Those of you who watch The View know that this aired last month - but it's news to me because I just found out about it :) The show featured a segment about Jacob, a boy who suffers from a very rare brain disorder called Canavan Disease. Jacob's mom, Jordana, went on the show to talk to Rosie (she was still there at the time) and Elizabeth about Jacob's Cure, the non-profit she started in 2000 to raise funds for research on the disease.
It happens that PayPal also heard about Jacob's story, and decided to donate $50,000 to the cause, which was given to Jordana on the show. It's a very touching segment, so check it out below.
If you are unfamiliar with the Transformers, I would usually shun you, but I'm in an especially good mood today after eBay managed to get us into a special screening of the new movie last night, so I will be extra nice and give you a break if that is the case.
There are a bunch of robots on a faraway planet. The nice ones are Autobots, the bad ones are Decepticons, and they are fighting over energy. They end up on Earth and are able to disguise themselves by transforming into Earth vehicles. This is the latest version and it was a lot of fun...but I don't think anything can ever replace the animated classic from 1984.
Well to coincide with the upcoming release of the special effects extravaganza, eBay's home page has been transformed to a special Transformers theme. We also have a special Transformers page (transformers.ebay.com) with the soothing sounds of Optimus Prime (voiced by the original actor, Peter Cullen), vintage transformers noises (I couldn't come close to spelling them phonetically), games, contests, and more. While you are there be sure to vote on the Transform Your World video contest. There are great member videos describing how eBay has helped to change....I mean TRANSFORM...their lives.
At the end of an epic movie, when the credits roll, we sometimes get nuggets of information about the lead characters (such as "Paulie 'The Scowl' Azzuri entered the Witness Protection Program and now lives quietly, making hand-painted dolls," or "After that night, the Manila Folders never won another game" or "Jeff is still at large.")
Here then, in the same vein, are some interesting follow-up facts to nicely wrap up that epic event of two weeks ago - eBay Live! (We got these fun facts from Abby and Rebecca, the heart of the organizing force behind eBay Live!) Enjoy!
10,071 people registered for eBay Live! this year.
96,500 pins were handed out during the 9 times we heard the foot-tapping beats of the "Celebration song" (kudos to the hard work of pinrunners like Aubry).
16 times the fire alarm went off when Bill Cobb was rehearsing the Keynote.
7000 people went through the clapping tunnel - in 30 minutes. (Wow!)
655 staff from eBay, Inc.
1 time the fire alarm went off at the Westin and the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, unnerving many (except Jeff, who, thinking the fire alarm was playing "Celebration," handed out pins to puzzled hotel staff. Just kidding - actually he was in the gym and missed the drama).
1902 books sold in the first ever eBay Live! Bookstore.
130 exhibitors on the Solutions Center Floor.
33 eBay booths.
72 hours to set up the show floor. (And only 4 hours to tear it down after the event - a nice indication of the contrast between creation and destruction.)
5 layers of padding under the carpet at the PayPal booth (perhaps to cushion the droves of members swooning with joy at the Security Key?)
1 person run over by a scooter, went to the ER for injuries and still made it back in time for the Gala! (That's the true eBay Live! spirit!)
656 PowerSellers went to the PowerSellers dinner on Thursday night.
857 Top Sellers attended the Top Seller Reception.
1 Developers Conference with 550 attendees.
And last, but certainly not least....
61,171 pounds of food served during events at eBay Live! (and that doesn't include the 15,000 sodas given out during the Thirst Quencher Breaks in PowerSeller Central.) Now those are truly impressive numbers.
I thought mylar was normally reserved for festive balloons, but apparently not. Those of you at eBay Live! were treated to Griff doing the lead-in to the keynote address in this blindingly-reflective mylar blazer. If you were thinking "wow, I desperately need one of those," it's your lucky day! Griff is auctioning it off to support one of his favorite charities, the Disabled Online Users Association.
Check out this very unique piece of eBay-abilia, and make sure you read Griff's description of how he picked out the blazer in the first place - thinking of him as "fat Kirsten Dunst" is hilarious (and a bit disturbing).
It's a question we get fairly often. If you read our announcement board posts, attend our Town Halls, or generally keep up with what's going on around eBay, you've probably noticed that we use the term "Finding" instead of the more widely-utilitzed "Search" to describe how members go looking for items.
For an explanation of why we do so, we tracked down Jeff King, the head of our Finding team. He sat down with us for a few minutes and helped us "find" our answer (thank you, I'll be here all week!).
