So last week I was at SES San Jose and thought I’d share a few thoughts …

I’ve got no idea what the actual attendance for the show was, but it seemed a little bit lighter than previous shows, which I would mostly attribute to to the weakened US economy, but the show was well attended. The keynote from Clay Shirky was awesome, and really enjoyed it. As I’ve been to a few shows over the years, I tend to avoid the beginner and introductory panels, and stay with some of the more advanced panels, such as “igniting viral campaigns” and the “Advanced SEO Roundtable”. However my favorite panels are the site clinics. The thing I really like about site clinics, are how it separates the “men from the boys”, you can tell who has some idea what they are talking about and who can think on their feet. The best site clinic panel I attended had Matt Cutts, Tiffany Lane, Greg Boser, Vanessa Fox with Elisabeth Osmeloski moderating. This clinic had an excellent variety of sites ranging from adult toys, RV’s, cheap airport parking and hookah’s, it was that awesome.

There were two parts of the show that didn’t live up to expectation, the Charlene Li keynote and “social media black hat vs white hat”. I’m not sure Charlene Li had a grasp on “who the audience was”, and I felt her material was below everyone, except the first time conference attendees. The social media panel was a great idea but IMHO opinion the moderator kept putting the brakes on it every time it got interesting. For most sessions you don’t want panelists arguing back and forth, but for a “black hat vs white hat” you want to encourage, foster, and nurture an atmosphere for healthy debate. When thst moment of conflict occurs let it happen and play out.

This was also the first year without the Googledance, but  the folks at Webmaster Radio stepped up and threw and excellent party at search bash, and the IM charity party was a success as well. However for me the most fun was shooting a PSA with Matt Cutts about hacking for links.

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To conclude, conferences like SES provide a really great opportunity for new and intermediate level marketers to grow their skill set. For advanced attendees it provides an opportunity to get face time with your collegues and peers, talk about issues, problems, theories or things you are seeing. However as my friend Everett remarked the most important thing you get from a conference is a renewed sense of motivation:

So long SES San Jose thanks for a great show looking forward to San Francisco next year.
photo credit: toprankonlinemarketing

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SES San Jose 2009 Recap

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Last week I attended SMX Advanced in Seattle and thought I’d share my thoughts about it.

What’s the single most important thing I got from SMX Advanced, simply put there is no substitute for face time you get with someone at a conference. I met with quite a few people from from the engines and we talked about a wide range of problems, suggestions, issues, and a few non search topics.

I know in times of economic hardship conference and that travel budgets are shrinking and with excellent conference coverage, it’s hard to justify the money and time a conference requires, but IMHO it’s worth it. What you learn from the session is good, what you learn outside of the sessions is the icing on the cake.

I agree with Danny that Google changing how it handles links and losing backwards compatibility is an issue. I also agree with Rand (who I somehow missed talking to) that Google needs to clarify how it’s handling pagerank and javascript, and hope Matt Cutts or someone else will do so in the upcoming weeks. Expect some additional commentary coming this week from me on pagerank sculpting and the unanswered issues on paid links.

The most fun I had at SMX was at the organized lunch table where I chatted with Michelle Robbins and Richard Baxter of SEOGadget about Battlestar Galactica, followed by me eating Matt Cutts macaroni and cheese. I fully expect Matt to try and break into my hotel room and steal all the chocolate out of my fridge next conference as retribution

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SMX Advanced 2009 Wrap Up

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Despite the fact that most of us are separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, one of the things that makes me the most proud of the people in this industry is the sense of family that exists. You know that when there’s a problem there’s ALWAYS someone there who will help, in some cases I’ve even seen people put aside long standing differences, to help someone who is in a jam.
It’s that spirit of family and giving that make the IM Charity party happen. To date the IM Charity parties have donated over $100,000 dollars to the Children’s Hospital, LiveStrong, Ronald McDonald House, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

So by contributing $40 (or more) you get to be part of that family spirit. You also get to spend the night with some of smartest most well known people in our industry. If you’ve ever been to conference you’ll know what you learn at the parties is just as important as what you learn in the sessions. So if you’re going to be at SES NY it should be on your list of things to do.

Details

Monday March 23, 2009 8PM-Midnight
Heartland Brewery Union Square
35 Union Sq
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 645-3400
MAP

You can buy your ticket in advance so there’s no waiting at the door that night.

Special thanks to BOTW and We Build Pages, for sponsoring the event. If your company would like to become a sponsor the event there are still opportunities open.

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IM Charity Party at SES NY March 23rd

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Blogher announced they are looking for speakers, looking for ideas for sessions and speaker nominations. I’m not sure why they can’t just say “call for speakers” like everyone else but hey that’s their thing not mine.

