This year alone I have seen Randy Smythe on both coasts in 3 different cities! He is simply everywhere, and doing much….well, evangelizing I guess Each and everytime I get to talk to him or hang out, I learn more and more.
So I figure its time to put him on video and talk with him. I tied him down at ChannelAdvisor Catalyst and got the scoop on whats going on in his world at Buy.com and also the landscape of eCommerce. This is the 3rd interview in my series on the state of ecommerce and the players at large. Thanks for the time Randy!
I woke up this morning to a story that caught my eye from Dave White of eBay and Beyond when he said the following:
Recently, I submitted a press release regarding the combined ECMTA Chicago Chapter/Chicagoland eBay Sellers dinner meeting coinciding with Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition to Auctionbytes.com free service for Press Releases. The event is open to all internet marketers, and will feature John ColderIce Lawson, CEO of 3Rd Power Outlet, Randy K. Smythe, Merchant Advocate for Buy.com, Richard Brewer-Hay editor of eBayInkBlog.com, and Scot Wingo, CEO of Channeladvisor and editor of ebaystratagies blog as guest panelists in a roundtable townhall discussion format. Imagine my surprise when I received an email from David Steiner President of Auctionbytes denying my submission. As there was no reason for the denial given I decided to seek an answer. I emailed David requesting a reason for the denial and this is the response I received:
Recently, I submitted a press release regarding the combined ECMTA Chicago Chapter/Chicagoland eBay Sellers dinner meeting coinciding with Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition to Auctionbytes.com free service for Press Releases.
The event is open to all internet marketers, and will feature John ColderIce Lawson, CEO of 3Rd Power Outlet, Randy K. Smythe, Merchant Advocate for Buy.com, Richard Brewer-Hay editor of eBayInkBlog.com, and Scot Wingo, CEO of Channeladvisor and editor of ebaystratagies blog as guest panelists in a roundtable townhall discussion format.
Imagine my surprise when I received an email from David Steiner President of Auctionbytes denying my submission. As there was no reason for the denial given I decided to seek an answer.
I emailed David requesting a reason for the denial and this is the response I received:
It’s our policy not to accept PESA/ECMTA press releases.
OK, so I must step in here and say that yes I am personally on this press release (for disclosure purpose) so I may be a little biased…ok, more than a little.
OUCH! I had no idea that AuctionBytes has a blanket policy in place that it would not accept press release news affiliated with the eBay PowerSeller organization PeSA or the eCommerce Seller organization of ECMTA.
Personally, everyone with a blog has a right to have a “pissing contest” with anyone they want, but I do feel it is unfortunate that people like Dave and the eBay and Beyond folks have to chose sides or they will NOT be treated fairly. The AuctionBytes folks now have this blanket DOS (denial of service) based on simple “sponsorship association”. I dunno, just was shocked to see that response so open and out there about it.
I must quote the great incite of Mr. King…No silly, not Martin Luther King…Rodney King! “Can we all get along?”
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Well, I am up this morning getting all my ‘ish together for next week. Starting on April 13, we will all descend on Las Vegas for the eCommerce Summit 2010. It is hard to believe a year has gone by so quickly. But then again, you start to reflect on the accomplishments of others and even one’s self and you realize that a year is a LONG time for change to occur.
Here are just a few of the folks that I meet at last years event and what I know they have done since then…
- Dave White of eBay and Beyond radio show moved to Chicago, became president of the ECMTA Chicago Chapter, his show is on heavy rotation and he just opened up a new sales channel on Bonanzle.
- Richard Brewer-Hay of eBay Ink Blog is now like a mega corporate blogger. He has transformed the communications of eBay in social space and almost single handedly made me a believer in change at that HUGE company. He is now in high demand as he travels and speaks to others about how to do social communications in corporations.
- Randy Smythe of Buy.com was just getting started with his new position over at Buy. Now he is a fully assimilated droid for the platform LMAO. In all seriousness, Buy.com got so much more than they probably knew with that hire. Randy has worked hard with the teams over there and now they have a burgeoning 3rd party seller platform and a great resource from eCommerce in Mr. Smythe.
- Brandon Dupsky is the Director of ECMTA and a power house ecommerce seller. I got to work closely with him for the 2009 summit here in Atlanta and he has REALLY went big for Vegas. He works hard putting these events together and seeing what he had done this year has blown my mind! You go boy!
