Executives for auction

BAILA LAZARUS EDITOR

Where business meets charity is the catch-phrase for a new online auction with an innovative twist. Executives on Auction seeks to link high-powered businesspeople with those who would like to spend some quality time with a macher (mover) in the community.

Managing director Randy Fisher brought the project to the West Coast.
"Executives on Auction is a unique program that encourages business networking to raise money for charity," said Fisher.

Conceived in Ottawa, there have been successful auctions in Montreal and Toronto. Now in Vancouver, organizers are getting ready for the first West Coast auction where people bid online to win quality time with an auctionee.

Each winning bidder joins their executive at a mutually convenient time to play golf, attend an arts performance, a hockey game, go for dinner or whatever the local sponsors have provided. These venues are provided free by auction sponsors and enable the winning bid to go completely and directly to charity. Minimum bids start at $200. (Payment is made when the bidding is complete and no credit card is required to place a bid.)

Previous auctions have generated a great deal of excitement and money, said Fisher. In April 2002, an online executive auction in Ottawa netted $15,000 and helped one charity secure an additional $5,000 from an anonymous donor.

Charitable organizations being helped out through the West Coast auction include the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Diabetes Association, Compassion in Action, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Make A Wish Foundation, the Vancouver Food Bank, the Salvation Army and the United Way.

People up for auction include Shannon Byrne, CEO, Paradata; Bart Copeland, CEO, Credo Interactive; Eli Fathi, director, OCRI; Brian Foody, CEO, Iogen; Kevin Francis, CEO, Jetform; Max Keeping, anchor, CJOH-TV; John Reid, president, CATA Alliance; Jim Roche, president, Tundra Semiconductors; Claudine Simpson, VP, Nortel; and Jozef Straus, CEO, JDS Uniphase.

Executives on Auction in Vancouver is facilitated and promoted by iCentro Corp. (www.icentro.com), a business performance and career design firm. For more information, to suggest a person as an auctionee or offer a venue where a meeting can be held, contact Fisher at 604-684-2275 or [email protected], or visit www.executivesonauction.com.

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