July 3, 2008

Get smart at universal search SEO training class in Seattle

Greg Jarboe: Search Engine Strategies (SES) is asking us to teach a full-day SEO training class about “Optimizing for Universal Search” on Thursday, July 17, 2008, at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel, 515 Madison Street, Seattle, WA 98104?

Amanda Watlington: I don’t believe you.

Greg: Would you believe SES is sending us to teach a Google universal search engine optimization training workshop in Microsoft’s backyard?

Amanda: No.

Greg: How about going to Seattle to get a proper cup of coffee?

Amanda: I demand the Cone of Silence!

Greg: Okay, if you insist. I’ll download the Cone of Silence blog widget. So, now that our conversation is enshrouded in a transparent sound-proof shield, what’s the problem?

Amanda: Who in Seattle wants to learn search engine optimization strategies from a couple of SEO experts from Boston?

Greg: Well, our “Optimizing for Universal Search” workshops at SES London and SES New York were well attended. And if British Red Coats and New York Yankees didn’t mind that their SEO classes were taught by a couple of search engine optimization experts from Boston, why should Seattle companies?

Amanda: True, we haven’t dumped their tea in our harbor or faced them in the ALCS. But, give me a couple of specific examples of companies in Seattle that would benefit from sending their search engine optimization specialists, public relations professionals, and corporate video producers to a full-day SEO workshop on universal search taught by a couple of SEO experts from out of town.

Greg: Good idea Amanda – although a comprehensive list would include every member of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. But, conduct a web search using Google for the term, Steve Ballmer, and you’ll see an example of a company in Redmond, Washington, that needs help optimizing for universal search.

Amanda: I see YouTube videos and websites integrated into a single set of results. So, who is responsible for managing this special blend?

Greg: No one is which means anyone could be. I’d hate to be on the receiving end at Waggener Edstrom when one of their largest PR clients calls to ask, “What do you know about blended search?” But, they are not alone. Google the term, Seattle Mariners, and you’ll see that there are a lot of media companies in the Seattle area that have dropped the ball, too.

Amanda: I see news results blended in with the web listings above the fold. But the news sources displayed in the universal search results are from The Associated Press, SportingNews.com, and The Canadian Press, not the Seattle Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer, KING5.com, KOMO, or KIROtv.com.

Greg: Right, and according to Steve Lohr of The New York Times, search engines are “delivering 30 percent or more of the traffic on some newspaper, magazine or television news Web sites. And traffic means readers and advertisers, at a time when the mainstream media is desperately trying to make a living on the Web.”

Amanda: So, we’ve seen YouTube videos and news results blended into universal search results. What about images?

Greg: Ah, the old leading question trick. That’s the second time I’ve fallen for that this week. Well, Google the term, Starbucks logo.

Amanda: I see three images at the top of the search engine results page. Don’t tell me that clicking on any one of the Starbucks logos doesn’t take you to a page in the Starbucks Coffee Company press room.

Greg: Clicking on any one of the Starbucks logos doesn’t take you to a page in the Starbucks Coffee Company press room

Amanda: I asked you not to tell me that. You realize you’ll be facing every kind of danger imaginable if you show this example to Starbucks coffee drinkers?

Greg: And loving it! But wait! There’s more! Use Google to search for the term, Seattle hotels downtown.

Amanda: I see two pushpins on Google Maps. Hold on, the Renaissance Seattle Hotel is missing! Greg, the location of our SEO training class about “Optimizing for Universal Search” isn’t on the map!

Greg: It’s a shame that they didn’t use local SEO instead of web SEO.

Amanda: Okay, you can invert the Cone of Silence. I’m ready to use it as a loudspeaker.

Greg: This is the Search Engine Watch Blog. We don’t "loudspeaker" here.

Amanda: Never mind. I’ll use YouTube. Their slogan is “Broadcast Yourself.” So, where’s the video interview that we conducted about our upcoming SEO training class?

Greg: Missed it by that much!

Amanda: Then, how are we supposed to provide more information about our universal search engine optimization training workshop? Oh, this is utter KAOS!

Greg: Sorry about that Chief! We could try image optimization.

Amanda: That just might work. I hope I wasn’t out of line with that crack about utter KAOS.

Greg: I don’t mind, 99. Let’s just hope that business professionals in Seattle “get smart” and attend our universal search SEO training class.

Greg Jarboe of SEO-PR and Amanda Watlington of Searching for Profit will teach “Optimizing for Universal Search” in Seattle on July 17, 2008.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 28, 2008

SES San Jose: Speaker Deadlines

Search Engine Strategies San Jose is fast approaching, and as Kevin Ryan outlined earlier this month, the SES San Jose speaker deadlines are coming up:

Deadline for new session pitches: May 31, 2008.Deadline for speaker pitches: June 15, 2008.

To submit your idea for a session, or your services as a speaker, use this online form. For more details, check out Kevin's post to the Search Engine Strategies Blog.

Remember, even past speakers will need to submit a pitch, so if you're sitting around waiting for your invitation, you'll be left out in the cold.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 5, 2008

Cinco de Mayo: The 411 on 212 Interactive Cinco de Mayo Bash

What is Cinco de Mayo? It's the best reason to party (May 5th) at the Cinco de Mayo bash hosted by 212, NYC's interactive advertising club. Sure there will be lots of Cinco de Mayo activities in New York and Cinco de Mayo food (margaritas!)

What's the origin of Cinco de Mayo? Whether you spell it Cinco de Mayo, Sinco Demio, Cinco de Mio, or Sinco de Mayo, it's a great Mexican holiday. Here's a very brief Cinco de Mayo history:

In the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, an underdog Mexican army defeated the massive, well-trained French army, arguably the most powerful in the world (that year). The French lost the battle but won the war. That can't stop us from celebrating Cinco de Mayo traditions, though:

If you're not 21 years old, please click thru to the next post. Cinco de Mayo Bash Dates: May 05, 2008 Times: 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM Where: Touch Night Club, 240 W. 52nd St. (b/w Broadway and 8th Avenue) Event Type: 212 Event Description: Complete madness and good times. Kevin M Ryan will be there with Matt McGowan. Open bar.

A few reasons why you should scrap whatever plans you have on May 5th to party with 212:

1) Touch Night Club (Midtown Manhattan) 2) Hot 97’s DJ Camilo on the ones & twos 3) Open Bar 4) VIP floor (more on that later) 5) Dance performance by Tre Armstrong (from “How She Move”) 6) Open Bar (one more time for emphasis)

And there will be more surprises the night of that 212 can't share now but would be a shame to miss.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 11:37 AM | Permalink

April 23, 2008

212 Interactive Advertising Club Tonight: Kevin M. Ryan on Search

If you're in Manhattan tonight (or even in Weehawken, NJ for the SEMPO Board meeting) stop by Ogilvy Worldwide HQ at 6pm and meet up with the 212 Interactive Ad Club. SEW Expert Kevin M. Ryan, VP & Global Content Director for Search Engine Strategies, is the featured speaker on search marketing.

212 is NYC's forum for ad agencies and publishers to interact, network and learn. Some events are for members only; others are free and open to the public. This one's free and open to all marketers and publishers.

