It's less than a week since the eBay Foundation handed over checks of $333,334 each to three nonprofits — First Book, Best Friends Animal Society, and Oxfam — as part of the Community Gives campaign. The nonprofits are already putting the money to good use.
First Book hosted a couple of reading parties to celebrate the joint effort with eBay Foundation to identify and serve over 50,000 additional community-based literacy programs nationwide. These efforts are bringing a steady stream of new books to hundreds of thousands of children in need.
This week, groups of 30 first graders in San Jose, California and Washington, DC were among the first students in the nation to receive new books through the Community Gives campaign. eBay Foundation and First Book representatives joined school officials, eBay employees, and eBay Community members as students read from their very own copies of books, including Astronaut Handbook by Megan McCarthy and Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Eugene W. Field.
Just the brilliant smiles on the faces of these first graders should be enough reward for anyone who contributed through Community Gives. The campaign runs through June 30th, so if you feel like contributing more or spreading the word, just head on over to www.communitygives.org.
eBay Giving Works and Yahoo! Mail are working together to auction off select email addresses (from the new ymail and rocketmail domains) for charity. How cool would it be to have an email address that supports your favorite cause each time you send an email? For instance, pinkribbon[at]ymail.com to show support for breast cancer research, oceanadvocate[at]rocketmail.com to show your concern for the state of the planet's oceans, or curecancer[at]rocketmail.com.
For the details, I could do no better than to point you to the YMail Blog, now run by none other than Ryan Knight, our popular Chatter alumnus (in fact he practically set up The Chatter!).
One of our favorite eBay Live! traditions is the presentation of the annual Community Hall of Fame awards. Since 2002, we've honored members who are recognized as outstanding examples of the eBay Community Values, generously sharing their time and expertise with others. This year, each inductee was introduced during the keynote address (watch a replay of the webcast) and received a signed certificate of appreciation from eBay CEO John Donahoe and President of eBay Marketplace Operations Lorrie Norrington. In addition, eBay Foundation will make a charitable contribution of $2,500 on behalf of the winner to a nonprofit organization of the winner's choice.
Without further ado, let's meet this year's winners - and congratulations to them all!
shoemetro
shoemetro is comprised of David and Will, a two-man team that’s been selling on eBay since 2003 (although only David could be there to accept the award). Having started humbly by selling a few small electronics, today they are a major seller of shoes and have accumulated over 258,000 feedback comments. Despite their growing business, they still find time to participate in the Community. “We frequent the eBay boards, are involved in a few groups, and read newsletters. These give us the most value for our time and keep us updated on the eBay community.”
Like many eBay sellers, giving back is important to shoemetro. They began using eBay Giving Works two years ago. Since then, they have participated in all 19 Spotlight on a Cause campaigns in that timeframe, listing over 3.400 items with a charitable component. “We find it a win/win/win for us, the charity, and the buyer. We have been fortunate as eBay sellers and appreciate the fact that we can use the same vehicle that brought us our success to give back to others in need.”
Back in 1997, talk of great sales from some of eBay’s earliest sellers at an Illinois swap meet turned danna on to eBay. Over the last decade, she’s made eBay her full-time career. A self-described “eBay groupie,” she’s not only a PowerSeller, but she’s dedicated herself to teaching others how to be successful on eBay as well. As an author, she’s written several eBay how-to books. She’s also an active Trading Assistant and Education Specialist.
“I enjoy helping other members be the best they can be, and sharing my experiences with them. I find it extremely rewarding to watch people I help grow their eBay careers.”
danna’s generosity extends into her tireless work as an advocate for eBay Giving Works, the program that facilitates compassionate commerce on eBay. “eBay Giving works is where my heart is! As an Education Specialist I include it into all my classes automatically.”
danna has selected Hospice of Marion County in Florida to receive her grant from the eBay Foundation.
kathiesklown1970
kathiesklown1970 has established herself as one of the most helpful contributors to eBay’s Answer Center and PayPal discussion forum. “When I started buying and selling I didn't know a lot about the site, and I was helped in the Answer Center by some great members. I wanted to give back to the Community once I had the knowledge myself. Plus, I learn something new every time I help out in the Community.”
