We interrupt our not so regularly scheduled postings for a quick report on the eBay On Location, Atlanta event.
I went with a reluctant husband in tow. A husband who has been sick with a cold or allergies for three weeks. He’s not up to par. We’re in east central Alabama, a 2-1/2 hour drive to Atlanta and this short trip was typical of our “vacations”. The trips where these things only happen to us and the Clark Griswold family. I’ve shared some of those trips with you before.
We didn’t get three miles from our house before it started. Sitting at a stop sign, Ricky let his foot slip off the brake the tiniest bit and we rolled into the car in front of us. But no harm was done to either vehicle, so we went on our merry way, each of us wondering if this was just a one time thing or if it was a sign of things to come – and afraid it was probably the latter. We took our cat to Erin’s thinking she’d be happier there than being left home alone. Big mistake. She pooped on me, on the console and the back seat on the way. Said poop was patiently scooped it up in an Advil box and thrown it in the garbage can at the gas station. We dropped her off at Erin’s hissing at her cat brother, the one she used to get along with very well. So we had the concern that our baby wasn’t happy all weekend. (She wasn’t. Poor little thing was miserable.)
But on we traveled. Running late. Got almost to Atlanta and there was a wreck making the last 8 miles take an hour. The hotel we were staying at should have been easy to find, but we kept missing our downtown turn. At last, we checked in and took off for the Omni for the promised finger foods at the welcome reception.
Now, we live in the South, but I think I can speak for most of the rest of the US when I say that we’ve grown accustomed to being able to make a meal off finger foods. Finger foods usually means Momma brings pigs in a blanket and chicken salad sandwiches, Aunt Rose brings cucumber sandwiches and cupcakes, Grandma Beulah brings a pound cake, or two, Cousin Millie brings veggie pizza things…. You get the picture. What a surprise we got when we began to look for the food! Broccoli, carrots, squash slices, celery and dips. And some crackers and I think some tiny bread pieces. That’s it. Not even a cookie! Maybe it was because we were late. Maybe everybody had eaten all the good stuff already. Not that that’s not good. Broccoli is one of my favorite foods, but I personally didn’t care for the dips and it was hardly a meal for hungry folks. Strike one for eBay. We had to go in search of food.
There were a couple of parties going on afterward, but my tired, grumpy guy wasn’t up to going to anything, so I can’t report on those. eBay had nothing to do with them anyway and they might not be at every event. However, not going turned out to be a wise decision for us. We Could Not Get back to our hotel 4 blocks away. The simple route we took (or tried to take) to the Omni, didn’t work going back. One way streets, then the street that was the right way said no turns, then one would say buses only and there was massive road construction going on blocking Peachtree. It was a royal mess! Literally took another hour to get back to our hotel. (Lesson learned – stay at the hotel of the event if at all possible. It wasn’t possible for us. I waited too late to book.)
Why have I spent so much time on everything that happened before the event? Because it was so much more interesting. I found the whole event to be disappointing.
Saturday, they redeemed themselves with food. Fed us breakfast, then the sessions started.
Let me say that if you’re a beginner or you’ve just piddled with selling on eBay, you might get a lot out of the event. I’ve been doing this 12 years. I truly wanted classes that would help me to learn more how to do my business better, more efficiently, and how to use the system to make more money. What I got was them telling us what tools are available. (This can be found anywhere on the site.) They preached to use online shipping labels. (I do that.) They told us the different stores we can have and how much they cost. (How hard is that to find on the site?)
I wanted to be motivated. There was one motivational speaker, Mike Michalowicz, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, that I’d liked to have talked to and learned more. Thank goodness he gave us all a transcript of his presentation since I’ve now forgotten everything he said. I’d also have liked the opportunity to buy his book at the event, but apparently he wasn’t allowed to sell it there.
So eBay covered the basics. We paid $35 each, plus our room, plus a couple of times we ate out, plus the gas to get there, to learn things we already knew. But I’m glad I went. I’d rather regret going than regret not going and wondering what I missed. But if you’re contemplating attending one near you, if it’s in your city and you’d only be out the registration fee, by all means go! Don’t miss it! But if it’s going to be an expensive trip, you’d better be ready to network, because if you’ve been around the eBay block for awhile, that’s where you’ll get your money’s worth. Not what eBay is bringing to the table, but what the other sellers are bringing.
We did get to see them interview Elvis, though. My picture, naturally, is crappy, but maybe you can see the sideburns?
And they did feed us a good lunch.