Here's an excerpt from the 212nyc.org site promoting the event:

Back by popular demand, Kevin Ryan returns to share his unabashed, unedited and uncensored views on search marketing. In addition to the latest research on blended search results and listing multiplicity, Kevin will cover the differences between Paid Search, Paid Inclusion, and SEO and how to effectively incorporate search into your marketing program.

When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Where: Ogilvy Worldwide Headquarters 309 West 49th St.

Membership in 212 is open to all advertising agency or online publishing professionals, as well as related technology vendors and research companies in the New York area.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 10:37 AM | Permalink

March 24, 2008

Lifetips Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

Byron White, the president and founder of LifeTips, helped us launch a new feature at SES NY 2008: The Escalator Pitch. The brainchild of Kevin Heisler, the Escalator Pitch is like an elevator pitch – except the escalators at the Hilton New York moved much faster than the elevators.

Lifetips Escalator Pitch, SES NY 2008

Byron White is the president and founder of LifeTips.com. He is an active speaker at various Search Marketing conferences and co-hosts the weekly LifeTips radio show on WebMasterRadio.FM every Wednesday at 5 PM EST. Byron’s entrepreneurial success has been well documented in Inc. magazine, Adweek, The Boston Globe, The Boston Business Journal, Portfolio Magazine and numerous other publications.

Find out everything you need to know about LifeTips, a content design and development company with more than 500 freelancers, in about 30 seconds.

You can find other Escalator Pitches from SES NY 2008 on the Search Engine Strategies conference and expo channel on YouTube.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 3:58 PM | Permalink

Matt McGowan in Times Square, Day 1 SES NY 2008

John Connor Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed Matt McGowan, the Global Vice President of Marketing at Incisive Media, on the first day of SES NY 2008 – which happened to fall on Saint Patrick's Day.

The interview was conducted at Times Square, where you could see banners promoting the Search Engine Strategies conference. Matt discussed attendance at the event and some of the featured sessions – especially the social search track – that were developed by Kevin Ryan (another son of Ireland) for this show.

Matt McGowan in Times Square, Day 1 SES NY 2008

Matt McGowan oversees all marketing activities for the ClickZ Network and Search Engine Watch in addition to their respective trade show series, ClickZ Specifics and Search Engine Strategies.

There are plenty more videos from SES NY and London on the SES Conference & Expo channel on YouTube.

For full coverage of last week's Search Engine Strategies conference, check out SES NY 2008: Day 1 Coverage Roundup, SES NY 2008: Day 2 Coverage Roundup, SES NY 2008: Day 3 Coverage Roundup, and SES NY 2008: Day 4 Coverage Roundup on the Search Engine Strategies Blog.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 3:31 PM | Permalink

March 20, 2008

Totally Plugged In @ SES New York:  13 Undeniable Symptoms

4:00AM morning outside the New York Hilton: the city wakeup-crowd stirs pre-dawn Manhattan lights. From the 53rd St. lobby the regal doorman guides me to Kennedy International-bound taxi and deli coffee black...impeccable New York service in hand. The cab ride provides the necessary 30 minute Internet-access window to post aimClear Blog conference coverage waiting in WordPress.  Then it occurs to me: “Dude, I must be pretty screwed up to be blogging in a TAXI.”

Search marketing conference attendees seem to be the most plugged-in-public group of techno-comrades on earth. We rove in packs of iPhone and laptop-totting pied-pipers evangelizing link love, holistic patterns, authentic participation, conversion tracking, and good will. These SEMS, SEOs, PPCs, Mr., Mrs. & Ms are such beautiful people. I love the search marketing industry because ya’ll are SO plugged into the grid, running remote marketing machine empires from Blackberries.

We’re a curious and over-stimulated group, resulting in behavior that will have future anthropologists mumbling to themselves. It’s a great time to be alive and so many incredible ways to connect for business and pleasure. Here’s 13 Undeniable symptoms of total communications-grid immersion.  These are not listed in any particular order of severity.

  • Blogging in a taxi, blogging in the Mens Room, blogging on the bus to the Microsoft Party, in the Thai restaurant, answering comments on my Blackberry, editing POSTS on my Blackberry, blogging instead of sleeping, forgetting to eat, blogging, blogging, Blogging, BLOGGING!
  • Talking on a cell phone (using an earpiece) in the elevator with other people. I’ve noted that these days such behavior is becoming condoned common place in New York and Chicago. In Duluth, Minnesota it totally creeps out fellow elevator passengers and makes one  feel ostracized, as if it’s bad manners to behave as such a way.
  • The whole world has become one giant laptop lounge. At SES conferences there actually are places labeled as such. Moving from one seminar hall to another, many don’t even bother to put notebooks away while walking from room to room. The world is always at our fingertips.
  • Watching Lee Odden and Kevin Heisler’s frenetic inside-Twitter Buzz tick down over shoulder on laptop screen.  Is there any channel these guys can’t leverage?
  • Having the honor of speaking on the Social Media Track @ SES New York, and afterwards dealing with my 12 year old’s flipping guinea litter pig crises by BlackBerry Facebook.
  • Transferring YouTube video files for upload from 4 gig thumb drive (worn around the neck) over Shrimp Scampi, raw oysters on the half shell (with Tabasco mmm), perfectly chilled Fume Blanc, and crab puffs.
  • When “essential travel gear” includes an extension cord, power strip, duct-tape, ground-lift 2-prong adapter, and a Euro AC kit. Backing up my notebook offsite each evening while sleeping.
  • Sitting in the conference audience snagging a little work time during Q&A, I’ve got simultaneous IMs going with staffers back at the home office (GoogleTalk)in Duluth, coveted London WordPress vendor (MSN Messenger),  design/build firm in Minneapolis (AIM), client in Connecticut,  ISP in Texas, dialog with 2 Stumble-friends, Facebook alerts, and my mom (Voice mail).
  • Facebook on my phone, StumbleUpon on my phone, Sphinning on my phone, “friending” on my phone, turn by turn navigation to the E-train on my phone…for goodness sake how is there ever time to talk on my phone?
  • Start recording audio and/or video (you guessed it, on the phone) when your friends speak, for possible editing, transcription and posting to one of 5 blogs. Ask them to turn it off when sharing techniques learned in private from Neil Patel.
  • You decide that neither the Blackberry OR iPhone feel as “intimate” as the Treo 650 nor Moto Q did. Even thinking that it’s important to have an “intimate” relationship with your phone is pretty messed up.
  • Twittering Naked in the Bath
  • Approaching someone I don’t know and saying “are YOU SpostareDuro, my sweet and enigmatic SEM friend from StumbleUpon?” …and being wrong.
    • Search marketers are modern communications channel gatekeepers, technicians, and salespersons, obsessively plugged into the grid. Millennial behavior chatter permeates our culture as SEMs have steadily become the 900 LB mainstream gorilla.

    My sense of is that we wouldn’t have it any other way than total grid immersion. Farewell SearchEngineStrategies NYC 2008.   You’re still the beautiful New York lady, shining city-scene of light and global opportunity. The culture of marketing king-makers, search marketing students and communications-grid pundits rocks my world.

    Footnote: Add the measured insanity of "blogging in the airplane isle whilst waiting for the aft cabin bathroom to free up."

