I haven't promoted an SMX event on SEOmoz in a long time, but the agenda and opportunity in London (May 18 and 19 - just 2 weeks away) is too good to miss. If you have search marketing personnel anywhere in the UK, the expenditure (£890 with a 10% discount for SEOmoz PRO members) will undoubtedly bring a high ROI. I'll explain why:
- This is an Advanced Conference
Go look at the lineup for the two days. The sessions, the speakers and the material are high level. I think Chris Sherman recognized that attendees are increasingly savvy and seeking the edge of knowledge and tactics from the field. He's prepared a show where I guarantee even someone like myself is going to come away with a decent amount of new information. As we all know, just one right tip can pay for the entire conference. - Clients & Networking Abound
London is going to have a lot of in-house attendance, and a high number of very talented, accomplished, powerful people from the world of search. If you're seeking to get noticed, get a job, find new prospects or meet some of the industry's top people, go - if you engage socially, you'll get value on this front. - Ben Jesson from Conversion Rate Experts
He's speaking on the Landing Pages & Multivariate Testing panel on day one. Working with CRE has increased our conversion rate by more than 50%. Listen, take careful notes, apply and you'll make back your conference fee in no time. Ben's that good - and he shares really top notch stuff at shows like this. - Blow Your Mind Link Building Techniques
I'm speaking on this panel with some exceptionally talented link acquisition folks. Patrick Altoft, Lyndon Antcliff & Pete Wailes know their stuff. My topic is exposing how the websites who've earned the most links in the shortest amount of time have done it - I'm going to be working hard to impress. - Will Critchlow vs. Rand Fishkin
Will & I will be putting on boxing gloves and fighting to a knockout at 1:15pm on May 19. OK, maybe not physically fighting, but I am formally challenging Will to a presentation-off. Whoever delivers the worse show (as voted on by the audience) will be forced to buy the other's wife the present of her choosing (and Will, I'm warning you, Mystery Guest's taste in shoes will make your wallet run in fear). - Give It Up with Dave Naylor
Again, this single session will more than earn you back your conference fee. If you've seen Dave Naylor "Give it Up" in the past, you know what I'm talking about and if you haven't, you're in for a hell of a treat. Go watch these videos if you don't believe me. - The City of London Rocks
The people, the pubs, the networking, the food (yes, London has managed to become a foody haven in the last decade) and the quality of SEO talent is tough to match in any market. - SMX & eMetrics Together
The folks at SMX & their counterparts at eMetrics have banded together to offer a single pass to both events for one price (£1,295). eMetrics alone costs £1,095, so this is a massive discount. - The LondonSEO Party
Few events are as notorious, as well-attended and as valuable from a networking and learning perspective as the infamous London SEO series, put together by Rob Kerry of Ayima. It's a "can't-miss" experience. - Because @#$%! the Recession
Lots of economic indicators are suggesting this recession is going to be a short one, and that's great. But in the world of search, and particularly in SEO, things have been booming. Companies are fleeing from marketing investments that aren't trackable and can't prove ROI, and those dollars/pounds are going straight to search. Invest in the knowledge and capability of your organization now, while your competitors are paralyzed, and you can reap the rewards for years to come.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at SMX London and I'll be joined by Si Fishkin (my grandfather), who'll be making sure speakers bring their A material (or else). See you there!
Oh, that's bold. You're challenging me in my home town? Bring it on.
*Starts re-thinking his presentation.
Will and Rand in an epic battle of wit and intelligence fight to prove their status as gurus of search... may the best man win.
Either that or Will steals Rand's yellow sneakers and sends him off crying to his hotel room.
First, I'm gonna out-razzle ya. Then, I'm gonna out-dazzle ya. And after that, I'm gonna hit you so hard, your credit card won't know what hit it!
Actually, knowing my wife, it will probably be Anthropolgie, Zappos or Nordstrom, but still...
*Starts sweating about what cruelty Heather might inflict if he loses.
EDIT: My conversation with Mystery Guest this morning:
Rand: I challenged Will to a presentation-off last night on the blog. The loser has to buy the winner's wife whatever she wants.
Mystery Guest: Did you set a price limit?
Rand: No... But you'll both be reasonable.
Mystery Guest: No I won't. Why would you turn this apartment into a house of lies?
I can just see how that went in my head. Btw, dinner's on me. I owe you one.
A man may fight for many things. His country, his friends, his principles, the glistening ear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock and a sack of French porn.
I forwarded this and your conversation with MG to Heather - her response was:
It seems our wives may be more competitive even than we are...
