WIND brings McFarland to Rogers Centre for Alex Anthopoulos conversation
*WIND Mobile’s competition Best Conversation Ever sees Robbie McFarland, 24, (left) meet Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos. WIND Mobile makes donation to Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation./Marc Rochette photo.
2011 Canadians in the June draft
By Shelley Thomas
If you could talk to anyone in the world, who would it be?
For 24-year-old Robbie McFarland, that person is Alex Anthopoulos, senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager for the Toronto Blue Jays. McFarland was one of more than 10,000 people to register for WIND Mobile’s competition Best Conversation Ever and the second of five people who has won their dream conversation. The best part for McFarland was rather than getting a phone call, Anthopoulos agreed to have the conversation in person.
A recent university grad, McFarland credits Anthopoulos for inspiring him to go after his own dream – a career in baseball. Just as Anthopoulos left his day job to pursue a career with the Montreal Expos, McFarland, after finishing his degree, opted to take a job with the class-A Vancouver Canadians in ticket sales rather than pursue a traditional career path. His hope is to follow in his hero’s footsteps and work his way up to the major leagues.
“When the competition was running, I encouraged all my friends and family to vote for me, including students at my old campus, University of Victoria. There were a lot of people supporting me but I never really believed I would actually win,” said McFarland. “I still can’t believe I am going to meet Alex – this is honestly a dream come true.”
Paying it forward seems to be important for Anthopoulos. Not only did he offer to meet with McFarland in person, Anthopoulos has invited McFarland to be on-field for batting practice and stay for the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday.
“This is an opportunity that I could not pass up, not only do I get to donate $100,000 to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation which has done wonderful things for my family, but I get to meet someone who shares a similar passion for the great game of baseball,” said Anthopoulos. “This is a very exciting day for both of us and I am looking forward to our conversation!”
To make these conversations happen, WIND Mobile will donate over a half a million dollars to Canadian charities. Each of the five personalities who participate are asked to choose one Canadian charity to receive $100,000 for a total of $500,000 in donations. Anthopoulos selected the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. In addition to the $500,000, another $100,000 has already been donated to six Canadian charities in the Best Conversation Ever Charity Challenge .
“We are thrilled that the first two winners of Best Conversation Ever not only got to have their dream conversations, but they got to have them in person!” said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman and CEO of WIND Mobile. “We are really impressed that both Alex and W. Brett Wilson (the personality chosen for our first conversation) were so generous with their time. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the conversations go – we should be announcing them very soon.”
About the Competition: The ultimate goal of the competition is to help five lucky Canadians have the conversations they never dreamed possible. The competition ran from Jan. 24, 2011 to March 7, 2011 and had more than 2,500 entries. The winners were selected by a panel of WIND judges and industry leading bloggers and will be announced over the next few weeks as chosen personalities are confirmed. Full details are available at: www.bestconversationever.ca
About WIND Mobile: WIND Mobile provides voice, text and data services to Canadians on a next-generation wireless network and is committed to offering a level of wireless service presently not available in Canada. WIND Mobile is built on actual conversations that are happening with Canadians who are passionate about wireless and creating a better mobile offering nationally. For more information, please visit: www.WINDmobile.ca.
Globalive Holdings is a leading provider of telecommunications solutions in Canada and internationally to the consumer, business and hospitality markets. The Globalive companies include: WIND Mobile, Yak, OneConnect, Canopco and Globalive Carrier Services. For more information, please visit: www.globalive.com .