    Posted by Marty Weintraub at 11:40 AM | Permalink

    March 18, 2008

    Ken McGaffin of Wordtracker Keyword Research at SES London 2008

    Ken McGaffin, the Chief Marketing Officer of Wordtracker, discusses some of the most interesting trends in keyword research at SES London 2008. This includes the movement of SEO and keyword research skills to in-house professionals, which has generated a marked increase in demand for corporate training sessions.

    Ken also reveals that journalists are starting to show interest in keyword research, given the necessity of getting their stories and multimedia content found in news search engines, video search engines and web search engines.

    Ken McGaffin, Wordtracker keyword research, at SES London 2008

    Picking the best keywords is at the heart of any online marketing campaign. Get them right, and you'll get remarkable increases in search engine traffic. But you don't have to guess what the best keywords are – tools like Wordtracker will tell you.

    Wordtracker collects search data – the words real people use when they do real searches online. It analyzes and count these search phrases, and give users a variety of tools to use them in creative ways to bring relevant visitors to their websites.

    With Wordtracker, you can optimize your websites organically, plan effective pay-per-click campaigns, identify niche markets, generate search engine-friendly content plans, choose memorable domain names, and choose new product and publication names. Wordtracker and other keyword research tools will help you dramatically increase the number of effective keywords in your online marketing strategy.

    You can find more information on keyword strategy at the Wordtracker Academy, or by visiting their booth at SES New York 2008.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:17 PM | Permalink

    Albert Michaels of Moniker at SES London 2008

    Albert Michaels, a Senior Account Executive at Moniker, discusses his company's suite of domain asset management services at SES London 2008. Moniker Online Services, LLC is a leading provider of domain name registration, management, and monetization services for individuals and businesses that wish to have a unique address and branded identity on the Internet.

    Moniker will also be exhibiting at SES New York 2008. It is also one of the sponsors of the WebmasterRadio.FM / SEARCHBASH. To ensure that you get in the door, stop by the Ask Sponsored Listings, Bruce Clay, Moniker.com, or WebmasterRadio.FM booths.

    Albert Michaels, Moniker, at SES London 2008

    In addition to getting into the party, you might also want to check out the serious stuff in Moniker's booth. It is the first and only provider of Domain Asset Management, a complete set of business services that provide companies a single-point-of-access to help manage and maximize the value of their domains. These services include name creation, registration, acquisition, portfolio management, appraisal and escrow services, traffic monetization and after-market sales — all backed by unsurpassed customer service and security. With more than a decade of experience, Moniker is a top 10 domain registrar, holds the industry's highest customer retention rate, and pioneered the industry's first domain appraisal formula. It is considered the industry's premier marketplace to buy and sell domain names.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:15 PM | Permalink

    March 17, 2008

    Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now at SES London 2008

    Bryan Eisenberg, the co-founder of Future Now, Inc., spoke on the Orion Panel: All Star Analytics Team during SES London 2008. He also spoke at the Converting Visitors into Buyers and Redefining the Customer sessions. After a couple of days, the sessions started blending together in unexpected ways.

    Brian discusses the ad-hoc floor meetings he's had as well as the more planned sessions. He is interested in the overlap between sessions and topics, like the Microsoft Yahoo bid and the question of how to most effectively convert visitors.

    At the Orion Panel, Brian spoke out on the issue of whether or not to pay for an analytics package, and the potential for privacy issues that he thinks needs to be addressed more openly. He also noted that Google needs to be more transparent.

    Bryan Eisenberg, Future Now, at SES London 2008 on SEO

    In addition to being a co-founder of Future Now, an interactive marketing optimization firm, Bryan Eisenberg is also a co-inventor of Persuasion Architecture, Future Now's framework for optimizing online experiences to maximize lead generation, subscriptions, and sales.

    Brian is also the publisher of Future Now's award-winning blog, GrokDotCom, a columnist for ClickZ and Forbes.com, and has authored several books and reports, including the best-selling Call to Action and Waiting For Your Cat to Bark. His clients include NBC Universal, GE, WebEx, Overstock, and Dell.

    Bryan is currently working on his next book, Always Be Testing, which is due in September 2008. He will be speaking at the Redefining the Customer session at SES New York 2008.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:16 PM | Permalink

    David O. Akande launches PeOKa at SES London 2008

    David O. Akande of PeOKa discussed his company's core market and its technology at SES London 2008, where peOKa@p debuted. The core market of PeOKa.com is corporations with large intranet and/or extranet sites, but the company also provides tailor-made "Go Direct" search engine capability for standard Internet websites.

    peOKa@p allows intranet and extranet users in corporations and other organizations to get instant and direct access to any information page, data page, or archive documents within their Intranet/Extranet site, using specially developed web tags, thereby cutting out the standard search results listing currently available on most sites.

    Better yet, look and listen to what David has to say in the interview below.

    David O. Akande debuts Peoka.com at SES London 2008

    PeOKa.com will also be exhibiting at Search Engine Strategies Expo in New York. There will be 125 sponsors and exhibitors – from well known companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, to newcomers like Peoka. The Expo is only open on Tuesday, March 18, and Wednesday, March 19, so try to find some time to see what's new on the trade show floor.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:14 PM | Permalink

    Are Search Jobs Recession-Proof? If So, How Do You Get One?

    In the past, traditional marketing budgets and jobs have been among the first to be cut whenever the economy hits a rough patch. So what should those marketing folks do this time around? One option is to come join their search marketing brethren, since search is expected to weather the coming economic storm better than most forms of marketing or advertising.

    In today's SearchDay, "Finding Recession-Proof SEM Jobs," Greg Jarboe shows that search engine marketing jobs and budgets really are recession-proof, and that going to SES New York this week may help traditional marketers get through the roughest economic times since World War II.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:44 AM | Permalink

    March 16, 2008

    Andrew Weatherwax of Global Strategies at SES London 2008

    Andy Weatherwax, a Partner and the Director of Search Operations at Global Strategies Intl., spoke at the Big Site, Big Search session at SES London 2008, which looked at the problems and solutions unique to those running big sites or from big companies and brands.

    I interviewed Andy about the session, which tackled tough questions like: "How do you cope with doing search engine optimization for a company with tens of divisions, hundreds of products, thousands of web pages and seemingly no way to bring order to the chaos?" and "Where do you begin with the SEO process?"

    Andrew Weatherwax Global Strategies Intl. at SES London 2008

    If you don't know him yet, Andy Weatherwax is a founding partner of Global Strategies International (GSI) and has served as embedded search consultant on accounts including Nokia, BP, Cisco and Kodak. A specialist in the area of enterprise CMS configuration and Consumer Intent Modeling, he is currently working with clients and their agencies to leverage search in the marketing mix.

    Prior to Global Strategies, Andy was owner of BrainBug Internet Marketing, an award winning digital marketing consultancy providing online marketing strategy for clients including MetLife, Konica Minolta, Pfizer, WebMD and Priceline. In 2003, he was contracted by Position Technologies to develop the user experience design for Yahoo/Overture Site Match and Site Match Exchange.

    A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Andy has been involved in online marketing since 1995. He has been the recipient of many prestigious awards for digital design including the Codie Award.

