Posted with permission from ChannelBuzz.ca, July 2012
Ingram Micro raises money for sled hockey with
charity game
Is Distie Hockey Night in Canada far behind?
Ingram Micro’s finest skaters from its Canadian headquarters and its operations in Buffalo
recently took to the ice in Mississauga for a charity hockey game that raised $15,000 for
sled hockey organizations in Canada and the United States.
Originally billed as a Canada vs. U.S. game in the spirit of last year’s Ingram-vs-Ingram
hockey game in Buffalo, organizers flipped the script at the last minute – instead holding a
cross-border draft into teams representing the event’s two biggest sponsors, Cisco and HP.
The afternoon’s event started out with a thrilling demonstration of sled hockey, with a local Mississauga team taking
on a squad from Buffalo. The home team took the win 5-3 after two big shootout goals.
After that, it was time to for the cross-border Ingram associates to take to the cie, with Team Cisco taking on Team
HP. Team HP dominated early, but Team Cisco stormed back as the clock ran down to eventually win 8-7.
“This was an evenly matched game with combined skill from associates on both sides of the border,” said John
Fago, senior director of channel marketing for North America at Ingram Micro.
Fago said the $15,000 was split between sled hockey organizations in the United States and Canada. Along with
support from team sponsors HP and Cisco, the event was also sponsored by Lenovo and Wells Fargo.
ChannelBuzz.ca readers may recall, of course, that fellow distributors Tech Data Canada and Synnex Canada held a
similar charity hockey game earlier this year. That game was not lost on Fago, who seems to have grandiose plans
for the next steps in the distributor’s charity hockey plans.
Tech Data and Synnex played to benefit United Way, and Fago noted that Ingram is also a big supporter of the
United Way. So where do we go from here? Three-way round robin tournament? A broader extravaganza with
vendors and partners also taking to the ice? I’m not quite sure right now, but it seems like a number of options were
on Fago’s mind that day in Mississauga, and phone calls are likely being made as we speak. Ingram Micro is clearly
interested, and judging by my conversations with Synnex Canada and Tech Data Canada leadership at their game
earlier this year, they’re absolutely interested.
Whatever happens, whenever it happens, ChannelBuzz.ca will let you know all about. Because it’s an important
event in our community. And because, selfishly speaking, behind every IT blogger is at least a hint of a would-be
sports reporter.
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About Robert Dutt; Robert Dutt is the founder and head blogger at ChannelBuzz.ca. He has been
covering the Canadian solution provider channel community for a variety of publications and Web sites
since 1997.