Hopefully you all really enjoyed the massive coverage (46 POSTS!!!!) from eBay Live! last week, and really feel like you "were there". I'm here to add one more layer to that, with a chance to check out the print newsletter we handed out at the event. Unfortunately we can't mail every member a copy, but hopefully this PDF will help give you all a taste. Or I guess you can just buy one on the site (there's only one listed at the time of this posting, but it's for charity!)
The file is about 1.7MB (sorry if you are on dial-up) but I think it will be worth the wait. We'll also have a link for it in the sidebar for a little while.
"eBay's API, one of the strengths of it, in my opinion, is that it doesn't change tremendously. They might add new features, they might tweak a few things, but it isn't changing underneath us like some people's APIs do ... the API, the foundation, is so stable."
-- David Dellanave, development lead of AuctionAds, on the task of keeping up with changes to the eBay API
Jeremy Schoemaker and David Dellanave of AuctionAds out of Lincoln, Nebraska joined us at DevCon in Boston to speak about their affiliate service, and how they were looking forward to learning about useful services for eBay members at eBay Live!
Listen to Jeremy and David's thoughts in their Star Developer Award interview (clip is 5:01 in length):
You've been reading our view of eBay Live! for the past week (and we thank you heartily for it!), so I thought it'd be a nice break to let some others do the talking. Here are a few reviews of the show from newspapers and websites around the country:
Now that our team is back in San Jose, and has had a few days to let our keyboards cool off from the furious posting last week in Boston, it's time to recap the final event of eBay Live! 2007 - the always-fun Closing Gala.
Taking a cue from last year in Las Vegas when members started lining up really early to get in, our crack eBay Live! organizers put together a pre-party for those in line this year. As I walked by, it was like a mini-carnival. Clowns on stilts were roaming the line and cracking jokes, balloon-animal-makers and face painters were busy gussying people up, and jugglers were showing off their skills. A rock band was playing in the background, and snacks were being passed out to those waiting (it was very hard not to grab an ice cream sandwich as I passed).
But the most meaningful part came from the members themselves - just like last year, they applauded all us employees as we walked by to take our positions within the Gala. Let me take a second on that. From Meg on down, our employees really aren't kidding when we say that eBay Live! is our favorite time of year. Not only is it a ton of fun, but it's incredibly inspiring to meet all the members that are using the site to make a better lot for themselves. When you're flying back on that plane, you feel really good about working for a company that means so much to so many people, and it makes it easy to come to work in the morning. But Live! is also a ton of work - there's not only a huge amount of prep that goes into it, but each employee is working pretty much from before sun-up to past sun-down at the event. It's all definitely worth it anyway, but having the members show their appreciation for the work that you're doing in that way is pretty much indescribable. I can only really say thank you - it's appreciated far more than you know.
And then it was time for us to turn the tables on all the attendees. I've said before that the clapping tunnel (where all the employees line up and cheer as everyone comes in to the Gala) is my favorite part of the event, and this year was no different. I love watching the members soak it in - most were taking pictures or recording it on their cameras, others were slapping fives with all of us, and others were just kind of stunned. There are a few pictures scattered in this post. I was standing next to Griff most of the time, and I can only describe him as a human traffic jam. A bunch of folks wanted to take one last picture with him, so I apologize to everyone who has some random tall blonde guy in the background of their picture with Griff.
While at eBay Live! 2007 in Boston, I was fortunate enough to catch a Lisa Suttora sighting - and yes, even secure a live interview with her about the next whatdoisell.com workshop. Not only did we do a short workshop video, but Lisa conducted a mini-workshop in the hall of the convention center with member goldcoastdesigns. Almost every question Lisa responds to results in a mini-workshop, something you already know if you've attended any of Lisa's past workshops (click on one of the Archives links).
Like all good things, eBay Live! too must end. These three days have just whipped by, and this year's event was so much fun that we've grown a bit attached to the BCEC (I might even miss our blog cave.....a little).
We're going to sign off for now - we've got to head down to the Closing Gala in a few minutes, and we'll be heading back to San Jose shortly thereafter. The blog team will be taking a couple of days off to let our hands and wrists soak in ice water, but we'll be back sometime mid-next week and up to our usual shenanigans. Make sure to check back then for a recap of the Gala, and anything else we think needs wrapping up.
In the meantime, on behalf of our entire blog team, we hope you enjoyed our madcap posting sessions, AND THANKS FOR READING!
