He’s all about Giving…

When I first started looking at how my company could give back by selling on eBay, I had to look no further than across my street for some inspiration. That’s where my good friend Andrew Wise lives. In his non-soccer dad and frustrated rock drummer life, he’s the Vice President of Consumer Products at A&E Television Networks (AETN)* and the architect of their very successful eBay Giving Works store.

Since launching their store in April 2006, AETV facilitated 4 major cause-related auctions raising over $125,000 for Starlight Starbright and The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Recently, between chasing after his very active children and equally hyper dog, he sat down to talk to me about how he took what was a fun idea and turned it into a new revenue stream for his company and an avenue to support some really worthwhile causes. You can read the full interview on whatgives.com.

What Gives?! Well, I do!

I was recently invited to be a contributing blogger to eBay’s official GivingWorks blog, aka WhatGives?!  I just put up my third post, and am getting into the groove of the site more and more.  This one was the first post that wasn’t repurposed from ConfessionsofanITGirl.com, and it was about how I became a convert to reusable supermarket bags (I know, THRILLING stuff, but trust me, it’s in scope).  I’ll be writing about green stuff, doing good, and how I’m hoping to inspire my family and others by my actions in these areas.  If you’re interested in similar topics, sign up on the site.  It’s in beta right now, but there’s no better time to get in on the ground floor, now is there?

I’ll soon be talking about a really cool project that I and others at Wiley are working on.  Stay tuned!