With the industry's largest annual event starting next Monday, I figured it's high time to give out some advice about networking in person at search conferences like SES San Jose. I've been trying to limit my list format posts, but there's really no better way to present the topics, so here goes:
- Dress Appropriately
If your plan is to connect primarily with corporate clients, a suit is a very good choice (I prefer them sans cravatte, personally). If you want to meet up with bloggers and SEO-types, khakis or denim will suffice, but try to pair it with a respectable shirt. If you want to prove that you completely don't care, shorts and t-shirt is perfect. For women planning to attend, do be warned that search conferences often contain gentlemen who, uh... don't get out much, shall we say? For the aforementioned gentlemen, do your best to be as professional as possible. I've heard several complaints from women in the industry and from outsiders like Mystery Guest (it's because you're so smashingly beautiful, dear). - Make Eye Contact
There's no better early sign of confidence and comfort with your surroundings and yourself than solid eye contact with the people you meet. Even if you only use it strongly at the start of a conversation, it's an excellent way to show seriousness and real interest. It's also a good way to detect the interest level of the person you're talking to. - Employ Appropriate Etiquette
I'm going out on a limb and venturing that following someone into a restroom to continue a chat is a generally terrible idea, as is starting up conversations in that locale. I know my poor buddy, Tim, has suffered that several times. It's also poor form to interrupt an existing conversation for more than a few seconds - telling someone you liked their presentation or would love to catch up with them later is fine, but an extended dive into your site's search issues is best left for a time when you can catch that party alone. - Learn about the People You Want to Meet
If you're going to a conference with an agenda of meeting some of the folks attending or speaking on panels (which I highly recommend - even Matt Cutts does it), try to learn a bit about their professional backgrounds before you chat with them. I think that early on, I had a lot of success meeting people and making connections by having researched them - it showed those individuals that I had a lot of interest and I had put time into learning about them and that translated to respect. - Get an Introduction or Have a Shared Reference
If at all possible, get introduced by someone to another party you want to meet. This isn't required, but it often makes for more memorable connections and more attentive contact. Even if you can't have the person literally introduce you, telling your new friend about a mutual acquaintance is a great way to break the ice. - Create Great Business Cards
Business cards can be great conversation starters and they make it easy for folks to recall your name as well. I'm personally terrible with names, but looking at a name on the card while I say it aloud, relating it back to a company, a position and a website make this arduous task considerably easier. I'd also suggest that you leverage the power of business cards to get traffic to your site - SEOmoz cards actually have a URL on the back that's not linked to anywhere on the web. We had it down for a while, but may put it back up for the conference next week. :) - Have a Conversation Starter Prepared
You don't need to dance around an issue too much at search conferences - if you've got an agenda, it's fine to get right to the point. I even like to have a few prepared conversations or questions for the folks I want to talk to, whether they're search engineers, service providers or other bloggers. - Use Facebook & LinkedIn to Stay Connected
After you meet someone in person, a nice way to stay connected without being too invasive is to send a LinkedIn or Facebook request (I personally prefer LinkedIn, as it's a bit more professional). Let the person know who you are, remind them where you met and what you discussed and note that you'd like to keep in touch. These friend requests will also help to keep you in their memory longer (and for forgetful schmucks like me, that's a very good thing). - Free Advice Requires Some Give & Take
If you ask for a lot of free tips and advice, it's always nice to reciprocate with some juicy stuff of your own, especially if you're asked. I'm happy to share tips, tricks and tactics we've used with success, but it's even better when the person I'm talking to shares some of their own experiences, too. - Drinking is Good, Overdrinking is Bad
Alcohol is a terrific social lubricant; there's no denying it. I've made fast friends and heard lots of great stories and tips that would probably never have made it out without the help of our good friend, Mr. Booze. However, getting royally pissed (to use the proper British) is a recipe for disaster. Search marketers love gossip, and if you're the guy who got really drunk and told his cabbie to take him to the Fairmont in San Francisco instead of San Jose and paid $500+ for the round trip... Oh wait, that's actually a pretty good story... But it did cost our friend a lot of cash. - Free Stuff Makes for Good Branding
The team from Acquisio probably did this best at SMX Seattle. Despite the fact that most of us actually love our jobs, this t-shirt was a huge hit (perhaps ironically?). The gang at BOTW directory has leveraged this tactic exceptionally well, too. - Time Your Contacts Correctly
There's a huge rush right after a session ends, so I'd probably recommend chatting up folks during breaks, after the conference ends and at networking and social events if you're hoping to get some serious face time. The 60 second mile-a-minute consulting from the podium with a line behind you often doesn't have the same quality or depth of content that a private chat in the hall might. The trade hall and the lunchroom are also good places to grab a few private minutes.
Please do share your own tips for networking at search events - I have no doubt that there are others who do it better than I.