With her unflappable community spirit, kathiesklown1970 will stop at nothing to help someone who needs it – even language barriers don’t get in her way. In just one of many examples of how she helps her fellow members, she’s been known to use translators to help people who speak other languages with their PayPal-related questions.
kathiesklown1970 has chosen to donate her grant to the American Heart Association in honor of a friend who lost her husband suddenly to a heart attack.
unclejoeadamson
Known affectionately as “Uncle Joe,” unclejoeadamson has been described as “the consummate Community member.” Forced to leave the workforce due to a medical condition, he was looking for an activity that would keep him “from going bonkers.” eBay gave him a new way to build his business and connect with others. “The ability to use eBay anytime, anywhere has allowed me to enjoy a connection to the world I wouldn’t otherwise have.”
Uncle Joe has used eBay to help countless others find success on the site. “When I was getting started on eBay, there were friendly people willing to extend a helping hand to me. It’s my pleasure now to return that kindness to my friends and neighbors in the eBay Community.” He’s a PowerSeller, an Education Specialist, and a Trading Assistant. He also runs a variety of eBay Groups, in which he offers help and advice to others so they can make the most of their eBay experience. As he puts it, the best part of eBay has been “hands down, the ability to contribute to the fun and success of others.”
After discovering eBay in 1999, snowdealsnow was inspired by the potential. “After filling up my truck with yard sale finds on weekends, I would borrow a friend’s digital camera to list the stuff on eBay during the week.” Soon after, he quit his day job. “I love being self employed and selling on eBay has allowed me to grow a successful online business while working flexible hours.”
snowdealsnow has been a shining example of how to use eBay Giving Works to raise money for a cause he cares passionately about – ending cruelty to farm animals and promoting awareness of ethical food choices. “Best of all, I am able to donate 10% of all sales to Farm Sanctuary. I get a feeling of satisfaction knowing I am helping make the world a better place for farm animals and other creatures.” He was given a Golden Ribbon award in 2007 by the eBay Giving Works team for being the top Community seller based on funds raised through the program.
Farm Sanctuary will also receive the eBay Foundation grant given in honor of snowdealsnow’s Community Hall of Fame award.
No, we weren't. We wanted to bring you a flavor of this year's eBay Live! -- the fun stuff, the serious stuff, the emotion, the passion, and of course the goofy stuff too. We hope we've done a good job. I applaud and thank my fellow bloggers over the past three days -- Laura Schopen, Jeff Kakes, Bev DeSomber, Susan Geis, and Coleen Scott. Thanks everyone for a job well done!
And, of course, a huge THANK YOU to our Community members who gave us the time to capture their reactions on video and in our blog stories. We're taking a few days off, and will be back blogging about all things eBay in about a week's time.
And now, after the Closing Gala that closes eBay Live!, we're REALLY off to have a beer. In fact, several. Cheers!!
The PowerSeller Panel with Executives was charged with a lot of emotion, as have been some others sessions this year. In a way it was a continuation of the Town Hall from earlier in the day, with almost the same panelists:
Lorrie Norrington - President of eBay Global Marketplace Operation
Stephanie Tilenius - General Manager for eBay North America
Brian Burke - Director of Global Feedback
Monroe Labouisse - PayPal Director for North America Marketplaces
Dinesh Lathi - Vice President of Seller Experience
Greg Fant - Vice President, Buyer Experience
Jamie Ianonne - Vice President, Global Search
Griff, hosting as usual, went straight to Q&A. Some highlights:
One PowerSeller advocated (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) Detailed Ratings for Buyers. He remarked that buyers weren't communicating with sellers as much as they should, thus making it difficult for sellers to understand how they could improve the buyer experience. He suggested these "buyer ratings" should drive eBay's couponing programs towards buyers -- thus providing an incentive to buyers to communicate better with sellers. His comments were greeted with delighted chortling from sellers sittng near me -- many sellers have felt that the DSR system is lopsided in favor of buyers.
