The Soft Pitch

It’s been several weeks since I’ve posted and Al has been taking up the slack.  While I’ve been offline (so to speak – I’ve been e-mailing like crazy these last few weeks) I haven’t been out of touch.  In fact there’s been lots happening to share.

My first thoughts go to innovation.  It’s becoming a pretty big push here.  We recently named a global head of innovation – Greg Frazier.  We’re asking customers, suppliers and just anybody to share ideas, and we’re already getting them too.  If you haven’t seen it, there’s now a button on our website where you can share your thoughts on ideas on how Avnet can serve customers and suppliers better. Innovation is one of our core values, so it should come as no surprise.  But we’re adding a dash of discipline to what had been more like spontaneous combustion.  We’ve got training classes in place that will coach senior leaders on how to encourage and support innovation.  While I’m on the topic, our Avnet Technology Solutions team in the US has come up with a way to extend financial terms to their resellers’ end-users – helping them manage through the credit crunch.  It wouldn’t be the first time Avnet was described as a “banker to the channel.”

My second thought of the day is around community service.  We are heading pell mell into the holidays, and no matter which one you celebrate this seems to be a heady time of year for all.  Al mentioned the military videos we hosted this past weekend.  We didn’t have as many people show up as we have in last year (I heard a rumor that someone else in town was offering the same thing to military families, copying is the best form of flattery I think.), but those who did show up were so very grateful that it was worth every bit of the effort.  From families with their dogs to families singing their own version of “The Night Before Christmas,” it was a great day to bring the resources of Avnet and its partners Metro Studios and Modavox, to help people stay connected with smiles (and not just e-mails) for their loved ones.  This commitment to our communities isn’t something that just happens at Avnet, Inc. headquarters, last week I read about one of our branches in Massachusetts that invited customers and suppliers to an event that raised more than $10,000 and $4000 worth of toys to donate to the annual Toys for Tots campaign.  More smiles all around!

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