Went to the "Selling Strategically with eBay Marketplace Research" seminar, led by Patti Louise Ruby, whose involvement with eBay goes almost as far back as Griff's. She was talking about using one of eBay's most powerful seller tools, eBay Marketplace Research, to formulate a well-thought out selling strategy.
Patti explained how eBay Marketplace Research is a great resource to help sellers answer questions like "What inventory should I buy?" "How much inventory should I have in stock?" etc. eBay has "tons" of data that sellers can access through eBay Marketplace Research. For example, it can show you selling trends going back 90 days, average prices of items, shipping costs, units sold, etc.
These were all great tips, so the folks who weren't there missed out. Well, it is Saturday afternoon, and people must be more than a little tired. It's been a fun-filled eBay Live!, but having fun involves a lot of walking around and can be hard work. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to the Clapping Tunnel and the Closing Gala!
As I was hanging out on the show floor just before the end of the show, I was chatting with a couple of members who had used the event very differently. Michael, a seller from Indianapolis whose ID is echeapshipping (and as you might expect, deals in shipping supplies), had pulled off the VERY rare triple: he not only attended 16 seminars, but he managed to collect all the pins AND all the rare B-O-S-T-O-Ncoins. He got some admiring looks from others around us, as sometimes there's a bit of a trade-off between collecting the schwag and attending classes all day.
Right about then andi*austin came bounding into the lounge. Overhearing our conversation, she said simply "I came here to party!" (our mutual friend funfindsfromsuz informed me that Andi had spent more time doing the touristy stuff around Boston than anything else). That dichotomy of philosophies was a pretty amusing way to end the show.
Meet Bryan Wright, Steve Corral, Steve Slater, Brandon Jones, and Domenic Paolo. eBay employees by day, musicians by night. Rock stars in both roles. Bring your t-shirts, auction-fans, books, bags and join Twisted Lister the eBay Community Lounge for an auto-graphing session.
Not only can you brush shoulders with the 'almost' famous rock group, but I hear they're giving away free guitar picks and (hang on to your seat) a chance of being photographed with an up-and-coming rock band of the future. It can't get much better than that!
Oh and did I mention there's been an E-Notes sighting in the same area?
For anyone who missed the Keynote, or simply wanted to relive the fun all over again by listening to the audio, I'm here with links to MP3s of each section. You can either click on the link to have it play, or right-click the link and save it to your computer.
If our monthly virtual Town Halls, when members call in their questions to eBay execs, are exciting events, imagine the spectacle of a vast room filled with hundreds of eBay Live! attendees (and several overflow rooms as well). That's what happens at the live Town Halls at every eBay Live! - and this year was no exception.
Since most of the "what's coming in the future" announcements were covered in the Keynote, this year's Town Hall went straight to Q&A. Griff, as usual, was emcee-ing, and the panel of eBay and PayPal execs included, Bill Cobb (President of eBay North America), Philipp Justus (SVP Auctions), Rob Chesnut (SVP Trust and Safety), Gary Briggs (Chief Marketing Officer), Dave Cullinane (Chief Information Security Officer), Jim Ambach (VP of Product Management), Tim Paine (VP of Customer Support), Jamie Iannone (VP of Buyer Experience), and Colin Rule (Director of Online Dispute Resolution).
I was expecting Detailed Seller Ratings to figure prominently among the questions, and sure enough, the very first person to walk up to the microphone requested a modification to how buyers leave star ratings. He suggested that eBay change DSRs so that, after the seller and buyer have had a chance to communicate, the buyer should be allowed to revise a previously lower star rating to a higher star. A few more people had other suggestions, such as educating buyers about the "true cost of shipping." Someone said that it was hard for buyers to distinguish between "reasonable" shipping charges or "very reasonable" charges. I saw a few of the execs looking thoughtful -- Bill then said it was a suggestion worth evaluating.
A PowerSeller had a question about one of eBay's proactive fraud reduction strategies. For safety reasons, items reportedly most favored by fraudsters are sometimes not viewable for several hours before the listings are indexed into Search results. The seller asked if eBay would consider setting a threshold so that sellers with a proven and reliable track record in selling items in these categories wouldn't have their items go through this review process all the time. Execs seemed to find this suggestion though-provoking as well, and Bill said we would review it.
Three years ago, three members from our Trust & Safety team brought the house down by singing eBay-ized versions of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (which turned into Don't Worry, Leave Feedback) while members waited in line to meet with Meg. They have been honoring us by singing eBay-ized versions of various songs ever since.
