ChannelAdvisor and eBay at shop.org...

I'm off today to one of the bigger online retailing shows of the year - Shop.org's Annual summit.  Shop.org is a non-profit trade association that the online group of the National Retailer Federation (NRF).

Shop.org Summit is interesting as it is the last time for retailers to get together and learn what's going on before the big holiday push.   Shop.org has historically been where around 200 or so VP level and higher online retailers meet.  Today the show is really expanding and now is well attended by what I think of as mid-tier retailers - folks in the $30-200m/yr online sales range.  Many of these mid-tier retailers got their start (and still are on) eBay so it's been interesting watching the 'eBay Live' refugees come to this show and Internet Retailer.

eBay at shop.org

You can check out the agenda here and I think long-time eBay strategies readers 

eBay CEO, John Donahoe, will be there which is interesting on a number.of levels:

• As best I can remember (I checked the 08 online agenda and my 07 conference book) eBay has never presented at this show.
• eBay has been spending more time at shows for retailers recently.  For example, Stephanie Tilenius was at IRCE in the summer talking about the virtues of eBay for retailers. But, as best I can tell, John Donahoe has never hit the circuit.  

  

I'll attempt to live blog the talk which is Wednesday morning at 9am PST - here's the blurb from the agenda.  I have to admit I'm curious if this is just a signal that the large retailers are more important these days to eBay or if they have some news that will break at the show.

Keynote: John Donahoe, President and CEO, eBay, Inc.
South Pacific Ballroom C

John will discuss consumer shopping trends and what theymean for commerce online and offline.

John's presentation will be followed by a moderated Q&A session with Patti Freeman Evans, Vice President and Research Director at Forrester Research.

ChannelAdvisor at shop.org

We'll be at shop.org in full force. We are at booth #401 in the exhibit hall and all of our staff (20-30 folks this year!) are wearing light blue shirts with ChannelAdvisor on them.  We're going to be doing some fun events and have a separate room to show more in-depth demos and what-not for those that are interested in our various solutions.  I'll be there spending time at the booth and in a ton of meetings.  I hope we're able to connect -stop by the booth and let them know you read about it on the blog for a little tchotchke we're handing out.

Sound off

What do you think about eBay recruiting more large retailers to the site?  Chime in on comments.