Will, if you don't mind me passing on a bit of advice, I'll share my secret formula for conference success:
If you must thank me you can get your wife to ask for something that I can have too....
Just wanted to confirm that the LondonSEO party details will be release shortly - just confirming the venue. Make sure that you follow @LondonSEO on Twitter and check the site out at LondonSEO.org!
Now looking for drink sponsors and volunteer SEO DJs (I think @ciaranj is the guy to talk to about getting on the decks).
Thanks for the shout-out Rand :)
You're coming back again! I see you more now than I did when I worked in your office :P
Gosh, going to have to put on a great LondonSEO now that it's been written about on the Moz blog too... not that it's ever anything but ;)
Yes. Especially as I've been told I'm organising the music for it, but have no idea what the venue is yet...
I think it's safe to say that #5 is a mistake that would only be made by two men who have been married for under a year. You poor, poor fools.
Look forward to LondonSEO as always, now have to find out if i can make the SMX... wheres my credit card?
As to all this trash talk.... bring it... remember we are of the land of the witty reprisal :)
SMX Detroit? If only... :-)
By the way, I've just noticed that the session I'm appearing in is on at the same time as your one on site architecture with Richard. You'll just have to send in any rude comments about my tie before it starts.
I've got you covered, especially as I was about to make a tie joke as a reply to you above. Since my session requires no formal presentation, this gives me extra time to come up with something new and funny.
A little off topic FYI. I just received the May issue of "Business to Business or BtoB" and there is an article about "New Online Video Tactics" mentioning SEOmoz with a picture of Rand and Whiteboard Friday.
Cheers
Cool! Had not heard about this; we'll have to check it out :-)
The session I was to speak on got cut, so while I'll be there, I now have more time to just chill and chat and watch others. Not a bad deal.
The biggest tip for anyone going to a show for the first time is to allow time, especially after-show time. The networking and private chats are the best bit of most shows, and having to dash off because you hadn't planned ahead is such a loss.
Very excited to see you there, Ammon. It's been far too long :-)
London, what a pleasure. Who knows maybe I can blow off a couple things and make it ;)
haha thats great, a challenge in one of the world's most expensive cities the loser is going to have a great time shopping at Harrods, Mayfair or Regent Street!
Also anyone going eMetrics has one of the best reputations for cutting edge topics, if i could attend both events i would be a happy man.
SMX ticket, train ticket and one night hotel booked... really looking forward to hear the top-class SEO tips. If the material is not quality, i guess I can always get my money back, cant I?
now all i need is the £1000... eek!
waaahhhhh I'm throwing my dummy out of the pram as I can't come, and it's the first year where I would if I could. Stomps off to actually start following people on twitter so as not to miss all of the fun.
For the love of god, get your dummy back in the pram!! ;)
If I had any idea what that means, I would probably be more likely to go to SMX London.
Dummy = pacifier.
Pram = baby buggy
Do keep up :)
Sorry, next time I will try to be really cryptic, and in true north west fashoin tell you "I'll throw my diddy outa the trolly"
Can we set up a specific hashtag for the trash talk that's going to spring up in the run up to the event? This is going to be exciting!
Will have to check my Diary, but London isn't too far away from the "second city" (Birmingham) so I may well attend this :D
Rand, this post is good marketing for SMX London...I have alreayd got my ticket for SMX Madrid two weeks later (3rd June), but I agree that the programme scheduled for SMX London looks far more promising and enriching than that for SMX Madrid, so I will defintely try my best to come to London, after all it's just 2h.30 from Paris, thanks for the advice
Wish I could come but these are tough times. Besides, who would run the business?
Can't wait for one closer to home, as much as I'd love to be in London! Whoever's going, bring us back the infos!
Everyones so eager to learn that juicy nugget of golden information and based on my experience these seminars fall short of dealing any real know-how. i get tired of all the lip-service style presentations which skate loosely over the surface of some really critical information.
Hopefully this wont be yet another example of this.
Sure these presentations are often light on details of exactly what you have to do to improve ranking and traffic etc.
However, they can be great for getting you to think of avenues you never even considered before.
I recently went to Search Engine Strategies in London and although it was pretty light on detail I did pickup a few little nuggets that after a bit of work ended up yeilding great results :)
best presentation this year was from patrick altoft (www.blogstorm.co.uk) which didnt shine much new light but just explained things much better than i can :) check it here https://markrushworth.com/template_permalink.asp?id=319
Oh man! I would give my left foot to go to SMX London. I'm a huge Anglophile combined learning more about SEO - it's the holy grail of a trip to London!