Throughout this year's event, they're honoring us with their versions of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," (which turned into The Buyers Bid Tonight), Age of Aquarius (The Power of Three of Us), Feelin' Groovy (Trading Safely) and You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling (Don't Want to Lose that Listing).
This year, the E-Notes rallied the crowd pre the Key Note with their “power of 3” performance (notice the group is now comprised of four members). And if case you missed them at the Key Note, they have made several guest appearances in the eBay Community Lounge. Here are a few video clips of the infamous E-Notes singing their eBay-erized versions (including one new hit not yet released) just for you. Take it away E-Notes!
If you tuned into the Keynote on Thursday you heard the news that Bill Cobb has some very special guests at this year's eBay Live!...his parents. This is their first time at eBay Live! (Bill joked that he wasn't about to have them in Las Vegas), and they are having a great time. I caught up with them for just a few moments by the Chattebox testimonials booth. Take a look!
For members that need help, either with a specific problem or learning how to do something better, we've been sending them to the folks in the white coats. But don't worry, you won't end up in a rubber room - it's actually the Help Hall, where our crack team of advisors are all wearing white lab coats to make them stand out.
Members have been stopping in throughout the show to get a thorough review of their listing practices from experts on everything from how to take great pictures, how to create eye-catching listings, and how to expand your business outwards (such as by using more advanced solutions like ProStores). I shadowed a few members who were getting a diagnostic on their business. One needed to be more clear about their shipping and return policies because the information was hard to find, so our "white coat" showed them a few ways to make that info stand out. Another had a few items that weren't selling very quickly, and learned that putting that type of inventory in their eBay Store instead of in the auction format could be a good way to go.
That's also where I met Sylvie, better known as cool_frenchie. And the ID fits. She'd driven down from Ottawa with a buddy to attend, and was extremely excited to be here. "I'm just overwhelmed and amazed," she said. "I met Meg yesterday and could barely talk." More exciting was the prospect of building a business on eBay. "I'm a military wife with 3 kids and I want to be able to stay at home with them. But I didn't know what to do about it until a friend mentioned eBay. I got hooked, mainly because it's about the people and not just the computer. Now I've gotten a ton of info, and the 1:1 sessions have really helped me give the drive to get my business to the next step. I got great personal help, such as putting colors and my personal logo on my eBay Store - stuff I didn't even know I could do." Her sights are set on making PowerSeller, and based on her enthusiasm, I don't think it'll take her long to get there.
The Solutions Center is full of members trying to make the most of their last day at eBay Live! and the HammerTap booth was no exception (they're also frequent workshop hosts). Several members were gathered around various computers that displayed market research results.
Did you know that with market research you can remove the guesswork and increase your sales by examining what sells and how to sell it, including the best ending day and listing duration, starting price, title keywords, which category brings the most traffic...the list goes on *whew*! Not sure how all this works? Drop by and see for yourself.
The cool part (as with most exhibitors) is that you get to see real-life examples and how you can apply it. While you're there, check out the "I Got Hammer'D at eBay Live!" button. Here's Jen Cano of HammerTap with an overview of how they can help.
Another pin has just hit the show floor (with thanks, of course, to Aubry the pinrunner and her crew). The latest one, depicting a runner, serves as a tribute to the Boston Marathon.
The crowd whipped into a frenzy when "Celebrate" started to play, and I was there to capture it on camera. I even had a chance to hand some out myself (which you will see about 1 minute in).
As I was scurrying down to see Twisted Lister, I saw a couple of members struggling with their luggage and overheard one of them say she wished she didn't have to drag "this around." Well, wish no more. To lessen the hassle of dragging carry-ons and luggage (for those checking out early), there is a 'bag check' area just for you located near the book-signing area. Look for these friendly and helpful bag check personnel to help you with your storage needs.
It's the home stretch as Jeff said, but not everyone's squeezing in last-minute classes. The eBay Shop
is full of people stocking up on eBay memorabilia from the event (mugs!). Apparently eBay Live! and Boston themed items are the most popular. The usual array of t-shirts, mugs, cups, pens, etc. continue to be
popular. However I was shattered to find that the "eBay non-skid socks" are sold out! Darn it, they would have come in handy for my plans to help the San Francisco Giants by stealing home base in their game vs. the Red Sox at Fenway on Sunday. Darn, darn, darn.
Some sellers still have concerns about the new Feedback system (with the Detailed Seller Ratings). That was my impression at the seminar on recent changes to the Feedback system (the last session I attended yesterday). Brian Burke, Amjad Hanif and a few other members of the Feedback team were on hand to explain our rationale for launching the new Feedback system and to answer questions. (If you don't know much about Detailed Seller Ratings, you can get a quick primer by reading my two blog posts on the subject - a conversation with Brian Burke and how eBay developed the new Feedback system).