Brian Burke took the question seriously, however. He pointed out several steps eBay had taken to enable sellers to restrict bad buyers from their listings, including a 7-day block that prevents buyers from leaving negative Feedback for sellers. Sellers can also use Buyer Requirements to select the kind of buyers they wanted to attract to their listings. Brian urged sellers to continue reporting bad buyer behavior to eBay so we can strengthen Buyer Requirements. But Brian also noted that one of the big takeaways for eBay from this year's eBay Live! was to improve buyer-seller communication.
unclejoeadamson asked eBay to review the new links policy, which prohibits linking to any external websites. He found it ironic that most of his educational content (for which he was awarded a Community Hall of Fame award this year) was for helping the Community through educational content such as reviews, guides and blogs, much of which is off-eBay. unclejoeadamson's suggestion that eBay should find a way of identifying and allowing relevant content was well-received. Brian Burke promised to come back in July with another update about the direction we're taking.
A question about making neutral Feedback count against sellers raised many people's hackles. The seller's question was why neutrals had been counted retroactively from January. "Why punish us for buyers we can't do anything about?" The word "punish" seemed to pierce many of our execs to the heart. Both Griff and Lorrie made impassioned appeals to the audience, reassuring them that our intent was not to "punish" sellers but to help differentiate between high and low performing sellers. Brian promised to take a look at the negatives and neutrals left before January.
At this point Lorrie talked about the difficulty of making decisions (such as the retroactive Feedback) purely based on data, vs. also taking the emotional factor into account. She admitted that sometimes eBay's decisions were made on the basis of mostly the former, neglecting the latter. She said that the eBay In Person program, through which eBay staffers visit buyers and sellers in their own towns, will be one of the key ways eBay can gather emotional input from our customers.
The next questioner criticized eBay for being uncommunicative about the slew of changes taking place on the site, and unresponsive to sellers' attempts to seek clarity. "Why does eBay think it knows better than us about what our customers are saying?" Griff stepped in to quell a few boos of agreement that came from some sellers. He talked about how changes in the e-commerce landscape were forcing us to adapt really fast. Talking about an "exodus" of buyers recently, he pointed out that buyers today have more options, have become more sophisticated, and have more demands from their sellers, whether on eBay or elsewhere on the internet.
But Lorrie's response was also emotionally charged. "When data and emotion come together, we need to listen to both." She then asked our Community to give the company "a fair shot," especially considering that much of the company leadership is new in their roles. Lorrie then said, "I don't know what the past was like. I'm sorry for the past, but come join us for the future."
There was a brief pause, and then thunderous applause filled the room. Perhaps it's a new beginning for everyone.
It wouldn't be eBay Live! if we didn't give you at least one video of the famous eNotes. But for fans of the a cappella trio, you'll notice a slight change. While Colin Rule, our guru of dispute resolution, and Sarah Brubacher from our Seller team are still anchoring the group, they have a new addition - Griff! Larry Friedberg, from past eBay Live! events, couldn't make it, so Griff volunteered to step in, and boy did he.
They're performing tonight at the Gala, but gave a sneak preview at a dinner last night, doing an eBay-ized version of Billy Joel's "For the Longest Time." Colin will hate me for putting this up, but I think I might be able to outrun him.....Enjoy!
On my way to see how many pin sets were left at the eBay Store, I noticed a pretty t-shirt with a lion on it. Being a Leo, I was naturally drawn to the picture of the Lion and when asking the member the significance of the the lion, I saw her user ID was msleo816.
After hearing msleo816's story of how she came to create her eBay user ID, I thought other people wanting to register on eBay might find her story interesting and help ease their exasperation when trying to create a user ID and forego the feeling that all the "good ones are gone."
So without further ado, here is msleo816 to tell you in her own words how to get creative...
