Mobile bidding technology leader continues North American expansion

CHICAGO, ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. and NEW YORK, July 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile bidding technology companyAuctionsByCellular today announced its North American expansion initiatives by appointing Steve Vitrano, P.T. Aquino and Brian Berry as regional managers to lead the Northeast, Midwest and West Coast regions.

Year to date, the company has managed events in nearly 120 North American cities with plans to double its sales force next year.

Based in New Jersey, Steve Vitrano is now running the Northeast sales organization. Vitrano is a 25-year veteran of the wireless industry having been a founding member for the sales organizations at T-Mobile and Bell Atlantic/NYNEX Mobile, now Verizon Wireless. Vitrano held senior level sales leadership roles in divisions that included B2B, Corporate/National Accounts, Agents, Telesales/DRTV and National Retail. During Vitrano's account management tenure, revenue increased more than 200%. He has built and lead two call centers served by a team of 800 people and a distribution center. Steve joins ABC from Peak Performance Strategies and Distributions, LLC, a consulting and distributions sales company that he founded. Vitrano attended Rutgers University.

Based in Chicago, PT Aquino is leading the Midwest sales organization. Previously, Aquino was director of sales for Marriott's Mid-Atlantic, Full Service Hotels. There Aquino was responsible for an annual budget of $80 million for 19 full service hotels in Maryland, the Carolinas and West Virginia. He oversaw a team of 35 selling associates. Aquino was also the director of sales, marketing communications and recognition with strategic responsibility for 6,000 sales, revenue management and event management associates. Aquino graduated from the Eli Broad College of Business with a bachelor of arts degree in hospitality business from Michigan State University.

Based in Orange County, Brian Berry is managing AuctionByCelluar's West Coast expansion efforts. Before joining ABC, Berry spent 16 years in various sales and account management roles, most recently as director of sales for Step Up Mobile wireless service, and prior to that position, as director of sales for T-Mobile's western region for 10 years. There, he managed teams and aligned resources to generate $500 million in additional annual revenue. Prior to T-Mobile, Berry was a territory manager for Samsung Telecommunications for four years. Berry earned a bachelor of arts degree from the California State University, Chico.

"AuctionsByCellular is seeing exponential growth as non-profits increasingly adopt new technologies. We are excited to add high caliber, seasoned leadership to our team as we open new North America markets. The appointments of Steve, Brian and P.T. are critical as we transition from being a regional business to a global organization and a partner to hundreds of charities that have affiliates around the world," said Jim Alvarez, president and co-founder.

There are currently more than 1.5 million tax exempt organizations in the U.S.¹, many that are now adopting new technologies to enhance fundraising efforts and donor relationships.

About AuctionsByCelluar
Based in Chicago, AuctionsByCellular was founded in 2011 to help non-profits improve fundraising efforts by harnessing the power of technology. The company's technology platform is responsible for helping to raise over $52 million at hundreds of events annually for organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, American Red Cross, Make a Wish, American Heart Association, Boys & Girls Clubs, universities such as Notre Dame, Purdue and DePaul, and Chicago-area hospitals including Rush Hospital, Children's Hospital and Wheaton Franciscan. Visit http://www.auctionsbycellular.com. Join the conversation with @AuctionsByCell or https://www.facebook.com/AuctionsbycellularABC.

¹National Center for Charitable Statistics

Contact:

Kellee Johnson, 312-751-3959 or kjohnson@ballastgroup.com.

SOURCE AuctionsByCellular