In order to please the masses, Rand once again chained me to my desk and ordered me to do a recap of SES London in an amusing comic book fashion. Thanks to Jeff and his spiffy MacBook (ComicLife yo!), this time I was able to create this batch of comics much easier than SES Chicago's Flash-tastrophe. Thanks, Jeff!
Anyway, I hereby present to you SES London: The Comic Strip. Special thanks to Liana Evans, Alex Bennert, and Becky Ryan for contributing some photos. Also, thanks to Scott for his wonderful artistic skills--he really captured the essence of Allan choking on his dinner. By the way, this strip is a bit bigger than Chicago's (after all, Europe is slightly more photogenic than sub-zero Chi-Town), so hopefully your comps won't get bogged down.
Oh, and if you like the project, feel free to send donations...I heard Rand grumbling the other day about "monetization" and "wedding to pay for," so I'm sure SEOmoz would appreciate the tips. ;)
P.S. I also need to give a HUGE shoutout to Frank Watson, Greg Boser, and his wonderful wife, Barbara, for an incredible time in Paris and at the hotel bar. Thanks! See you in New York!
By: Rebecca Kelley
You Asked For It: SES London in Comic Strip Form
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.
By the way, post-publication I realized I forgot to write dialogue for a few panels, so I went back and added them. Enjoy!
Thanks for making me come off like a drunken reprobate! That characterization is at least 18% inaccurate.
Mate you can pound the drinks.... maybe not a reprobate but give it some time.
19.3%. I calculated.
I'm not in the commic strip. :(
Are too! In one panel I mentioned how Dave Naylor succeeded you as the latest SES Princess. :)
I am so blind. :) Was messing around and was expecting you to say something like "you did not attend SES London". Either way I am happy to be in the strip.
You probably have already thought about this, but you should do a comic strip for every conference. If you do it weekly as you mentioned in the comments below, the comic strips won't be as 'rare/novel' and people will get used to them. Either way, whatever route you go with, the comic strips will be fun and entertaining.
Thanks for the heads up on TalktoFrank.com - was wondering where all my money went - Yahoo must have connected that to my credit card!!!
Someone said it could have been the shots at the bar but I am maintaining it is Yahoo's fault!
Rebecca, I had so much fun exploring Paris with you. You are a beautiful person with a fantastic wit! I cant wait to see you soon. Hugs, Becky
Back at ya, Becky--your Coke was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. That, and the "indecent" ATM :)
Word.
Fookin' nice comic!
Bloody brilliant!
I think the SEOmoz Comics should be a weekly or at least monthly addition to the site... conference or not.
Strangely, I have a craving for fish 'n chips wrapped in butcher paper, slathered with malt vinegar, and a pint of Boddingtons.
cheers
...whoops, fookin cheers!
Yeah, Jeff and I were talking about having a "Friday comic"--something short and sweet. That way, I can play around with ComicLife some more.
A Friday comic would be cool. I'm waiting for the first SEOmoz graphic novel too.
Ah, Boddington's. The first meal Rebecca and I had in London consisted of two pints of Boddington's and a packet of pistachios at the Trafalgar pub in Greenwich.
Never understimate the beauty of pub grub... although a packet of pistachios... they must have introduced a new 'light fare' menu since I was last there.
This would be perfect addition to Fridays! Really bump up those Friday productivity numbers... that is if productivity is measured in the number of things you can be occupied by that don't relate directly to anything productive!
Hence our growing desire to open a pub called "The Pint and Pistachio." Either that or "The Donkey and Trumpet." It's always "The [noun] and [noun]" with British pubs.
But see, you have to include at least one animal though to be official, so "The Donkey and Trumpet" would pass, otherwise they seem too modern.
Perhaps a
Or you need to be something you aren't, "The Bell Inn" even though you aren't an inn... at least anymore.
Or tell a story, "Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem" (which is noted as the oldest pub in England, btw, in Nottingham).
I just got schooled in the art of pub naming.
I don't know if I'd go that far.
I'm still a Yank after all! ;)
Our favorite ACTUAL pub we saw was "The Slug & Lettuce"
Hold on
I'm sorry, but I think we need a judge's ruling on whether that is an ACTUAL pub's name or you are just taking the piss.... although, I suppose that does satisfy the animal requirement.... hmmmm
Take that back! The Slug and Lettuce is a horrible chain pub; horrible, horrible, horrible. It's like saying that your favourite beer is Budweiser!
Please excuse me while I go to my happy place. :)
Allow me to clarify: it was our favorite ridiculous, yet properly formated, English pub name; we never actually went there and, if Rob says it's awful, I'm sure it's for the best.
He's right I'm afraid. Definitely not worth it - a sorry excuse for a pub chain.
Next time, you'll have to come to sarf (read: south) London and the goat pub (unfortunately not the goat & ...). Great beer.
Now that was worth a pic..... have to just get it next year!!!
And I am booking on the yatch.... so much less walking to the event!
Welcome Rebecca!
That was su-fookin-perb!
I also vote for more regular comics, that had me laughing out loud and everything!
Great work Rebecca!!
Hysterical stuff, love "engaged" on the door.
Any SEOmoz plans to visit the sunny shores of Sydney, Australia in the near future? :)
We offer an excellent combination of fluffy animals and world class drinking holes. I think that's a fair exchange for a SEOmoz Sydney comic strip!
