Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
eBay goes to Washington
eBay invited three sellers to join CEO John Donahoe at the award ceremony. (F: L to R): Stacie Sefton, Jennifer Canty, John Donahoe, and Jack Sheng
As reported on Ink earlier this month, eBay was the first Internet company to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation when it was awarded the honor for 2007 in a ceremony at the White House yesterday morning.
During the ceremony where he presented the medals, President George W. Bush cited eBay’s pioneering technology that encouraged and supported online trade, and that enabled global entrepreneurship and the growth of the Internet worldwide. With nearly 70 domestic and international patents for eBay and PayPal innovations, eBay Inc. was one of only two companies and six individuals this year to receive the medal, which has been awarded annually since 1985 by the President of the United States.
“Our technology is at the core of our success,” said eBay Inc. CEO John Donahoe, who accepted the medal on behalf of the company. “eBay and PayPal together have harnessed technology in the service of people; the result is that millions have transformed their lives for the better – building businesses, taking care of their families and becoming global entrepreneurs at the same time. That’s what true innovation is all about.”
At the ceremony, Donahoe was accompanied by three eBay sellers who have grown their businesses largely through eBay. Also in attendance were eBay employees Scott Murray, vice president, Program Management, and Nora Grasham, director, Strategy and Planning.
From L to R: Scott Murray, John Donahoe and Nora Grasham
In a special post for our internal blog for employees, Murray and Grasham, two key contributors to the application, shared their experiences chronicling their work on the application and attending the medal ceremony at the White House. I wanted to share their experience here on Ink…
Cheers,
RBH
Wow. We went to the White House today – an experience we’ll never forget.
The morning started with a lot of standing in line. There were lines for the shuttle to the White House, lines to have our names checked at the gate, and a line to go through security. And then we walked down a path by the Department of the Treasury and into the White House.
We walked into a long foyer in the East Wing and slowly made our way upstairs. The décor was lush, and there was art everywhere. We saw quite a few portraits of former first ladies: Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton, Lady Bird Johnson, Jackie Kennedy, among others. Upstairs, there was including JFK, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, and Ronald Reagan. We mingled and took some photos and took in our surroundings until they opened the East Room for the ceremony.
There were forty military personnel in dress uniform wearing what are called “aiguillettes”, cords that designated them as aides. We learned later that these aides’ presence was one of the signals that this was a formal White House ceremony (and a Big Deal). There were ~150 guests seated in the East Room, with video cameras and photographers lining the far wall - half of them stood on step ladders so you got two tiers of photography. As the ceremony got started, the 16 laureates for came into the room and sat along the rear of the stage. Then, we all rose and the President entered. He gave a short, amusing speech and then they removed the podium and the formal ceremony began.
An aide would read a laureate’s name, and then he (or she) came up and stood to the President’s right. At the same time, another aide brought the medal and stood to the President’s left. The citation for the award was read, and the President placed the medal over the laureate’s head. The clicking of the camera shutters was a constant background noise for the duration of the ceremony.
The President took a brief moment with each of the laureates, putting some of them more at ease, and sharing some laughs: when eBay’s award was announced, the President looked over at John Donahoe and exclaimed “Big John!” Because eBay and Skunk Works were receiving the Medal as companies, our medals were not on ribbons to be worn around the neck, but were large medallions, engraved on both sides.
After the ceremony ended, the President and the laureates were taken to some rooms for more photo ops and to spend a few minutes chatting. There was a reception in another ornate room, presided over by a portrait of Abe Lincoln. We met up with John, and took a few more pictures before we headed out. As we picked up our things from the coat check, the lady manning it was very excited to have us come inside – it was actually the President’s private theater! She had us sit down in the plush chairs and insisted on taking our pictures (see photo above) – it was a lot of fun.
John and our eBay sellers had some press events in the early afternoon, and then we all headed to Dulles to get back home and back to work.
Attending the White House ceremony was an honor for both of us, and a reminder of just how large of an accomplishment this was for eBay – for most of the rest of the laureates, this award recognized their life’s work. Since everyone couldn’t attend, we hope you enjoyed reading about our experiences in DC.
Scott & Nora
Tagged: ebay, ebay award, ecommerce, George W. Bush, john donahoe, National Medal of Technology, National Medal of Technology and Innovation, president, White House
Danna CrawfordOn September 30, 2008 at 4:41 pm Said:
What an AMAZING, amazing honor! I can see the “proudness” in John’s face. I can only imagine how that must of felt and I know it had to be the ultimate feeling. Congratulations eBay! Bravo, Bravo!
aimeeOn September 30, 2008 at 6:04 pm Said:
I just wanted to say congrats to Nora Grasham from your former Gonzaga Volleyball Teammate! That is fabulous!
DaveyOn October 2, 2008 at 7:58 am Said:
What exactly has eBay innovated in the last 10 years? That’s what puzzles me…
Why wasn’t Pierre there? He was the last guy who innovated something.
I can’t fault the apps people for getting some reward, as long as they aren’t the people whose faulty code caused all the site glitches of the last 6 months.
It would be more fitting for Al Gore to get the award for inventing the internet.
Dustin JonesOn October 3, 2008 at 8:45 am Said:
Yea thats so awesome! To be a seller and getting a call to meet the CEO of ebay and the president has to be a true honor.
