Luckily for me, and consequently you, I was able to get reports back from colleagues attending both events. As a result, here is a recap of John’s onstage discussion from the Brainstorm: TECH event. A huge thanks to Young Mi Kim for providing me with a recap of the proceedings…

There were about 250 people in the room consisting of technologists and business leaders. A poll at the beginning of the session showed that 57% of the audience use eBay; 65% use PayPal; and 59% use Skype.

Overall, John re-emphasized that eBay has changed… and that change had to happen because of consumer expectations and the way in which people now shop online. Again, reiterating the fact that eBay is no longer just about auctions, he stressed that everything we do is in consideration for long-term success: investing in technology and the customer experience.

John speaks to FOX Business News live from the FORTUNE Brainstorm: TECH 2009

In addition to referencing the PayPal platform news of yesterday – and that there is now the ability to pay someone via Twitter using TwitPay (PayPal is the payment engine behind that) – he also talked about the probability that one day PayPal will be bigger than eBay (although he did refrain from speculating on a possible new company name). PayPal currently represents 35% of company revenue, and off-eBay business grew 32% in Q2. In fact, every area of our business except for the auction format grew this last quarter, and is outpacing e-commerce.

Moving forward, we have two core areas of focus: e-commerce and payments… and we’re in the early days. But we also recognize that we’re at an inflection point … we need to reinvent ourselves and evolve into a truly global e-commerce company.

John speaks to CNBC live from the FORTUNE Brainstorm: TECH 2009

Bottom line, it’s clear that there is an emphasis on elevating the role of technology at eBay, and we’re building out the platform as a result. I hear it and see it in pretty much every meeting I attend. Some of the results of that are yet to see the light of day and until they do, I’m holding off judgment but am not-so-secretly excited to be here as they take place.

No one could say that reporting from eBay HQ for the past year and a half has been boring. eBay is 18 months into a 3-4 year turnaround and I’m very much looking forward to reporting on the next 18 months. Stay tuned.

Cheers,
RBH

Bottom line, the whole team over there – Delyn, Max, Adam, Laura, Kumar (I could go on) – put on another fantastic agenda and the feedback from those in attendance that I talked to was overwhelmingly positive. Great job to everyone who had a hand in making this year’s Developers Conference such a success.

Presentations

If you check out my preview blog post from earlier this week, you can access hyperlinks to PowerPoint presentations of every session over the past two days.

Keynotes

A thorough breakdown of the opening keynote on Wednesday, can be found here.

The second day of opening keynotes maintained the theme of “building your business with us”, and welcomed four notable Silicon Valley venture capitalists to share their insights on funding, business trends, and good business practices. Lorrie Norrington followed the panel discussing eBay’s future. Here is the full breakdown of the second day of keynotes.

For the most comprehensive coverage of the two-day event, please visit the eBay Developer Blog. It has everything from breakdowns of each session, to video interviews with attendees and employees. There’s a lot of content there, so I give you advance warning of getting sucked in – but if you have the time, it’s well worth the deep dive.

Finally, I would have been remiss if I didn’t take advantage of getting a few minutes with Max Mancini, Senior Director of Platform and Mobile for eBay.

Cheers,
RBH

5 Minutes with… Max Mancini

Full Name: Massimiliano Mancini
Nickname: Max
Official Title: Senior Director, Platform and Mobile
What You Really Do: Run eBay’s Platform and Mobile businesses, including the developers program, the technical product management team for our new platform initiative, the technical documentation team and eBay’s mobile team.
Your First Day at eBay: December, 2003
Education/Schooling: BS in Computer Science (Mathematics) and MS in Engineering Management from Santa Clara University
Interests: Cycling, Sailing, coaching Lacrosse
Favorite Quote: “Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it” — unknown
Most memorable eBay experience: Train conducting (??)
Most recent eBay purchase/sale: A righting bucket for my 16ft Hobie Cat sailboat, which I dropped in the ocean on my first outing 4 days after I got it.
Favorite Albums: Who buys albums?? If I had to pick it would be AC/DC “Back in Black”
Favorite Movies: Transformers, and not because of the eBay references.
What You Wanted to Be Growing Up: Software Engineer

Fill in the blanks:

I should have “gone to sleep earlier” yesterday.
I wish that I could “have more time”.
The first thing I do when I get to work is “say good morning to my co-workers”

I have also included links to the presentations for each session (when available) so I hope that helps too.

I will be tweeting live from the conference @ebayinkblog and you can follow all the discussions coming out of the conference by referring to the #ebaydevcon hashtag. (A breakdown of hashtags and their usage on Twitter can be found here).

Wednesday, June 17 (all times PT)

* Keynote 9:30 – 11am

* eBay Product Roadmap 11:30am – 12:20pm
(other options are: “It’s All About the Money;” “Improving the Profitability of eBay Retailers;” and “Hosted Buttons and the Button Manager API“)

* The eBay Selling Manager Application Opportunity 1:30 – 2:20pm
(other options are: “Large Merchant Services;” “PayPal Platform: The Next Generation;” and “SEO 101: Tips and Tricks for Search Engine Optimization“)

* Embracing the Economy of Open 3:30 – 4:20pm
(other options are: “Driving Business with PayPal;” “Building compelling applications using the new eBay services;” “Data Powered Selling Manager Applications“)

Thursday, June 18

* Keynote 9:00 – 10:30am

* Search and Best Match – What’s Coming in 2009 11:00 – 11:50am
(other options are: “The Future of Securing the eBay Marketplace;” “Embracing the Economy of Open;” “Feedback Forum: eBay Selling Manager Applications”)