While most experienced sellers are figuring out how to improve their Detailed Seller Ratings to 4.9 to qualify for the 20% discount (as announced in the Keynote), there are also many sellers who are just starting out on eBay. For some sellers like Kimberly French, the "Shipping Best Practices to Improve Your DSRs" seminar opened up a whole new area of learning and improvement.
Griff, my colleague Garnor, and I just got finished teaching a class on how to stay on top of the eBay news (basically how to find out about what's going on around eBay). We went over the Announcement Board - eBay's official vehicle for delivering news, this blog, the eBay Ink blog, eBay Radio, and the eBay Announcements Group - which you can join to receive an email with that day's announcements. We also talked about how to use RSS aggregators and tools so you can get the news without having to visit other pages - it comes straight to you! One of my favorites is netvibes.com, but there are tons out there, and even your Yahoo and Google pages can be used with RSS.
So the big lesson from the class for me? It's very difficult to take a good picture of the crowd while you're talking.
I've been hidden as usual the first two days of eBay Live! ...cloistered in our Daily Chatter room waaaaaaaaaayyyyy down the hall and far from any of the action. (wishing I had those kid shoes with little skates in them now). Yesterday was spent by me huddled over a hot computer, as I and others published the event news, and finished the newsletter (the printed Chatter) in time to get to the printers. (phew) Today I get to be out and about, so after catching up on the blogs and forums with my triple-shot latte, I hit the monthly Town Hall event at 11am Central.
We do Town Hall events with eBay and PayPal leaders every month via wsRadio(www.ebay.com/townhall). We normally take caller questions and don't often have the benefit of a live audience, but there's nothing like the power of so many people with shared interests in the same room. The energy was palpable..in a good way.
There was an impressive lineup of panelists --
Lorrie Norrington - President of eBay Global Marketplace Operation
Stephanie Tilenius - General Manager for eBay North America
Todd Lutwak - Director of Seller Experience
Brian Burke - Director of Global Feedback
Jeff King - Senior Director of Finding
Kristina Klausen - Senior Director of Shipping
Monroe Labouisse - PayPal Director for North America Marketplaces
Dinesh Lathi - Vice President of Seller Experience
Davide Pride - Vice President of Trust & Safety
I won't itemize the questions here -- you can listen to the archive from wsRadio to get the full scoop -- but the dialogue was powerful. There were a few important themes:
DSRs are a big source of concern for many sellers. They want more buyer education about DSRs and how they affect sellers. They want the stars to labeled better, so that they understand if they leave 4's that hurts a seller. (as one questioner asked, "If everyone says his item descriptions are accurate, communication good, times and costs reasonable, I will lose my PS status. What are you doing to educate buyers that at 4 is a failure?")
Sellers need more transparency from eBay about our direction around stores, our links policy and just the upcoming change in general, because they need to plan their businesses in advance.
Some of our feedback changes/policies need rethinking, and eBay staff has agreed. For instance, they are looking at some kind of solution to mutual feedback withdrawal for the holidays.
There is concern among some "small sellers" that eBay doesn't care about the little guy -- execs emphatically stated this isn't true. Lorrie put it succintly..."there is no 'big' at eBay (meaning size)...there is only 'best' (meaning high buyer satisfaction regardless of size).
Sellers want to know what eBay is doing to drive buyer demand, and leaders shared progress with coupons, top buyer support, and the fact that as our sellers increase their buyer satisfaction, organic growth will build momentum. (One attendee was quite expressive in sharing their not-so-flattering opinion of eBay's "it" campaign)
So we heard some heated questions -- mostly about DSRs and neutral feedback -- and we also heard praise. But despite where each person came from and on what side of the mics they sat, what struck me most was the palpable energy of respect in the room -- respect shared by execs of the attendees, and attendees of the execs.
