Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Habitat For Humanity
Being originally from England, I’ve noticed that there is a tendency for “us Brits”* to take a cynical approach toward the warm, have-a-nice-day attitude of the stereotypical American in every day life. But for me, it is that optimistic, can-do approach to life that helped me fall in love with this country to begin with. It’s why I’ve made it my home for the past 17 years (not to mention it gave me my amazing wife and subsequently my beautiful daughter). I’ve never felt that warmth and positive vibe as much as I have during my visits to this part of the country. This is my third visit to New Orleans but my first since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.
I’ve been in town for 24 hours now and, on the one hand, I am amazed to see how great the downtown area is looking. Businesses have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and are back welcoming tourists, music and food lovers to its fantastic culture. On the other though, coming from the airport, it was clear to see that this city is nowhere near back to where it needs to be even though it has been 2.5 years since the storm knocked this town to its knees. Despite all of this though, the people still are incredibly welcoming, as if they’re meeting an old friend or family member. It’s exactly why I fell in love with this part of the world to begin with and I’m definitely going to make a point to come back sooner rather than later.
There was a video playing in the ballroom this morning that talked about the money and time eBay users and employees had given in the aftermath of Katrina. eBay alone had given a million dollars to the Red Cross and an additional one million dollars directly to sellers living in the effected areas. Additionally, Lorrie presented a check for $50,000 this morning for the Habitat for Humanity organization.
I think it’s great that the organizers of the eCommerce Summit have devoted a day to Habitat for Humanity this coming Friday and I am looking forward to being a part of it and reporting back here on what is accomplished. According to Brandon Dupsky of the ECMTA, participation has been overwhelming so they’ve had to add another program on Friday to accommodate all of the participating attendees from the Summit.
Okay… back to the conference. Chat soon.
Cheers,
RBH
*I should point out that although born and raised (mostly) in England, I did apply for and obtain my US Citizenship in 2002 so I guess the “us Brits” phrase doesn’t really apply to me anymore.
Tagged: charity, donation, ebay foundation, habitat, habitat for humanity, hurricane+katrina, katrina, new orleans
MistyOn 04.23.2008 at 5:36 pm Said:
Richard
I think it is super that eBay has donated monies for this relief, Habitat for Humanity is a great organization and do wonderful things for many people and I would like to thank eBay for donating towards this effort yet again in their continued support.
People can be beautiful and work great together as a team for a good cause and that is how it should be even in our everyday life to help make this a better world for all.
Congratulations on your citizenship to America we are very proud to have you so let me be the first here to say welcome. My ancestors are also from England.
Richard Brewer-Hay On 04.24.2008 at 1:41 pm Said:
Thanks, Misty. 
One thing to add, I found out today that another donation was made here at the Summit for $30,000. I don’t know the details behind the donation, whether or not the donor wanted to remain anonymous, but if I find out more, I’ll let folks know. I saw the look on Gina Stilp’s face (she is the representative for Habitat for Humanity) when she was given both checks today and it was pretty inspiring to say the least.
The shuttle is all set for 7am departure tomorrow… I just hope that they don’t ask me to put in any kind of plumbing. I could see someone flushing the toilet months from now and the kitchen sink would explode. I want to make sure I actually provide help tomorrow!
Cheers,
RBH
CAMOn 04.25.2008 at 5:38 am Said:
Hi Richard,
I was at the conference, and never could find you to say HI and introduce myself as a reader. I will do so at Live. Anyway.. is there any chance of posting the video? I think balance is nice to have now and again and with angst over changes (here or pending) that I think it would be great to show the “other side”. The Video showed the “softer” side of eBay. Love to see it posted.
Cam
NoblespiritOn 04.25.2008 at 6:44 am Said:
Hello Richard,
In addition to the extremely generous contribution from eBay to Habitat for Humanity in the amount of $50,000! Yes, –$50,000!!!–, one of our sponsors, Frontier Marketing ran a low key call to his customer base leading up to the Summit. He merely asked them to contribute $1 each. We said he would match whatever ammount was raised. He received $15,000 from his customers. He matched it! And so we are proud to pass on his check to Habitat in the amount of $30,000 as well! Each of these benevolent acts are illustrations of how much just one company can do; and, how much one can add together.
I certainly agree with Cam above. If there is any way to provide the pre-keynote video, it would certainly give the community a strong sense of how eBay reacted to this disaster in terms of direct financial aid and background support of various kinds to both eBay sellers and the general New orleans population at the time.
Regards,
Joe Cortese
NoblespiritOn 04.25.2008 at 7:20 am Said:
PESA has held 12 major Summits and events across the United States and Australia since 2004. For the ECMTA, this was our coming out party with PESA. I have personally been to 2 eBay eCommerce Forums for its professional sellers and every eBay Live except for one as both a participant or exhibitor of some kind.
I have witnessed the full spectrum of private and public interaction between eBay’s top executives, managers and staff with a broad strata of eBay sellers from casual eBay sellers to mult-national conglomerates who sell on eBay.
The recent changes which were introduced to the community at the last eCommerce Forum that took place recently in January, was met with some recognition of the bold steps being taken; however, much typical anxiety and the residual frustration, we as sellers, have historically come to expect at all these meetings.
The eBay session, that took place in room B, (a rather large room) just after the keynote was full.
Lorie sat on a panel. Along with her staff, she answered long ques of questions with a clarity and sincerity that was much appreciated by everyone in the room.
I have never seen so many sellers leave an eBay session so well attended, so dynamic, so incredibly informative and so positive.
eBay made notes to take back with them. And I believe they mean to act on them. I believe we will see the fruits of the exchange that took place in that room materially and expeditiously.
We, as sellers (eBay’s customers), have clearly moved to the next level in our relationship with eBay. There is clearly a new eBay corporate culture beginning to take shape. Certainly there are difficult roads to navigate that lie ahead, hard questions to which it will take some considerable effort to find the answers.
I believe that the faces I saw leaving that room now know, for the first time, that we have a meaningful framework within which to construct the solutions. Keep the questions coming and we will keep that framework alive and well!
Regards,
Joe Cortese
Founder/Chairman
MistyOn 04.25.2008 at 2:28 pm Said:
That is great news Richard I would have loved being on that shuttle to help… I am sure you done fine and no plumbing issues will arise lol they are great people to work with.
MechelleOn 04.28.2008 at 9:03 pm Said:
I guess I am just entirely unreasonable, but I find the reality that eBay only managed to cough up $50,000- yes $50,000 dollars to be pitiful and blatantly superficial in gesture. They are sitting on 5 billion dollars right now- have absolutely NO debt- and are eagerly awaiting the additional 3 billion they expect to suck in by the end of the year. That’s like me donating a fifth of a fifth of a fifth of a fifth……. of a cent, and then announcing it to the world expecting recognition of my generosity.
I wonder how many digital download business owners will be needing assistance from various charitable organizations after being kicked in the face out of no where for no good reason. eBay ought to be ashamed of itself for making those babies go hungry, causing that family to lose their house, and the multitude of probabilities that some of these people (who supplied a portion of that 5 billion that they have horded) have, had, and will endure do to this companies horrific lack of basic humanity.
hip hip hooray for eBay- they donated the loose change from their pocket- WOW!
David @ ShoetimeOn 04.29.2008 at 5:52 am Said:
Richard it was great working next to you at Habitat. I am sure that I got more paint on me than the house.
I am also sure that I am not giving up my day job of selling shoes for house building. It was hard work but very rewarding work. It was a good thing to see ebay with their sleeves rolled up along side Pesa and ECM members for a great cause. Thanks for sharing with your readers our experience.
David
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