THE GREAT OUTDOORS: ART
THE A-TEAM: (L to R) Alpert Enterprises’ Joe Girvan, Geoff Cowan, Jason Alpert and Vallye Adams.
Man of Auction
Jason Alpert and his team find ways to tap generosity, even during a pandemic. BY DAVID WARNER
W
hen the cheerfully relentless auctioneer Jason Alpert roams the floor at a charity event, there’s little doubt he’s going to drum up some high bids. But here’s a little trick of the trade: “I never try to ask for a bid while walking toward someone,” he explains. “Literally as I’m asking I’m backing away.” That way Alpert’s not putting the bidder on the spot — everyone else in the room is. It’s just one example of how Alpert and his team at Alpert Enterprises use psychology — as well as showmanship, timing and deep preparation — to bring about
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positive outcomes for their clients. The Largo-based company has raised more than $200,000,000 for close to 200 nonprofits around the country. Alpert, a former TV sports reporter and NASCAR announcer, went full-time into the auction biz a decade ago. He went solo at first, making referrals when he couldn’t do an auction himself, but at the end of 2017 — a year when he did 92 events — he sat down with his wife to make a plan on how to share the burden. It was tough to find the right personnel at first. “I couldn’t find other licensed auctioneers who could do charity who I could train to do entertaining. So I found two guys who were
good entertainers and sent them to auction school.” The “two guys” are the suave Australian Geoff Cowan and the high-energy former sportscaster Joe Girvan (Alpert brought on his first female auctioneer, Vallye Adams, in March of last year). Alpert and his team are familiar faces at such iconic local events as the American Stage Gala Under the Stars, the Straz Center’s Broadway Ball and the Poynter Institute’s Bowtie Ball. But, in 2020, all of those events were either postponed or held virtually. From mid-March to early June of last year, 41 events on Alpert Enterprises’ docket had to be either canceled or rescheduled. Only a
