👷‍♂️ How to Build a B2B eCommerce Community One Person at a Time: Justin King on AI, Events & Real Industry Trust | E726

Deets & Links Guest: Justin King, Chief AI Officer at the B2B eCommerce Association & Global Director at B2B eCommerce World Websites: https://b2bea.org & https://b2becommerceworld.org FREE ticket code (Manufacturers & Distributors only) for B2B eCommerce World Americas (November 2–3, 2026): GREENWOODVIP Get tickets here: https://b2becommerceworld.org/americas/tickets Episode Overview In this episode of THE ECOMMERCE EDGE Podcast, host Jason Greenwood sits down with B2B eCommerce pioneer Justin King, Chief AI Officer at the B2B eCommerce Association and Global Director at B2B eCommerce World. Justin reflects on his 20-year journey in manufacturing and distribution digital commerce, from launching one of the very first B2B eCommerce blogs in 2007 to shaping global practitioner communities today. Together, Jason and Justin dive into what makes B2B eCommerce a unique, tight-knit sub-niche of broader IT, and why building long-term industry relationships requires radical authenticity and zero bridge-burning. Justin shares behind-the-scenes insights into building the B2B eCommerce Association, why 1-to-1 hand-to-hand combat outreach beats generic automation for event adoption, and how removing job titles from event badges transformed networking. They also explore how B2B digital leaders can get executive alignment on AI, elevate team members through industry awards, and help vendors get massive ROI by embedding themselves into practitioner conversations. Timestamps [0:00:00] - Welcome Justin King & 20 years of B2B eCommerce history [0:01:11] - The origin of B2B eCommerce blogging: Starting eCommerceandB2B.com in 2007 [0:03:20] - Why B2B eCommerce is an extreme sub-niche of broader IT [0:04:58] - Long-term relationship building: Why you can never burn bridges in B2B [0:06:53] - The origin, vision, and mission of the B2B eCommerce Association [0:09:40] - Elevating practitioners over personalities in industry communities [0:12:30] - The power of practitioner roundtables and authentic vulnerability [0:15:31] - Hand-to-hand combat: Why building B2B events requires personal 1-to-1 outreach [0:20:55] - Uncovering quiet B2B digital leaders beyond standard LinkedIn connections [0:24:46] - Why B2B digital leaders come from operations and branch sales [0:28:00] - What to expect at B2B eCommerce World in Indianapolis [0:31:18] - CEO alignment and AI road trips: Real practitioner keynotes over sales pitches [0:33:40] - The badge experiment: Removing titles to encourage genuine networking [0:41:21] - Celebrating excellence: Elevating B2B leaders and teams through industry awards [0:50:07] - How sponsors and vendors can maximize event ROI by embedding in sessions THE ECOMMERCE EDGE Podcast Home⁠ - https://www.greenwoodconsulting.net/podcast