Although we don't always see things in the same way, all perspectives and experiences are important to consider. eBay is like an ecosystem, and often there are no easy answers when all the complexities are considered. At a deep level, the collective seemed aware of how important it is that we keep this dialogue going -- no matter how hard it is sometimes -- because this amazing marketplace is what's at stake if we stop.
Griff, the moderator for eBay Town Halls, said it best. [I'm paraphrasing from memory] "I've been to 7 eBay Lives, and I can tell you I've learned more at this one than at any other time. You've come here with incredibly intelligent, insightful questions and ideas, and we're all taking notes."
I was lucky enough to meet Mark and Terry Meade at eBay Live! in Orlando 2003, and a fast friendship developed. Two years later, we hosted eBay Live! in eBay's hometown of San Jose, California, and we were thrilled when Mark and Terry made their annual appearance at the show. In an unfortunate turn of events, Mark suffered a heart attack, was hospitalized, and underwent surgery. Mark and Terry were in California from New Jersey for many weeks longer than they had originally planned while Mark recuperated.
While Mark was hospitalized in California, Terry was fortunate enough to stay in a "family house" on the grounds of the hospital free of charge. The family house allowed family members to be near their loved ones without having to bear the cost of a hotel room. As you can imagine this was a great relief to a family going through this ordeal 3,000 miles from home!
The last three years have had their ups and downs, but just a couple of weeks ago, Mark became the recipient of a donor heart from an anonymous but generous family. He is now recupertating from heart transplant surgery with the goal of being home soon. This wonderful news allowed Terry to travel to Chicago to attend eBay Live! 2008, and this year her mission is an important one.
Terry met with the eBay Giving Works team at eBay Live!, and has decided to utilize eBay Giving Works when selling on eBay in order to raise funds for the Philadelphia Gift of LIfe Family House. She was so touched by the family house she stayed in while in California, that she is helping the efforts to have one built in Philadelphia. The Family House will have 30 private rooms and construction began in Spring 2008.
Terry can be seen throughout the Solutions Center floor, giving away "Donate @ Life" pins which we are all wearing on our lanyards. Terry herself is also wearing a green ribbon pin, which signifies her family is the recipient of an organ donation. If you would like to become an organ donor, you may visit the Gift of Life Foundation to learn more. Below you can see Terry telling part of the amazing story of how they received the ultimate gift from another family:
Have you ever met one of those people that tend to inspire and motivate you after having talked with them for only a few minutes? I met someone like that at eBay Live! 2008 just as the first day was nearing an end. Sitting at the end of a hall due to a dead battery in her scooter.
I was first drawn to stuff-from-hawaii because of the scooter (a story in itself). Decorated (as you will see in the attached video) with all kinds of 'stuff' and in the midst of the stuff sat Ann (stuff-from-hawaii - my use of the word stuff is coincidental, I promise). The second thing that drew me to was her smile and the sense of openness and welcome.
I stopped and chatted with Ann for a bit and the longer we talked, the more inspired I felt. I think Ann's page provides an insight to this wonderful person, "Thanks for stopping by. I am 70 years young and really enjoy buying and selling any and every thing on eBay."
Ann shared that after hearing about eBay on the Today's show, she started selling Beanie Babies. From there her sales evolved into selling antiques, collectibles and is now selling 'light-ticket' items. At one time, she sold Hawaiian phone books for $8 each, phonebooks the phone company had given her (how's that for sourcing?). She also sells hat that her son gives her that was given to him by companies from all over the world (talk about no over-head...okay, that pun was deliberate).
While chatting with Ann about some of the changes we've gone through at eBay, she shared the following, "I miss Meg and Bill. They always treated me good and I had confidence in them. I will stay with eBay and adjust to the changes. If you think out-of-the-box, you'll make it. You've got to stop thinking 'What's eBay going to do for me' and learn to help ourselves."
We then chatted a bit about the scooter and how it came to be decorated. Ann faced the challenges of decorating the scooter the same way she faces doing business in a competitive market, "It took me five trips to the hardware store to fix this cart and had to get the pipe cut twice before it would fit." (notice the stick-to-it-ness). Near the end of our chat, Ann shared the following, "I'm going to stick with the one that brought me to the dance," adding, "I look to see what it takes to solve the problem and think about how I can make it work for me."
