The Soft Pitch

My list:

10) To make sure everyone knows America’s team is NOT the Dallas Cowboys

9) Lose 25 lbs

Have a great 60th birthday party month (not day)

7) Raise more money than ‘08 even in a down economy for the Maag Toy Foundation…

6) Avoid heart attack watching Cubs this season and….win a world series

5) Build 1st stage of Chicago 16″ Softball Hall of Fame and continue to market the great sport

4) Enjoy Arizona Cardinals in 1st of many playoff games

3) Challenge, workand enjoy my staff even more to accomplish more with tighter budgets and have more fun

2) Help educate our employees so Avnet can be more green, have fun, use social media and help in the assocaitions and communities we serve to make a difference and enhance our brand.

1) Make sure our journalist community is well aware of our talented people, interesting and innovative things we are doing to make Avnet the leading technology distributor and marketer…and give examples of our corporate culture and personality that accelerate the success of our business partners.

I’ve been thinking about the reports I’ve read recently about donations being down for toys for kids at Christmas. In one of my last posts I wrote about a branch office of Avnet Electronics Marketing hosting an annual party with customers and suppliers to raise money for charity. And last week I learned about another Avnet grassroots effort to support local kids during the holidays. Long story short, our team at the new Avnet Global Solutions Center  hosted a party for employees. Suppliers donated some prizes like DVD players, big screen TVs and Wii systems for a party and all employees received prize drawing tickets for a shot at the prizes. Employees could also get extra tickets in return for a donation, then Santa made a visit, they ate lots of food and drank hot cocoa.   Then they counted up the money to buy presents for the kids who didn’t get picked during the Salvation Army’s Christmas Angel program.  Apparently there’s always some.  This year the solutions center team raised almost $5,000 – and Avnet, Inc. matched bringing the total to $10,000 for these kids.  Now here’s the cool part – then the employees went on a $10,000 shopping spree with the Salvation Army in hand to buy the things these kids and their families really needed and wanted.  They went to the local Wal-Mart, where the manager gave them an across the board 10% discount to make those dollars go a little further.  What a great way to spread some holiday cheer! Kudos to the team and to our suppliers for finding a way to have some holiday fun and help others at the same time!

Traci Henderson unloads part of the $10,000 in Toys donated to Salvation Army

Kevin Olson, John Beimfohr and Traci Henderson join the ranks of Salvation Army Angels shopping for toys.

Continue Reading »

Because we are global company I can’t just say Merry Christmas…we usually say happy holidays. So HO HO HO Happy Holidays…But is it? Even Santa has to be feeling the economic slow down…if his sleigh is American made will his new model be made or will the big 3 fold? If Elves were laid off will his supply chain work? Can he get the credit line to buy all the toys and in my case coal?

The past few months have been no laughing matter…business will get better is what i hear…I hope so…too many people are out of work which is taking a toll on those businesses that count on consumer spend. Fund raising for charities is low…

But was is important is health, family, friends and for many of you practicing your faith. This will be my last blog until the last week in December…I have to start wrapping gifts, drinking egg nog and eating any cookies or fruit cake (yes I like fruit cake and egg nog) not tied down..

Here is to a great and healthy holiday season…if your doing ok…help the needy. Help Santa.

PS Our analyst meeting from the Big Apple is tomorrow…listen in.

By now its well into the evening in China and our Avnet Technology Solutions team in Asia is gearing up to execute on the announcement made in Beijing earlier today that Avnet is now going after the solutions distribution business in China. This didn’t get the same splash as our announcement two weeks ago of the acquisition of Nippon in Japan, virtually doubling our business in that market.  It didn’t get the same splash only because we’re working to build our solutions business in China, not buy it. Several reasons for this, but foremost being that we want the business to work with the rest of Avnet’s culture and offer customers the same dedication to value.  So, the team is hiring key individuals, leveraging our existing infrastructure (more than 15 facilities including warehouses, an integration center, and Avnet Electronics Marketing offices), nurturing relationships with suppliers (we’ll start from IBM and I’m sure very quickly add others), and reaching out to customers.

The world is in an economic crisis – turmoil – upheaval – shift –  whatever – pick your term. (As an aside, is it just me or are the headlines becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy scaring people and businesses into pulling back, thereby triggering more sluggish sales, which triggers a headline, which promotes more fear, leading to less spending, which triggers a headline…?)  Meanwhile, for those prudent and careful business managers this time represents opportunities to invest.  Do we need to readjust for the short term? Yes and yes we, Avnet, are taking the appropriate steps. Will this downturn last forever? No. So while we’re aligning resources for the short term, we’re still investing for the long term. We’re investing in the right places, with the right resources to be ahead of the market and positioned well for the turn. Asia is a great example. Millions of businesses and people, technologically savvy, and ready for expansion.  We’re ready too.