Anywho if you know of someone who you think should be speaking at the Blogher conference or have an idea for a session you want them to cover, use one of these two email addresses below :

Email both me (elisa@blogher.com) and our new full-time Conference Programming Manager Jes Ferris (jes@blogher.com) and tell us the following:
- Who you are and why you want to speak
- Which of our tracks you’d like to participate in, and your experience/expertise/knowledge/perspective about that subject
- Specific links that highlight that experience/expertise/knowledge/perspective
- Your contact information and a link to your blog(s)
- Who else you think should be contributing

In case you missed it I went and upset the apple cart last year with my post Is the BlogHer Conference Guilty of Sex Discrimination you should also read Blogher’s response.

So do you know anyone who you think would make an interesting and thought provinking speaker at Blogher  in 2009, if you do be sure to let them know who and why …

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Blogher 2009 Looking for Speakers

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As I try and dig my way through my overflowing post conference inbox, and mostly overdue Remember the Milk to do list I thought I’d take a few minutes and share my thoughts on Pubcon 2008.

As someone whose been to more than few conferences, the obvious question is, is there still value in going to a conference, and for me the answer is absolutely yes. Shawn Rorick the Director of Search Marketing for Cirque du Soleil, gave the opening keynote and spoke about the convergance of new media and old media, and how a website is part of an overall marketing strategy. It’s a concept he called Halo Media

taking a holistic marketing approach is something I’ve been trying to teach my clients, but halo media does a better job of simplifying the concept in a name. You can see all of Shawn’s presentation here

Something that was hard to miss at this years Pubcon was social media. I like that social media is now considered part of SEO (or maybe seo’s annoying little brother), but I dont think it’s going away even after the “shiny new toy” aspect wears off. I didn’t get to go to as many sessions as I wanted but I did read most of the recaps from SEORountable, We Build Pages, and Bruce Clay blog. As a sidenote I find the debate about live blogging kind of interesting. As a conference promoter I could see how you might view live blogging as a bad thing, but as a conference attendee or non conference atendee, if you think live blogging is any substitution for attending a conference you’re kidding yourself. Live blogging is good for sessions you couldn’t attend because of scheduling conflicts, but not for missing a show entirely. Being able to pull up a chair and talk with Greg about some ideas I have is a good thing. Getting to sit down and talk with Cesar Serna and talk about some plugin development is a good thing. Getting suckered by Vanessa into fixing her wordpress theme is good thing (at least that’s what she told me ).

Going to Pubcon and going to conferences in general isn’t just about what you get in the sessions. It may seem like it’s fun getting to go to great parties like the search bash thrown by Webmaster Radio and Microsoft. But what it’s really about is connecting with friends, building relationships and trust.

The two most important things that I  get out of every conference are new ideas and inspiration. When Lee Odden asked me to speak at Blog World, I found the inspiration to get off my butt and make the ViralConversations.com go from idea to reality. Meeting Sugarrae at 6:30 in the morning (because we were both still on east coast time) to play Pai Gow and then go to breakfast was the kick in the butt needed to get a neglected project back on track.

Going to a conference isn’t about what you learn, it’s about what you do with the knowledge and experiences when you get back.

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Las Vegas Pubcon 2008 Wrap Up

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So I’m back and getting caught up from SMX. if you missed it and are looking for the next SEO show be sure to check out Pubcon coming up this November in Las Vegas. if you haven’t already registered you can use this discount code to save 20% off the registration price

gr-78320

Like many other people in the industry WebmasterWorld and Pubcon are where I got my start, so for me it’s always like coming home. if you’ve never been to a search conference you should read What Search Engine Conferences Should I Attend, also The Introvert’s Guide to Conference Networking and The Big Water Story to help you really get what its all about and why its important that it’s more than just the panels where you learn.

Having a hard time convincing your boss to justify a conference expense read Top Tips to Get Your Boss to Send You to a Conference a classic from last year.

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Pubcon Discount Coupon Code

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Unfortunately I’m not going to be able to be at SMX on Monday do to some prior family and business obligations, but if you are going be sure to attend the Internet Marketers Charity party on Monday night.

it’s 8pm till midnight at the Social Bar – 795 8th Avenue (b/w 48th & 49th street). For $50 you get drinks and light light snacks from the bar and you get to meet lots of other internet marketing folks. You $50 goes to support the Ronald McDonald House for more details you can check out Internet Marketers Charity Party Website.

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SMX Internet Marketers Charity Party

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I added Joost’s upcoming plugin that uses the upcoming system to let everybody know where I’m going to be. If you attend or speak at a decent amount of conferences, shows or events, IMHO it’s a pretty neat tool.

