First off, a quick apology. I had posted this on Monday night without first checking with our nominees to ensure they could attend. I've now done so and thus, have a list of potential competitors who will be present if called upon! Sadly, favorites like Dave Naylor, Aaron Wall, and a few others will not be in attendance, but the vast majority of nominees are attending!
For those who may be confused, next month at the inaugural SMX West search marketing conference, two intrepid search marketers will take on teams from Google, Yahoo!, MSN/Live, & Ask.com in the first ever Search Bowl! Search Bowl is a trivia game, wherein the teams of two will be asked questions related to search and search marketing and those with the greatest knowledge of all things "search" will take home eternal glory! Or, at least, a 1994 Chrysler LeBaron (that's the prize, right Danny?).
For this voting, I've asked each of our nominees to prepare a short statement indicating why they would be best qualified to represent search marketers on the trivia field of battle. Here are their responses:
Heather Lloyd Martin (of SuccessWorks):
Sure, Why Not. Sounds like fun! :)
Michael Gray (of Wolf-Howl):
The man who bought a text link from Matt Cutts.
Hamlet Batista (of HamletBatista.com)
Reading search engineers' blogs and listening to their advice is not a competitive advantage.
Andy Beal (of Marketing Pilgrim):
I've probably read 100,000+ search industry news items over the past five years, if I don't release the pressure by regurgitating them, my head will explode.
Ian Lurie (of Portent Interactive):
Er, what is a Search Bowl? Should I wear protective clothing?
Todd Friesen (Oilman and now part of Visible Technologies - congrats, Todd, and welcome to Seattle):
I'll bring my cup....
Greg Boser (of WebGuerrilla):
I am coming, but I'm really hoping I don't win.
Matt McGee (of SmallBusinessSEM):
Every vote for me is an entry in next year's SEMMY Awards! (Not really, sorry.)
Loren Baker (of SearchEngineJournal):
I [nominate] Bill [Slawski] just as long as we can limit his answers to under 60 seconds and insist that he wear an eye patch :)
Andrew Goodman (of Traffick):
I feel that I'll fare better if we add an egg race, real Super Bowl trivia, or "best impression of Bugs Bunny" to the mix, but anyway, count me as "game" to be humiliated in some shape or form.
Jill Whalen (of HighRankings):
I'm the one who made Altavista rank first for "search engine" at Google. Why? Because I can.
Congrats to all our nominees. Now please help your industry select its finest for the battle ahead:
Thanks for voting - we'll announce a winner next week (along with some other very cool stuff about SEOmoz's participation in SMX West).
p.s. That's not actually Jill's quote. I just made it up because she didn't get back to me with the requested one-liner. I'm sure if she had, it would be something far more clever and vote inducing.
I think it's unfair to put your PS about Jill below the vote, I was almost swayed by the quote into voting for her!
I say almost since my vote is always going to GreyWolf because I think if the search engines could veto one vote it would be him :-)
I second this! Jill's quote just rocks!
Agreed. I voted for Michael as well. I voted for Boser last time but now he says he doesn't want to win. Like I told Pat, if that's a tactic to get people to vote for you, it doesn't work with me because I get confused too easily.
"Andy Beal (of Marketing Pilgrim):
I've probably read 100,000+ search industry news items over the past five years, if I don't release the pressure by regurgitating them, my head will explode."
Wow. I'd say - definitely vote in Andy Beal, but don't let him answer any questions. It'd be like sitting in the front row of a BlueManGroup show. ;)
Or Gallagher Show!! :)
"Or Gallagher Show!!"
Actually Mike - that's the first thing that came to mind. I just figured that most of this crowd might go "Huh?" :)
There was once a better version of this comment, wasn't there ;)
P.S. I am the only one vote for Heather. I thought, Jill did not bother to write so she does not care to go. Let the ladies have it once in a while IMO. But I guess Ian rules.
Actually I voted for Greg since I really know how much Greg loves these (or was there beer included)....and just because Tim needs someone to drink with later.
An eclectic mix of nominees there Rand.
I am going to have to go with my first gut reaction and vote for Michael, but I was surprised by your selections.
I gotta post a correction: My quote was:
"Er, what's a Search Bowl? Will I need protective clothing?"
I only mastered complete sentences a few years ago - I'm still excited about it.
Wow, that LeBaron is SWEET! Are we going to require the winner to adopt a 'mullet' hairdo as well?
Hi Rand,
If possible, I'd like to change my one liner to:
"Reading search engineers' blogs and listening to their advice is not a competitive advantage"
Cheers
Consider it done :)
thanks :-)
Whaaaa?! No DaveN?! Awwwwhhhhwww!
Since Bill isn't on the list, I think Loren should have to wear the eye-patch by default, whether he is selected or not.
Should you be able to vote more than once...?
Yeah I noticed that as well. Clicking "return to poll" allows you to vote again. Can't be good.
Polldaddy supposedly doesn't count multiple votes, but I'll double check it.
Edit - just checked and only your first vote will count :)
Well, you say that, but I think that I could quite happily write a script to vote any one of them into a winning position.
A short test (and three votes) later and I am certain of it.
Who wants to bribe me?
I'm actually quite torn, in fact, I think there is another opportunity here ... maybe this should be expanded to a separate game, splitting the list into two and having a Family Feud duel
With Rand of course playing Richard Dawson.
Oh, and even better, how about The Price Is Right, based on sites selling links, with Cutts as Bob Barker!! Now that would be priceless. Of course the real question for the participants is whether it would be better to win the game or not ... winning might reveal too much insight into tex-link buys.
For the record, I did indeed respond to Rand. I had written:
"I’d be honored to be part of the team. I think a team comprised of Oilman, Boser, Andrew Goodman, Aaron Wall and me, would kick some search engine butt big time! "
Not sure where Rand came up with the other one as I had nothing to do with AltaVista!
Hi Jill,
Sorry, I did not know (about my earlier comment). Can you guys possibly count my vote to go to Jill instead of Heather. Big fan of your community.
Yeah - but that's not a one liner! Besides, I needed to give someone a hard time, and you seemed like the best candidate at the time. :)
If you want, Jill, I can edit the post - just let me know.