eBay continues its long history of live eBay seller events in 2020.
eBay Seller Conference Events In 2020!
Rather than one large eBay Open event this year, eBay is rolling out a series of smaller, local Upfront events. This news is met with mixed feelings from the eBay seller community. Sellers are grateful to have live eBay events for sellers across the United States. But many sellers bemoan eBay not offering one big “blow out” event.
If you don’t know the history of eBay live conference events, let me enlighten you.
Once upon a time, from 2003-2008, there was an annual eBay event known as eBay Live! At its height, this legendary city-hopping conference attracted thousands of fervent eBay sellers. eBay Live! conferences occurred several times in one calendar year at key locations across the United States.
eBay Live! was a large conference that attracted hundreds if not thousands of sellers and staff. A key feature was workshops running on multiple tracks. One could also hang out with eBay staffers in the Pinks Lounge, named for eBay employees’ pink-lined discussion board posts. There were always “added attractions” at eBay Lives. At one, attendees could line up to have a book signed by then CEO Meg Whitman.
In the Expo Hall sellers discover useful third-party tools and services while collecting vast quantities of swag.
Attendees proudly sport eBay-branded apparel, eBay-colored hair, headgear, and accessories. A sudden burst of “pin music” alerts you to find the nearest eBay employee and claim another of that year’s series of collectible pins. Also eNotes, eBay’s own all-employee a cappella singing group, might turn up next to you in the Expo Hall.
Keynote addresses typically commence with a performance by eBay’s all-employee house band. The band originally was known as Negative Feedback and later as Twisted Lister. Sometimes Griff joined them on piano. So let’s just say, music was everywhere at eBay Live! events.
eBay Live! culminates with a gala with a red carpet entrance for all!
Sellers walk the eBay Live! red carpet through a vociferous clapping tunnel of applauding eBay employees. After an amazing dinner, sellers dance the night away to big-name musical entertainment. Entertainers like Kool and the Gang, the B-52s, or Weird Al Yankovich perform at eBay Lives. Weird Al’s hit parody “What I Bought on eBay” was greeted with thunderous applause complete with an audience singalong. All of this was at the 2003 eBay Live! gala in Orlando.
Sadly, these mega-conferences ultimately became unsustainable for the company.
The last eBay Live! events happened in 2008. But the following year, a call-in to eBay Radio lamenting the demise of eBay Live! sparked the founding of the inaugural eBay Radio Party & Conference (eRPC). And a new era of eBay seller conferences was born with the eBay Radio Party & Conference!
eBay Radio Party & Conference with eBay Radio’s producer Lee Mirabal at the helm, kept the spirit of eBay Live burning brightly.
So while eBay turned from organizing and running the mega conferences of eBay Live!, eBay Radio Party & Conference picked up the torch! Though a smaller conference, eBay Radio Party & conference brought together awesome eCommerce speaker line ups. It also showcased such fun features as a Best eBay Outfits contest. I myself was honored to be first a Mentor as part of eRPC’s informative Mentors Corner, and later for two years a presenter. Other eRPC innovations included networking lunches. At these lunches attendees shared Dutch treat repasts with speakers, sponsors, and eBay employees.
Nothing beats the learning of sellers talking to sellers!
The eBay Radio Party & Conference ran from 2009-2015. During those years, eBay did experiment with smaller regional conferences known as eBay: On Location. These took place in cities across the country. Sellers were grateful for the events albeit on a much smaller scale compared to eBay Lives of days gone by.
In September 2015, eBay celebrated the company’s 20th anniversary with We Are Twenty!
Held in eBay’s home town of San Jose, It was attended by some 1000 sellers. We Are Twenty had much of the energy of eBay Live! events from the past. It was wildly successful. Handing out $100 eBay gift cards to all registrants was a great way to kick off the event! It included a large array of eBay staff speakers speaking to eBay’s past and eBay’s future. Of course it included a great event party.
So in 2016, eBay brought back a series of large conferences with eBay Open.
Held in Las Vegas during the third week of July from 2016 through 2019, this annual seller celebration incorporated key eBay Live! traditions such as the beloved clapping tunnel. Presentations by key eBay executives anchored eBay Opens. Plenty of workshops of hot seller topics were available. 3rd party vendors and teams of eBay staff were readily available in the event’s Expo Hall. eBay Radio was on hand broadcasting live!
Though not offered across the country as eBay Live! had been, sellers greeted the annual eBay Open mega events with great enthusiasm. It was great to have an outstanding venue, speakers, workshops and expo hall with vendors. And sellers loved the closing event party!
2019 also saw the introduction of eBay UpFront. Intimate local events in a smattering of cities nationwide. eBay UpFront features a presentation by key eBay team leaders. After the executive presentations, there is round-table discussions with various key eBay teams, and lots of yummy treats.
Like eBay Live! before it, eBay Open fell victim to its own success and became unsustainable for the company.
So there will be no eBay Open in 2020. But, eBay will continue its seller outreach by doubling down on one-evening eBay UpFronts.
Twice as many are scheduled for 2020. 10 Upfronts are in cities from coast to coast. Check out the entire schedule at ebay.com/SellerEvents. If there’s an eBay UpFront anyway near you, I urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to get face time with eBay team members.
Though not the same as the large eBay Open and eBay Live events, eBay Upfronts are packed with great content. Attending sellers gain access to top level eBay executives and staff. And nothing beats the energy of several hundred eBay sellers under 1 roof!
We’ll miss the glitz and glamour of eBay Open, which was wonderful while it lasted.
On the upside, sellers don’t have to take several days off from business to travel to a large conference. Nor will sellers incur the expenses of a business trip to Las Vegas. As for how we’ll celebrate the quarter-century milestone of eBay’s 25th anniversary, we will just have to wait and see!
In closing, I’ll be at eBay UpFront in both Tampa and Weehawken.
Are you coming to eBay upfront?
If you’re there, please come on over and say hello. I can’t wait to hear the great eBay staff speakers. The presentations are sure to be loaded with choice nuggets of information. As is always the best part of any eBay event, I look forward to meeting up with old friends and making new ones!
I applaud eBay for continuing live seller events. I encourage sellers to support eBay in its Upfront evenings.
Who knows, if each eBay Upfront sells out, perhaps we’ll see bigger events in the near future?!
