Going to the next eBay Live convention? Whether you're going to eBay Live to get business tips, attend as a vendor or solutions provider, or to meet friends from eBay's eBay's Community Discussion Boards and eBay Groups, you will want to get the most benefits possible out of the eBay Live convention. The convention is typically only three days long, and you will want to maximize your learning, networking, and friendship experiences.

Health and Comfort Issues

No matter what city eBay Live is held in, you're going to be doing a LOT of walking. Bring more than one pair of comfortable walking shoes, and plenty of clean socks. I always tuck a few Band-Aid packets into my purse just in case my comfy walking shoes still bother me.

Leave room in your purse, backpack or rolling bag for a bottle or two of water. At this year's eBay Live (in Las Vegas) I found it often difficult to find water when I needed it. The classrooms weren't well stocked with water and cups until Day 2, and the Powerseller Lounge kept running out of water too. You should be drinking a minimum of eight ounces of water each hour; more if you are vigorously walking, or spending any time in any kind of heat. Even just the dry air inside hotels or convention centers can make you require more water than normal.

Your lips may get dry from the convention air and any weather conditions that might exist in the city eBay Live is being held in. Be sure to bring chapstick (or lip gloss for women), and use plenty of lotion and moisturizer on your skin.

I'm never without mints and throat lozenges. You meet so many wonderful people at eBay Live, you end up talking all day. I generally lose my voice by the end of the first day, and the lozenges really help ease the pain of my scratchy throat. Mints are for protecting the people around me, hehe.

Networking and Business Contacts

Bring way more business cards than you think you'll need. You might be surprised how many opportunities you have to exchange them with other people at the conference. Be sure to have a pen handy to scribble relevant info on the back of your business cards too, so the person you hand them to remembers why they needed your info. It feels vain, but I put a picture of myself on my business cards to help people remember who I am, too.

If you run out of business cards, Vistaprint is usually in the Solutions Center and will let you print out free business cards right on the spot.

Be sure to have a notebook or two - you just might fill up an entire notebook with notes. This year eBay provided us each with a nice notebook, but I wouldn't count on it for next year. It's best to come prepared. Keep pens accessible too.

Bring your cell phone battery charger (and laptop charger) WITH you at all times. You might not be able to get back to your hotel room during the day to recharge your phone. Even if you have a fairly long battery life, your phone may have to work harder to find a signal inside the convention (eating up battery time), or you may experience a higher amount of phonecalls than normal, due to trying to locate your eBay friends during the convention. Same thing for your camera and camera battery charger. You can't leave your camera in your room and possibly miss out on fun photo ops. There generally are plenty of plugs you can plug into while you wait outside classrooms.

Make every effort to meet new people whenever possible. Standing in the hallway, waiting in a food and beverage line, waiting in the interminably long line for the Gala, hanging out in the Powerseller Lounge or sitting down next to someone before a panel discussion begins are all excellent opportunities to network. Don't be shy - everybody at the convention is eager to talk about eBay! Introduce yourself and ask the other person where they're from and what they sell. Hand out business cards whenever possible. If you're with a group of friends, waiting in line at a restaurant, kidnap the nearest eBayer who seems to be about to eat alone. Of course, don't try to chat with someone during the middle of a class or panel, but do go up to someone who's made an interesting comment during the panel or asked a great question.  

I wear my badge at all times in the convention space and nearby hotels, because it makes it easier for fellow eBayers to notice me and chat me up. Even just riding up in the elevators I'd see other people with eBay lanyards on and ask them where they were from.

Learning Experiences

Plan ahead, as much as eBay makes it possible. Sign up online (fill out your agenda) for classes that interest you. While it (annoyingly) doesn't guarantee you a seat in that classroom, it does help eBay plan for the correct classroom size for that particular topic. If they notice hundreds more people are signing up for that "Best Practices: Stores" panel, they might just add another classroom and another time slot for that topic.

Try to take care of food and bathroom needs before classes, as the hallways can get crowded and you might miss your next class. I prefer, personally, not to enter a classroom late as it's disruptive, but some of eBay's discussions are held in large ballrooms where it won't disturb people so much if you sneak in the back door.

As mentioned earlier, be sure to be prepared with a notebook and pen. I was quite surprised at how many notes I took, writing as fast as I could to get down all the valuable information. One thing I did immediately when I got home, by the way, was to type up all my notes while the information was still fresh. I was able to share the information with my fellow eBay sellers from my regional eBay Group who were unable to attend.

You may or may not be a pin collector, but one thing I kept reading about on the boards was how annoying it was to be in the middle of a great business conversation with a knowledgeable eBay employee and have some pin collector run up and interrupt your conversation to hit them up for a pin.

Speaking of eBay employees, I was very impressed at their knowledge and friendliness. Several of them would come up to me every day in the hallway to ask if my convention experience was going well and if they could help me find anything. They're very approachable after the roundtable discussions and panels. In addition, the eBay employees in the Solutions Center (such as at the Store and Seller Scalability booths) were very knowledgeable and helpful. Don't be afraid to approach anybody in the eBay uniform shirt and strike up a conversation.

eBay generally plans generous lunch breaks, which helps when there are so many people trying to get out of the area and find a restaurant to eat quickly. Classes are over by 5 or 6pm, and the Powerseller Lounge unfortunately closed very early this year too. That frees up your evenings for networking and socializing.

Socialization - The Fun Stuff!

You'll have so much more fun at eBay Live if you prepare your social network a little beforehand. While I did meet lots of wonderful people to eat and go out for drinks with during the convention, it was still reassuring to have a couple friends from my local Seattle eBay Sellers Group attending also.

You have months and months ahead of you to make friends on the eBay Community Discussion boards or in ebay Groups. That way you'll have people to look forward to meeting "in real life" while at eBay Live. Some groups organize get-togethers and dinners to make sure none of their members who happen to be traveling alone have to eat by themselves.

Often people post party announcements or arrange Meet-n-Greets via the eBay Live discussion forum, so I highly recommend you start reading and posting to it a month or two before the convention. I'm normally a lurker, but you don't make great friends by lurking, you make them by posting polite, kind, interesting, helpful posts.

Try to balance your socialization with learning and business networking. I noticed myself spending the last night of eBay Live with three or four really awesome people I'd already hung out with for two days. We were having so much fun, but I probably should have been trying to meet up with even more people I know and never managed to run into. Also, I skipped a class or two because we were, well, busy in the bar trying out Long Island Iced Teas. I probably should have gone to class (they're over by 6pm, after all) THEN hit the bar!

Hope you have a great eBay Live! See you in Boston!!

-Carrie