Hey, I'm all for it if the company's willing to send me :D
LOL... or one of the friends of moz gets you sidetracked.....
This has to be one of the funniest things i've seen.
My next article will be on "How to make it on to the SEOmoz Comic Strip". Hey .... I'll probably be at NYC SES, something to think about. ;-)
Good job guys.
That is fantastic, Rebecca!!! Once again, a great laugh on a Monday morning :) Cheers!
Ah man, I take just ONE Friday off and look at all the fun I missed out on! Fantastic job on the comics Rebecca! These were hilarious!
I feel somewhat honored that "Punch the Monkey" has yet one more cultural reference in the internet marketing world (I spent half my marketing life working at the company that created the Monkey. I think I still have a case of stuffed monkies somewhere).
Could be collector's items buy now... try ebay
Nice one :)
Just to clarify, we don't actually run our business *in* a Scottish restaurant.
Maybe it's not such a bad idea though. Mmmmmm. Whisky.
Great to see you all. Catch up again some time soon.
That's why I have the comma there! If it were "SEOs who run Distilled at a Scottish restaurant," then there'd be some confusion. Pause at the comma, dude :)
Yeah yeah. Commas. Whatever.
Was a good night. Good to see you all.
Haha, I love the apathy :P
And she knows grammar.... hmmmmm better watch out Rand!!!
It'd be pretty rad if you did though!
It was really nice to meet you and Duncan. Thanks for the whiskey.
We'll work on it...!
Great to meet you too. Glad you guys liked the whisky - looking forward to your next trip here (or sometime we can make it out to sunny(?) Washington State!)
OMG i fookin love you guys!
That was really funny. Well done! More accessible than the <i>Top Things Overheard at SES London</i> article, which left me thinking "guess you had to have been there."
LOL - just as funny as Chi-Town!!
Bravo - *in her best naylor accent* FOOKIN' Bravo! :)
Great job Rebecca, it's a shame that I kept having to leave early to get the last train home. I'll make an extra effort to make a fool of myself even more in NYC as I'll have a hotel to crash at. I'll even let you choose the karaoke song this time ;)
That or my place.... save the money to spend on drinks .....
Still bummed I couldn't make it this year. Hilarious as always!
I love the "Engaged" sign for the locked door. I'd forgotten about that; we have those stupid signs too. Britain has spread itself all over New Zealand and we'll never be truly independent...
Perhaps the best "sign" was when Becky tried to take out too much money at the ATM in the London train station and the machine told her that her request was "indecent."
But surely being overrun with hobbits is more of an issue?
*ducks*
Well, yeah....they sent all those "people" over to Australia back in the day....you'll never be free of British influence. mwahhahahaha
Brits did the same over here. Only we got the Puritans. Count yourselves lucky. No witch burnings in your history, as I recall.
Wow, that was epic. I'm looking forward for the print version so that I can read it on the train ride home... though I don't read comic books or ride the train home.
When is the next sleepover with Vanessa Fox?
Fantastic sense of humor, as always. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun.
Hope you enjoyed Paris...when I was in France last year I ended up in an Emergency room after a football riot (thankfully I have a EU passport and paid nothing out-of-pocket(score!)). Looks like your trip might have gone a bit smoother than mine :)
That last part with the scoldin and hi five was totally canned.
Nuh uh, you weren't there so you don't know!
Dude, those pics are sooo legit. In fact, they're too legit to quit!
Hey heyyyyyyy!
LOVED the high five w/VdM. I'm surprised you didn't do a Titanic reenactment with Nike of Samothrace, but maybe the security guards took you away before you could.
Great stuff -- I agree, how about a weekly Friday comic?
Almost makes up for not being able to catch more of the fun in person. I can't wait for New York
I know--I only got to see you briefly the first night, and then you got all "busy" on us. If you go to New York, we'll have to have another subway adventure :D
I hope so! And I just might bring some processed cheese with me...mwahahaha (evil laugh)
Okay my town... so I get to play tour guide.... Chinatown is a must... a meal and some real karaoke in a dive bar sounds about right....
after all, Europe is slightly more photogenic than sub-zero Chi-Town
That hurts, Rebecca. Just because it was 50°F the week before SES Chicago, 50° the week after, and -3° when you arrived, that's no reason to insult our scenery.
No picture of Rand after tasting the (ulp) haggis?
It was actually pretty delicious!
Any tips on surviving its 'deliciousness'?
I'm being threatened with being force fed haggis next Thursday. *gulp*
Seriously, it was really good! I'd go back to The Boisdale in a heartbeat just for the haggis.
Just don't think about what it actually is, because if you think about the fact that it's a sheep's stomach stuffed full of intestine and stuffing it may turn you off. (I knew there was a reason I went vegetarian) ;)
a wee dram of fine scotch :)
Definitely helps.
We were worried when we made Rand order the haggis that he wouldn't actually like it but that wasn't a problem - in fact I think the other 'mozzers were jealous when they tasted it.
(But I'll second sheseltine - don't even begin to think about what's in it...).
This is hilarious, good job Rebecca. I need to start going to these conferences!
Way too long... comic strips are supposed to be short.
The conference was long.
Yeah, sorry about my comment. I had a comic strip site for a long time and I'm kinda sensitive when it comes to designing comic strips online.... :)