Thank you Ann for inspiring me and reminding me why I work for eBay - it's because of people like you and it's eBay that provides that opportunity.
In closing I leave you with a quote by Art Williams, "I'm not telling you it is going to be easy - I'm telling you it's going to be worth it" and with a bit of inspiration from Grannie Annie - take it away Ann...
Shop 'til you drop...or until the eBay Shop closes (whichever comes first...) Sometimes waiting until the last minute pays off -- you'll receive 20% discount on your items when shopping today. No kiddin' folks -- head for the eBay Shop now.
Some of the hot items: eBay pin sets. The limited edition is selling for $119.95 -- the pin display case (comes with one starter pin) is selling for $23.95:
There are also some of the lithographs (30 left out of 200) and if you hurry the artist, Michael Smith (and helper) is on hand to sign them for you (Level 3: Hall F1 Lobby - right outside the eBay Store):
Not sure what to wear to tonight's Gala (Level 3 - Hall F2 from 6pm - 9pm). Check out the flashing lights and sunglasses being modeled by non other than Elvis or is it a Chris Isaak look-a-like...hmmm. To go with those gorgeous "accessories" be sure to check out the various hats, t-shirts, and sweatshirts while there.
Store hours on Saturday, June 21 are from 9am - 4pm and 6pm - 9pm (Gala Shop only). Okay, headed back to the shop for an autograph before the lines at Elvis's counter gets too long...
Before I go, here are a few snapshots of some of the pins:
Did you know 70% of customers say they prefer to purchase a "green" product, price and quality being equal? "Going green" encompasses a slew of environmentally-friendly products, sustainable processes, and lifestyle changes that not only help protect the planet, but actually make sound business sense too. That's why more and more sellers are factoring green benefits into their business models.
Libby Reder from eBay's Global Citizenship team conducted a well-attended seminar to help sellers understand some of the ways they could start greening their eBay businesses, and at the same time reduce costs and target customers who are willing and eager to buy from green sellers.
Pack green, ship green
A key area for eBay sellers to go green is packaging and shipping. Libby explained how eBay and USPS have worked together to create the popular Cradle-to-Cradle shipping boxes. This environmentally-friendly packaging (which you can find in the USPS booth at eBay Live!) has been certified for its material content, recyclability and manufacturing characteristics. All the inks, adhesives, and other compounds found in these boxes are completely benign to the environment.
Packing peanuts might seem innocuous, but they are not very good for the environment. The conventional ones made of styrofoam are virtually indestructible, even in landfills. Enter the greener packing peanut -- made from cornstarch! Libby explained how these biodegradable peanuts melt away into nothingness when you pour water on them. You can even use your kitchen sink to dispose of them -– these peanuts are made entirely from organic plant matter.
Re-use, recycle, renew Libby also emphasized the importance of re-using materials to make a business greener. For instance, if biodegradable packing peanuts aren't available, why not pack your items with previously used peanuts of any kind? Reusing “bad” peanuts is better than throwing them away! Check out earth911.org to find recycled or reusable peanuts (and other materials) nearest to your location.
Libby also mentioned other green packing materials -- water-activated (gummed) tape made from 100% recycled and re-pulpable brown Kraft paper or biodegradable cellulose tape made from wood pulp that comes from suppliers with extensive reforestation programs.
Another green practice sellers might want to consider is buying carbon offsets to offset the carbon emissions from shipping.
Buyers want green sellers Also participating in the session were Hanh Pham, Green Business Projects Coordinator, Chicago Department of the Environment, and Kristin Cunningham, General Manager, eBay Giving Works. Hanh was flush with ideas about leading greener lifestyles, such as choosing energy efficient appliances around the home or business. A key tip for sellers was to check their city or county's website to see if your city or county certifies green businesses -- the process is often relatively painless and can help attract more buyers.
