wine tasting kits for this event must be purchased by May 6 to allow time for shipping, FPSA said.

Both the auction and wine tasting are open to members and nonmembers alike. For more information about these two events, visit https://www.fpsa.org/fpsa-auction-frequently-asked-questions/ or contact Elena Sierra at 703-663-1220 or esierra@fpsa.org.