Last week, Jane, Scott, Rebecca and myself (plus Mystery Guest) spent the week in New York attending the Search Engine Strategies conference. This is my 13th SES show, and at this point, I've seen virtually all of the sessions and 90% of the speakers twice. However, like many others, I continue to participate beyond simply speaking - walking the show floors, attending sessions (though I missed most in NYC due to my tourism commitments with Mystery Guest) and hanging out in the speaker and press rooms. Going to SES isn't cheap - particularly in New York where hotel costs alone for the 3 SEOmoz rooms set us back more than $3,500. What value do I see in expending time and money to visit these cities and attend the shows?
- Community Building
The late night parties, the quick chat in the hallway and the whispered commentary during a session all help to build shared experiences that are incredibly powerful. Once I've shared a few meals or a few jokes in several different cities with someone, we're fast friends. If they need me to answer some questions over email or I ask them for input with a post topic or article, we're quick to come to one another's aid. The search community thrives on these kinds of connections - they build business (through referrals and direct requests) and extend your reach. - Meeting People
There's no opportunity like a conference for interfacing with real people (and building real connections). Meeting face-to-face is far different than chatting over IM, through email, or even on the phone. Once you've met someone in person, it's much harder to ignore their emails, refuse their requests or decline a LinkedIn invitiation... which is why I'm hoping to meet Michael Arrington sometime in the near future. - Securing Relationships
As I commented above, if you meet a person several times in several different cities, you may as well have worked together. The bond that multiple conferences form is undeniable. The evidence is all around me - from folks who've seen me speak a few times, to those who've become fast friends and members/contributors to the blog. - Speaking
Probably the most directly monetizable business activityat a conference is speaking - provided you do a good job. My session on social media marketing was OK, but I felt really good about my linkbait presentation this time. I think it was one of my best, and certainly the dozens of email messages and more than 50 business cards I took home with me would indicate similar. - New Experiences
Even without the financial side, I think that conferences are a chance to have experiences you could never have at home - riding in a limo for no particular reason, spending an evening at a Manhattan penthouse, seeing great bands in small venues, getting beer frozen to your ear, making friends with people you could only dream of and eating and drinking the kinds of food and wine that would make royalty jealous. Sometimes the experiences are glamorous, other times you're freezing in the back of a dirty subway, but in every instance, you're exposed to new things and I think that life's grandest lesson may very well be that in the end, it's all about the stories you make and the memories you keep. - Session Q+A
Even if you've seen a session a dozen times, the Q+A section is unique each time. In New York, I found the crowd considerably more advanced than ever before, and the questions impressively deserving of attention. Hearing Dave Naylor or Andrew Goodman or Priyank Garg answer a great question is practically worth the admission price on its own, particularly for someone like me who can leverage this information directly in my job and my writing. - The Secret Sauce
The back alleys, bars, speaker rooms and restaurants at conferences are filled with talented people talking about their best techniques and darkest secrets (all professional, of course). While I'm not allowed to blog 99% of this stuff, it's extraordinarily valuable for re-application, testing and use in client and internal work.
At SEOmoz, we've decided to carefully review the value of conference attendance. There's little doubt that it costs a lot of money (especially New York, which is the priciest of the bunch) to go, but this week all of us will be weighing the positive outcomes of our networking, attendance & social connections to determine what level of involvement we'll have for upcoming shows like Toronto, Miami, San Jose, Vegas & Chicago.
What about you? How do you weigh cost vs. benefit for conferences? How many do you attend or do you plan to attend over the next 18-24 months?
Airfare to NY $320, taxi to hotel $35, hotel room in NY $250 per night, eating Chinese dinner with and getting to know the lovely Mystery Guest.........priceless.
Aw, shucks.
Nada SES down under.
The NY all-star PPC squad with Hotchkiss, Goodman, Mendez & Stylman was droolworthy. Who would be the 5th member? Maybe eWhisper on point and Avinash Kaushik as coach... go Rockets!
To compare the local search conferences with SES is like comparing the Australian basketball league with its more prestigious American counterpart. It's not a knock on the fledgling domestic conference scene, but the speaking ability and the depth of knowledge of overseas guests from the Andy Beals and Lee Oddens right down to relatively unknown foreign speakers were quite obvious. Our guys know their stuff but the communication skills were not as silky smooth as the imports.
When I picture SES San Jose & SES NY in my mind I imagine SEO luminaries, SEO paparazzi, SEO b-listers and SEO parties by the boatload. Dirty black/bluehat secrets spread by whitehatters. SEO hotties unafraid to throw around sentences consisting entirely of TLAs.
It makes me a sad panda :(
"When I picture SES San Jose & SES NY in my mind I imagine SEO luminaries, SEO paparazzi, SEO b-listers and SEO parties by the boatload. Dirty black/bluehat secrets spread by whitehatters. SEO hotties unafraid to throw around sentences consisting entirely of TLAs. It makes me a sad panda :( "
Same here shor, I love reading about the SES conferences over in US, but it is sad that we can't have them over here - I wish they would come back.
