eBay held its annual Hack Week last week where 2,000 participants from around the world submitted over 700 ideas. eBay introduced the event in 2015 to spur innovation among employees. “This is an opportunity for our team to stretch our thinking, explore areas outside of our day-to-day responsibilities, and develop skills in new technologies,” eBay Chief Product Officer Eddie Garcia wrote in a LinkedIn post on August 11th, adding, “”A few days ago, we announced winners at an awards ceremony celebrating our inventors.”
eBay said the format of Hack Week fosters collaboration across organizations and empowers employees to work on projects they are passionate about. In 2019, 3,000 employees participated. In 2018, 1,600 employees participated.
eBay’s Hack Week is not just for techies – over 20% of its “inventors” in 2017 were in non-technical disciplines. “That’s because not all innovations require a software solution, and even those that do benefit greatly from cross-disciplinary expertise,” according to the former head of eBay Innovation Programs Sergio Gonzales at the time.
Typically Hack Week leads up to eBay’s annual Innovation Expo in the fall.
This year, eBay offered customized games from Enterprise Events Group to provide immersive, interactive experiences, such as Virtual Reality Foosball and Giant Pac-Man Battle, which “emphasized teamwork and quick thinking, traits essential for successful innovation.”
Garcia said in yesterday’s post, “I personally love how our teams embody the values of customer obsession, speed, and bold innovation. Last year’s Hack Week inspired many ideas that have ended up on our roadmap and in the hands of our sellers and buyers, including Shop the look, simplified listings, and background enhancement.”
eBay published the following video on YouTube showing clips from Hack Week 2019:
