Australian retailers have gathered in Sydney this week to attend the inaugural Online Retailer conference organized by National Media. It features a 2-day multi-track conference, over 40 education sessions, pre-event workshops, free seminars, networking events and a 2000sqm exhibition hall.

Deborah Sharkey, Managing Director of eBay Australia and New Zealand, is slated to give the keynote address, "The Future of eCommerce: What eBay's Evolution Means to Retailers." According to the description, "Now eBay is going through further evolution that the company hopes will attract and engage more consumers, boost revenue for eBay sellers and attract even more established retailers to sell on eBay."

Also speaking are executives from Zappos.com (recently acquired by Amaozn.com), Zazzle, DealsDirect.com.au, SLI-Systems, Google and PayPal, among others. Dinuke Ranasinghe, Managing Director of PayPal, is on the Industry Advisory Panel.

Online Retailer spokesperson Grant Arnott said the event has just over 3000 registrations for the expo and keynotes, and 460 for the conference. The event is taking place August 18 - 19, 2009 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre (link). Follow the event on Twitter using hashtag #eretailer and #orex09.