Just got back from eBay live. Couple of interesting observations regarding Alibaba. While not part of the official conference, Alibaba was everywhere. It was not allowed in the convention hall but staked itself in the neighboring Hilton and Marriott. It attracted conference goers by giving away tote bags on the street and MP3 players to anyone that went to their presentations. The MP3 player was a hit. The presentation and booth itself needed some work on professionalism. In the end, Alibaba certainly created a stir and cemented the fact that it will be formidable and scrappy competitor to the more polished and better organized eBay. Quite a constract in style.
BTW, the word on the street is that Alibaba is in the middle of drafting their s1 and will be filling end of summer when asset managers come back from the Hamptons.
