It’s probably no secret to readers that I am a producer for the PodShow network. My show, American Cliche, has been part of their stable of shows for almost two years. During the bulk of that time my main contact there was Richard Brewer-Hay in their talent relations department. Richard was my favorite person at PodShow. Besides being a fun guy to be around, I always knew that when I asked him a question he would tell me the truth, point blank. I respect Richard a lot.

In January I got a call from him letting me know that he was leaving PodShow to start eBay’s blog. I was excited for him because it seemed like a great opportunity, but I didn’t really understand the scope of the project. To be honest, I feared this would be a tool of the PR department to try and falsely embrace the conversations happening in social media. However, today I read an interview on Fortune Small Business with Richard. Apparently eBay has agreed to a hands-off approach on the blog. Richard has complete freedom to write whatever he wants, unedited. It was also interesting to learn that he has “all-access” to every facet of the company from the CEO on down.

What does this mean for eBay? It has long been a concern of sellers that their voices have fallen on deaf ears.  In fact, to show their disapproval of fee changes, many top sellers staged a boycott a few weeks ago. According to Richard, eBay Ink, will be direct line of communication for eBay’s users to voice concerns and get a peek behind the scenes at every level. While the blog has yet to launch, it will be interesting to see what the content looks like. Will it really be unedited? There will no doubt be guidelines that Richard will have to follow in terms of what he writes. Or will there? Maybe eBay will use the Robert Scoble/Microsoft model and allow him to exist as an island - far removed from the sharp claws of the PR department.

I hope they do this right. eBay has a real opportunity here to engage their customers. In fact, the best thing a company can do in the digital age is make their customers feel like part of the dialogue. How transparent will eBay actually be? That remains to be seen. However, the fact that Richard Brewer-Hay is leading this charge gives me confidence that it’ll be done right. You can bet that a lot of eyes will be on them as they launch eBay Ink. If it goes well, expect to see more following suit.