|
|
Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 24 Jan 2005 11:56 |
The first ever world wide charity auction by SMS has been launched by the GSM Association in aid of UNICEF. The auction runs until the GSM event in Cannes and includes a collection of items from the worlds of sport, the arts and entertainment
Donated by members and partners of the Association, the majority of the lots will be sold in a unique global text message auction - believed to be the first of its kind in the world. Contributors include: Fortune; KTF; Motorola; Nokia; NTTDoCoMo Inc.; O2; Orange Group; Orascom; Siemens; Telefonica Moviles; T-Mobile International; TIM; Turkcell; UNICEF; Virgin Mobile; Vodafone Group; CNBC Europe, Turisme De Barcelona and the GSMA’s auction messaging partner Netsize.
Among the highlights are weekend VIP packages at the Cannes Film Festival, the Tour de France and the British Grand Prix, along with signed football, rugby, golf, tennis, cricket, motorcycling, sailing, American football, television and music memorabilia from global stars, across the world.
UNICEF Appeal
Announcing the auction - which aims primarily to fund UNICEF's work in the area of child trafficking - the Association's CEO and member of the Board, Rob Conway said: "This issue is a cause of global concern, highlighted by the tragic events in South East Asia. Our members and partners have responded magnificently to our challenge to donate items for the auction and we hope to raise a significant sum to help UNICEF's efforts in this vital area."
Start Bidding
Bidding starts today for the text message lots and continues until Thursday February 17 - the closing day of the forthcoming 3GSM World Congress.
A limited selection of exclusive items will be offered for sale during the GSM Association’s Awards Gala Dinner during the 3GSM World Congress on Tuesday 15th February 2005.
A special auction catalogue will be available at the 3GSM World Congress, and a selection of lots will also be on display in a special GSMA-UNICEF auction stand at the 3GSM World Congress, stand number C26 Hall 1.
Standard Rate Messages
While The GSM Association would have liked to have used premium rate SMS for the bids, the logistics of managing premium rate short codes for so many countries proved impossible. Bids for the auction are sent to a standard UK based mobile number. For example to bid for the British Grand Prix VIP hospitality tickets, text: BID GRANDPRIX followed by your bid amount in Euros and send to +44 7786 201000 having first sent a registration message text by sending the word “register†followed by your “name†and “company nameâ€. The messaging and voting will be managed by Netsize.
Donations can be made online to the UNICEF Tsunami appeal - just click the UNICEF banner below.
The full list of auction lots can be found at
www.gsmworld.com/auction
www.unicef.org
|
