The Trip Wasn’t Boring, and Neither Is This Recap

I’ve just written four failed drafts of the Most Boring Trip Recap Post Ever, so I’ve decided to tell you about my trip to eBay headquarters (to learn about their online classifieds site, Kijiji) in a less traditional fashion.

Instead of conjuring memories of the low hum of a slide projector as a friend, family member, or person interested in torturing you showed photo after photo of their latest adventures, I will be presenting the…..(drumroll please)…..

Heisman Squirrel Awards

for excellence in corporate/blogger outreach events

{you’ll get the squirrel reference later.  i hope.}

Best Travel Coach:  My husband, for his patience with all my questions about allowable carry-on items.  When I demanded to know if mascara and lipstick were allowed, and reasoned that he should know because he travels so often, he refrained from calling me an idiot as he reminded me he doesn’t travel with make-up.  He also wins this award for arranging my shuttle ride home from the Houston airport, and for persistence in trying to reach me the morning of my flight (he literally woke me up 20 minutes before I had to leave – I totally overslept!).

Most Dynamic Group of Bloggers and Professionals:  US!  M Booth and eBay did an amazing job assembling vastly different bloggers and professional organizers to attend this Kijiji event.  We cover different regions, niches, and audience sizes.  We’re not the same faces you see attached to so many corporate outreach efforts.  And we know how to rock a party bus and keep the staff at H & M on their toes!

Ladies in Attendance:

Bloggers:

• Selfish Mom – Amy Oztan (NYC)
• Little Tech Girl – Kris Cain (Chicago)
• Living as Mom – Tiffany Morrison Dockery (Atlanta)
• eBay Tech and Toy Director – Cat Schwartz (LA)
• SV Moms Group – Linsey Krolik (San Jose)
• Once a Month Mom – Tricia Callahan (Dayton, OH)
• Green and Clean Mom – Sommer Poquette (Petoskey,MI)
• Five Dollar Shake – Jennifer Padgett (Detroit, MI)

Professional Organizer Spokespeople:

•  Chaos to Order – Monica Friel (Chicago)
• Creative Order – Suellen Germani (Atlanta)
• Squared Away – Julie Hibbs (Houston)
• Gotham Organizers – Lisa Zaslow (NYC)
• KD Organizing – Karen DeClark (Detroit)
• No Wire Hangers – Julie Naylon (LA)

Only Workplace Where Pez Dispensers Outnumber Employees:  eBay Headquarters.  Okay, I don’t think this is technically true, but this fun, funky workplace has a certain casual whimsy about it that was fun to see and experience.

Scrappiest Team of Passionate Employees:  The Kijiji Team.  We met several members of Kijiji, including GM Martin Herbst, Sr Operations Manager Chuck Pletcher, Manager of eBay Classifieds Group Selina Lim, and Business Manager Jack Sheu.  The Kijiji US Team is small, but as they say, scrappy, and incredibly dedicated to the Kijiji brand.  Their unofficial mascot is this image found by Jack on Threadless Tees {and now I’m hoping you get the Heisman Squirrel reference}:

Most Surprising Facts I Learned About Kijiji:  Okay, I know I’m cheating here by giving this award to ideas rather than to a person or a place, but this is a very important part of sharing what I learned this weekend.

• Kijiji was created because eBay felt there was not a market adequately serving the online consumer needs of mothers.
• One of Kijiji’s top priorities is keeping their site safe and family-friendly.  They have over 2,000 filter “rules” in place that help to detect spam, fraud, and adult content placed on the site.  Employees also scour the site and data to make sure that nothing appears on the site that your children couldn’t see or read themselves.
• Kijiji’s value on user experience is also clear in how easy it is to sign up, post an ad, or export that ad to Twitter and Facebook accounts. 

SEO Guru with the Most Succinct Tips I’ve Ever Heard (and the Coolest Orange Shoes, Too):  Dennis Goedegebuure.  eBay didn’t just bring us to headquarters to preach about Kijiji, they also provided incredibly helpful seminars on SEO and monetization for the bloggers.  Dennis did a great job breaking things down to brass tacks, and succeeded in guilting me into updating my version of WordPress.  Stylish *and* effective.  Nice.

Coolest Corporate Blogger Ever:  Richard Brewer-Hay.  I mean, c’mon:  the guy has a pub in his HOUSE.  And aside from being an incredibly cool Brit, he has brought a face to eBay’s corporate culture, and helped all of us in attendance to consider the good that can happen when Fortune 500 and social media converge.

Most Patient Presenter in a Room Full of Mom Bloggers:  JJ McCarthy, Manager, US eBay Affiliate Program.  I’m afraid we sort of hijacked JJ’s presentation about monetization a few times (as evidenced by his need to use the word “Annnnnywaaaaay…”), but he was another great example of eBay wanting to offer us value for our time.  He clearly did his homework on each of our blogs, and even offered suggestions for increasing our personal ad revenue by up to 41%.  Let’s see if eBay ever talks him into presenting to mom bloggers again, though.

Unsung Heroes of the eBay Corporation:  The eBay Green Team and eBay Giving Works.  Sure, we’ve all heard of eBay.  But have we heard about their efforts to encourage people to Reuse, Repurpose, and Restyle by shopping on eBay or using the Kijiji classifieds service?  As Amy Skoczlas Cole, Director of the eBay Green Team said, “The ‘greenest’ product is the one that already exists.”  eBay is doing so much more for sustainability than I ever imagined.  And their Giving Works program – which benefits thousands of non-profit organizations when sellers opt to have their proceeds go to charity – is fantastic.

 

Hotel with Great Food & Some Pretty Nifty Views:  Hotel Valencia.  Despite their pitifully slow internet in the business center, I had a fabulous stay at this hotel.  The catered food at our evening reception was wonderful, and the Grilled Turkey Burger I ordered from room service was divine.

PR Folks I Would Most Like to Hang Out with Again:  Andrew Rossi and Andrea Conrad, from M Booth.  These two were fabulous hosts – fun, funny, energetic, and hanging on our every need.  Kinda made me want to sneak into their bags and fly back to NYC with them.  (A special shout-out to Alyssa Galella, too, who was my email contact from M Booth helping me prep for this trip.)

…(cue the end-of-awards music)…

Since every awards ceremony needs an after-party, I’ll use this chance to give my final thoughts on the trip.  Kijiji has spent the last year preparing to partner with social media to further their brand and reach an online status in the US they enjoy in Canada and overseas.  Between their Twitter feeds, Facebook fan page, and integration between the two with posting ads from Kijiji, they’ve gotten off to a good start.  For them to now bring bloggers on the scene makes great sense, and this weekend was just the beginning of what we all hope with be an ongoing collaboration to spread the word about Kijiji.  I am not exactly certain what the future holds for me with Kijiji, but it’s absolutely a brand I can support, and I hope I get to do so professionally.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve GOT to take off this couture gown and stiletto heels.  What, you don’t think I’d go to an awards ceremony in PJs, did you?

You might also enjoy these related posts from Tree, Root, and Twig:

1. I Have Two Words for the Folks from eBay and Kijiji
2. eBay Rebrands Their Online Classifieds Site {Now They Tell Me!}
3. eBay Classifieds: The Best Website You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

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