Danny and Crew announce Search Marketing Expo

I am thrilled that someone is stepping up to the challenge of an advanced SEO/SEM Conference. Something this industry has needed for years. Hopefully a fresh perspective will help attract the older in-house SEO’s who have stayed away out of boredom. It takes a lot to convince management to send staff to conferences with the exact same lineup every single time.

I definitely hope to learn something new, so whomever he contacts for speaking. Get your thinking caps on and put some strong content together. It looks like the date is set for June 4th and 5th 2007.

I have been a huge fan of the SES up until a few years back, and have criticized the SES for not adding new content.

Some have given me dirty looks for even bringing up the idea of change for fear of loosing face with the empire. If Google can change their algorithm in a month and we do not have an open way to share it we will fall behind the times!

Search Marketing Expo

Danny Sullivan leaving SES

I am very impressed that Danny Sullivan has decided to stay on with SES for this many years. All of the back and forth Trans Atlantic flights must have been brutal. When I actually worked at a search engine we where always wondering what he was up to and kept up with him on a regular basis. To have that level of following is a great industry totem to try and climb. My best wishes to Danny.

I am sure I am opening myself to massive criticism with this concept. But I think this is a great time to bring up the idea of radical change of the SES format. I find the courses to be far too rudimentary for my taste. Yes, its great to introduce the corporate crowd to search marketing, but the advanced tracks are terrible. There is hardly any real information that comes out of the seminars.

The Pubcon, put on by Brett Tabke’s Webmaster World in my opinion do a far better job teaching SEO/SEM, however still needs work. If I had the chance to make change, I would terminate relations with all speakers at the Webmaster World and start a one by one interview process. In my estimation 40% of the current speakers have interesting new data to release. The rest wind up tooting their own horn through the entire session, they love to say “I am so and so” and I did this and I did that. Not “I accomplished this and here is how I did it”.

Just my personal opinion, yes I know most of you think I am committing heresy by opening my mouth. But frankly a lot of the top players do not show up to these conferences, since they have nothing to learn.