Live From Las Vegas, It's eBay

EBay holds its fifth annual user conference next week in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center, a three-day event expected to bring together nearly 15,000 eBay buyers and sellers from around the world.

Called eBay Live, the June 13-15 show is an educational and networking event for users of the world's leading consumer online auction platform. Classes will address issues for buyers and sellers in sales, business management, marketing and customer acquisition.

"The goal of the event is to get our buyers and sellers face to face to create a dialogue within the eBay community," said Jim Griffith, dean of education at eBay, San Jose, CA. "We are especially interested in being a resource for our sellers. Most people think you put something out there, you sell it and move on. But we are teaching sellers to think like a retailer by promoting to both past and potential buyers."

Marketing classes will train sellers in how to build and maintain a customer base. Sessions include strategies on understanding competition, search engine marketing, managing your eBay store, online newsletters, local mailers, promotions, pricing and listing.

Attendees will include eBay community members, industry experts and exhibitors. Social events in the evenings include a closing party featuring rock artist Huey Lewis & the News.

"EBay represents an exciting new generation of direct marketing," said first-time attendee Rob Coon, president of mail order management firm Dydacomp, Totowa, NJ. "We are exhibiting at the event to introduce our products and services to this growing segment of direct marketing and e-commerce. It is also a great opportunity for us to learn about companies at the forefront of online marketing and about technological developments."

Catapult, a high-tech direct marketing firm in Campbell, CA, did the marketing for the event. The company is using eBay Live work to leverage its position in events marketing.

"When eBay started out, we were a place for collectors to find rare items," Mr. Griffith said. "Since then, we have become much more mainstream. Today we have built what I believe to be the most effective platform for buying and selling in the world. Looking forward, we hope to be the resource for anyone who is looking to start a business anywhere in the world."