ColoradoJimHOn October 10, 2008 at 12:04 pm Said:
I wish I had been invited:
Stubhub sold me invalid tickets belonging, to James Manfredonia of NYC, to the September 18th Yankees game. I have asked several times for an answer: Did they or the owner of the tickets commit fraud? I am still waiting for their reply, despite several requests for an answer. Oh - they did send me a $200 credit. The cost of my trip exceeded $4k. I do plan to submit a complaint to the NY Attorney General’s office. I hope this will work; I have my doubts. I see StubHub (an EBAY Co) donated to the AG’s political campaign fund. I am open to joining a class action, if others want to do the same.
ColoradoJimHOn October 11, 2008 at 9:27 am Said:
Blog Posting #2
Stephen Wichlac, Executive Customer Care Specialist from StubHub contacted me late yesterday – by email (why no call?).
I found the timing to be odd. Could it be the result of the nearly 100 complaints I placed on blogs (including several financial sites and EBay’s - the parent company) yesterday?
In his email he scolded me, stating I had not completed the proper paperwork. Of course I (I have proof) submitted the proper paperwork. It wasn’t easy though. I had to phone StubHub and secure a working fax number; the one on their form wasn’t working!!
Wichlac claims: “From what we have been able to find, it sees that your seller originally purchased these tickets from another party and then resold them on our site.”
I told Stephen via my email response that his problem isn’t my problem; they resold tickets from someone other than the owner. Premium tickets should be verified. Why didn’t they contact the original owner and verify the tickets had not been stolen?
I am still open to hearing from hand from others re their experiences. I do plan to file a complaint with both the NY and CO AG office.
For those with a similar complaint, you know how difficult it is to locate someone at StubHub customer care. The number given to me was never answered. Twice when their person telephone and left a vm for me, she stated that I wouldn’t be able to phone back and leave a voice mail – her voice mail didn’t work she warned (customer care?). Here is Stephen Wichlac’s contact information. Use it:
Stephen Wichlac
Executive Customer Care Specialist
swichlac@stubhub.com
Phone: 860.408.5812
KellyOn October 11, 2008 at 1:16 pm Said:
Coloradojimh, StubHub didn’t sell you the tickets. It says right on the site, “You are buying tickets from a third party; neither StubHub.com nor StubHub, Inc. is the ticket seller.”
I’m sorry you got taken, but who you got taken by was the scammy seller. If StubHub refunded you the ticket prices, they did as much as they promise to do. If you want to join a class action, knock yourself out, but it makes you look like you just want to go after some deep pockets instead of going after the person who actually ripped you off. Have you bothered to notify the police, file any charges against the seller? Or are you hoping to collect a fat settlement from a company instead.
Fake tickets aren’t a new or unknown problem and all the fraud protection in the world isn’t a substitute for doing due diligence on what you’re buying. If I bought tickets through any third party such as StubHub, eBay, Craigslist, newspaper classified ad, online message board, etc., I’d sure contact the venue ahead of time and verify my tickets were real before I spent any more money. It’s just the smart thing to do.
ColoradoJimHOn October 14, 2008 at 10:27 pm Said:
Kelly,
StubHub represented the seller. It seems to me, the company - StubHub - is willing to broker a product whether it be authentic or not.
This might explain why they donated money from their PAC to 88 Senators and members of the House. This sounds like great political coverage. Lists of donations to be placed on my blog.
I’ll get to the bottom of this.
BTW, it sounds like you are an eBay employee. What is your full name?
ColoradoJimHOn October 15, 2008 at 7:45 am Said:
Please do not reject my comments. I have kept a copy and they will simply appear on other sites - as rejected by eBay. Why is eBay afraid of these comments? 88 political donations by your PAC.
BTW, is Kelly sounds like an employee of eBay.
Re her comments: EBay’s StubHub represented the owner of the ticket.
BenOn October 15, 2008 at 9:23 pm Said:
coloradojimh, what does any of this have to do with ebay winning the National Medal of Technology and Innovation award?
ColoradoJimHOn October 16, 2008 at 8:22 pm Said:
Ben,
Good question. StubHub needs to put a new best practice in place to authenticate their tickets. If they do not, what then is the difference between StubHub and a pawn shop selling stolen merchandise? This will require INNOVATION and TECHNOLOGY. They can do it, of course, through the relationships established with professional sports.
BenOn October 17, 2008 at 11:07 am Said:
Nice try coloradojimh, but maybe you should find a thread that actually pertains to stubhub to complain on.
ColoradoJimHOn October 18, 2008 at 8:33 am Said:
Here is why you cannot use StubHub when purchasing premium tickets for a client. Despite this promise
We Guarantee:
You will get your tickets in time for the event.
Your tickets will be authentic and valid for entry.
You will receive tickets comparable to or better than the tickets you ordered, or your money back.
You will be refunded if the event is cancelled and is not rescheduled.
Do you really want your important client turned away at the door when they sell you invalid tickets?
Do you really think they will locate comparable tickets for your client, right behind home plate? Didn’t you brag to him that “you” located these tickets because he or she is a valuable client?
Do you really care about the “or your money back” guarantee? No. You wanted your client to enjoy a special event.
Will your client be your client after this disappointment? No. He will however, tell all his friends about you.
BenOn October 18, 2008 at 7:18 pm Said:
I have had several very good experiences with StubHub. I use them often. Go complain on the stub hub boards.
Congrats to ebay for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation award!
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