San Jose, CA
Below are photos from "Our Summer Vacation" - a trip to eBay Live and northern California. I highly recommend attending eBay Live whether you're a seller or buyer - there are many good classes, interesting vendors and several thousand of our fellow eBayers to chat with, learn from and teach! I think it's the best investment one could make in his eBay business!
Biggest lesson we learned the 2 weeks we were on our trip: DO NOT drive a 10 year old vehicle hundreds of miles! (Unless you don't mind a couple broken axels, a leaking transmission fluid pan and a tire blowout at 70 mph!)
Our eBaying began a couple days before Live began. Kyle attended the Developers Conference on Tuesday & Wednesday and learned a lot of geek stuff. (And even met a Phoenix seller for whom he may do some contract work!) On Wednesday afternoon/evening, we had dinner with about 30 SAPro/Blackthorne users & employees - what a treat that was!
Thursday was the first official day of Live - I spent a lot of time meeting others, visiting the Expo (vendor booths) and getting sore from all the walking and was involved in a Paypal shipping focus group. We went to hear the keynote speech - Meg, some other big-wigs and the Postmaster General of the US. (That impressed me - the PO really does know who saved the USPS with our daily shipments!)
On Friday, the day started at the Seller's Assistant/Blackthorne breakfast. I also attended a Blackthorne seminar, made a brief Trading Assistant presentation at the TA boothand joined thousands at Great America for a BBQ dinner (not very tasty).
On Saturday, I attended a TA panel session, the Blackthorne "request for features" meeting, was on the panel about the eBay Community features and took in the PowerSeller panel session. Of course, I met tons of my fellow eBayers and visited the Expo some more. That evening, we went to the Gala via one of the dozens of buses eBay hired to cart us to that event. As we eBayers entered the hall, hundreds of eBay & Paypal employees had a long receiving line and applauded us as we entered. This could have been hokey as they did the same last year, but I got a sense that the enthusiasm was genuine. A buffet dinner and dessert bar was ready for us. "Bering Strait", a band transplanted from Russia to Nashville, entertained us - they were pretty good (in a Russian cowboy sort of way). Then, the coup de grace - the B52s! How fun to relive my early 80s nights dancing to Rock Lobster - this time in person!
If I've misidentified you, misspelled your name or made another error, please email me with corrections. My thanks to Crystal Holt, MovieMagicUSA, for taking photos with our camera at the Seller's Assistant/Blackthorne breakfast.
This is the front of the McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose. Nice welcome!
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The Civic Center, across the street from the Convention Center.
Many Live activities were held here. |
SAPro/Blackthorne Pre-eBay Live Gathering at A.P. Stumps Restaurant the night before eBay Live began:
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Tom Stone & Cy Stapleton |
Sue Motta & Sharon Klinger |
Kyle Bennett, Cindy Stone, Martha Oberman, Richard Crouse, Esther from Snowflake, AZ |
Martha Oberman, Mitch Zlotnick, Herb Oberman, Kyle Bennett, Cindy Stone |
Ken LeComte, Bob Sachs, John Slocum |
Blackthorne's Leslie Van Allen |
Blackthorne guys, Jon Levine & Mauricio Monico with user, Mitch Zlotnick |
Richard Crouse, Mauricio Monico, Jon Levine & Kyle Bennett |
Bob Sachs & John Slocum |
Me (Sally Milo) giving thanks to The Man, John Slocum |
Seller's Assistant/Blackthorne Breakfast: |
Josh Eudy, Robert McMillian & Steve Holt |
William Wilkins & Caroline Crystal |
Donna Hanvey, Lisa & Ken Lecomte |
Bill & Mary Guenther, Risa Cowley, Lance Guenther |
Ping Gee & Steve Bachmann |
Bruce Stewart & Robert Sachs |
Jon Levine, Laura Boucher, Mauricio Monico |
Mike Maxum, Neal Davida, Mike Turmell & John Chase |
Tom & Cindy Stone, Cy Stapleton & Jeff Edmunds |
Nancy & Michael McNamara, Tux Maucauley, Dave Harkin |
Mauricio Monico, Talmadge Gunn & Mary Wilson |
Pat & Peter Ross, Dan & Joyce Trunk |
Martha & Herb Oberman |
Jan Ball, Peggy Anderson & Julia Bard |
Pamela Ferguson, Tami & Eric Jackson |
Other Shots: |
At the Community Panel Session: Diane Hamill, Almar Reyes (Rizal on the boards), me & Joyce Banbury. This was a fun session for me - I was on the panel with some very high-powered eBay Voices. |
Guess the lighting was different for this one... |
Me getting my tiara signed by Jeff Jordan & Meg Whitman |
Paypal head, Jeff Gordon, with eBay CEO, Meg Whitman |
The big-wigs & me |
If I hadn't insisted on a photo alone with Meg, I wouldn't show this off - looks like I'm in all my redneck glory after having tipped a few. ;-( |
| The Gala |
Kyle & me at the Gala |
eBay & Paypal employees lined the entryway to the gala as we sellers & buyers entered |
Singer from "Bering Strait", a Russian band transplanted to Nashville |
One of the entertainers juggling |
The stage & big screen of one of the lasso-ing entertainers |
The B52s on stage |
Sing along with Love Shack...
Click here to see & hear a short snippet of Love Shack... |
"I had a Chryler..." |
The crowd rocks to Rock Lobster |
More lasso-ing entertainers |
The tiara I hand-beaded and wore for all Live festivities. (Nope, I'm not gonna list it!) |
A close-up |
Autographs of Meg Whitman, Jeff Jordan & eBay Pres, Bill Cobb |
Autographs of Griff (eBay's "ambassador") & Shira, the eBay employee who gave me a $25 gift certificate to use at the eBay store. |
Kyle at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco a few days after Live |
| See you next year in Las Vegas for eBay Live 2006! |