If you're going to introduce yourself to me at SES SJ, please make sure the first question out of your mouth is not "So, what's Rand like?" or "So, what's it like working for Rand?" If you want to know about Rand, go ask him, not me. :P
"Where's Rand" is also another bad way to start a relationship with a mozzer. Again, I'm looking at you, Pubcon.
Yes. SEOmoz employees are not a Rand GPS.
I liked the guy in Chicago who recognized you as "Rebecca, from Rand Fishkin"
Like some cool Adam and Eve thing where you were crafted from the SEO part of his brain or something (ribs are so old testament)
Haha, I forgot about that. I should put that on my business cards:
Rebecca Kelley(from Rand Fishkin, LLC)
Haha, someone should go up to Rand & ask him what it's like to work for Rebecca...see how he likes it...
or Jane. (Sorry Jane, you beat me to the comment!)
Rand Who?
ROL! - that made my day!...
totally no offence to you Rand, but I gotta love this sense of humour! :D
I'm totally with you. Can't wait until I'm "that guy who works with Rebecca Kelley, right?" :)
That's how I refer to you when I talk to people. :)
If I were her, I'd wonder how her employee finds the time to write on this interweb site so much. Shouldn't he be working?
If you can, try to give before (or even instead of) getting. If you can do people favours, do them. If you can help people out (within reason) they will remember and you will end up with a strong network of trusted friends rather than a bunch of people you asked for one quick tip from. Even the rockstars of the SEO industry aren't really superstar famous - they tend to be very friendly and down-to-earth and I personally find that having lots of good contacts is better than loads of random chats.
Will, you're absolutely right about the 'rockstars' of the industry. I haven't met one yet who hasn't gotten over his/her 'fame' in about a millisecond. And most of them are absolute RIOTS to chat with!
I totally disagree with point number 10. I'm actually wearing depends undergarments while at most conferences so that I don't have to interrupt my drinking while networking with my dirty business.
In Europe at conferences if you’re not wearing adult diapers at a conference everyone points at you and laughs. I’ve been called a pussy in Germany for only wearing the 12 hour depends, those guys are animals.
Additionally if you are memorable enough you don’t even need a business card, and the best way to be memorable is to have a little bit of vomit on your shirt, and smell like pee.
Oh and remember, Let's Make It Awesome... huh guys?
No kidding, you went to the same college as I did, didn't you :P !
Maybe I'll bring Vegemite to San Jose.
shor eyeballing Rand: "Hey Mr. Randfish! Have you tried Vegemite? It's really good! Here, I spread some Vegemite on my business card."
Rand: "Urrk! WTF is this stuff? I need a drink! Out of my way!"
Yelling at the back of Rand as he dashes away: "Don't forget to join my Vegemite Lovers group on facebook!"
Did I do that right?
Great tip shor. That'll win you loads of friends, I reckon.
Even better would be if a confederate did the vegemite bit and YOU had the drink READY for Rand in your other hand :) Kind of a modified good-cop, bad-cop!
mmm... vegemite... what is it about southern hemisphere vs northern hemisphere, you can't even get decent bovril here - its all runny and for mixing in a hot drink or something (eeew)
So, maybe we'll tough base at some point Shor, would be great! And up for vegemite :)
So...what I got from this was: if you are an attractive woman at an SEO conference, expect to be hounded by men wearing "I Grok Spock" t-shirts. Is that about right?
Well, yeah - but that's the cool part.
Pubcon 2006 was my first conference and I'd only been employed at SEOmoz for two months. It astounded me how people would treat me one way until they found out I worked at SEOmoz, at which time their demeanor would change quite drastically. Let's just say that things were a lot easier once people read the company's name on my badge.
Suffice to say, there are great people in the industry, but you can come across snobbery if you're on the outside. While not many people take part in the snobbery, it does exist. It's human nature to forget this once you are in the right circle and don't have to deal with it anymore.
Jane.....can I borrow your SEOmoz badge at the Google party?
I'll wear my speedo!
Try wearing a name tag that reads "Vanessa Fox" for a half hour.
Hmmmm.....that might even get me an interview on WebProNews!
Thanks MG ;)
OOps - that should be a reply to Jane's comment. Now it looks as though I'm suggesting you wear a Vanessa name tag along with a Speedo. That is not my intention. :)
Don't lie: that's totally your intention and you know it!
That would totally get you noticed...
Rand, I agree with all of these recommendations. I'd refine your point about 'great' business cards in three ways:
1) Make your business cards memorable. I kind of lucked into this myself. Being one of apparently few people in the world who's wildly in love with the color orange, I came up with an orange business card when I started my business last year. I've already had two or three people who didn't remember my face or name tell me "oh yeah, you're the one with the orange card!" when I reminded them how we'd met.
This doesn't necessarily need to be color-driven--it can be a particularly great design, or a unique format (make sure it fits well in someone's wallet though!), or an unusual material.
1-A) DON'T use tacky, thick, high-gloss cards to get people's attention. A few people (whom I'd just met) at SMX were approached by one gentleman, who shall remain nameless, with such cards. All of us in the group of five rolled our eyes in unison after he'd left as we shook our heads at the quality of his cards. Yes, the encounter was memorable, but not in the way he intended, I'm quite sure.