* Feedback Forum: eBay & PayPal Trust and Safety 12:30 – 1:20pm
(other options are: “Improving seller efficiencies on eBay;” “eBay Product Roadmap;” “When Creativity isn’t enough, try murder“)

* Supporting Multi-Variation Fixed-Price Listings in Your Application 1:30 – 2:20pm
(other options are: “Determining Demand and Managing your Tools;” “Best Practices for PayPal Integration;” “Feedback Forum: Developers Program Business and Product”

Cheers,
RBH

I wanted to double check the details around the eBay DevCon later this month, and noticed that the keynote speaker lineup is pretty impressive. In addition to speeches and presentations by John Donahoe, eBay President and CEO; Mark Carges, CTO and SVP of Global Platform at eBay; and Lorrie Norrington, President of eBay Marketplaces; the conference also boasts the following Silicon Valley visionaries and venture capitalists:

- John Hagel, Co-Chairman, Deloitte Center for the Edge
- Mark Gorenberg, Managing Director, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
- Rob Hayes, Partner, First Round Capital
- Sergio Monsalve, Partner, Norwest Venture Partners
- Ravi Mohan, Managing Director, Shasta Ventures
- Charlene Li, Founder, Altimeter Group

Looking at the schedule, the only problem I seem to be faced with is determining which of the tracks to attend at a given time. For those of you unable to go, take a look and let me know which presentations are of most interest so I can live-blog from those via Twitter.

I’ll be live-blogging all day June 16 and 17. Let me know if you’re attending so we can connect.

If you haven’t registered yet, you still can do by clicking here.

Cheers!
RBH

During the afternoon keynote,”Your Java Lifestyle: Mobile, TV and Beyond,” Eric showcased a technology demo of a JavaFX application to send money from a mobile phone that seamlessly integrated with PayPal’s payments platform.

Full Keynote Video:
(The PayPal demo starts at about 18 minutes and 50 seconds)

Read more about Osama Bedier’s experience yesterday over on the PayPal Blog.

Cheers!
RBH

Previewed last night on the AuctionBytes blog and confirmed by eBay this morning, today marks the first of the two announcements of this year. This one includes the introduction of new buyer incentives, Smart FAQs, and a new resolution process:

The spring release is set up to deliver three things for our sellers:

1. Easier, more visual shopping, plus buyer incentives to drive more sales
• New item page rolling out. New photo zoom coming later this year. Get your listings ready now.
• New eBay product pages surfacing to more buyers. To make sure your items show up on these pages, use product details (formerly called pre-filled item information).
• New way to list in Fixed Price lets you offer all variations of one product—e.g. color and size—in a single low-cost listing.
• Buyer incentives and loyalty programs expanded to drive more traffic.

2. Key information to set buyer expectations and help reduce your costs
• New Smart FAQ answers buyers’ top 20 questions before they contact you.
• Package tracking information available in My eBay—print labels on eBay and tracking shows up automatically, or you can upload the information.
• Return policy and handling time required for new listings and re-listings beginning June 15. Deadline for updating your Good ‘Til Cancelled listings extended to mid-September.
• Use Item Specifics. Now in some categories, you can customize when the available choices don’t apply to your item.
• Category and Item Specifics changes now consolidated with the rest of updates—find out if your listings are impacted.

3. Other updates to make selling on eBay more efficient
• New, more efficient process for handling disputes.
• Selling Manager FREE for all sellers—with powerful new Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro applications.
• Easier, faster way to pay shipping, print labels, and update buyers—right from eBay.
• Bulk editing tools available now.

In addition to a list of Best Practices and a Seller Checklist, there are a number of additional tools set up to help educate and further explain the changes, including:

• Webinars on April 16 and April 21.
• A special discussion board focused on today’s news that has been set up for the next couple of days.

Finally, I plan on sitting down with the folks behind the changes over the next few days and sharing their Q&As with Ink readers. I’m hoping to have a new Q&A each day through the end of the week so stay tuned.

Cheers,
RBH

UPDATE (4/15/09):
I originally had the date of the Town Hall incorrect (thanks to Melinda for setting me straight). Here are the details from Dinesh Lathi’s AB post regarding the Town Hall meeting later today:

Hi everyone… this is Dinesh Lathi, VP of Seller Experience, inviting you to join us for our April Town Hall audio event on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Pacific time. We’ll be taking your questions on the topics outlined in Stephanie Tilenius’ Spring 2009 Announcement Board post. I hope you’ll join me, our Town Hall moderator, Griff, co-host Lee Mirabal and a number of my colleagues from across eBay’s Marketplace.

Town Hall panelists include:

# Rich Matsuura (Shipping)
# Scott Loper (Dispute Resolution)
# Keith Wescourt (Multiple-Variation Fixed-Price Item and Photos)
# Mike Maffeo (Selling Features and Tools)
# Kristina Klausen (Seller Efficiencies)
# Monroe Labouisse (PayPal)

Ask your question LIVE on the air!
The best part of these events is the conversation we have with the Community. If you have a question for me or one of the other panelists on the above topics, call us at our toll-free number – 1-888-327-0061 – and ask us your question on the air. Or if you’d prefer, you can drop us an email with your question or comment about one of the topics in the Spring 2009 Announcement at townhall@ebay.com. We’ll take several of these written questions on the specific topics during the Town Hall as well.

Tune in via wsRadio
We’ll be broadcasting via Internet radio with the help of our friends at wsRadio (the same folks that produce Griff’s eBay Radio show). Members can listen to our live event via Windows Media Player or Real Player. So please visit http://www.ebay.com/townhall to join the event or for more information.