At the beginning of yesterday's session, Brian Burke asked the audience of mostly sellers (the room was packed) why eBay has a Feedback system in the first place. "To build reputation in the marketplace," "help buyers have confidence in the seller" and "build trust" were some of the answers from sellers in the audience. Brian agreed that these were indeed some of the reasons for having a Feedback system, and then pointed out, "No one in the audience answered that the reason we have a Feedback system is 'so I can have a 100% positive Feedback score.'"
Brian and his team explained that, over time, Detailed Seller Ratings are a great way for great sellers to differentiate themselves from sellers who don't perform so well. Amjad Hanif pointed out that DSRs were still only 35 days old in the US, and people should give the system some more time to prove itself.
Here's one super-high performing seller who's not overly worried about the new Feedback system. Kimbley (jayhawkks) who has over 100,000 Feedback (and it's 100% positive!). Watch what she says. It's a refreshing perspective that says that not getting all 5 stars in your DSRs is not a huge deal - in the larger scheme of things, a good seller's reputation will always shine through.
Our last big broadcast from the event kicks off in about 20 minutes. Bill and a host of other executives from around the company will be taking questions live from the audience, which is always interesting (and keeps the panelists on their toes). For details on how you can tune in, check out www.ebay.com/townhall.
While most of the attendees at eBay Live! are from the states, we always have a fair number of folks representing our international sites as well. Isabel, our Community Manager in Canada, has been helping man the Community Lounge all week - and found some time for fun with her Canadian members as well. Here she is to tell you about it.
Hi everyone,
This is Isabel Tremblay from the Community team in Canada. Last night, over 50 of us from eBay Live!, community members as well as staff, went cruising in the Boston harbour. I definitely had to swap my eBay Live! uniform for a cocktail dress for this one! We enjoyed a 4-course dinner, old tunes from a big band, a beautiful sunset, and of course each other company. Our organizer, Elaine Serafini, was able to assemble this American-Canadian group and yes - even though the Senators didn't take the Stanley Cup - we all got along!
This cruise really felt like an extension of eBay Live! as the Big Band played our theme song Celebration through out the night. We felt a bit unprepared without pins to give out...but everybody was grooving. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when Kool & the Gang sings the original tonight...Stay tuned!
What a fun-crazy-busy-inspiring two days it's been - and we still have a full one to go! The last day is always a bit frenetic. Members are rushing to classes to squeeze those last few educational drops out of the conference, or spending a little more time hanging out with the new friends they've made while here.
For our team, it's a big day as well. In addition to the blog, we also put out a physical newsletter here at the show on the last day called The Chatter that recaps a bunch of the highlights (a few issues from year's past have even ended up on the site! That's exciting - even after you see that they're going for about $2 :). It's a fun piece to put together, but also a lot of work, so it's a pretty rewarding feeling when you walk into the convention center and see the copies being handed out. Then there's the downside - when you get your first "did you see this typo?" comment. Doh! Oh well, I guess it at least shows we're humans back here and not robots. That's the great thing about the blog - much easier editing capabilities!
So enjoy the last day today - we'll be with you every step of the way.
In one of my earlier posts today, I said that the big news from the keynote would be posted to the Announcement Board at some point. Well, taking a look at the jam-packed board, that point has arrived. Make sure you take a few minutes to read through all the good stuff that came out of the address, and we'll see you again tomorrow!
Suze Orman has been called "a force in the world of personal finance" and a "one-woman financial advice powerhouse" by USA Today. This could be shortened to just plain ol' "awesome." Hoping to get a couple of books signed for friends for the upcoming holidays (December isn't that far off), I headed to Suze's booksigning with a spring in my step and books in hand.
Was I in for a surprise. The line was long, very long. Okay, so getting my books signed didn't seem to in my immediate future. Now that I'm here, what to do? Hey, why not talk to someone that was fortunate enough to have their book signed? Let me introduce member sensortags...
Live help
Those of you who watch The View know that this aired last month - but it's news to me because I just found out about it :) The show featured a segment about Jacob, a boy who suffers from a very rare brain disorder called Canavan Disease. Jacob's mom, Jordana, went on the show to talk to Rosie (she was still there at the time) and Elizabeth about Jacob's Cure, the non-profit she started in 2000 to raise funds for research on the disease. 
