Nearly 10,000 Expected at PESA Charity Auction at Paramount
Great America Park
Professional eBay Sellers, eBay Join to Promote Kids’ Online
Safety
The Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA, www.gopsesa.org),
representing over 700 high-volume eBay sellers generating over
seventy million eBay transactions and $1 billion in eBay sales
annually, announces a gala charity fundraising event to be
held on June 24, 2005 at Paramount Great America Park in Santa
Clara, CA. (www.pgathrills.com).
This second annual PESA Charity Auction is presented in cooperation
with eBay.com (www.ebay.com) on the occasion of its 10th anniversary “eBay
Live” event in San Jose. The entire amusement park will
be closed to the public for the evening, open only to eBay
Live attendees, expected to number more than 10,000. The charity
auction will be held at the PESA Community Pavilion, and will
benefit NetSmartz (www.netsmartz.org), a joint program of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the
Boys and Girls Clubs of America, designed to teach kids how
to be safe online.
The PESA Charity Auction will include a live "celebrity" auction,
and a silent auction. EBay celebrities on the live auction
block include: eBay North America President Bill Cobb, who
will accompany the winner on a ride of his/her choice; eBay
For Dummies author and PESA member Marsh Collier (who is hoping
for a less-scary ride); and legendary eBay sellers Jay and
Marie Senese (PESA members, and owners of the highest feedback
rating in eBay history), who will have lunch with the winner.
Last year, the auction for Jay brought the single largest bid,
which benefited the Disabled Online Users Association.
“PESA is devoted to promoting the highest levels of professionalism,
fairness, honesty, and integrity with respect to online trade,” explains
PESA Executive Director Jonathan Garriss. “So we are
thrilled to help raise money to teach children and teens how
to choose reliable web sites and stay safe online.”
PESA was founded in the spring of 2004, and has devoted much
of its energies to online safety. The first benefit that PESA
offered its members was a 50% discount for sellers to provide
surety bonds on their eBay auctions through buySAFE. PESA members
have the opportunity to attend breakfast meetings on safety
and other topics with eBay managers and executives at eBay
Live, and to participate in task forces and discussion groups
devoted to online safety.
Corporate donors and PESA members will be providing items
available for bid through a silent auction at the event. Last
year, items for bid ranged from luxury products and getaway
weekends, to professional services for helping grow an eBay
business. In addition, donors who donate at least $2,500 to
the charity will be recognized at the PESA booth at eBay Live,
and at the charity event (donations are still being accepted).
PESA will be announcing early donors to the charity auction,
as well as its booth sponsors, shortly. Past PESA event sponsors
have included Ethical Technologies (www.ethicaltools.com),
Overstock auctions (www.overstock.com), buySAFE (www.buysafe.com),
ChannelAdvisor (www.channeladvisor.com), Infopia (www.infopia.com),
Knowledge Flow (www.knowledgeflow.com), Marketworks (www.marketworks.com),
Truition (www.truition.com), Vendio (www.vendio.com) and Zoovy
(www.zoovy.com).
About PESA
The Professional eBay Sellers Alliance (PESA) is a non-profit
trade association comprised of over 700 high-volume eBay sellers
generating over seventy million eBay transactions $1 billion
in eBay sales annually. PESA provides a forum for members to
exchange innovative and creative ideas and business solutions;
promotes the highest levels of professionalism, fairness, honesty,
and integrity in online trade; and represents a collective
voice of top sellers. For more information, please visit www.gopesa.org.
About NetSmartz
The NetSmartz Workshop is an interactive, educational safety
resource that teaches kids and teens how to stay safer on the
Internet. NetSmartz combines the newest technologies available
and the most current information to create high-impact educational
activities that are well received by even the most tech-savvy
kids. Parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement also
have access to additional resources for learning and teaching
about the dangers children may face online. NetSmartz was created
by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children ® (NCMEC)
and Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). Visit www.netsmartz.org.
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