What a few hectic days! I arrived about 40 hours before the official start of eBay Live. After checking in at my hotel (Wild Wild West - about 1 mile from Mandalay Bay), I played a few nickle slots, then drove over to Mandalay to hook up with Cindy & Tom for a delicious dinner at Raffles Restaurant. (Terrific Caesar's Salad & Calamari!)
Monday morning was my only block of free time - I tried the pool at my hotel (COLD!!!) & a few more nickle slots. On Monday afternoon, there was a special session on marketing for Education Specialists. I left with some great ideas for building up not only my teaching, but my consignment biz, too!
On Monday evening, many pre-Live gatherings were scheduled - I first attended the ES dinner at the House of Blues, then went over to the Border Grill to meet with a few of my fellow BTPro users & the 3 BT team members who attended Live this year. (I was so glad when I got back to my hotel that I'd packed Ben-gay & Advil - that first day of walking miles dragging my cart wore me out!)
On Tuesday morning, I spent some time in the Solution Center to see the vendor & eBay booths and to say hi to a few people I knew would be hanging out there. In the first part of the afternoon, I went to the Blackthorne class taught by John Slocum. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the PowerSeller lounge & running from one end of the convention center to the other.
The Keynote took place Tuesday evening. I was pleased to hear eBay is finally going to crack down on fee-avoiders, those who sell stuff at low prices, but have high shipping fees. But I was thrilled as it was announced Davy Jones would sing Daydream Believer to us! He & his group played a few other tunes, but I didn't recognize most. Funny how the lyrics of a 40-year old song come back to memory!
Wednesday was spent running back & forth & back & forth, etc. I did attend the TA Best Practices class & found that useful and inspiring. My biggest inspiration came Wed. evening when I attended a networking dinner with several drop-off store owners.
Until late Thursday afternoon, I ran back & forth &&&&, then attended the Blackthorne Ad & Email Templates class. That was great - I learned how to do a couple cool things and about some new features. (Guess I should revise my BTPro Quick Start Guide again soon!)
The Gala took place Thursday evening, but it started out less than pleasantly - I was in line about 1 mile from the door & didn't get inside for about 1 1/2 hours - nearly 7pm! I got a glass of wine, got in the buffet line, then walked around the entire room seeking just one seat. I ended up sitting on the floor with too many others who were too late for a seat. Acoustics were lousy - Meg spoke & was on the big screen, but discerning her words was impossible. There was a so-so band which played for a while, then the biggie: Huey Lewis. I was quite near the stage as he started singing, but the crowd & the heat made me turn around after 2 tunes. I wouldn't miss the Gala for anything, but I don't think it was planned for enough attendees. (Okay, 'nuff complaining - I will post a page of my suggestions for future Lives soon.)
Though I missed Kyle much thru my few days in LV, I had to walk miles & miles & miles and had a crummy time at the Gala, you can bet I'm already looking forward to Boston next June! |
