eBay on the Air

eBay's Dean of eBay University Griff (aka Jim Griffith) writes the monthly Chatter column, Griff's Corner. He also hosts eBay Radio from 11:00 to 12:00 PST each Tuesday. Join in with the rest of the eBay Community via the Internet, and call in your questions live.

This month, we caught up with Griff to ask him a few questions about eBay Radio.

What's your background with eBay?

I stumbled upon the site back in May of 1996 when it was known as AuctionWeb. A friend emailed the URL to me. I bid on and won a rare computer chip and was instantly hooked. I spent most of that summer on the AW chat board answering questions and being a silly cut up. In October of 1996, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar--who had been watching my antics on the chat board--called and asked me to join the team as eBay's first customer support rep. I answered email and chatted on our eBay Q&A board, all from my home base in West Rutland, VT.

Over the next few years I hired about 20 other customer support reps and was supervisor of what became known internally as "eBay East." In 1999 I relocated to Salt Lake City to help with setting up our first official and dedicated customer support center. My job there was Manager of Training, and I helped train the first few hundred employees in the new center.

In 2000, Meg suggested I join the PR team as media spokesperson. 2000 was also the beginning of our eBay University program. (eBay's traveling school that visits cities across the U.S. and Canada). I remained in Salt Lake City but between the two duties, I did a lot of hard core traveling around the country. I still put in over 100,000 air miles a year.

In February of 2003, I moved to San Jose. Currently, my job title is Dean of eBay Education. My duties include instructing at eBay Universities across the country and creating content for our on and off-line eBay Education programs. In addition, I am still called upon to be an eBay spokesperson for certain special occasions and situations.

How did you get involved with eBay Radio?

Our former eBay Education department head, Kevin McSpadden, had the idea for an eBay Radio program back in early 2003. We partnered with a third-party company called WSRadio.com for the venture (check them out at wsradio.com). Kevin felt radio would be an obvious choice for an alternative communication channel with the eBay Community. Kevin also thought I might make a good host for the program so when he asked me, I jumped on it.

Did you have any radio experience before? Was it something you were interested in prior to eBay?

My only radio experience before eBay Radio was as an interviewee, but I have always had an interest and passion for the performance and media arts so it wasn't a difficult role to learn. I also have an excellent coach, Lee Mirabal, at our partner company, WSRadio.com. Lee has been a great mentor and teacher.

What types of guests do you usually have on your show?

Our typical eBay Radio guest is someone who is expert in a field that relates directly to eBay trading. Past guests have included eBay's management staff, eBay PowerSellers, business industry experts like tax consultants and small business mavens, and other eBay buyers and sellers with amazing stories to tell.

Who is the most interesting guest that you've had so far, and why?

Marjie Smith of the Disabled Online Users Association has to be one of my favorite guests on eBay Radio. Marjie's own personal story is inspiring and her humor and personality are infectious! Her group, DOUA, helps disabled persons learn the eBay ropes so they can start their own eBay business. It's a wonderful example of everything that is good about the eBay Community. Can I plug the Marjie's About Me page here? Thanks!

Who do you plan to have on the show in the upcoming months?

Well, I don't want to jinx it by blabbing our wish list now, but I can say "stay tuned for some extremely interesting guests." I can also tell you that we will have regularly scheduled appearances by special experts like Rob Chesnut, eBay's VP of Trust and Safety who will be discussing current safety issues and taking calls from listeners. And we'll also feature appearances by tax and business experts like Jim Blasingame and Barbara Weltman.

What do you hope to accomplish with eBay Radio?

I've always envisioned eBay Radio as being primarily a talk radio format show with two purposes. First, it's a place to bring business, collecting and shopping experts and interesting eBay people on as guests who then educate and entertain listeners. Second, it's a forum where Community members can call in and ask their questions or voice their concerns. Right now we broadcast one hour each week. I am hoping we can expand the show to two hours and have 3/4 of the show be call-ins.

Members can call in? What can they talk about?

Well, yes they can! Most of the time, we try to limit the questions to a specific topic-of-the-week, but every so often we just throw open the phones and see what happens.

Is this going to be a new career for you?

Beyond eBay? Whoa pardner! Not so fast! Are you after my prime cube space?

Seriously, I love the radio show. It's a terrific challenge but working at eBay is still more fun and rewarding than anything else I can imagine right now.

Even if you can't catch the live show, all eBay Radio broadcasts are archived for listening-on-demand by topic segments. So be sure to visit www.wsradio.com/ebayradio for more information and to listen to eBay Radio on your computer while you browse and list.