Last weekend, I attended the eBay Live conference, the first such event for eBay users. I sent reports from the Anaheim (California) Convention Center back to AuctionBytes Headquarters, and David posted them to the site. A personal account of my experience at the show can be found in my Web Log at http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/ebaylivelog. For a photo collage of the 3-day event, go to the AuctionBytes Web site: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/pages/ebaylivepics.
The show was all about hype (how many times did I hear the word "community"?), and it was a made-for-TV event. I was surprised to hear the words "Mary Kay" and "Amway" more than a few times to describe the spirit of the event. David and I sell on eBay. We are not PowerSellers, and I wonder if PowerSellers feel this is a valid comparison.
I heard a wide range of opinions about the eBay University classes; some thought they were too advanced, and some thought they were too basic. But everyone who attended Jim Griffith's classes raved about how good they were. Here's a report I sent back on a class I attended: "eBay Live Class: Sitting in on Advanced Selling Tips & Merchandising," http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m06/i22/s04.
Adam Cohen, author of "The Perfect Store: Inside eBay," was greeted with enthusiasm, particularly by eBay staff. Marcia Collier, author of "eBay for Dummies," was also in attendance, as was Leland Harden, co-author of "The Auction-App: How Companies Tap the Power of Online Auctions to Maximize Revenue Growth." My interview with Cohen, "Author of eBay Tell-All Discusses Auction Sellers," can be found here: http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m06/i22/s03.
eBay employees were friendly and helpful, and the company put on a good show for their top sellers, the media, and for the Newbies who came from the Anaheim area to check out the conference. The conference got lots of media attention (60 Minutes II, CNBC, LA Times, San Jose Mercury News, etc.), and the announcement by CEO Meg Whitman that top sellers would be able to purchase health insurance got massive media attention last week. (See "Meg Whitman Announces Health Insurance for eBay PowerSellers," http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m06/i22/s00.)
Whitman also announced changes to the PowerSeller program ("eBay to Change Top Sellers Program, ). And on Sunday morning, top eBay executives, including Whitman, answered questions from attendees: "eBay Live Power Panel Answers Tough Questions from Attendees," http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m06/i23/s00.
Vendors were quite pleased to have the attention of top eBay sellers. A special cocktail party Friday night allowed vendors the chance to talk to the top tier of eBay's PowerSellers. The exhibit hall was open Saturday and Sunday, allowing vendors to show off their wares to all attendees. See "eBay Live Exposition Hall Showcases Products & Services for eBay Users," http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y02/m06/i22/s0.
What does the eBay Live conference mean for the majority of eBay users who did not attend? It's not an easy answer. The attendees got a feeling of being appreciated, the chance to meet other sellers and eBay staff, and got an opportunity to take classes and learn about third-party services.
eBay got a lot out of the event. The media gave the show quite a bit of coverage. Perhaps the best part of eBay Live was the chance for eBay employees to meet users face to face. The 250 employees at the event (eBay employs 2,800 worldwide, about 2,200 are located in the U.S.) got a chance to listen to the issues important to users. I asked Chris Donlay, an eBay spokesperson, how eBay executives felt after the show, and whether the objectives of the show were met.
"I think all the eBay executives and all staff came back from eBay Live feeling energized from spending time with the community," Donlay said. "We don't often get a chance to meet and interact with users directly on that kind of scale. Everyone here is talking about the users they met and the stories they heard. The objectives of eBay Live were to bring the community together, celebrate eBay, educate a little on what the company is doing, and get input from the users. I'd say all of those happened and worked very well. Simply put, we feel it was a success."
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.
