Voices were heard at the eBay Live! Town Hall...some thoughts

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."