In about a week and a half (March 7, to be exact), Rand and I will be road-tripping to Portland to attend SEMpdx's day conference, SearchFest. Rand has reached a near-godlike status in the conference sphere, in that he was asked to speak at the conference and is allowed to pick a topic of his choosing. As a result, Rand will be performing his one-man show, "Fishkin: Whitehat, Hopeless Romantic, and Hobo Stabber." There will, of course, be a 15-minute Q&A following his performance, but you can only ask a question when he's thrown you a Koosh ball.
Seriously though, Rand will be on a panel with Small Business SEM extraordinaire Matt McGee and some dude (dudette?) with a seriously wicked name (Stoney deGeyter) to discuss Advanced SEO Topics (check out the SearchFest agenda for a complete schedule of sessions being offered).
So, why am I attending the conference with Rand? It's not because I am his lackey, the Tattoo to his Mr. Roarke...okay, well maybe that's partly why. Actually, I'll also be there for my very first speaking engagement. I'll be on the Link Development panel with Scott Fish and Benjamin Lloyd. And holy crap, I have to have a 15-minute presentation. With, like, slides. And I have to present first. And there's a 15-minute Q&A afterwards. Basically, I'm doing a presentation twice as long as anything I ever did in college, and it'll be in front of roughly 2-10x the audience. Hmmm, I wonder if I can get that SES London plague that had been circulating the conference...
Also, apparently there are still some exhibitor spots available for the conference. It costs $500 to exhibit ($350 if you're an SEMpdx member), or you can join SEMpdx for $100, exhibit for $350, and get a free admission pass in the process, thus saving you fifty bucks. That's some crazy math right there (but what do I know, I'm a liberal arts alum). If you're interested in exhibiting, then get on it because the spots are filling up!
Also, if you're a fervent fan of the blog and are planning on attending the conference, be sure to go on a coffee break between 2:00 and 3:00 pm so you won't be subjected to seeing me standing at the podium drenched in sweat sporting a look of sheer terror. Don't say I didn't warn ya.
By: Rebecca Kelley
SEMpdx SearchFest '07 in the Hizzy
Events
The author's views are entirely his or her own (excluding the unlikely event of hypnosis) and may not always reflect the views of Moz.
Rebecca, don't forget the white t-shirt and boom box queued to Tina Turner - Simply the Best.
Jason begged me to finish my presentation with "I'm Rebecca Kelley, and you've been the best!"
I'm sure that about four people would get it--the rest would probably think I'm a moron.
Wow big news! Break a yellow shoe Rebecca!
Yep, good luck Rebecca. Maybe you should go with different color shoes than yellow, then eventually as SEOmoz scales up you could be known as the 'rainbow of shoes' company. :)
I do have some bitchin' white and red Pumas...we could show our brand loyalty :)
Go Pumas, Go!
I would just like to mention that I have deeply enjoyed the recent incorporation of more humor and personality into the posts. I love that Rebecca made a reference to Fantasy Island! That made my day along with Todd's link to the lightsabre video on his post. A little eruditon with jacosity never killed a brain cell. Thanks for making learning fun.
Can't wait to see you on stage Rebecca. No worries - you'll do fine! ;)
Sounds like it should be a good time.
And who are you kidding, you'll be fine. You're becoming your own rock star!
And if nothing else, just picture the audience naked... wait, a room full of naked SEO's... go for, I mean, there are far uglier crowds to picture naked so you'll be okay.
As one of the SEMpdx Board Members, we are happy to have Rebecca and Rand speak at our event. If you look at our conference agenda, you'll see we have a most excellent program scheduled and we know that any regular SEOmoz blog reader will get a lot of value by attending our conference.
We are also posting some mini-interviews of conference participants to our blog at https://www.semportland.com. We think that you'll find that to be an interesting read.
Oddly enough, I'm pretty sure Rand & Rebecca were planning on arriving to SEMpdx via the SEOmoz time-traveling phone booth to attend your
Hey does anyone know if/where one would find a good calender of search/affiliate marketing events and shows around this planet? All the ad techs, SES's summits, as well as the ten billion little shows and one day events?
Is there something out there or is it something that 'GodLike' Rand should sick one of his interns on?
Hey, there are no interns at SEOmoz!
I have no doubt you'll do fine, even through osmosis, by being associated with the "near Godlike" Rand & SEOMOZ.
I look forward to meeting you and hearing your presentation...
Best of luck -- I am sure you will do great!
But you need a name for your one-woman show that will out-do Rand's...something with Cartoonist Extraordinaire at the end of it...
I'm looking forward to speaking on the panel with you Rebecca!
I hope to see everyone at SearchFest!
Good luck Rebecca! I wish I could attend.
Rebecca I'm sure you'll be fine. Just be yourself. If you can talk even half as good as you write you'll be a hit.
I'm actually surprised no one's told you to simply picture everyone in their underwear. I've seen that advice at least 100 times on sitcoms.
Then again it never did work. I can see it now. The first episode of "The Adventures of Mozzer" and the newest SEO tactic, sitcombait.
Rebecca, have you guys ever made an appearance at a conference up here (in Vancouver, BC) or do you plan too anytime this year ?
What sort of conferences are held in Vancouver? I've never made it up for a conference, but Rand might have. I'm sure we'd attend one if it were worthwhile.
That would be great.
There have been many conferences here recently on various topics surrounding web development, affiliate marketing, web design, content management, etc. but I don't know if there has been one about SEO, or if anything of the sort is planned.
I'll find out.
We're having a PPC Summit here this month, or is it next month? (Vancouver)
Good luck for the gig Rebecca! It'll be sweet. Soon you'll be running for president with Matt as your sidekick monkey :o)
If you are as good of a speaker as you are writer, then there won't be anything to worry about. Congrats on the honors!
I just realized I don't know how much I like this .... more distractions from creating the London SES cartoon....
Should be up today!
sweet.....
oops, deleted.
insightful post stony.... that is why I did not post while I was in Amsterdam last week.
I'm just not used to these fancy "reply to" user options.
LOL! Hey, if I can do it, anyone can do it. And you're right -- Stoney does have the most bad-ass name in SEO. Looking forward to seeing both of you.
Um, I would be a dude!
And thanks for the "most bad-ass name in SEO" status, Matt!
Dang Stoney,
Ya finally speak and I can't get to see ya. I see i'm gonna have to start stalking ya!
BTW: Not only does Stoney have a Badass name, and has written some of the best posts (as in they are so true of this industry - Stoney, that all link post was a classic) this year on his blog, but he's also a great employer.
Awe... you're too sweet Natasha! We definitely need to get together, whenever it is we occupy a near proximity in the space/time continuum!
I'm sure you'll do fine with your presentation. If you are half as entertaining in person as you are in your blogs you'll win the crowd over easily.
You may, however, want to look up Guy Kawasaki's tips on presenting...he has a great rule on powerpoint (the 10/20/30 Rule) everyone should follow.
Thanks!
Good luck Rebecca! I'm sure you'll do great. Can't wait to hear how it goes.
Way to go Rebecca.... don't forget to look for the payola envelope in your speaker's folder... we all get them but are sworn to secrecy... welcome to the club...
We have an opening on the arbitrage panel in NYC.
Haha, not sure I'm the right person to approach for an arbitrage panel...
...as Frank continues his campaign to lure Rebecca to the Dark Side. :)