All right, I've been had by a flack. (Household hint: No cleanser can wash away the shame of using a PR piece.) A big-shot blogebrity (approval to name him pending), who probably got the eBay conference story pitch too, IMed last night:

Big-time blogger: dude
you suck
URL
this is fucking bullshit
it's a shill, sent to you by a PR flack
that deserves some smackdown
here's a hint:
- note the domain of the person that sent that tip in. they work for MSN
- the ebay bidders are all zero or have negative feedback. They were probably made up for the fake auction
- I would bet dollars to doughnuts that someone at MS' PR agency thought this was a great way to get the word out in a viral way, by duping some bloggers into doing their work and promoting their stupid event.

He's right. But hey! I was indie and snarky about it! Surely my subversive antics undermine the, uh...metanarrative...of the hegemony...across the enterprise?

Earlier: Cocktails with Ballmer and Gates, $760 on eBay [Valleywag]