I'm in a search for a marketing communications position. Resume here. Thanks!
A lot of people have interesting stuff they want to donate, but which doesn’t fit as a TradeUp item. Now you can bid on these items from our new TradeUp Auction page. It’s pretty simple – read the item description, if you’re interested, click the email link and submit a bid. Right now we’ve got two items up there, but there’s more on the way, so check back often!
Half the fun of this project is reaching out to various bloggers, media outlets, etc. to get the word out. The more exposure ALS Tradeup gets, the more interesting trade offers I’ll get, the more I’ll raise for ALS, and the more likely the Phillies will invite me to throw out the first pitch at a game in 2009. That’s my theory.
I popped over to Lansdale this morning because Michael Smerconish (WPHT 1210 AM) was doing a remote there at the Impact Thrift Store, encouraging listeners to think of the MLK holiday as a day of service and donation, and not just a day of playing Wii in your pajamas until noon, which is how we generally observe it at our house. I thought the topic of the show was a good fit for an ALS Tradeup pitch.
They seemed pretty psyched and actually knew about the project and were hoping to get me on the show anyway once all the Eagles madness was over, so I hung out for a bit. Pretty soon they were looking to fill a couple minutes due to a technical glitch, so they waved me over and me and Smerconish talked ALS Tradeup to the millions of people listening to the radio on a weekday holiday at 6:40 a.m.
My big takeaway was that apparently as I speak into a microphone I’m holding in my right hand, my right elbow starts to float up and pretty soon I’m looking like I’m an MTV guy about to bring out Wu-Tang Clan at a 2001 Daytona spring break beach party show. Sup wit dat? Anyway, Smerconish and his producer TC couldn’t have been nicer and hopefully they’ll invite me back over the course of the project.
So if you’re reading this on MLK Day, why not participate in some community service for a couple of hours? It’s not too late — just sign up at http://www.mlkdayofservice.org/, and they show you a ton of things you can do, customized to your family, location, interests, etc. It’s a fun way to spend the day, at least until Nintendo comes up with a way to make your little Mii guys perform community service on your behalf.
More than one person has confronted me, trembling with rage and bottled-up generosity, because they want to help ALS Tradeup, but they don’t have anything to trade right now. Others are just confused by the concept and find it comforting and familiar to just whip out the plastic. I could be stupid, and just do trades, or I could accommodate these people, who are trying to help me get picked by the Phillies to throw out the first pitch at a game this year. So now I have a little "donate" link down at the bottom of the right side of the home page. We take all the major credit cards plus Paypal, and after the credit cards take their share, 100% goes to ALS Philly. Thanks in advance!
Lots of people have also offered fun items that don’t fit into the tradeup framework right now, because the value isn’t quite right. Coming soon: a little cataloguey area where I list these items, and link to ebay auctions for them. This is getting fun, no? (First I have to change my ebay username because my kids think it’s "inappropriate.") I’m also going to be putting up a rotating advertising area thingy to give more exposure to some of the businesses that are helping out with the project. So, yeah, ALS Tradeup is getting bigger and better!
The Jenkintown paper ran a clownishly huge spread on ALS Tradeup on the front page today, featuring the biggest picture ever published on the front page of that newspaper that was not a child at a Rec Board event. It’s kind of unsettling, you can just about see my unconventionally handsome face from space. Anyway, if you’re coming here from there, welcome to the project! And thanks to the T-C for the coverage. I think showing the Phillies that I can grip a baseball in my throwing hand is just really important, and now we have that proof. I am CLEARLY qualified to throw out the first pitch at a Phils game in ’09.
I hope you’ll be able to join us at McSwiney Club in Jenkintown on the 23rd. Details are no longer fuzzy, they are now so sharp you can see Elvis’ pores. We start at 8, celebrate the upcoming baseball season via some big-screen highlights, and The King gets with the TCB around 10 p.m. Proceeds from the door will go towards the purchase of the next tradeup item. There’s even an official flier.
If you’re signed up to get emails from this site, you probably just got a couple of weird ones referencing a donation to the site. Please ignore these. I’m setting up a payment system and these were automatically generated. You didn’t get charged anything 
Details are still fuzzy, but we’re hosting a fundraiser party for ALS Tradeup in order to raise enough money to buy out Elvis and get a new trade offer up here on the site. Mark your calendar!
Date: Friday, January 23, beginning at 8 p.m.
Place: MacSwiney Club in Jenkintown
Tentative plans are a Phillies-themed evening along with some very special entertainment to be announced in the next few days.
The way this will work is that we’ll take $5/person at the door, and the proceeds will go toward a new trade item for the site. Because it’s a swap, everybody attending will be essentially trading their $5 for a piece of Upper Darby’s best Italian a cappella Elvis impersonator, or UDBIACEI, for short. How exactly we’ll divide up Elvis is TBD. Which is short for "to be determined."
The proceeds of the night will be put towards a new trade item for the site to take Elvis’ place. Stay tuned for details!
Remember, all ALS Tradeup activity is for the benefit of the Philadelphia chapter of the ALS Association, and the more we can raise for them, the better shot I have at being asked to throw out the first pitch at a Phillies game in 2009, which is the goal of this whole scheme. Along with curing ALS.
If you’re normal, like me, you’ve never really thought about what you would part with in exchange for having an Elvis impersonator come perform at your home, office, or event. It just doesn’t come up that often.
Let’s say the average Elvis gets about $200 per appearance. Most get more, but we’re here to trade, not bail out the Elvis industry (although at this point it does account for about 4% of the American economy).