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Where I’m Gonna Be – Thanks to the Upcoming Plugin

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The following is a Guest Post from Brandy Eddings.

Last school year while at recess my daughter approached a group of boys playing kickball. She asked if she could join, the boy holding the ball told her “only boys can play”. My daughter’s response was “then why are they letting you play” she grabbed the ball and ran onto the field and no one else opposed her joining and the game went on. Her teacher told me that now all the games at recess are now co-ed and they have never had that happen in the years she has taught at that school. Without realizing it she used determination and humor to change the culture of the school.

I get that Blogher is about supporting female bloggers but creating a double standard of not even allowing male speakers at their conferences goes a little too far. Now I’m not against women supporting other women but shouldn’t the focus be people supporting people. We should be striving to fade the line drawn between the sexes not making it bolder.

As a woman in business I face sexism more often then I even like to admit to myself. However, I do make the choice to face it, deal with it and hope to change it one small step at a time. Women in business simply could not succeed if we avoided all men altogether. Even the notion of that is just ridiculous. The online world is still in its infant stages, our present actions and decisions will determine the future of the online culture, even if we don’t realize it yet. Exclusion is discrimination no matter what type of spin you try to put on it.

You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman.  ~Jane Galvin Lewis

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Blogher, Pro-Woman or Anti-Man?

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Last week July 18th through the 20th was this years BlogHer Conference. According to the Blogher website their mission is:

To create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community, and economic empowerment.

To those organizers I challenge them to look in the mirror and realize that you’ve now become the same evil and sexist pigs you started out with the goal of overcoming.

So whats my gripe, that Blogher limits their conference speakers to only women. Don’t believe me go to any of the past speaker lists (link, link, link, link) and try to find a speaker who is a man, do an on page search for “his”, “him”, or ” he”, now try searching for “her” her’s” or “she”, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not that I don’t think that women aren’t qualified to speak, nothing could be farther from the truth, but I do ask the following question, if you want to provide the best conference are only women qualified to speak.

Now Blogher doesn’t completely discourage against men attending, here’s a flickr set of the BlogHer men attendees, including people like Robert Scoble. However if you are a man and you want to attend BlogHer, you’re treated like second class citizen, only to be seen and not heard.

Do you think Blogher should only have women speakers, what if I told you I was organizing a conference and only men were speaking? The only way women can get in was to pay the full admission price, and go sit quietly in the audience. Have a few choice names you’d like to call me after reading that, then why is it OK for blog her to do the exact same thing, and you’re OK with that, or somehow find that empoering?

The most common argument I’ll get is what about the “mommy bloggers” or “work at home moms (WHAM)” and how Blogher has speakers that can speak on those topics better than men. To that I counter Mommy bloggers and work at home moms face the same issues as Daddy bloggers and work at home dads. We all struggle to find the work-life balance. We struggle to run a professional business and to be available to take client calls and go to meetings, but to also be home by 3:30 to pickup the kids after school, bring them to dance class, ballet class, religious instruction, swim class, birthday parties, play dates, do the food shopping and cook a dinner that’s healthy and everybody will eat, without going crazy. And yes I do the food shopping, and I cook dinner, even on the holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. So those aren’t “mommy” issues those are parent issues.

The next common argument I hear is that women weren’t/aren’t taken seriously, or accepted as part of mainstream media/publishing. This is a common argument from groups that are minorities or perceive themselves as minorities. They feel that by creating a group of only their members they can “swing the pendulum in the other direction” and create some sense of balance. Nothing could be farther from the truth. What it really does is underline and accentuate the differences between the two groups, strengthening the divisive wall between them. For example do you want to be known as the “best woman tech blogger”? I wouldn’t … what that really says is I may be the best woman tech blogger but when you compare me to all the male tech bloggers I don’t make the cut. You should never strive to be the best woman lawyer, best woman doctor, or best woman blogger, you should striver to be the best doctor, lawyer, or blogger, regardless of your gender.

Still not convinced Blogher hasn’t become their own worst enemy? Have you ever been to conference where a panel was made up of all men? How about an entire conference where all of the speakers where only men? Awkward aren’t they? I’m not advocating putting a “token woman” on the panel, because that’s wrong on so many levels. What I am saying is there are just as many smart women as there are men, and both are equally qualified to speak, and conference organizers should strive for balanced representation among speakers, not a lopsided selection to make up for past injustices.

So how bout it Blogher conference organizers can you rise to the challenge and create something more than a modern “old boys network”? If the organizers of “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” can change to “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” you can too. Being a visionary leader takes the courage to admit when you make a mistake and take the steps to fix it …

Update
see more dicussion from the blogher blog Mars & Venus in the Boardroom

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Is the BlogHer Conference Guilty of Sex Discrimination

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