JD speaks to sellers through Pierre

April 30, 2008

This post was written in April 2008; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

I’ve looked at eBay Ink a few times, and really wondered what’s the point? Up until today there’s been very little content that couldn’t be found elsewhere, but today RBH posted some genuine insider stuff.

It’s three pretty interesting video clips from a longer conversation between JD and Pierre Omidyar, which was broadcast to eBay employees at the beginning of April. The segments address the level playing field, handling the community especially when they’re vocal, and the eBay marketplace and feedback.

The timing is impeccable, tomorrow is the 1st May and the latest eBay seller strike is due to kick off. It would be easy to think JD might be prominent and answering a few questions on why the changes sellers are complaining about are good for the community as a whole. That’s not what happens in the videos though, JD simply asks Pierre questions and lets him answer and tell it how it is.

I can almost imagine JD thinking “Hey I’m the new CEO and I have these things to say that sellers won’t like - I know… I’ll get Pierre to say them for me!”

The timing could be a coincidence but you have to admit, that on the eve of a seller strike, wheeling out the founder of eBay really isn’t a bad move.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Featured | 3 Comments 

Keynote: Griff and Meg

June 15, 2007

This post was written in June 2007; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

They keynote speech kicked off in spectacular style with the much awaited live debut of Twisted Lister - eBay’s very own band. Bryan Wright, Steve Corral, Steve Slater, Brandon Jones, and Domenic Paolo are eBay employees by day and musicians by night. They entertained the audience while they took their seats, which took some time as thousands entered the auditorium. Between songs there were drummers and acrobats on jumping stilts.

Griff - Jim Griffith, Dean of eBay University, was there to entertain the audience with his repertoire of eBay stories, and sallied forth into the audience for ad hoc interviews with unsuspecting eBayers. With his silver sequined jacket he is every bit the loveable rogue as he purposefully picked those who looked most camera shy to talk to. Those cornered found themselves filmed live on screens to make sure no matter where you were seated you could see the action.

Griff then introduced eBay CEO Meg Whitman for her keynote speech. Meg covered many topics with the message that eBay is no longer just about buying and selling. eBay aims to be enable fun engaging transactions and communications around the globe. From Finding, Buying, Paying, Communicating and Entertaining many of the building blocks are already in place. Meg also introduced Kristen Cunningham from eBay Giving Works (eBay for Charity in the UK). Kristen has over seen eBay’s charity work for five years and they recently reached the milestone of $100 million funds raised worldwide for charities. The auction which tipped the $100 million balance was a cat painting by artist Sandy Byers who donated 50% to a cat shelter. Kristen explained charity auctions get more views, more bids and better final value prices that non-charity listings.

Meg also mentioned the Webby that the eBay community was awarded and of course couldn’t resist talking about feedback. Present in the auditorium was 6.1 million feedback if you added up the thousands of eBayers present. Meg also introduced Pierre Omidyar who is attending eBay Live! this year, along with a mention for John Donahoe who is not taking an active part in the Keynote speeches. Mentioning John is significant, raising his profile as he works very much behind the scenes and is seen as investor friendly rather than community facing.

Written by Chris Dawson · Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Omidyar considerably richer than Bezos

March 13, 2007

This post was written in March 2007; specific information contained within it may be out of date.

eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is number 76 on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires. At US$8.8bn, Omidyar’s fortune is twice that of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Sounds like his new director of philanthropy is going to have his work cut out.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off