The inaugural Alibaba.com e-Business Champion Awards Reception for North America was a huge success. Those who attended got a chance to network with University of Chicago MBA students, entrepreneurs, eBay Powersellers, trade association representatives, Alibaba.com staff and senior management, and other Alibaba.com members.

Everyone also got a chance to meet our 5 winners and hear their inspirational entrepreneurial stories. The 5 winners are: Gene Rumley of BellPerformance.net, Jane Ivanov of EveAlexander.com, Elena Neitlich of MomsOnEdge.com, Phil Weil of DecoBreeze.com, and Brandon Dupsky of OnFair.com.

Prizes were given away to 5 lucky attendees, including a Canon Powershot digital camera, a Garmin GPS, 2 Apple store gift certificates for $300 each, and a Playstation 3 (40GB).

Check out the Flickr photo album of the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25276791@N07/sets/72157605811627550/

Congratulations to our Grand Award finalists, Gene Rumley and Brandon Dupsky, who are eligible to win a chance to participate in the Alifest Grand Awards Ceremony in Hangzhou, China on August 2nd and 3rd. Vote for them online at Alibaba.com: http://resources.alibaba.com/promotion/alifest/vote.htm

Our European team also had a great event in London. For the full summary and photos, go to Alibaba.com: http://resources.alibaba.com/topic/311043/Alibaba_com_holds_first_EMEA_e_Business_Champions_Award_in_2008.htm