    When he is not working, Andy can be found off-shore sailing or playing music. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Studies from the Hartt School of Music.

    You can view other video interviews from SES London 2008 at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo channel on YouTube.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:13 PM | Permalink

    Mike Grehan of Acronym Media discusses SES London 2008

    Mike Grehan, the Global KDM Officer at Acronym Media and Co-chair of SES London 2008, was one of the hardest working people at the event.

    He moderated 11 sessions: the Organic Listings Forum; Search Around the World - Part Two: Europe and the Americas; Landing Page Testing & Tuning; Converting Visitors into Buyers; European Search Marketing Case Studies; Linking Strategies; Meet the Crawlers; Dynamic Websites: Beyond the Basics; Search Advertising Clinic; My SEM Toolbox; and Web Analytics & Measuring Success Overview.

    Oh, and he also spoke on the Orion Panel about Universal, Blended and Vertical Search, as well as at the Keynote Roundtable on The Changing Search World.

    Mike is also an expert SEM writer for the ClickZ Network. No wonder his latest column is entitled, How to Avoid a Crash Landing.

    I caught up with Mike while he was taking a short break to catch his breath to interview him about the show and the industry for the new Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conferences & Expos channel on YouTube.

    Mike Grehan, Acronym, on SES London 2008

    Acronym Media recently announced the appointment of Mike Grehan as Global KDM Officer, as in "keyword-driven marketing." It's a newly-created senior executive position with worldwide management responsibilities. Mike will share his time between New York City and the U.K., guiding development of Acronym's new operations around the globe, with particular focus on Europe and Asia Pacific regions.

    Mike was also appointed to Acronym's five-member executive board and given broad responsibilities to drive the Agency's global growth and strategy development for key clients, including SAP, Nokia, BMW, HP, and Four Seasons Hotels.

    Mike has executive experience with the industry's leading SEM firms and is recognized as a foremost SEM expert. He is the author of multiple books and white papers on the topic, and his best-selling second edition of Search Engine Marketing: The Essential Best Practice Guide received more plaudits from the industry's leading players than any other book on the subject.

    In 2004, Mike was voted one of the U.K.'s Top 100 Influential People in Internet Marketing for the previous decade in a poll of online marketer E-consultancy's 22,000 U.K. members. He is also a sought-after conference speaker, and his own personal newsletter has attracted over 17,000 subscribers.

    He will be moderating three sessions at the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York: The Organic Listings Forum; The Orion Panel on Universal Search; and Meet the Crawlers. In addition, Acronym Media will be an exhibitor at SES New York 2008 at Booth #134, located in the Rhinelander Gallery.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:12 PM | Permalink

    Liana Evans of KeyRelevance at Search Engine Strategies London

    Liana "Li" Evans of KeyRelevance spoke at three sessions during last month's Search Engine Strategies conference in London: Images and Search Engines, Social Search Overview, and Search Marketing in Regulated Industries.

    When she wasn't speaking, Li was blogging about the event for Search Marketing Gurus, one of the event's 10 media partners, saying, "SES London 08: The Best SES in a Long Time." Oh, she was also taking about 300 photos, winning one of the prizes in our Flickr photo sharing awards for SES London 2008.

    Liana Evans, KeyRelevance, on SMO at SES London 2008

    If you haven't encountered Li Evans yet, she is the director of Internet marketing at KeyRelevance. Since 1999, Li has been active in the search marketing arena, becoming well-versed in all avenues of search marketing, with a particular focus on natural search optimization, vertical search, social media, and word-of-mouth marketing. She has also become well-versed in areas of the retail industry that are regulated by the FTC.

    Li helped to design, plan, and implement an Internet Retailer 500 company's efforts into natural search optimization, totally revamping out-of-date navigation and site architecture, with very successful results. Since 1992 Liana has been active in the technology fields, being both a well-versed programmer and database programmer/designer, which lends well to her technical expertise in dealing with large-scale retail sites and their dynamic natures.

    Li will also be speaking at SES New York 2008 about Successful Tactics for Social Media Optimization (SMO) and Images & Search Engines. And she's already shared 9 Networking Tips to Use at SES NYC or Any Conference at Search Marketing Gurus.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:11 PM | Permalink

    Lee Odden of TopRank Online Marketing at SES London 2008

    Lee Odden, the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, spoke at the News Search Engine Optimization as well as the Blog & RSS Search Engine Optimization sessions at SES London 2008. He also moderated the one that I covered in "Online Reputation Management Requires Cabinet War Rooms."

    In his spare time, he did a video interview with Adam Lasnik of Google, posted photos from SES London, and covered the "Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions" session on his Online Marketing Blog.

    Somewhere in the middle of all this, he found time to be interviewed for our new SES Conference Expo channel on YouTube.

    Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing, at SES London 2008

    For those of you who haven't met him yet, Lee Odden is a 10+ year Internet marketing veteran and of TopRank Online Marketing. Recognized by MarketingSherpa and topseos.com, TopRank helps Fortune 500 companies with Internet marketing consulting, training, and implementation services.

    Lee has been cited in numerous books and industry publications, including The Economist and DM News on the topics of search, social media, and online public relations. He also publishes the Online Marketing Blog, ranked as one of the top 10 marketing blogs online by Advertising Age.

    Lee is a regular speaker at Search Engine Strategies, WebmasterWorld Pubcon, DMA Annual Conference, Media Relations Summit, PRSA International Conference, and Mediapost's Search Insider Summit. At SES New York 2008, he's speaking at the session, Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions, and will be moderating the Podcast & Audio Search Optimization session.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 10:10 PM | Permalink

    March 14, 2008

    Social Media: Find Out Which 50% of Your Budget Is Wasted

    The Social Search Track is only one of five choices conference attendees have at SES New York. It's all good.

    So to draw a crowd to Social Search: The Next Step panel I'm moderating on Wednesday, March 19th we've added a new panelist. Someone you've never heard before.

    That's right: a corporate marketing executive who will cut through the noise and hype about Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Digg --and tell you what works and what doesn't.

    Meet Erik Qualman. Global VP Marketing.

    He'll tell you where you need to invest your marketing budget next -- and where you're wasting your money to keep up with the cool kids.

    No pitching. No selling.

    If you think you're a social media guru--or a novice learning the ropes--you'll have a chance to grill Erik during the extended Q&A.

    If you're a brave SMM, SMO, SEO, SEM -- you'd better be there. You may never live to sell another day. Erik''s a Spartan. After this session, you WILL remember the Spartans. As moderator, I'm hoping "mob rule" will take over my SES session SXSW style -- where the audience rules.

    No videos, no cameras, no cellphones. No Tweets.

    Only the first 500 people will be let in.

    Live bloggers? You may be banned.

    Posted by Kevin Heisler at 5:01 PM | Permalink

    SES NY Foosball Challenge

    Come join us at the Stone Temple Consulting "Foosball Challenge". We are giving away a pair of iPod Touch's to the team (one per player) that does the best against us. Each team will get to play one game to 5 against us, and the highest score against us wins (note that if several teams tie for the best result against us we will do a drawing to determine the winner). No player can play on more than 1 team.