Hanh also emphasized the importance of sharing your green practices with your buyers. She shared some data on how buyers are also going green in large numbers. Knowing that a business is mindful of its impact on the environment makes consumers:
more likely to buy their products or services (60%)
feel more loyal to the business (57%)
less concerned with the price of their product (38%)
(Source: Natural Marketing Institute, 2006)
eBay Giving Works and Cause Marketing
Finally Kristin Cunningham talked about cause marketing (selling items to support a cause) and how this approach can not only make you feel good about supporting your favorite causes, but also help you get higher average selling prices in some cases. Kristin explained how we're creating compassionate commerce through eBay Giving Works:
eBay sellers can list an item and donate 10%*-100% of the final sale price to a certified nonprofit organization
Listings are marked with a special ribbon icon
Donations are collected and distributed to benefiting nonprofits, tax receipts are available for sellers
eBay credits Insertion and Final Value Fees, proportionate to the donation percentage the seller chose.
It was clear from the audience Q&A that many sellers are already adopting green practices. Here's a reaction from Jackie, a seller I interviewed right after the seminar:
There's no better way to start off Day 3 than to swing on down to my favorite place at eBay Live! - the Community Lounge. I thought I'd just sit myself down and do some blogging while talking to folks. And who was the first person I saw, but one of the most friendly folks you'll ever meet, beachbadge (on my right). She's famous for bringing treats like her rumballs, and has been passing them out to a bunch of grateful attendees (and maybe a staff member or two). So what's been her favorite part of eBay Live! so far? "Hanging out with friends - it's the reason we come. And I actually got my first PayPal security key too, so there's been a business side as well."
katiyana, another one of my favorites, sat down on my other side and agreed. "The social aspect has been my favorite part. I have learned some new tricks too, but reconnecting with old friends is fantastic. Plus I got to meet Seth Godin!"
tradrmom, who happened to be walking by, said "My goal is to learn 3 new things each year, and I think I've accomplished that."
giraffer really enjoyed the eBay Giving Works party last night. It was their anniversary suaree to honor some of their biggest fundraisers, and it was great to see them get recognition for doing something good. After hearing her describe it, I wish I had been there.
Mary Ann, known as viewmasterlady, told me about how she was interviewed about her incredible collection of viewmasters. She's a long veteran of the site, so networking with others is at the top of her priority list, although she also came to learn more about our changes this year. She also told me about "fruity," a fruitcake that's been making the rounds around the country and will eventually be auctioned off for charity. The cake apparently made an appearance at a dinner here during the event - I gotta see if I can get an interview later on.
Gotta sign off for now to head over to the Town Hall - hopefully I'll be able to make it back down here again later.
Just uploaded a bunch of photos from eBay Live! 2008 in Chicago to a new photo album. Check it out. Kudos to our enterprising photographer, Susanna Millman from The Photo Group.
We all know that sometimes the best part of conferences is what happens outside of the sessions. Developers got social this year at eBay Developers Conference on our eBay DevCon Twitter. Chicago is a fun town and so was looking into the thought cloud surrounding all of the ideas and conversations happening in the hallways of our DevCon event. Blogging, photo sharing and adding friends from our Facebook event were also popular ways to spend time in our Developer Lounge.
Of course there were also offline ways to network as well, including our Beer Bash and PayPal Party at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. Online or in person, the eBay developer community is a social bunch.
On my way to meet with Debbie and Daphne of LiveWorld, the vendor that powers our Community forums, I bumped into timecatchers (Kathryn, a regular on the Workshop Discussion board and Del, a Voices member). It seems that on Thursday, Del discovered their User ID stamped on one of the stars leading into the Solutions Center. That discovery led to the question of, "How does one's User ID get picked to be placed on a star and what happens to the star once eBay Live! is over?" (Once a star, always a star, Del! I'm still trying to track down an answer for your questions -- stay tuned).