- Phaedra Stockstill of At The Boutique is now the Social Media Rep for the fledgling sales channel of Bonanzle.com and is host of Bonanzle Boardroom podcast. She moved her business in strides by going from a small supplier to a manufacturer of products and landed a fantastic deal in the process, with a national distributer. She and I are also working on a killer project, which is set to be announced at this years eCommerce Summit, so keep your ears on.
- Usher Lieberman formally with eBay is now over at The Find.com doing what he does best in the world of corporate communications. He has transfixed his sites now as the Director of Corporate Communications for them…w00t dude!
- Melinda Jackson and Kat Simpson both went on to create a new podcast show called RRB Radio along with buddy Beth. And Kat move her entire operation from the west to the east this year.
These were all people that I actually met for the FIRST time last year at the eCommerce Summit and now reflecting on what they accomplished in a years time is astonishing. These are just a few of the folks, and I could go on and on about it but you get my point right? You CAN do it!
Do what?
What ever the hell you want to do! You can do it, it might take some time, but much can happen in a year, so get to it.
I hope to see ALL of them and play catch up in Vegas next week. And I hope you will take 2010 and amp it up for yourself! I sure hope I can do some new things this year and I am sure you will too
There was a lot of picture taking and fun this weekend as eBay On Location came to Atlanta and I was fortunate enough to go. Then we threw an after party in Downtown Atlanta called and the CEO of eBay came by and hung out with us!
Here is John Donahoe with my Mother ("Momma ICE") and myself last night at the Aftermath after party.
Here is a great picture with Marlene Gavins (The Savvy Seller), Richard Brewer-Hay (eBay Ink Blog), Randy Smythe (Buy.com), John Donahoe CEO of eBay, myself and Kat Simpson (Kat’s Kloset) from left to right, hanging out at the after party. Pictures courtesy of Karen Locker
I have SO MUCH video footage and content coming from this weekend that is unbelievable, up close and personal stuff. We are combing through hours and hours of coverage from the event so STAY TUNED all week long to ColderICE.com for the details!!!
Who’s that guy with the reflective shades? Is he a cop? Nope, but he will give you a ticket if you move too slow with your delivery times, LOL. This guy is Randy Smythe and I need to introduce him to some in our audience and reacquaint him to others.
Since I got started in eCommerce I had always wondered who the big kahuna was behind some of the big sellers on eBay. Randy was one of those big name. Back in 2005 I bought this book by Scot Wingo called eBay Strategies. I was enamored with what Randy was doing with his business of Glacier Bay Video. Boy that was ages ago. But it was not until I began blogging and hosting my Podcast that I was fortunate enough to score an interview with him. Since then I have watch Randy go from eBay biz owner to Buy.com 3rd Party Marketplace Big Wig!
It is an amazing transition and what he now knows and has experienced is a complete transformation of greater experience and insight for eCommerce. Randy is mad cool and he "plays well with others" LMAO. But in all seriousness, you would be hard pressed to find another person in corporate ecommerce that has the experience, knowledge and understand as Randy does. For years now he has been keeping in tune with the pulse of the landscape and I am now fortunate enough to have his number in the rolodex … well my cell phone
Here is a FANTASTIC interview he did for our listeners. Also you should go back and listen to some of Randy’s other interviews you will learn much as I always do.
Listen to the Interview NOW! (press play button and be patient, it takes a minute to buffer)
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It is that time again…yeah time to get back in the game of the interviews. You know it was put on the back burner as the summer season just made you want to run free. But now its over and our noses are too the grind for a successful Christmas shopping season.
So to kick start this whole interview series back off you want to go to the well that has some of the deepest water. And you all know that Randy Smythe of Buy.com is always full of good QUALITY content for ecommerce merchants.
You do NOT get "hand picked" by the big leagues unless you can swing that bat. Randy simply knock it out the ball park every time I am fortunate enough to get an interview with him.
What is the best parts of it is that his depth and breath of knowledge from running his own business, and historically one of the MOST successful eBay stores in history, is how this experience with Buy.com has added to his understanding.
Yes, we all miss his daily rants back when he was a blogger, but his new insight as the 3rd Party Marketplace man for Buy has really UP’d his game. The dude is just tight with the ecommerce wisdom.
Wow man, I just got myself back together after this weeks Ecommerce Summit in Atlanta. I had a really good time, seriously. This whole event from start to finish was 1000x better than I could have ever expected. From signing eBay execs (Usher Lieberman) doing karaoke at Joe’s College Park Tavern to the great presentations that I attended and the poker tournament that I sucked at.