    Just come to Booth #2033 in America’s Hall 2 during the Networking Reception on Tuesday night. We will be there from 5:45 pm until 7:00 pm. If you find us earlier in the day Tuesday we can play then as well, but we may or may not be there and we are giving the iPod Touch's away at the end of the reception so stop by before then!

    Fair warning - in 1984 I held a World Championship title in foosball, and my partner, John Biundo, is a better player than I am right now. However, we are going to play to have fun.

    It's free to play, it's fun, and you have nothing to lose. Even if you nave never played in a tournament, you could end up winning yourself an iPod Touch. Come on down and give it a shot!

    You can see more about the SES NY foosball event here.

    Posted by Eric Enge at 1:34 PM | Permalink

    SEW Experts: Making the Most of a Search Marketing Conference

    If you're heading to SES New York next week, you should be preparing your questions for speakers now. In today's SEM Crossfire column, "Making the Most of a Search Marketing Conference," Chris Boggs explains how being bold, creative, and persistent, will help you get the most you can out of the conference.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

    February 21, 2008

    Search Engine Strategies London -- Day Three

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 6:00 PM | Permalink

    February 19, 2008

    Search Engine Strategies London -- Day One

    Search Engine Strategies London 2008 is underway. With Day One under our belts, we're happy to share some of the coverage of the event from around the Web:

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 6:00 PM | Permalink

    Ralph Wilson's Introduction to Search Marketing at SES London

    Condensing the essentials of search engine marketing into a one-hour session is a formidable challenge. This morning at SES London Dr. Ralph Wilson, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Web Marketing Today, took on this challenge (In the interest of full disclosure I periodically write for this publication). Ralph provided a clear concise introduction to the lingo and processes for organic and paid search. As with any introduction, there is the challenge of offering enough meat on the bone to satisfy those who are at an intermediate or beyond level without losing the beginners. From the large number of delegates actively taking notes, Ralph’s presentation was very well-received and offered plenty for everyone.

    All of us who either market or provide search engine marketing services would have benefited from this session, for Ralph offered a clear roadmap just what we must provide clients not yet familiar with our services and processes. There were some nuggets – “be sure to scatter clues throughout the site.” These are essential messages that we deliver to clients, but it is not until it is put in context that is truism comes alive, as it did for the audience this morning.

    Posted by Amanda Watlington at 6:43 AM | Permalink

    February 15, 2008

    Win a Free Pass to SES New York with the SES Affiliate Program

    You've seen all the reasons to attend SES London, and you can be sure that SES New York will be just as good, if not better. If you're planning on going, you probably want to tell your clients, readers, and friends. To make that worth your while, we've teamed up with Pepperjam Network to create the Search Engine Strategies Affiliate Program.

    We'll supply you with unique SES banners, text links, and pepperjamADS to promote the Search Engine Strategies events. In return, bloggers and affiliates get 5% of each referred sale. To give you an idea of what that's worth, a full-conference pass to SES New York (coming up on March 17-20) costs $1,895. The commission on that would be $94.75.

    Need even more incentive to join? SES and Pepperjam have another prize for the top affiliate. Between now and March 14, the affiliate or blogger that generates the most ticket sales through our new affiliate program will get a FREE full-conference pass to attend SES NY, as well as an exclusive VIP ticket to a Pepperjam-sponsored private dinner party, to be held at the Manhattan Penthouse in NYC the week of the show. Get all the details and sign up now for the Search Engine Strategies Affiliate Program from Pepperjam Networks.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 4:50 PM | Permalink

    January 15, 2008

    SEW Experts: Search Engine Conferences: Where CMOs Meet Social Media

    Most companies have little to no understanding about social media optimization and what it can do for their organizations. In today's Big Biz column, "Search Engine Conferences: Where CMOs Meet Social Media," Aaron Shear pins the blame on the outdated SEM education most marketing executives got in business school, if they got any at all.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

    January 9, 2008

    Choose your Racecourse at SES London

    They say that every horse has an ideal course they like to run. In today's SearchDay, "It's "Horses for Courses" at SES London," Greg Jarboe outlines the various tracks available to the many kinds of search marketing horses at SES London, coming to Islington February 19-21, 2008.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 5:57 PM | Permalink

    December 4, 2007

    SEW Experts: SEMs Get 'No Respect' No More

    At Search Engine Strategies Chicago, keynote speaker Don Shultz told search marketers in no uncertain terms that they need to start thinking differently about what they do. In today's Search Engine WarGames column, "SEMs Get 'No Respect' No More," Kevin Heisler shares Shultz's views on talent development, helping traditional marketers understand search, and a range of other topics.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

    December 3, 2007

    SEMPO Brings Search Engines Together for Education

    SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, is bringing representatives from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft to its annual meeting for a round-robin discussion of each company's latest issues and initiatives. The event will take place at Search Engine Strategies Chicago, in room Stevens 5 at the Chicago Hilton, tonight from 6 - 7:30 p.m. Attendees will be divided into three groups – agency search marketers, in-house search marketers, and other marketers – and will spend roughly 15 minutes with each engine.

    SEMPO is also kicking off the data collection phase of its annual State-of-the-SEM Market Survey. The survey is open to all search engine marketing professionals working in an agency or in-house. Participants do not need to be SEMPO members.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:51 AM | Permalink

    Online Information Show this Week in London

    While many search marketers in the U.S. are headed to Search Engine Strategies Chicago or Webmasterworld Pubcon in Las Vegas this week, our UK readers should not feel left out. This week in Olympia, London, Incisive Media is putting on the Online Information Show, from December 4-6.

    The event highlights online content and information management solutions, and features a keynote from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. There are three main tracks, covering Web 2.0 issues, information search and discovery, and library and publishing.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 6:59 AM | Permalink

    November 28, 2007

    What are exhibitors exhibiting at SES Chicago?

    A significant number of people will attend SES Chicago next week with an expo only pass (which is free if you get one in advance or $25 if you pick one up on site).

    That’s right. A lot of people will be coming to see what the exhibitors are exhibiting on the show floor.

    But, what will they see?

    While I should disclose that SES Chicago is a client, I don’t have any inside information to share about what the exhibitors will be exhibiting on Dec. 4-5.

    In fact, the lack of advance publicity from exhibitors reminds me of “Silver Blaze”, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

    In the story, Inspector Gregory of Scotland Yard asks, “Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”

    Holmes replies: “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.”

    Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”

    Holmes: “That was the curious incident.”

    In contrast to the curious lack of publicity from exhibitors, you can find half a dozen press releases about conference speakers like the ones below:

    Adapt Agency Development Director to Discuss Agency Pay-Per-Click Management Challenges

    Engine Ready CEO Jamie Smith to Speak at Search Engine Strategies Conference Local.com to Present at Search Engine Strategies Chicago Red Bricks Media's CEO to Speak at Search Engine Strategies Conference 2007

    Think Partnership to Present at Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2007

    Where 2 Get It CEO Manish Patel to Speak at Search Engine Strategies (SES) Chicago 2007

    So, if speakers are out promoting what they will be saying in the conference sessions, why aren’t the exhibitors promoting what they’ll be exhibiting on the trade show floor?

    Google will have a booth. Will we see Android, the first complete, open, and free mobile platform? It’s a mystery.

