The Soft Pitch

Ok, I confess.  I don’t do sports.  Growing up, my dad was from Canada and when I was a kid, the only US hockey team was the Kings. Living in LA, I went to few games with him when the Montreal Canadiens were in town, but that was about it. So, I had no sports coaching as a kid, so to speak. I know a little bit about being outside the ring for a 3-point basket and that it’s 10 yards to a first down. I sing a fairly decent “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” (which means I know all the words) during the seventh inning stretch, but that’s about it. As Al said in his post, I do camp and I love it. I go for the outdoors stuff.  So I’ve been whitewater rafting in Utah (Class 4), zip-lining in Hawaii, skydiving in the Arizona desert, and soaring in California, Nevada and Washington. This summer, I’m planning a week on a schooner off the coast of Maine. My story is not the same as die-hard-Cub’s-fan Al, but it’s my story nonetheless.  I do wear pearls to work, but never on the weekend, and maybe one day I’ll tell you the story of my blue pearls. In the meantime, one of the things I’ve learned in my career is that everyone, simply everyone, has a story to tell.

In this blog, we want to share with you the stories from Avnet you may not have heard about — or provide some insight on the stories you have heard about.  There’s a lot of interesting people doing some pretty cool stuff at Avnet. 

Take the virtualization blog started by Tim of Avnet Technology Solutions.  I’ve known Tim for years, he’s a self-described “propeller head,” which means when I need a simple explanation of something technical, he’s the guy I call.  He’s also one of the people who have been championing using social media to engage with our communities internally and, now, externally.  Server virtualization is a trend that took off a few years ago, and Avnet itself headed down the virtualization path in order to be more efficient. We walk the virtual talk, so to speak.  We’re also working on a green strategy for Avnet.    EBV Electronik, an Avnet company with its headquarters in Germany, is leading the way.  They just published a special issue of The Quintessence on ecodesign. Included with every copy is a packet of tree seeds to encourage readers to take personal action.  If all the seeds distributed are planted and grow into trees, they could absorb the same amount of CO2 as that produced by more than 23,000 people every year!

Michelle Gorel

VP Public Relations

Avnet, Inc.