Part three-ring circus, part university and part revival
meeting--all rolled into one--this year's eBay Live! community
conference made a long-lasting impression on the 12,000 community
members who attended. I love eBay Live!, and I've participated
in every one of them since its inception. I've had the pleasure
of teaching my "Starting an eBay Business" class to huge
crowds every year--it seems there's a never-ending stream of
people who want to learn how to successfully run an eBay
business.
This year, the conference seemed better than ever. As always,
the eBay staff was constantly excited and ebullient. The expo part
of the show--the trade show--was full of a selection of vendors who
offered products designed to increase an eBay seller's bottom
line. But there were some special things that stuck in my mind that
I'd like to share with you.
Educational opportunities. This year, eBay's list of
seminars and classrooms went for pages in the program, with more
than 160 eBay sessions specifically tailored for the beginner,
intermediate and advanced eBay user. Topics for these sessions
included coming trends, legal and tax tactics, tips for running an
eBay store and how to expand to the world market as well as classes
on popular eBay categories such as clothing, accessories, motors,
electronics and more. Classes were held not only in the convention
center but also in the hotels and the varied adjacent buildings.
You could literally spend every waking minute learning something
from someone. A very welcome addition this year were the computer
labs, where users could sit down and learn hands-on.
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Fun stuff. As always, eBay came up with a wonderful set
of 10 new collector pins which were given out at various spots
throughout the event. The pins were themed by year to commemorate
the many changes and advances that eBay's undergone during the
past 10 years. Not to be left out, many of the vendors in the
exhibit area also gave away custom-made pins. My publisher, Wiley,
had a special pin made with the "for Dummies" man holding
up a birthday cake with candles in the eBay colors saying
"Here's to 10 years."
eBay also gave away "award" ribbons near the
registration area that proclaimed phrases like: "I'm a
Power Seller" and "I make my living on eBay." People
picked up these ribbons and attached dozens of them to their ID
badges. It was fun seeing people with super long strings of the
ribbons and seeing just what they'd picked out to display.
In the exhibit area, it was booth after booth of interesting
vendors who make their living from eBay not be selling on the site
but by producing products software programs to help sellers sell.
Each of the major eBay categories also had booths, staffed with
eBay employees ready and excited to get some face time with the
users in their niche markets.
Some of my favorite eBay Live! memories?
- The keynote address. An amazing time was had by all in
true "event" style with lots of junk food and favors. Meg
Whitman was the star of the show, giving her keynote address to the
almost 12,000 eBay loyalists in attendance. Jim "Griff"
Griffith was a top talent warm-up for Meg, interviewing the crowd
and making thousands of people smile.
- EBay and PayPal community barbeque at Paramount's Great
America. eBay took over this amazing amusement park just for
the eBay community. There was a free BBQ dinner, lots of rides and
a charity auction sponsored by the PESA (Professional eBay Sellers
Alliance) to benefit the NetSmartz program of the National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children. There was both a silent and a
live auction. The top prize of the night was to be able to ride any
ride in the park with eBay North America President Bill Cobb. The
prize went to Jack Sheng (eBay ID: Eforcity), who placed the top
bid of $4,000.
- 10th anniversary gala. At the end of every eBay Live!
conference, there's a wonderful dinner party (read:
extravaganza) for all the attendees. It was held at the Santa Clara
Convention Center this year, and the music was great. Bering
Strait, a Russian country band, was the opening act that got the
thousands of eBay members rocking. Then, the main event, the B-52s,
totally rocked the house. It was so much fun, and a great time to
meet more sellers and eBay employees in a less formal setting.
Those were the big events, but there were small ones, too. Let
me share a personal one. During one of my book signings, I was
approached by a deaf eBay user who was interested in finding a
mentor program. Luckily I had my "SideKick" on and I
switched to AIM and looked for Marjie Smith, president of the DOUA
(Disabled Online Users Association). Marjie was online, and I
introduced the two of them. They IM'd their information and
Marjie set up another mentor program. That's the magic of eBay
Live!--when users like Marjie and I can connect with a new user,
all in the name of community.
eBay charged a fee for attending Live!, but I can easily say
that visitors got way more than they expected--and certainly more
than their money's worth. I can't wait until next year when
I can meet more members of the community at the Mandalay Bay Hotel
in Las Vegas.
Marsha Collier, a successful eBay PowerSeller, is
Entrepreneur.com's "eBay"
columnist as well as the author of the bestselling eBay
references, eBay for Dummies, 4th Editionand Starting an eBay Business for Dummies.