I'm just going to go crazy with this one because I have so much to be thankful for (note that a lot of this will be Pubcon-centric, due to the timing).
- Getting out of debt and turning SEOmoz into a profitable company - I owe almost all of it to the people who read this blog (and the rest directly to Danny Sullivan).
- Mystery Guest - I know we struggle when I'm on the road, but she's everything to me.
- Joe Morin, who's been a friend through thick and thin
- My team here at SEOmoz - Matt, Gillian, Si, Rebecca, Scott, Brandon, Jane & Jeff; you're all amazing.
- Chris Hooley's Drinkbait - that Bombay Sapphire will get me through a hard day next week :)
- Great people like Todd Malicoat. I can't believe what a geniunely good person he is.
- Rae Hoffman - for showing me the wonders of Paigow, Craps & high-priced call girls at the Wynn (and for being incredibly sweet to me during all of Vegas)
- Stanford Publishing - I had a fantastic time with Leslie & Beth (photo) in Monterey.
- Brett Tabke for the invitation to speak at my first Pubcon
- Scott, Aaron & Andy for organizing a terrific lobster & steak dinner in Vegas (despite the fact that I got berated for being a white hat)
- Mike McDonald from Webpronews, who posted a nifty video of me, four beers into Pubcon, chatting with Lee & Todd about links. Note how I say "like" and "you know" much more frequently than normal - it's practically embarassing :)
- Kim Krause, who's been struggling to balance work and family but still writes one of the most captivating and personal blogs in the tech world.
- Three pro football games on Thanksgiving - thanks NFL (even if the first game is Miami v. Detroit)
- Wil from ThinkSeer, with whom I exchanged only a few words at Pubcon, but was thorougly impressed and blown away by his kindness.
- Lee Odden, whose terrific staff members Karen & Jolena were incredibly friendly and warm throughout the conference (Lee also shot this short video of me and has a whole set of great videos from the conference here).
- Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Ask, who've given all of us a profession.
- Barry Schwartz's keen photographic skills (and Flickr on the whole for being such a great photo resource).
- Bob Rains, who flat out rocks.
- Maybe most of all, I'm thankful that tomorrow, I get to spend the day with my family, eating, talking, and sharing time together. You can't ask for more than that.
I'm sure I've forgotten a ton of people and will have to make amends next week. Until then...
Thanks Rand,
You know you've totally geeked out when you are overwhelmingly flattered when one of your favorite blogs thinks you rock.
Next to the pie this was the highlight of thanksgiving.
P.S. Anyone else at SES Paris?
Good article!
Thanks
Yeah, I'm a day late, but I've gotta say that I'm indescribably thankful for being part of the coolest team of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
My fellow mozzers, thou dost rock! Thanks for everything biotechs!
Awww... You biotechs are alright.
I'm thankful for all of those in the SEO/Internet Marketing Community who have given me the opportunity over the last few months to showcase my knowledge and for pushing me to continue down the path I started on three years ago. You and your team are a part of that Rand and I hope in '07 I can shake your hand and thank you personally for providing such a great resource here at SEOMoz (A little butt-kissing never hurt anyone right?)
Yeah thanks for your efforts, Rand. I learned most of my SEO skills here :)
Man it's rough being a Detroit fan...
You're telling me. This past season three Detroit teams managed to crap on my heart by making it to the playoffs and then failing miserably. Way to go Red Wings, Pistons, and Tigers! Oh, and way to lose to Ohio State, Wolverines! Sigh...
Rand, you know what I am thankful for? This industry...when I went knocking on doors in 98 I had no IDEA where this was heading. I LOVE the fact that in this space smaller companies of 1-10 employees can beat out the big huge agencies because everyone in the chain of the smaller web marketing/SEO companies usaully has passion, and dare I say...actually care about the clients end goals. I assume you read this once: https://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/...
This industry keeps us all on our toes and for those of us that like a little chaos, it couldn't be any better. 2.0, social search, tagging, delicious, reviewme, youtube, secondlife...these things didn't exist a year ago (or barely did), this is a fun space.
Additionally it was great meeting you and Aaron at Pubcon, next time I will stay longer. Thanks for the shout out!
We are honored to be on your list of thankfulness. We boomerang the love right back at you. Everyone: Rand presented two amazing sessions -- bloggin' and searchin' -- at the Stanford Web Workshop, then helped tame the crowd by troubleshooting wireless connections. Rand's good cheer and ready wit were sadly missed when he abandoned us for VEGAS! -- ...by the way, both Beth and I, while not particularly vain, want all readers to know we are actually much, much hotter in real life than the picture shows...right Rand?
Happy Thanksgiving day Rand and SEOmoz team !
I enjoyed watching your video interview at WebProNews. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Glad SEOMOZ has become profitable, once you get past that barrier there's no looking back :)
Dude, you rock man. I'm feeling thankful for that sweet reference you posted in today's blog :-)
I'm off to stuff my face with some turkey and pumpkin pie!
Um, Rand, sweetheart - you may want to specify next time that I played paigow and craps and taught you how to play them, but I did not exactly play with the call girls or show you how to play with *them*. ;-)
hehehehe
Let me simply say it was a pleasure to meet you in person last week :)
Thanks Rand, very thankful that I've met and gotten to speak and work alongside you this past year also. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Gillian, Rebecca, Matt, Brandon, Jane, Jeff, Si, Scott and of course Mystery Guest!
Joe
Hey, I thought I was the blog sappifier around here!
Happy Thanksgiving to the BEST boss I've ever had...and you're not a shabby friend, either.
Checking the company blog on your day off? Now that's dedication!
LOL I fed my family and impressed my parents...shoved everything away for leftovers later and the pumpkin pie is screaming for attention. Finally get my chance to rest and plop the laptop on my lap and what do I see? My name on your list. This is really moving Rand. Thank you for believing in me :)
Me believing in you? You're the one who believed in me. It was your community that helped me get started, your influence (with others) at my first NYC conference - you're the one to whom thanks is owed. Thank you Kim.
Thrilled to hear the holiday went well. My mom pulled off another extraordinary one with great food, great guests and OK, let's be honest, pretty mediocre football. :)
Hey, hey HEY! Thems fightin words! Mediocre football...sheesh...
Well, sounding from the sluring, er joyful tone in yours and Mystery Guest's voice in your Thanksgiving voicemail, I am wagering a guess that a good time was had by all!
Happy Thanksgiving Guys!
How 'bout them Cowboys!
It doesn't get any better than Thanksgiving at my house.... join us next year, Joe to find out for yourself. You have a standing invitation.
I so miss Thanksgiving in the States... actually, I miss a lot of things about the USA. But alas, I have to wait until Christmas day for my turkey dinner here in the U.K.. But I intend to thoroughly enjoy sitting in front of the TV, watching The Great Escape, with the top button of my pants undone to allow for the extra girth of a slap-up meal.
I'm thankful for finding this excellent resource - so much so that I do intend to point webmasters here when I get around to finishing my latest project - a genre-specific web directory/search engine/community site of sorts.
Wait a minute... this blog is linkbait! :o
lol. Enjoy your day off. Happy Thanksgiving. :)
I love Thanksgiving (even though I'm not from the US), simply because you get to see everyone stand up and publicly praise those people who normally go unsung.
Here's to the unsung.