Four years ago today something special happened over in San Jose, eBay Inc corporate blogger Richard Brewer-Hay (Fondly known as RBH) launched eBay Ink with the words “Welcome… to yet another corporate blog”.
We’d been looking forward to it for a month on Tamebay – would it really be an open blog, would RBH really get free rein to write about all and sundry, good and bad and bring us the behind the scenes interviews as promised? Would the blog even make it’s first birthday? The answer is he appears to have done a pretty good job and his role has expanded immensely from being just a blogger to what appears to be pretty much running eBay’s social media strategy single handed.
I’ve met RBH a few times over the last few years, normally over a beer. Sue and I were both a little skeptical that anyone would be able to take on the eBay corporate blogger role without being brainwashed by the company but I’m happy to say Richard manages to avoid that trap and has a pragmatic view of eBay being able to see the good parts of eBay as well as appreciate the things that irk buyers and sellers. Those who knew Sue know she didn’t often want to meet people, but she always made an exception for RBH, in fact she once made the trip across from France just for dinner with Richard.
Blogging is hard work – anyone that’s blogged for any length of time will tell you that and in the last four years I’ve seen any number of eBay related blogs come and go. In some ways RBH has the hardest job of all bloggers as he’s paid to blog for eBay. On Tamebay we can (and do) blog about whatever interests us and admittedly sometimes that’s got little to do with eCommerce. It keeps us fresh though and hopefully (at least some) readers enjoy our odd diversions. On Tamebay we also get time off now and again and a break from blogging – there’s always been a team behind Tamebay so (although you might not even have noticed) we’ve all taken time out over the years. Without extended breaks we’d have burnt out a long time ago. RBH doesn’t have that freedom as in the main he blogs alone, whereas on Tamebay we can cover each others breaks.
Four years is a long time to blog on your own. Congratulations Richard! Good job, well done.
(PS Richard, I believe I bought the last beer so it’s your round next time you’re in the UK!)