    Microsoft adCenter will also have a booth. Will they open their publisher network, aka ContentAds, to the public? This, too, is a mystery.

    Ask.com will also have a booth. Will we see anything new from Bloglines? This is also a mystery, for now.

    I plan to spend some time on the trade show floor trying to find answers to these and other questions. If you are exhibiting at SES Chicago and want me to drop by to see your new product, service or research, send me an email at Greg dot Jarboe at SEO hyphen PR dot com.

    I’m pretty confident that there will be plenty of news hidden in plain sight on the trade show floor. I’m just curious why the dogs aren’t barking about it ahead of time.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 2:59 PM | Permalink

    November 14, 2007

    SES Webcast Today: How Large Enterprises Effectively Integrate Paid & Natural Search Marketing

    There's still time to sign up for a webcast beginning at 1 p.m. EST today discussing the challenges large enterprises face when integrating SEO and paid search. The one-hour session, part of the Search Engine Strategies Webcasts series, features SEW's executive editor Kevin Heisler.

    Kevin will focus on what the best and brightest CMOs are doing right – and why no corporations have the answer, yet. You'll learn why CMOs still have "the most dangerous job" in America, and find out which major corporations are on the path to global SEO SEM integration.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:27 AM | Permalink

    November 6, 2007

    Justifying the Investment in Industry Conferences

    Going to industry conferences is expensive, no doubt. But it would cost you more in the end if you let your competition get an edge on you. Actually, if you crunch the numbers, you may find that you could get a five-fold return on your investment in attending and getting to a show like SES Chicago.

    In today's SearchDay, "20,000 Reasons to Attend SES Chicago," Greg Jarboe does the math for you, so you can go back to your boss and justify the expense.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:57 PM | Permalink

    Kevin Newcomb to moderate two panels at ILM:07

    Check out the agenda at The Kelsey Group's Interactive Local Media (ILM:07) conference, which will be held November 28-30, 2007, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. One of the keynote speakers is Jake Winebaum, President, RHDi, CEO, Business.com. I first met Jake back in the 1990s when he was the publisher of Family PC magazine.

    But, wait, there's more! (I've always wanted to say that.)

    Kevin Newcomb will be moderating two panels at ILM:07 -- "Local Link Love" and "Local Keyword Research – Laying the Foundation for Success." I think this is Kevin's debut as a moderator. This is big industry news. And I'm proud to say that I knew Kevin before he became an industry superstar.

    Posted by Greg Jarboe at 12:20 PM | Permalink

    November 1, 2007

    Seth Godin Dishes Out Meatball Sundaes

    Today, SES Chicago keynote speaker Seth Godin spent an hour dishing out his marketing wisdom on a webcast with our own Kevin Ryan. He expounded on the ideas behind his new book, Meatball Sundae.

    What is a meatball sundae? According to dedicated live-blogger Lisa Barone, Seth described it this way: A meatball is a worthwhile commodity. They are things we need and sold to everyone. The sundae is the hot fudge and the peanuts, the tactics of social media and the MySpace profiles. These things work but they work best when they’re not on meatballs, but when they’re on an organization designed to work with them.

    Seth also offered 14 trends to help organizations avoid ending up with the meatball sundae. Jody Nimetz at SEO-space has a good recap of those.

    Specifically for search marketers, Seth advises ditching the reactionary moves to find the latest and greatest tactics to place well in the search engines, and focus on real marketing: What he’s trying to say to the search engine optimization world is that SEO has traditionally been a tactical minute-to-minute game. It’s been about figuring out what the search engines want right now and tweaking sites to meet that. That’s over.

    What we want to do now is to change the very nature of what SEOs do so that regardless of what tactics are hot at the moment, the engines will want to find them because the stuff they’re doing matches the strategies the engines are always going to have.

    You should print that little bit out and stick it on your wall. If this wasn’t a free event, that would have been worth the price of admission right there.

    If Lisa and Jody's great coverage is not enough, you can also find more insight from Josh Bernoff, David Dalka, and Darren Barefoot.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:49 PM | Permalink

    October 24, 2007

    Some Loose Connections -- Dave Weinberger Featured Speaker at ClickZ Interactive Marketing Excellence Awards

    This evening Dave Weinberger author of The Cluetrain Manifesto and a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Institute for Internet and Society will be a featured speaker at the ClickZ Awards being held at Gotham Hall in New York City. I am seriously looking forward to this gala event and was struck by several coincidences -- loose connections so to speak.

    Dave Weinberger is very generous with his time and has been a regular attendee (as regular as a very busy schedule allows) at Harvard’s Berkman Thursday Blog Group. This group, which has been meeting for several years, gathers on Thursday evenings to discuss a wide range of blogging-related topics. I try to attend regularly, for the conversation is lively and thought-provoking.

    In April 2006, I issued an invitation to attend the Thursday meeting during a speech on blogging at a conference in Boston. Taking me up on the invitation was fellow SES speaker Dixon Jones of Receptional in the UK. Dave Weinberger was in attendance and prompted a very stimulating conversation when he asked why he should give search optimizers any credibility whatsoever, given the premise that the search marketer was out to subvert the publics' perception by manipulating search results. We gave him lots to consider, recapped nicely by Dixon.

    Now here is the coincidence and some loose connections – Weinberger will be in New York at ClickZ, Watlington will be in NYC at ClickZ, and Dixon will be conducting a Link and Reputation Workshop for ClickZ’s sister event at SES @ a4uexpo in the UK.

    Posted by Amanda Watlington at 11:47 AM | Permalink

    September 24, 2007

    IMNY Charity Event Scheduled for October 15

    The Internet Marketers of New York are holding another charity event, so keep the 15th of October open.

    The event will help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It is scheduled for October 15, between 7pm and 10 pm at the Town Tavern at 134 W. 3rd Street and 6th Ave. Tickets are $40.

    The Best Of The Web guys are the sponsors who are covering all costs so that ticket sales money will go directly to the charity.

    The group is gladly accepting donations for things to give as prizes for the raffles that will be held at the event. For more information contact Greg Niland.

    Posted by Frank Watson at 4:15 PM | Permalink

    September 18, 2007

    The Key to Getting Answers: Be Prepared

    When it comes to getting answers that can directly help your business, industry conferences like Search Engine Strategies can't be beat. The obvious way to learn at SES is to attend the sessions. But you can learn a whole lot more by going in with a plan and thinking like a Boy Scout: Be Prepared.

    In today's SearchDay, "Ten Lessons From SES San Jose," John Biundo shares his preparation methods, along with some of the more interesting things he learned at the recent SES San Jose conference.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 4:25 PM | Permalink

    August 23, 2007

    SES San Jose Coverage

    Tagged Posts & Pictures

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:51 PM | Permalink

    August 21, 2007

    SES San Jose Coverage, Day 1

    General Coverage

    Session Coverage

    Tagged Posts & Pictures

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 PM | Permalink

    August 16, 2007

    Optimizing your SES San Jose Schedule

    Still trying to figure out which of the 73 sessions to attend at next week's Search Engine Strategies San Jose conference? Let Greg Jarboe guide you with his optimized schedule for paid- and organic-focused search marketers in today's SearchDay, "Schedule Optimization for SES San Jose."

