Hello everyone and welcome to our workshop on how to create, manage and maintain a successful eBay Group.

Joining us today are lanahi and tornado-lynn.

lanahi logs in from a mountain valley in beautiful Idaho. She joined her first eBay group in 2005 and now is a leader of Wonderful World of Dollhouse Miniatures, where she has three great moderators assisting her. "It is a small but active group and we learn more about minis in a spirit of fun and fellowship. We learn a lot in a supportive and friendly environment. My experience as leader is one of pure pleasure!"

lanahi also spends her time volunteering as a moderator for !A Leaders & Moderators Central.

Lynn (tornado-lynn) lives in Central Florida. She registered on eBay as a Buyer/Seller in 2001 and joined her first eBay Group in 2003.

tornado-lynn currently leads 3 eBay Groups: Cast Iron & Brass Trivet Collectors, A+ Kitchen Collectibles, and !A Leaders & Moderators Central, which she Co-Leads with Robin (1lilbirdy2). Lynn is a Moderator of two other Groups: Antiques Anonymous and Postcards - Real Photo (RPPC) Postcard Club. She also belongs to several other eBay Groups.

"I enjoy the time I spend here in eBay Groups and have made many valuable friendships. From my experience, the most successful eBay Groups are those that promote eBay's Five Fundamental Community Values:"

* We believe people are basically good.
* We believe everyone has something to contribute.
* We believe that an honest, open environment can bring out the best in people.
* We recognize and respect everyone as a unique individual.
* We encourage you to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Both tornado-lynn and lanahi have a wealth of experience to share with you and some very creative ideas for keeping interest high.

My name is Maeve and I am eBay's Groups coordinator. I first registered for eBay in 1997 and joined the staff in 1999. In February of 2000 I became an eBay Pink and it's been an amazing experience. I took over management of eBay groups nearly two years ago and it is a pleasure watching our groups grow and develop.

Maeve

Today's workshop is divided into three sections.

The first section will cover how to set up an eBay Group and what you should consider prior to creating your own group. tornado-lynn will also discuss what you need to do to build your group and help ensure its success.

In the second section you will find ways to keep members of your group active and engaged. lanahi has prepared some interesting strategies to introduce fun into your group and to keep members coming back.

In the last section I will go over some of the basic policies for eBay groups and give some tips on how to resolve some of the most common questions.

Please feel free to ask questions or share your expertise during the workshop today and thank you for joining us.

Maeve, lanahi and tornado-lynn

MAINTAINING INTEREST WITHIN THE GROUP



Once you start reviving interest in a group, it is important to keep the momentum going. If your group is mainly informational, it helps to have a few lighter threads that will "break the ice". "General chat" or "good morning" threads are good, and I would always have a game or two.



GAMES:

Games can serve other functions besides entertainment. It's a good place for a new member to start posting and feeling a part of the group even when that member doesn't feel he has much to offer yet or is a little shy. There is always good natured ribbing and fun in a game thread, and a new member soon feels a part of that camaraderie and begins to post in other threads as well. It isn't just for new members, however. Some groups, like my own, are quite serious by nature and very business-like when posting on informational threads. In the game threads, they can also relax and ramble at will and see each other's lighter side. Any game will do this, the simpler the better.

An example is our "geographical piggyback game". We not only joke with each other, we learn something! The first person names a geographical location, like London, let's say. The next person starts his location with the last letter of the one before that, so he might say 'Newfoundland', and the next person comes up with "Dead Man's Gulch". Of course, that name has a history behind it which is very fascinating! This might lead to a short discussion about other entertaining names and the legends behind it, before we finally get on to the next name in line.

A game is especially good at night when all the discussions are a little slow. Usually, when a member comes in to check the group, there may be a few new discussions that late at night and someone still there playing a game. He can interact with another member late at night instead of talking to himself and feel a bit more connected.



MORE GAMES:

Two other games that have been most popular have been the ABC game and Choices.


In the ABC game, you can base it on the group theme. A dollhouse forum, for instance, could be anything you are likely to find in a dollhouse, beginning with "A", which might be "attic", the next would be "B" which might be "bacon and eggs", and so forth.


A new version of the ABC game looks promising for introducing us to other members' auctions. We look at auctions or store items by members and list them under the appropriate letter, with a link to the ebay item. Such as "A= antique mirror" and the link.


In Choices, you start with a choice the next member might prefer, for instance: "Dogs or cats?" The next member might say, "Cats", then ask a question of his own for the next member to answer. Sometimes there isn't a simple choice so the member will explain something like: "Both cats and dogs...cats are more dignified but dogs show more enthusiasm." It's a good way to get to know someone and you get lots of asides and laughs from it.


I always like to change games when they get somewhat "tired" and start a new one in its place. You can always go back later and re-add a game when it will be fresh again, but so far we keep finding new ones to play. I limit the number of games to three at the most at any one time...otherwise we would be taken over with games! When one is added, another is dropped.



CONTESTS:

Another guaranteed way to create interest is a contest. If you have a very small group or fairly inactive group, any contest has to be simple and easy in order to have enough participation. An example of this is captioning a funny photo and having all the members vote on the best caption. Sending a group email announcing the contest and then announcing voting in the poll for the best entry almost always draws some curiosity and will bring inactive members in, many of whom stay. You can have a prize or not, maybe just a gif for them. In our first contest I awarded a small ebay gift certificate to the winner, in another contest two members offered to make something for the winner and runner-up. You will find the prize is not as important as the contest itself, however. Every one who entered said they tried something new and it was challenging and fun for them.

A larger or more active group can afford to run a more involved contest where members enter something they have created, for instance. In a smaller group there may not be enough members who will commit the time or effort to enter. The best way to choose the theme of a contest is by asking the members and then running a poll. They, after all, are the ones who will be entering the contest or not, so it needs to be something they are enthusiastic about.



