I have just managed to create an extra ticket to the #westcoastDO which I am selling to the highest bidder. 100% of the money raised from this auction will be sent over by me to Drew at TravelisFree for his fundraiser to help out his in-laws adopting two very cute kids with special needs.
When Drew launched this campaign I was a little too self absorbed with things to get to donating myself, and I kept vowing to ‘get to it soon’. I reached out to Drew and Carrie over the weekend and they told me that the fund was still attempting to raise money, but they aren’t pushing it (I guess it can feel a bit ‘old’ to ask too many times) but it is still an ongoing thing, and if you want to donate please feel free to head over to this post to learn more about their situation, and give something via their paypal button should you so choose.
Things to note about the auction:
- You are bidding on one General Admission ticket to the DO (valued at $115) it can be transferred for free at any time, and I will refund it to the value of $115 until 11/1, just like any other ticket, even if it sells for more than that.
- The amount of the bid is not a charitable donation – look at it like this, you are bidding on a ticket in the open market, but I will then decide to give all the money away – that is my donation not yours (though there is no tax break in it for me). I’ll be covering the cost of the $115 ticket out of my own pocket.
- The Auction will last for 7 days, ending on 7/14/14 12:00 PM EST hopefully that will give plenty of time for everyone to be made aware of it, and bid as they see fit.
Why I’m doing this
There was such a massive demand for tickets that I just can’t open up the event for everyone, but at least this gives someone the chance to get in. I think an auction is a fun way to deal with that, but I don’t want to make any money off this, I priced the event to break even. I picked Drew and Carrie to help out because Allison and I met up with them for Brunch back in Manhattan and they strike me as two of the most genuine people I have met in this blogging world. They are ethical, fun, and write great content. I don’t think that there are very many people out there who could walk they path that they do and not succumb to the lure of the credit card revenue. It is a pleasure to do what I can to help them achieve goals like this.
Auction Link – Good Luck!
Please feel free to ask me any questions about this in the comments or via the usual channels.
Cheers,
Matt
great idea, hope you raise a lot of money.
Thanks James- me too!
Great idea.
Any chance they could make the DO?
I know they were in the States for the holiday season last year, not sure if that is their regular pattern or not.
Maybe- I haven’t asked – I just set this up and sent the link afterwards- be cool to see them there.
dates again for the DO please?
11/8 Saturday is the main event, many will stay Sunday too for unofficial get togethers, meetups, and shinnanegans
Brilliant idea and appreciate your thought process in helping adoption in the way you can. Very thoughtful and innovative. Really nice to see bloggers supporting each others in noble causes like those. I could see only a handful bloggers in the list there but none who must have/be earned/earning crazy money through “travel” blogging. Wishing you good luck on this.
While I think this is a great idea and very generous of you Matt, I would be much more inclined to bid if Drew would publicly announce that he is donating sales revenue from AA Global Upgrades he is trying to sell on his website as well. These cost him nothing and he is selling for $300+ each
I think it is unfair to speculate as to how much they have already donated, or what you think they should donate. I am sure that neither of us knows what that is, but I am also sure that they have done well by them. Your comment detracts from this message, bid or do not.