What made this year so much fun and valuable was the networking. Sure the presentations were TOP NOTCH, the vendors were informative and the staff very friendly…but the members and the guest were ALL here to network and share with each other. That had a lot of power and always does at these events. This was NOT about exclusivity, it was ALL ACCESS inclusivity.
After the presentations were done, you could find all the presenters and attendees mixing it up TOGETHER throughout the hotel, restaurants and bars. You got to meet, greet, shake hands, ask questions and pass out cards to everyone. It really was a chilled out atmosphere. There was a poker tournament and casino tables set up for some after hours activities. So a good time was guaranteed by all.
I got SO MUCH footage to comb through and some cool information to share with our readers, as ColderICE has some exclusive nugget to dispense for you guys. But right now, please enjoy these photos that Joe Cortez (PeSA Founder) made available.
Dave White of eBay and Beyond with Melinda and Kat too!!!
Peggy Duncan presents on time management for business owners
Brandon Dupsky Executive Director of Ecommerce Merchants
(From left to right) Brent Leary, Jay Berkowitz, Chuck Hester and James Wong
Joe Cortez (PeSA Founder) Jonathan Garriss (Executive Director)
Richard Brewer Hay and Usher Lieberman of eBay.com
Scot Wingo, Jonathan Garriss, Michael Levit
Randy Smythe helps sellers get familiar with Buy.com
"Your Boy ColderICE" was in da house too
Check this video out from MarketWatch, thanks to our buddy Randy Smythe for posting this on his blog earlier. The best part to me is when the guy in the video says, “what I want really want to sense is paranoia out of the management team…” Ouch, that is pretty straight to the point, LMAO. That comment comes at 2:20 minutes into the video.
I got friends in HIGH places now. Yep, if Randy Smythe was not big enough before, he just upped the ante. Randy joined Buy.com just a few short weeks ago, among some “hoopla” for lack of a better term.
So today, I got the opportunity to get him on a call. The dude has been crazy busy and I wanted to check in with him. I must say that he has acclimated to the new roll over there VERY nicely.
Randy is responsible for the 3rd party platform marketplace. And what he says on the call was SHOCKING! Look out eBay and Amazon, it sounds like there is a new “playa” ready to sit down at the table. Should they be “dealing in” Buy.com as a marketplace heavyweight? Hmmmm, things could get interesting…LISTEN NOW!
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This is sort of a carry over from the Follow Friday stuff. I was just thinking about good news/story sources on eBay. NOT the folks that are sellers, but more of the folks that actually Tweet stories or even write them about eBay.
This is NOT a top 10 list or even a popularity list, it is just my personal folks that I follow SPECIFICALLY for information on the goings on in eBay. There are many more that I can include, but this is all I felt like sharing this week. Plus it is the weekend and I want to take the rest of the day off … ENJOY!
Marsha Collier is probably the MOST well known author of eBay books on the web. And hey, she is ON TWITTER!
This is Richard Brewer Hay and he is the editor of the web site for eBay at www.eBayInkBlog.com
This is the eBay/ecommerce blogger from www.MyBlogUtopia.com and also consultant to Buy.com for 3rd Party Sellers.
These guys are putting out small business news bits that others might be missing. Many of the members are also eBay sellers and as such, they keep up on eBay developments as well.
Ina Steiner writes about ecommerce, eBay, online payment services and reputation systems for www.AuctionBytes.com
this is Marlene Gavens Certified Education Specialist Trained by eBay /podcaster/ blogger
Talk show host and blogger Wally Kolenda. Does a few shows and writes several colums on eBay, ecommerce and topical business news.
Dave White Host of the eBay and Beyond the Basics radio show airing weekly. Killer content and alot of fun. He and the “eBaybes” bring a new twist to old radio.
eBay seller and a GREAT blog writer with her The Whine Seller blog, I just love it!
CEO of ChannelAdvisor and Blogger and Author. He does not tweet that often, but when Scot Wingo does, eBayer’s should listen up.
Dana Crawford is a Social Butterfly! Teaching eBay and Marketing! Radio Show Host – Blogger – On-line Consultant – Public Speaker
Debbie Levitt has been speaking and training small and large groups of people at private events and public conferences for over 12 years. Now, Debbie is one of the most visible speakers at events relating to eBay and online selling with specialties including branding and marketing, selling strategies, operations management, and entrepreneurship.
