| eBay Live! Meet-and-Greet – Continuing a Member Tradition
Note: the Meet-and-Greet event mentioned here is a member-organized event, and not part of the official eBay Live! 2006 event.
Alone in a crowd? No way!
Every year, thousands of members from all over converge on that year's venue for eBay Live!, the annual 3-day event where thousands of eBay Community members, industry experts, and exhibitors get together to share the secrets of success, network, make new friends, and celebrate everything eBay. It's a frenetic three days, packed with events, classes, and networking opportunities, and can get quite overwhelming, especially if you're walking around the convention center alone.
Here's more information on eBay Live! and the Meet-and-Greet event:
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This was just the predicament that a member anticipated back in 2003, the year eBay Live! was held at Orlando, Florida. She was going alone, and didn't very much like the thought of being alone in a sea of strangers at the event. So she started a thread on the discussion boards, asking if there were other members who felt the same – and the responses came flooding in. Most of the responses were from women who were also traveling alone and wanted the security and comfort of knowing other women with whom they could develop a camaraderie.
The Meet-and-Greet has come a long way
As the number of responses grew, some members, such as perpetual-vogue and 100percenttoys suggested that they should all meet the evening before eBay Live! started. Little did they know that this casual meet-and-greet would turn into an eBay Live! tradition that's steadily gained popularity at every subsequent eBay Live! 2006 is the fourth year the Members Meet-and-Greet will be held, and this year's promises to be the biggest ever, with an anticipated participation from over 400 members.
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100percenttoys and perpetual-vogue have been involved
in all the Meet-and-Greets since Orlando |
“That's a far cry since Orlando, when it was just 40 or 50 of us informally meeting in a hotel lobby the night before eBay Live! started,” laughs perpetual-vogue. She fondly remembers that 100percenttoys was there at the airport that year to meet her when her flight landed. The amazing thing is that these two women had never met each other before – they had only come to know each other on the discussion boards. Their first meeting was the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship that has only grown deeper over the years.
perpetual-vogue and 100percenttoys are the core members at the heart of the eBay Live! Meet-and-Greet tradition. They've actively been involved in organizing the event every year since Orlando. What started out as a gathering of 40 to 50 people at Orlando grew to 250 people in New Orleans (eBay Live! 2004) and had swelled to 400 attendees in San Jose (eBay Live! 2005). “For Vegas, the sky's the limit!” laughs 100percenttoys.
In keeping with the event's growing popularity, the core group has also grown. perpetual-vogue is all praise for the efforts of members like heineken, eclectic_connection, and nhauctioneer for being involved in various aspects of the event.
Break the ice, mingle – and network, network, network!
So what happens at the eBay Live! Meet-and-Greet? 100percenttoys explains that the event is mostly social, but is also a great place to network with other eBay members. As can be expected, when passionate eBay members get together, the conversation is bound to turn to all things eBay, such as sharing tips and recommendations on what to do at eBay Live!, and tell others about their selling successes. “Well, we just get together to meet new people and get into the swing of eBay Live! “ she says.
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Breaking the ice at a previous Meet-and-Greet |
The event always starts off with fun activities to break the ice, and prizes are given out to enthusiastic participants. “Almost everyone walks away with a prize,” declares heineken. It's designed to make everyone feel at home and build up the excitement of walking around the eBay Live! convention floor for the next three days. “The convention floor is like a small city for those three days, with huge crowds of eBay members going from booth to booth. So it's a great feeling to see familiar faces – people that you met at the Meet-and-Greet – and wave to them or say a quick hello,” explains perpetual-vogue.
The core group is convinced that the Meet-and-Greet for 2006 is going to be the best ever. They set the planning into motion very soon after last year's eBay Live! in San Jose, and by December 2005, they had even finalized the location for the big event. The enthusiasm was infectious, and many sellers are contributing grab bag prizes and gifts for attendees.
This year's highlights and prizes
A few highlights of the 2006 eBay Live! Meet-and-Greet include:
- Grab Bag Prizes (hundreds of prizes donated by eBay sellers).
- A raffle for large prizes including helicopter rides over Las Vegas, $175.00 Mandalay Bay Restaurant Certificate, a Slingbox, a digital camera, gift baskets and gift certificates from $175.00 - $250.00 from various eBay Stores sellers.
- Two free drinks for the first 250 people to arrive. Free appetizers will be served early in the evening.
- Hula contests (the venue is a Hawaiian themed club).
- Guessing games for prizes.
Prizes for some of the games will be eBay coolers (being donated by eBay member jimwarden) that will be filled with eBay goodies (heineken, eclectic_connection, and perpetual-vogue will fill them with goodies such as T-shirts, cups, pins, and other memorabilia from past eBay Live! events) to get the excitement going.
Group Member thestickerstation is going to be in charge of doing a bingo type game as an ice breaker. Players will have to fill their card by getting other party goers that fulfill specific requirements (for instance, members who have been to a certain number of eBay Live! events or have a certain feedback score) to sign their cards. “This will get even the shy folks to start talking to each other!,” laughs heineken.
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Meet-and-Greets are a great time to network |
100percenttoys says that she's thrilled by all the excitement building up on their Going to eBay Live! group. Membership of the Group has swelled to nearly 1200 people. People are already planning additional get-togethers and activities in Las Vegas before the Meet & Greet. Some people are doing a Neon Boneyard Tour (“where casino lights and memorabilia go to die,” reports perpetual-vogue) right before the Meet & Greet. Another group of folks are all meeting up in the Luxor an hour or so before the Meet & Greet to network and then are going to take limo rides over to the party. gs_ent is so thrilled that she even designed a special “I'm Going to eBay Live! Meet and Greet” button!
How are you planning to get there? If you haven't already done so, start by registering for eBay Live!
“It'll be the time of your life,” promise the organizers of the Meet-and-Greet.
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