Internet recruitment site bids in online auction to sponsor Cheezhead at HR conference
Cleveland, OH – Monday, June 12, 2006 – Joel Cheesman, the face behind Cheezhead, an award-winning blog focusing on Internet recruiting, was looking for a creative way to garner some industry attention and some extra cash for an upcoming HR conference he was attending. His answer came in the form of an eBay auction.
Starting at 99 cents, Cheesman offered an exclusive sponsorship opportunity to the winning bidder. At stake were T-shirt promotions, podcast features and a variety of other highlights for the winner.
“The motivation wasn’t money,” said Cheesman. “I wanted to try something different, hopefully get people in the recruitment space talking and have some fun.”
Enter JobCentral, an Indianapolis-based online employment network of direct employers and job seekers. The company offered the winning bid at $7,101.
“I just thought the idea was brilliant,” said Bill Warren, executive director of JobCentral and DirectEmployers Association. “Companies are always looking for an edge at SHRM. Sponsoring Cheezhead seemed like a much better idea than sending out a direct mail piece or having a fancier trade show booth. Considering the fact that we’re not exhibiting this year made the auction even more appealing.”
“I have a lot of respect for Bill and his team,” said Cheesman. “I was excited to find out that they were the winning bid.”
The auction’s bidders remained anonymous to the public. All Cheesman saw was Warren’s user ID, which didn’t give away his identity. “I only knew one of the bidders from their username. All the others were a mystery,” said Cheesman.
The SHRM conference runs from June 25-28, 2006 in Washington, D.C. It is the largest human resources conference in the U.S. General Colin Powell is this year’s keynote speaker.
About JobCentral:
JobCentral National Employment Network is a service of Direct Employers Association, a non-profit consortium of leading U. S. corporations. The Association’s purpose is to develop and manage systems and software for employers to increase efficiency and reduce Internet recruiting costs. The Association’s online services include the DirectEmployers employment search engine and NACElink national college recruiting system developed in alliance with The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and a group of leading colleges and universities. The association is managed by a board of directors consisting of member company representatives. For more information, please visit: www.jobcentral.com and www.directemployers.org.
About Cheezhead:
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Joel Cheesman authors Cheezhead, a blog focusing on technology issues within the Internet recruiting industry. The blog won an award for best technology recruitment blog in 2006. For additional information, please visit http://www.cheezhead.com or http://www.hrseo.com.