While I certainly don't make it to as many sessions as I'd like at these things (being the designated SEOmoz drinker has its drawbacks), I find the socializing and networking invaluable.
I'd rather learn and discuss business and SEO strategies one-on-one over a pint with some of the incredibly talented SEOs I've met at conferences, than sit in a room and get the one-size-fits-all version. Besides that, there are some really great people in this industry and they're a blast to hang out and party with.
Conferences can be very expensive - but the value is immeasurable.
It’s difficult to place value on individual conferences though, as each is different, and may deliver diverse benefits, unique to each experience.
For instance, the first SES I attended in San Jose was phenomenally valuable. The value came directly from the sessions themselves. I didn’t know anyone, and I wasn’t a speaker – so I feverishly took notes and attempted to network whenever possible. I received little to no (professional) value from “behind-the-scenes” gatherings.
Move forward a couple years – essentially no value is received from the sessions, but rather from the conversations that happen behind the scenes. As a speaker, networking is much easier and the people you get to know are much more willing to share tools, secrets, etc.
Move forward a couple more years – the value is a mixed bag. Some comes from sessions with newer topics (like social media), some comes from general networking, but most of the value now comes from colleagues that I meet for dinner, go to a show with, drink till the sun comes up – then email and blog with until we meet again at the next conference.
Some might call it an evolution of sorts – but I’m confident in saying that without the conferences I’ve attended in the last 3-4 years I would not be where I am today. I could go on for pages listing the individual benefits, but to sum it up, there are two primary take aways from these events:
1) The knowledge that I’ve gained and put to work for the success of my clients
2) The people I have met and who I stay in constant contact with (a benefit both personally and professionally).
For me, I don't see much value in SEM focused conference for sales or lead generation, but I speak at and attend verticle conferences for that.
SES, SearchFest, SMX, and the like are great for learning SEM, building relationships, and becoming (or staying) successful in the field of Search - and maybe picking up a client or two as a bonus.
attending at such events is really a great networking possibility. only it does cost you a lot of time, thats what i've experiencd. but you can find some great contacts thats for sure!
I totally agree with your points on the positives of attending these industry conferences Rand.
The North American and UK conferences seem to have the most/best/advanced content & speakers from the looks of it.
What's your thoughts (and the other mozzers) on attending SE conferences (or related conferences) outside of those markets?
For someone like me being based in Asia is tough to attend conferences like SES NY (although I wish I had the budget to do that). So, you don't get the chance to meet all these great people face-to-face.
Even though they hold SES conferences in Shanghai, the content & speakers doesn't seem to be quite the same or of interest and the SEO/M industry out here is still in its infancy and seems to lag behind.
I plan on attending my first one this year. Hopefully San Jose, if things go as planned with my business.
Great points, Rand. Last week was the first time I've ever had the chance to meet you, Neil, & Thomas and even though it was brief, I felt good about it, you know? You have to take advantage of the close-quarters, get out of your comfort zone a little bit, and shake a few hands. You never know what it can lead to.
I've found it really easy to justify the expense of the shows...even in NYC...simply because of the relationship-building opportunitites you're afforded while you're there. Last year at Pubcon, for example, one of our clients had our logo tattooed on his arm. (Of course, I did too, but it was his idea!) Now we have a human billboard, which is priceless.
See you in Seattle!
At what point is a budding SEO or SEM ready to take home sufficient benefit from a conference to justify the costs? Are there conferences more suitable than others to break into the community?
Cheers.
If you are a budding one, you are a prime candidate to go to something like SES or Pubcon. The benefit will be in starting your networking, cross-fertilisation of ideas and probably some increase in knowledge from the sessions about subjects where you don't feel so confident.
One thing which wasn't mentioned here yet (at least I don't remember it) is taking a sufficient beer-money fund - most of the value comes through the evening and late-night socialisation. And although Rand, Rebecca & Jane make it seem like a high-speed whirl of parties and sponsors' events (and it probably is for them with their connections) there is still a lot of alcohol-fueled discussion going on in the corners of bars at most conferences. (I was going to write "smoke-filled corners" but most places are no-smoking these days!)
Aaargh - duplicate!
And on my 100th post, I am mortified...
great summary of why you should attend conferences. I'm trying to convince my bosses to send me to SMX in Seattle. Might just refer them to this post =)
I can understand it will get very expensive attending all conferences though, although you usually speak Rand so you get a free pass right?
Though the parties and free drinks are always nice, I do try to attend sessions that I feel will teach me something I don't know about SEO. I still feel that I have a lot to learn, and conferences are a good way to pique my interest in a particular topic.