POLLS:

A poll itself creates interest. Most members like to offer their opinion in a poll. It can be an important poll asking the direction the group would like to go, topics members would like to see more (or less) of, a new name for the group, why they joined the group in the first place. Or it can be just interesting, such as whether they work outside the home, what age group they are in, or any number of topics. Polls are always popular in the groups I have been in and create more interest in the group beyond what helpful insights you can gather about your members.


Once a poll has expired or has grown old, we add it to a poll results thread and delete it. I always like to have a few open polls for new members to have a chance to vote. One of my moderators likes to have an expiration date on polls and run the same poll a year later to compare them. I like to keep polls open until they are "played out", so we do it both ways.



GENERAL CHAT THREADS:

Don't forget the 'General Chat' thread where members can let down their hair and ramble all they want without worrying about staying on the topic. This probably is the most valuable thread we have for getting to know each other and making it a fun place to come. With the General Chat thread, members don't have as much tendency to get off the topic in more informational threads. We can talk about our daily lives, our pets, favorite foods, hobbies, books, anything we like, as long as it is not controversial. This is where your fellow members, who were at first just people sharing the same interests, truly start feeling like friends and we start caring for each other. We both cry and laugh with them, mostly the latter.



DECORATED PAGES:

As Lynn said above, decorated pages are important as well. It shows the leaders and moderators are involved with the group.....you know someone is "home" when you see backgrounds and photos on a page. Add some graphics now and then in threads. It all helps make the group a pleasant and entertaining place to come.



SUMMARY:

Some of these activities may seem trivial, and often they are, and yet they do act to lighten the atmosphere and create a spirit of fun that can only help the group in the long run. In one poll we ran, the majority of members were there for both the information and the support or friendship from others in the group.

One of my members said: "I like games because everyone can play, it is quick, and you get to know each other a little bit. It includes everyone, no matter your skill level in the group. My observation is that participation in the "topic" threads picked up after we introduced some simple games into the mix. I think games and contests allow the newcomer to "play" and next thing you know they feel like they belong."





Thank you for allowing me to participate in this thread.

How do I become a Group Leader?

Creating a new eBay Group is easy. If you refer to tornado-lynn's excellent tutorial above, it will help you determine the purpose of your group and what you hope to accomplish. Be sure to read through the Groups Usage Policies and familiarize yourself with types of activities permitted on the eBay platform.

eBay's Group Guidelines explain the details for leadership, membership and group functions.

Once you've done that, go to the Group Center page, log in and look over on the right for a link labeled "start group" Click on that link.

On the next screen you will see fields that will help you to define your group.

Filling in the fields

· Be sure to select the appropriate group category from the drop down menu.,
· Give your group the name you've chosen
· Write a short description such as "for lovers of all things eBay".
· Write a longer description of your group and its purpose.
· You can also choose to make your group public or private.
If it's a public group anyone can join at any time.
If you choose to have a private group, prospective members must contact the group leader for approval as a member.
· If you start a regional group or other group that plans to have local meetings, you can add your zip code and city/state here. Your group is then searchable by zip.
· Finally, the last box is for your Group Charter. If you don't have all the details yet, don't worry - you can add to your charter later or change it at any time.

Once you have everything filled in, just click the "create group button" and you're done. Now its time to start building your group by following the great ideas from tornado-lynn and lanahi.

Maeve

Frequently Asked Questions

Our group leader has disappeared or is not a registered eBay member, what do we do?

Sometimes circumstances beyond the group leader's control mean they can no longer lead the group. It could be family problems, illness or even a suspension from eBay (NARU). The first thing to do is try to contact the group leader and ask them if they are going to return to the group. If they don't answer or indicate that they are not interested in the group, then please email maeve@ebay.com

We will appoint a temporary moderator for the group to take care of management issues and ask you to start a poll for the election of a new leader. Once that is accomplished please email me again and I will make the changes to the leadership. Please be aware that it may take a week or two for the changes to be made.

Some of the people in my group are not following policies, what should I do?

Please report all violations to the group leader. If the group leader and moderators are not able to resolve the problem, please contact maeve@ebay.com

I was kicked out of my group what do I do now?

Each group leader can admit or remove members of the group at their discretion. If you have been removed from a group, you need to contact the group leader.

Can we advertise our auctions in groups?

One of the advantages of eBay Groups is the ability for members to promote their own auctions in Share Your Wares types of events or via a group effort such as charity fundraising auctions. Please refer to your group charter or leader's guidance for what is appropriate.

How do I remove myself from a group?

Each member is able to remove themselves from a group by using the tools found under "Preferences" with the exception of group leaders who need to appoint a new leader to take their place. It's a good idea to make the nominee a moderator prior to requesting a change of leadership so that the new leader has some experience with the management tools.

For more information on Groups including receiving announcements from eBay staff, please sign up for the Groups Information Center. Once you sign in, please go to the Welcome page for a wealth of information about groups.

Maeve

Hi everyone and welcome to our workshop on How to Create, Manage & Maintain a Successful eBay Group. We hope that all of you had time to read through the information provided above.

We love for our workshops to be interactive, so please feel free to ask questions. We'll try our best to answer.

We will be here for the next hour. It will help us a lot if you address your question to either tornado-lynn, lanahi or maeve.

Thanks

tornado-lynn, lanahi and maeve@ebay.com

As we're getting started, here are some valuable resources for Leaders and Moderators of eBay Groups!

Google Search Engine

Leadership Quotes

Free Weather Sticker from Weather Underground

Hex Color Codes

Emoticons and Chat Acronyms