1-B) DON'T just hand out your card / give people your sales pitch and move on. Actually talk to people, get to know their business, a little bit about who they are, etc. A phony 10-second "glad-hand" is not going to be enough to develop a real relationship with them, even if you email or call the person after the conference is over.
I'm looking forward to trading orange business cards with plenty of 'moz community members next week! :)
Well said. A good rule is that if you take the time to have a conversation and trade cards with a person follow up with a polite e-mail after the conference. Use the conference name in the subject.
The names that I remember are the ones I see between conferences and I frequently search my e-mail for conversations that I had about events and speakers.
I agree 110% on the high-gloss. I dragged my feet a little in choosing a design for my cards and by the time I got it to a printer he told me the only way he could make my deadline for SMX was with gloss - this was way different than what I actually wanted.
Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time at Papyrus trying to get an understanding of paper so that the next batch comes out perfect.
I'll have to keep an eye out for your orange cards....
Good stuff, Kwyjibo. We should start an SEOmoz readers' table at one of the birds-of-a-feather lunches so that we can all meet each other in person!
Am I the only one who thinks that my eyes look wonky in that picture? At any rate, if you somehow get my image or name to rank for "smashingly beautiful", I will kind of freak out.
I think your point "Learn about the People You Want to Meet" is an important one.
In addition though, I think there is a tendancy to get intimidated by researching and then trying to meet the "gurus".
From my limited exposure to this community so far I can safely say that the people who travel in these circles are generally open and approachable.
There is never a need to be intimidated...ultimately we're all just tryingto keep ahead of the curve while this whole SEO thing evolves...
Case in point for me was meeting Rand (very briefly at SES Toronto). A month later I emailed him to ask if I could reference some of his material at a conference I was speaking at (CFUnited). His reply was "Yes! Absolutely feel free to use any of my material from the tools, the blog or previous Powerpoints"
One final tip: Pickup a copy of the book How to win friends and influence people for the plane ride over to the conference (Get it from your local library - they'll have lots of copies!)
You know, whether a man (or women) has social skills or not is irrelevant in networking among the SEOs - those with the people skills will get the clients, but its not a reason to be hard on those with less gregarious personalities.
If he/she is knowledgable, intelligent and clued in, then it shouldn;t count against him/her if he/she is uncomfortable around other men/women, or if he/she has a lack of personal space issue. I think its important to remember that we are all part of a rather unique breed, and that we need to make allowances for others more so than most industries.
I am not excusing or allowing for blatant rudenes or belligerence etc, simply mentioning that some people are more comfortable in their skins than others, and some maybe don't realise how tough it is to be in a skin that isn't quite so pretty or handsome, and without a personality that makes the nightingale fall out of the trees.
I think the best folks can do is be themselves, enjoy, make the most of it, and go back home with great memories and some accumultaed extra chutzpah and knowledge.. No? And if someone is blatanty rude or unbearable - walk away, and if that doesn't work, then scream for help :) See you all there!
"search conferences often contain gentlemen who, uh... don't get out much, shall we say?" lol
You missed out:
grow a beard and wear yellow sneakers
That way people may mistake you for rand vastly increasing your chance of networking ;)
(I have the beard...)
Guillaume has that one down to a fine art.
This is all great networking info, and also insight into the minds of the SEO community. Fascinating lot.
We use EventsLinked.com for our conferences in Australia. Its an online networking tool for conference attendees. Our delegates are very pleased with the system as it allows them to network amongst themselves prior to the conference.
Thank you for the advise. This will be my first SES, so I wanted to make it very useful to start doing contacts.
As I understand SES is a great place for doing contacts, if you know what I'm sayin' ;)
Rand you are looking quite handsome in the picture :)
I also do photography when find time you see my profile at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/soul-healer/
Very excited for the San Jose conference. It will be my first search conference. Hoping to meet many great contacts and learn as much as possible, which will directly benefit my company!! *fingers crossed* See you all there....
You're right - Mystery Guest is a beauty - but in that photo you look like adrian zmed w/ a beard ;))
Great post - Good Advice - I'll introduce myself with eye contact if I see you (and i promise not to interrupt)
~Carrie
Getting royally pissed while trying to do some networking is never a good idea! Well stated Rand al'Thor... I mean Fishkin! Damn WOT...
Well, it might not be good for the person that is getting royally pissed, but it is sure entertaining for the people watching! Go ahead people getting royally pissed!
getting plastered at any time is probably not so hot, and you live to regret it too, but at a networking event like this - it's suicide. If you simply, absolutely feel you must, go back to your hotel, lock the door, and be very very quiet... If I hear you in the next room I'll be very discrete :)
I am really trying to get in the habit of attending some conferences in the next year and you provided some pretty good ideas to get me started and prepared for the next one. Thanks Rand!