After visiting with Kathryn and Del for a bit, I decided to share their discovery and enthusiasm with the rest of you. Here they are to share their excitement about becoming 'stars'. (and before I forget, it was nice to finally get to meet you Kathryn and being able to put a face to your user ID).
In how many countries is PayPal accepted? What year did iTunes start accepting PayPal? What was PayPal's original name when it started?
These are just a few of the questions (answers below) you might get to answer during "Let's Make An e-Deal", a game show that's bringing in crowds to the PayPal booth on the Solutions Center floor. Correct answers will get you cool PayPal memorabilia, instant celebrity status (albeit fleeting), and a lot of useful knowledge about PayPal -- its safety, convenience, and reliability.
The PayPal booth has a bit of extra energy, perhaps because PayPal is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year? If you're on the Solutions Center floor, make sure to check out the booth -- and participate in the fun game show (see the video below). There's one every 15 and 45 minutes after the top of an hour.
And the answers to the questions above:
In how many countries is PayPal accepted? Answer -- 190 countries
What year did iTunes start
accepting PayPal? Answer -- 2004
What was PayPal's original name when it started? Answer -- Confinity (I didn't know this one either. Apparently it was derived from "confidence" and "infinity," back in the day when PayPal was starting up as a payment solution for handheld PDAs).
Flashbulbs! Photographers! Swarms of people clamoring for a glimpse of who is in the spotlight! No, it's not a Hollywood premiere...it's eBay Live! as the show continues its tradition of being a
constant hustle of activity. After giving the Keynote address this morning, John Donahoe and Lorrie Norrington stopped by the Solutions Center to meet and greet eBay members. There was a long line of eBay members on the floor, eager to meet eBay's President and CEO John Donahoe, and President of Marketplace Operations, Lorrie Norrington.
People stopped by to shake hands, make introductions, take photos, and even get autographs. Among all the many autographed items was a Hard Rock Cafe guitar which will be auctioned on eBay via eBay Giving Works. Signatures on the guitar include John Donahoe, Lorrie Norrington, Twisted Lister, (our very own eBay rock band who will play at the closing Gala), and Chris Isaak, this year's headliner for the closing gala. Proceeds from the sale of the guitar will benefit the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares.
Buyers today have a plethora of online destinations to purchase from, so what's a seller to do to get buyers' eyeballs on their inventory? The short answer in three words is "Search Engine Optimization." Internet search engines are an important tool buyers use to find items, and higher ranking search results obviously get more clickthroughs. Sellers can influence search engines by tweaking the content (keywords, item specifics, attributes) to make their items rank higher.
No wonder the seminar on Search Engine Optimization from Christine Kim, Manager, Search Marketing, today was well attended. One of the attendees I talked to was John, who I initially thought was a PowerSeller. Turns out instead that it's his wife, Brenda (happyday240), who's the PowerSeller. John was attending eBay Live! to support Brenda in "optimizing" her eBay Live! schedule. While Brenda attended classes she was most interested in, she dispatched John to cover other classes with which she had a schedule conflict. John actually took vacation from his job in order to be able to attend eBay Live! for Brenda.
John told me a few of his key learnings from the seminar -- restructuring their eBay Store (Children's Book Adventures), understanding the process with which eBay works with search engines like Google and Yahoo! to display our sellers' inventory, and starting a blog to begin the climb up the rankings ladder. Well, this blog entry will hopefully give them a bit of a boost as well.
If you're paying attention to the Announcement Board, you can now check out the replay of this morning's keynote speech with CEO John Donahoe and President of eBay Marketplace Operations Lorrie Norrington. Go to http://www.mapdigital.com/eBayLive!_keynote_june_2008 to see it, and again we apologize for the earlier mix-up on the links.
Live help
It's less than a week since the eBay Foundation handed over checks of $333,334 each to three nonprofits — First Book, Best Friends Animal Society, and Oxfam — as part of the Community Gives campaign. The nonprofits are already putting the money to good use. 