Also, I want to become a super awesome speaker, so I often study the presenters and make note of what they do to deliver their message and engage the audience.
Yeah - funny, my version of "studying" is lying in bed, too. :)
I do my best thinking there!
While we too find them expensive, conferences/seminars can be unbelievably motivating. Sometimes when I feel as though clients are asking the same thing over and over again for weeks on end, a good conference can give me renew my faith in the industry I love.
I have also noticed that the younger (20 something) employees find training via conferences/seminars to be one of their most valued compensation points, which is encouraging.
none! because you will keep me in touch!
I really think that there are benefits in attending - especially if you are an SEO superstar like you are Rand.
Plebs like me end up not learning anything new and getting gropped by people they *don't want* to be groped by.
*sighs*
You guys get all the luck/fun!
Well, now there's some linkbait if ever I saw some, ms deCabbit (just checked and seogropers was at that time still available).
At the time it was the most unplesant experience I had ever had and at one point was a little upset inthe press room.
Much as I laught at it now and try to make light of it, it was terrible.
perhaps the guy who groped me should buy the domain ;-)
I've had the pleasure of rubbing elbows and becoming friends with the biggest names in the industry... but I consider the conversations and freindships made with search marketers that I didn't know of before, equally valuable.
Totally agree, KD. Some of the best friends and best connections I've made have been with people I'd never heard of before I attended.
I got to meet the Mozers so that made the trip worth it :)
We did actually have a few meetings, got a new partner, to be announced... Did some great partying (still didn't find out how to tell when bleu cheese is bad though)
I'm going to do my best to be at SMX, San Jose, and probably Vegas over Chicago... That was an expensive trip but I'll make that and more back for my clients which in turn helps my bottom line.
.02
David Brown / NeO
highlight of SES London for me was getting your card Rand
*winks*
Well, I can certainly see the positive side for you, Rand. And for anyone that has never been to a conference, then I would also recommend sampling one, as you will benefit from a lot of what Rand is talking about.
However, these days, I would rather spend the time with smaller groups and meet-ups, if I am going to do anything. I would probably head for an old-style Pubcon in London, if it fitted in time- and work-wise, and would certainly join in with a couple of more informal meetings that I've been to in the past.
But the big SES's don't, and never did, really rock my boat. Too much commerce, too many basic presentations, and too many people looking to sign up clients.
Of course, if I got to hang out with Vanessa Fox, I might change my mind...
The older and wiser you get, the less you need conferences?
I'm a social bunny (hey - cabbit - part cat, part rabbit) so I like hanging out. Conferences concentrate people in my industry who understand when I compalin about something or share a discovery.
London SEO pissup though does more regularly bring these people together and is smaller and more focused (and more protective).
Can't discount conferences for building business and relationships/networking
I don't know that it is older and wiser. I still enjoy seeing what people are doing in different countries and industries than I specialise in, and where there might be crossover applications. And hopefully others gain from me as well.
So the social side and the networking is nice, but I get that from where I do attend and from my current partners at the moment. And anyway my list of "to-do" projects is not getting any shorter as time goes on...
I'll have to check if a LondonSEO meet fits in with a flying visit at any point - I promise to keep my hands to myself.
*giggles*
That's OK - I'm working out and going to take up kick boxing
;-)
I have so many side projects all the socialising I do gets in the way of work *LAUGHS* OK free work, but work nontheless (I only do this for personal friends who keep hands to self and offer a profusion of Luento Santoro chocolate)
I'm still holding out hope that I'll get to go to SMX, failing that I'll be at at least one of the SESs later in the year...
Since you've been to so many... To what degree does the flavor/tone change between cities? We went to SES NY last week and enjoyed it, but wondered if we traveled to another city next time if we'd get a more rounded view of things. Or is it basically the same everywhere?
Yep, they are great indeed. The 'secret sauce' you mentioned is priceless and certainly worth the cost of the event by itself.
I didn't get a chance to get out to this SES, but have been in the past. Last one I was at was Vegas, but I will be in Seattle at SMX Advanced.
Honestly, I would go to every one if I could get the time away and the cash flow to jet all over and stay here and there.
Going to SES London 05 gave me my 1st insight into SEO and allowed me to go straight back to work and make some recomendations on site improvements.
SES NY last year made me realise that I knew more than I realised (thereby increasing my confidence) and enthused me as to the possibilities available.
Hopefully SMX later in the year (if I make it) will do the same as the above and more so...
I've never been to a conference but it's something I hope to do in the near future. Thanks for the tips.
I understand the value of the connections at conferences, and really, it is the only reason why I'd usually consider going to them...that said, I usually don't go, especially to the SEO centric conferences. Going to more general technology conferences and some complimentary industry type conferences has proven to be more useful.
All that said, I'll be at Ad Tech San Francisco next week for non-SEO reasons if anyone wants to meet up for a drink.
Cygnus