So what might you be able to trade that’s worth at least $200, and preferably more? Some ideas:
Aahh, now you get it. Trading is easy and fun, and remember if you do a trade I’ll give your business or cause lots of exposure. Make an offer today!
When I was a kid we were so poor we only had one Elvis. You actually could only see him in one city at a time, and if he wasn’t touring you had to be a Memphis pharmacist to have any contact with him at all. Today the world is blessed with thousands of Elvii, members of a strange and strangely entertaining army whose uniform is sideburns, sunglasses, and a white sequined jumpsuit.
This week’s trade offer is a personal appearance by Jerry Perna, one of Upper Darby’s best Italian a cappella Elvis impersonators. Jerry is a showbiz veteran whose credits include 25 years’ experience in film, music video & national commercial spots, as well as over 75 appearances on stages across the US, in Canada and Eastern Europe. (Re?nik srpskohrvatskog književnog i narodnog Jailhouse Rock jezika! – Belgrade Observer, April 2003)
If your trade makes sense, Jerry will come to your event, workplace, or memorial service and do a thirty-minute Elvis show that you’ll be talking about, and possibly litigating about, for years afterwards. Let me know what you have to trade for this once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we’ll see if we can’t bring the King to life for you and your friends.
OK, the housecleaning is gone. Thanks to the high bidder the ALS Association is now $200 closer to a cure and I have 200 more reasons the Phillies should invite me to throw out the first pitch at a game in 2009.
Almost ready to announce the new trade, but first, I had five pretty solid trade offers for the housecleaning, and it was hard picking one.
1. A guy who folds balloons for kids parties, adult parties and corporate events was nice enough to offer his services. Besides the fact that the idea of a "balloon folder" at an "adult party" made me giggle a little, I just felt like it was too niche-y. Thanks anyway, balloon guy.
2. A service that sends a naked lady to your house so you can serve sushi and fruit off her body, like she’s a serving tray. I didn’t actually get an offer per se from her, though I really wanted one, just to see what their deal was. Are hoagies OK? What about soup? Not sure if I would have used them for this, but I love the idea of living in a world where a service like this is a phone call away — so if you think a serving tray made out of naked lady would be perfect for YOUR next function, email me for their contact info, let’s throw them some business.
3. An armoire. Good idea, and I appreciate the thought, but I just was too busy this week to drive over and check out the quality, etc. Their super-descriptive email didn’t help, either: "Hi I trade you housecleaning for a amoire." At least send me a picture. But, yeah, offers of stuff like that can be perfect for this project.
4. A piano player. I almost went for this, because I think it really classes up the joint. I have a piano, and I would LOVE if somebody sometime would just randomly sit down and start banging out show tunes. Nobody ever does. Sometimes there’s a sock on the keyboard. Piano player, you’re awesome for offering, but I was just too intrigued by the winning offer. Anybody who wants a piano player at their next party, or just to play the kids out the door some Monday morning, email him here.
5. Glass blowing guy. I never really got into solid negotiations with GBG. He sent me a catalog of custom-blown glass pieces, describing how he could make anything you wanted out of glass – people, logos, animals, things. Then I got the feeling he was leaning toward offering some piece he already had in inventory. But the custom stuff seemed really good, and I want to maybe offer that down the road, so I’m going to hit him up again when the trades increase in value a bit. If you need custom glassy art NOW, you can email him for details.
There were five very different and very interesting offers for the housecleaning, and one winner. More on that later. First, the winner doesn’t actually need his house cleaned, so he generously offered to donate it back to the ALS. Guess what? The ALS doesn’t really need their house cleaned, either. What they need is to cure ALS. And what I need is for the Phillies to hand me the ball in 2009. So I’m going to auction off the housecleaning, and donate the proceeds to ALS. That way everybody’s happy. See how that works, Phillies? It’s all about making everybody happy. Me. Make me happy.
So email me what you’d like to pay for the housecleaning. Remember, it’s a top-to-bottom, inside-out type cleaning from a Jenkintown mom with a mop and a dream and a service zone within about 30 min. of Jenkintown.
Email me your best offer, and get your bid in by this Saturday 12/20 @ 5 p.m. Later Saturday night I’ll notify the winner. Don’t wait — earliest entry breaks any tie! Get a clean house for the holidays and help out ALS!
The fine merchants of Jenkintown, PA took the card in exchange for a $25 gift certificate, good at almost any Jenkintown store.
Laura Ferrell's housecleaning operation took the $25 gift certificate and offered to clean any house top-to-bottom in trade for it.
Entertainer Jerry Perna took the housecleaning and offered to perform his Elvis impersonation act in return. Then he turned around and donated back the housecleaning, so I sold it off on the side -- $200 extra for the ALS Association.
The community of Jenkintown purchased the services of Elvis at a fundraiser, the proceeds of which went to the purchase of a large framed, autographed Chase Utley photo of Chase celebrating the World Series win.
The large framed, autographed Chase Utley photo got swapped for two tickets to see Jimmy Buffett in Camden June 18.
A nice person in Langhorne offered three days at her Poconos chalet in trade for the Jimmy Buffett tickets. That's a deal!
The weekend in the Poconos went to the editor of phillybaseballnews.com in return for a seven-game tryout as a baseball beat writer, including full press access in the Phillies' minor league system.
The "baseball writer's fantasy camp" was a birthday gift for a lucky Lehigh Valley father-in-law, and in return I got one free roundtrip flight voucher good for travel anywhere in the lower 48.