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:12 AM | Permalink

    August 15, 2007

    SES Advisory Board Members Named

    As we noted in June, one of the first things Kevin Ryan did when he joined Incisive Media as the new VP and global content director for Search Engine Strategies was to begin developing an advisory board for the SES conferences, consisting of individuals from the industry and beyond, to help Kevin and our programming and operations teams guide the direction of future conferences.

    Today, the first group of 15 advisors has been named to the SES Advisory Board, focusing on the U.S. Search Engine Strategies events:

    • Anne Kennedy, Managing Partner, Beyond Ink
    • Jeff Levick, Director, Global Industry Development and Marketing, Google
    • Gregg Stewart, Senior Vice President, Interactive, TMP Directional Marketing
    • Jeff Ferguson, Director of Online Marketing, Napster
    • Randy Peterson, Search Marketing Innovation Manager, Proctor and Gamble
    • Steven Kaufman, Senior Vice President, Media Director, Digitas
    • Sandeep Aggarwal, Senior Equity Research Analyst, Oppenheimer & Co.
    • Ron Belanger, Vice President of Agency Development, Yahoo Search Marketing
    • Chris Henger, Vice President, Affiliate Marketing, Performics
    • James M. Lamberti, Senior Vice President, Search and Media, comScore Networks
    • Carol Kruse, Vice President, Global Interactive Marketing, The Coca-Cola Co.
    • Jeannie Moran, eCommerce Marketing Director, AutoNation
    • Erynn Petersen, Senior Manager, Advertising Platform Evangelism, Microsoft
    • Jocelyn Griffing, Senior Vice President, Online Media, Icon International
    • Pauline Ores, Senior Marketing Manager, Community and Collaboration Strategy, Global Small & Midmarket Business, IBM

    The board includes thought leaders from leading packaged goods, automotive, entertainment and electronics brands to augment the efforts of the existing SES faculty in delivering the timeliest information on search and integrated marketing. They will meet regularly to work with event chairs and existing SES contributors to guide content for future events. The initial board members will serve for a year, after which the board may be expanded, Ryan said.

    "We were looking for a balance of the old guard with new members with the potential to bring new ideas and thought processes to the show," Ryan said. "Everybody involved is highly steeped in search, and many Advisory Board members have been doing paid search or SEO for more than 10 years."

    If you've got suggestions for Kevin or the SES Advisory Board, please share them in the SEW Forums.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 5:00 PM | Permalink

    Women of SEO Luncheon Monday August 20

    Li Evans at Marketing Gurus is organizing a Women of Search luncheon Monday August 20 during SES. For more details and to sign up to attend visit the Marketing Gurus site.

    These have been fun from what I have heard.... a little discriminatory but maybe an invite for DaveN will show him there are a lot of women in our space.

    Posted by Frank Watson at 11:03 AM | Permalink

    SES: The Benefits of Repeat Visits

    Many attendees of search industry conferences attend multiple shows a year. That's all well and good for those who are speaking at the show, or whose companies are paying for the trip. But what about those who are footing their own bills? Is it worth it for them to attend SES and other shows again and again?

    According to Craig Paddock, who has attended 17 consecutive U.S. SES events, there are benefits for repeat visitors. Paddock shares his experience leaving SES New York in April in Tuesday's SearchDay, Does SES Convert for Repeat Visitors?

    He points to things like new ideas from speakers and fellow attendees, tips on what not to do, new contacts (SEOs as well as search engine reps), and inspiration from immersion as tangible benefits for repeat visitors. He also notes that direct access to search engine reps can by itself be worth the price of admission.

    If you're not heading to Search Engine Strategies San Jose next week, and still want to benefit from that direct access in an informal environment, you can take advantage of a post in the SEW Forums, where Frank Watson (Aussie Webmaster) has kindly offered to collect questions and get them answered by the appropriate speaker or search engine rep at the show, or at one of the parties planned around the event.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:25 AM | Permalink

    August 13, 2007

    Search Engine Strategies Updates

    As many of you know, Search Engine Strategies San Jose is just a week away. Everyone who's ready for an intense week of immersion in the latest and greatest thinking in the search industry (not to mention the heroic levels of drinking that seems to always go along with it), raise your hand. Well, I'm not ready for it either, but I'm sure I will be by next Monday.

    To get a taste of what to expect next week, you can check out Daron Babin and Brandy Shapiro-Babin's Rainmaker podcast from last week on WebmasterRadio.fm. Daron and Brandy sit down with Kevin Ryan, global content director for SEW and SES, to discuss SES San Jose.

    During the show next week, you can of course expect coverage from the SEW blog, WebmasterRadio.fm, and the legion of search bloggers that cover the sessions in live-blogging format. Besides the stellar coverage from Barry, Tamar and crew at Search Engine Roundtable, and The Lisa's coverage at Bruce Clay Blog, you can also expect new perspectives from Lee Odden's team at TopRank, on the Online Marketing Blog.

    If you plan on covering the show on your blog, drop me a line and I'll be sure to include your coverage in our daily wrap-ups of SES news next week. In addition, you can tag all of your posts and photos with sessanjose2007, and we should be able to find it. In addition, if you're interested in covering any of the sessions for a post-show SearchDay article, get in touch and we can discuss specifics.

    We're not going to be live-blogging here on the SEW blog, but we'll certainly be keeping you informed of any news, interesting tidbits, and other goings-on at the event. You can of course check out the SES San Jose 2007 Party Thread to find all the latest goings-on. The short version: Google Dance on Tuesday, Webmasterradio Search Bash on Wednesday (seems certain search engines that do not begin with "G" are balking at throwing a party this year).

    In other SES news, we've announced today that Andrew Goodman, founder of SEM firm Page Zero Media, author, and all-around nice guy, has been named as chairman and host of the 2008 and 2009 SES Toronto conferences. Andrew did a fantastic job organizing this year's event, and it's great to know he'll be back to do it again for at least the next two years.

    The SES team today also posted the agenda for SES @ A4U Expo, the search marketing forum that's taking place in London in October in conjunction with the Affiliates4U conference. The two-day program includes a lineup of search and affiliate marketing stalwarts.

    If you just can't wait until next week (and you're still reading this), you can check out a few conference-related posts I've seen in the past week or so:

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:00 AM | Permalink

    August 1, 2007

    SEW Experts: Taking Off at SES Travel Edition

    In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Taking Off at SES Travel Edition," Kevin Ryan returns from the recent SES Travel event in Seattle with carry on, sage advice.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

    July 25, 2007

    Search and Affiliates Coming to London

    How are affiliates using search engine marketing? Search Engine Strategies and Affiliates4U.com will find out at a one-day SES Forum at the A4U Expo coming up in London on October 25-26. The search side of the event will be chaired by Kevin Ryan, global content director for Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Strategies. SES will also be announcing a dedicated Search Engine Marketing & Optimization Training Day on Wednesday, October 24.

    Have no fear, the full three day SES London is still scheduled for February 19-21, 2008. In fact, it was just announced that Mike Grehan has been named chair and host of the event.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:30 AM | Permalink

    July 16, 2007

    Incisive Events Coming This Summer

    It's been a busy conference season for search marketers over the past few months, and the pace is finally letting up – but only a little bit. Incisive Media, parent to Search Engine Watch, is planning four more events in July and August, and then we promise to take a break for a little while.

