ebay Awards 2023 - GEEplast honored

On November 8, 2023, it happened: I stood on the stage of the small theater in Berlin, somewhat bewildered, holding the ebay Award for “Founder of the Year” in my hands, trying to find the right position for this featured image. I hope my wandering around didn’t attract too much attention, and even that seemed to contribute to what I somehow felt overwhelmed by.

What was happening?

On Friday, October 6 On Friday, October 6, an unknown phone number from Hamburg appeared on my phone. Being naturally suspicious, I reversed the number through the search, and it vaguely indicated that it wasn’t spam – so I decided to call back. After some back and forth, we finally got in touch over the phone.

Not understanding the company name and not pressing further, I was then informed that I, or rather GEEplast, had won the ebay Award 2023 in the mentioned category and would be honored soon. After all, I had actually applied for it in March, so at least the friendly voice on the other end of the line knew that much.

But why me? Was I the only applicant or what? Oh no, there were six categories. Oh no, there were six categories. So, I listened eagerly to what was to come and waited for the catch – whether I had to pay, for example, a processing fee of 500€. But it didn’t come – the next steps were planned, when is the ceremony, what is the prize anyway, where the heck is “Kleinmachnow” (where ebay Germany is located) At the end of the call, the nice voice said that they would contact the other winners today and everything else in the next week.

As it turned out during the award ceremony itself, the winners in the other categories were similarly skeptical and googled, for example, whether the company that contacted us on behalf of ebay even existed. So, it seems my skepticism is the healthy kind that one develops over the years of being online – regardless of running one’s own eCommerce 😉

The agency Faktor 3 in Hamburg was commissioned (the team there simply belongs linked here, strong team, I’m really impressed)

The what-happens-then machine

At first nothing happened at all, it was the weekend and I was ordered to keep quiet. All right, I was asked to do it, let’s put it that way. Of course, you shouldn’t run ads right away; it’s only officially known what’s going on and who won with the ceremony. You naturally tell 2-3 people, but only from your close personal circle.

In the next steps, more clarity ensued. A video team from Faktor 3 was on-site and shot a pretty strong video about GEEplast. Berlin was booked, the train was involuntarily given a little confidence that they would manage “that” (note: a week later this would have gone completely to shit, as there was already a strike)

On the Dreilinden campus

From November 7-9, 2023, the window of time was set for the award ceremony, getting to know ebay at the German headquarters, and various workshops. It was also quite overwhelming and excellently organized by ebay.

On day one, check-in first, off to the campus, met “my” category manager and had a nice dinner with the ebay team and Faktor 3 in the evening. The day was well-filled, and the hotel bar in the evening was skipped.

Day two back to the campus and into the workshops. Very interesting subject matter, many participants, and in between, a tree-planting activity.

And now the highlight: The award ceremony. I made it clear right away that I’m not a big speaker and that my time on stage should be as short as possible 😉 So, somewhat cheekily, I stumbled onto the stage and accepted the award – before that, GEEplast was introduced with the video. Clearly relieved but also happy, I sat back offstage and enjoyed the evening.

All in all, a very well-rounded action in a professional setting Thanks ebay, thanks Faktor 3, thanks to the small theater in Berlin for this unforgettable evening, and thanks again to ebay for the honor of receiving the award!