EcommerceBytes-NewsFlash, Number 3130 - August 14, 2013     2 of 4

eBay Cancels On Location Events in Favor of Meetups

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eBay Live user conferences have long been a thing of the past, replaced by smaller regional events known as eBay On Location. But now those too are going by the wayside. Instead, eBay will piggyback on user-organized events called Meetups, with two such events scheduled for this month.

In an email sent by "eBay Engage," the company said direct connections with customers is a priority, and that it found that smaller-scale events have a powerful impact, "allowing eBay customers the opportunity to connect directly with each other and with eBay staff in one-on-one settings."

eBay spokesperson Ryan Moore told EcommerceBytes that eBay would send experts from functional areas of the company to the meetups. In terms of the general format, it will be similar to a standard Meetup, he said:

  • One hour meet and greet;
  • One hour presentation on prepping for the Holiday season and sales strategies;
  • One hour of Q&A with a panel of eBay team members;
  • Post-event opportunity to have questions answered.

eBay had held annual conferences from 2002 - 2008 and canceled a planned conference in Atlanta in 2009, and held the smaller eBay On Location events from 2010 - 2011.

eBay will send executives to the Bay Area eBay and eCommerce Sellers Meetup in San Jose, California on August 20 and to the Dallas eBaybes & eMales! Meetup in Dallas, Texas on August 29th. Links to register are available on the eBay community page.

eBay is also planning to send employees to meetups in Los Angeles, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Charlotte in the coming months.

About the author:

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.
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