    Coming up are three Search Engine Strategies events, and one ClickZ Specifics event which may be of interest to some of our readers:

    1. ClickZ Specifics: Online Video Advertising – July 19, 2007, in New York City.Get up to speed on the latest online video formats, strategy, results, and creative in this immersive one-day forum.
    2. SES Travel – July 26-27, 2007, in Seattle.Find out about the web marketing tools available to those in the travel industry directly from the experts at this two-day conference.
    3. SES Training – August 8, 2007, in Boston.This one-day workshop provides the practices, applications, and hands-on exposure you need to become (and remain!) a top performer in your field.
    4. SES San Jose – August 20-23, 2007, in San Jose, California.While SES NY is the agency conference, SES SJ is the high-tech and internet company event of the year. Keynotes from Ask.com's Jim Lanzone and Google's Marissa Mayer highlight this 4-day event. SEM training classes will also be offered on August 24.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:49 PM | Permalink

    July 3, 2007

    Thinking About Innovation

    Greg Jarboe recently spoke at a Wharton School conference on innovation. He thought he'd be the one offering the insights on search and blogging, but found that he was just part of conversation. He shares the five questions that helped start the conversation in today's SearchDay, "5 Questions on Innovation."

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:01 PM | Permalink

    Speaker Openings for SES San Jose

    Chris Sherman is putting the finishing touches on the Search Engine Strategies San Jose conference, coming up on August 20-23, 2007. There are currently openings for speakers on four panels: Personalization, User Data & Search; Search APIs; So You Want To Be A Search Marketer!; and SEM Pricing Models.

    To be considered for the open slots, first read the guidelines to see if you qualify, and to learn how to get in touch with Chris Sherman for consideration.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:04 AM | Permalink

    June 20, 2007

    SES Latino Coverage

    The Search Engine Strategies Latino conference in Miami this week provided attendees with a wealth of search-related information, including a full track of content specific to the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. As soon as I recover from the storm-induced travel delays on both ends of the conference, I'll be posting more details from the conference. In the meantime, you can see live-blogged coverage from Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Roundtable, as well as some wrap-ups from other sites:

    Search Engine Journal

    Search Engine Roundtable

    Elsewhere

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:16 PM | Permalink

    June 19, 2007

    More Thoughts on SES Toronto

    In today's SearchDay, Greg Jarboe tries to put his finger on the many things that made SES Toronto different this year. The content, tone, and players were different, and that's partly a reflection of the state of the industry in general. As Greg quotes Bob Dylan, "the times they are a-changing."

    In addition, more reports from SES Toronto have been trickling in as speakers and attendees return home and think about what they learned about both the Canadian search scene and the larger search industry in general. In addition to the coverage we mentioned last week are these reports and reactions:

    SES Latino in Miami is wrapping up today, so we'll share our own thoughts and link to others' coverage tomorrow.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:43 AM | Permalink

    June 18, 2007

    Latin American Market Poised for Growth

    Speaking at Search Engine Strategies Latino today in Miami, Gonzalo Alonso, Google's general manager for Spanish-speaking Latin America, said that Google sees huge potential in the Latin American market.

    "When we see Latin America, we see growth," Alonso said. The market is growing faster than any other world market, but some challenges need to be overcome. According to Alonso, these include establishing online payment methods, increasing the number of e-commerce players, getting businesses to build indexable Web sites, and getting the government involved in closing the Internet gap.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:40 AM | Permalink

    Update on SES Advisory Board

    Last week, we asked for input on the future of Search Engine Strategies, and we're thrilled to say we've gotten even more valuable comments and suggestions than we expected. We've also got some great people coming forward to offer their voice on the SES Advisory Board.

    But we're still not done. If you've got ideas for ways to improve SES, or just a particular area you think needs to be addressed, please share your ideas in the SEW Forums. If you're interested in getting involved with the SES Advisory Board, get in touch with Kevin Ryan, VP and global content director for Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch, at kevin.ryan -at- incisivemedia.com. Kevin is interviewing candidates for the remaining spots now so drop him a line if you interested.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:04 AM | Permalink

    June 15, 2007

    The End of SEO, or a New Beginning?

    At SES Toronto this week, Google's Universal Search, personalization, and the death of SEO were among the hot topics discussed. In her ClickZ column today, "Search Works Harder, So Must Search Marketers," Rebecca Lieb offers some highlights from the show.

    For other coverage of SES Toronto, check out:

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:10 AM | Permalink

    June 14, 2007

    Kevin Ryan on the Future of Search Engine Strategies

    Last week, we announced that Kevin Ryan had joined Incisive Media as the new VP and global content director for Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch. Lee Odden interviewed Kevin for his Online Marketing Blog last week, and today, Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz published an interview he did with Kevin, "The New Direction of SES & An Interview with Kevin Ryan."

    Kevin spoke with Rand at SES Toronto, which took place earlier this week. He offered some insight into the direction SES may be heading, and shared with Rand Incisive's plan to create an advisory board for the SES conferences, consisting of about a dozen individuals from the industry to help Kevin and our programming and operations teams guide the direction of future conferences.

    While we don't have specifics to announce now, you can expect to hear all the details very soon. In the meantime, if you've got ideas for SES, please share them in the SEW Forums. There are a couple of spots remaining on the board, so if you think you have something to offer, get in touch with Kevin at kevin.ryan -at- incisivemedia.com.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:42 PM | Permalink

    May 30, 2007

    News from SES China

    I didn't make the trip to Xiamen for SES China, though I was tempted by the thought of spending at least 24 hours sitting on a plane. Thankfully, there were several intrepid souls from the States that did make the trip last week, and have blogged about it:

    SES Milan took place yesterday and today, so if anyone attended that show, let me know and I'll link to any blog coverage, or feature it here. The next Search Engine Strategies events are coming up in June, in Toronto on June 12-13, and in Miami on June 18-19.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 2:22 PM | Permalink

    May 9, 2007

    Coverage from SEW Live -- Columbus

    Our latest SEW Live event took place today in Columbus, Ohio. Elisabeth has of course been busy running the show, and I'm home in Connecticut, but thankfully, WebProNews was at the event in force, writing stories and continuing their fine event video coverage. I've linked to their stories below, as well as any other posts I've found from people who attended.

    If you were there, share your thoughts in the SEW forum, or e-mail me a link to your blog where you've posted about it and I'll add it to the list.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:41 PM | Permalink

    May 2, 2007

    ClickZ Specifics Events in May: Web Metrics, Social Media

    Two ClickZ Specifics events taking place in New York this month may be of interest to search marketers. These aren't directly search-related, but there's some overlap.

    The first is taking place today, May 2, and addresses Web Metrics. Speakers include Bryan and Jeff Eisenberg of FutureNow, Sheryl Draizen of the IAB, LeeAnn Prescott of HitWise, and Frank Watson of FXCM.

    On May 21, ClickZ will hold an event on Advertising in Social Media. The one-day conference looks at ways marketers can promote brands, products, and services in online social media environments.

    Both events are being held at the Hilton New York, in the same hotel where SES NY is held.

    Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:42 AM |