The networking at PubCon 2009 was awesome and it is great to get to see so many industry associates at the same place and time. Now there are some of my friends that I only see once a year in Vegas. Great job this year Brett, keep up the excellence.

DK is the chiropractor who got his Web marketing efforts adjusted by Matt Cutts at a search marketing conference a few years back, I remember it, I was there. He also facilitates the search marketers charity poker tournament during the Webmaster World Conference in Vegas the past two years. I played in both. Last year I was the “bubble boy” that is, the last player not to make the final table (I predict that this year, if I make it past the first hour, I will be in the final heads up!)

So I’ve decided to check out DK’s ThinkTank this year and I’ll be down in San Diego September 17th-19th figuring out how to surf waves of cashola. When I get back I’ll have a review but till then you can read about the purpose Inc ThinkTank here: http://www.purposeinc.com/pwp/thinktank
I wish I could stay in SoCal for an extra week but I’ll have to get back here cause I’m helping you and others ascend and it’s a big task.

Feel free to leave a comment.

The Networking is always nice. Microsoft sponsored a huge ravesque party at RAIN in the Palms hotel. I had to leave it after 40 minutes though so I could get to Purpose Inc’s No Limit Hold’em charity tournament at the Venetian. 30% of the proceeds were contributed to a disabled Iraq war veterans charity. Last year I was out in 20 minutes, this year I was the “bubble boy,” finishing in tenth place, one away from the final table and the money. The networking at this event was great and I saw many of my associates whom I only get to see once a year or so.

I would wager that the Conference attendance was down at least 20% from last year, but reliable sources told me the conference substance was really good this year.

The Webmaster World Expo was great. I meet some interesting people with new and innovative SEO related products and services. All in all, the Expo was great.

The 2008 PubCon event was held at the Hofbrauhaus. Great size for the event. This is one of, if not the best Marketer/Webmaster networking events on the planet. I look forward to next years event.

This year I returned, as I said I would in last years review, to the SMX Advanced Conference in Seattle.

Getting to Denver was a nightmare. I missed my flight (not by my tardiness) but South West Air helped me catch the next one.

I got into Seattle about 7:30 pm. Rented a Hummer for $31/day and drove to my hotel. OI missed the MSN reception party by 15 minutes so I went back to room and did some work… till 2 am (stupid me!).

These are the sessions I attended:

Day One SMX Advanced

Bot Herding – This was quite an interesting session. I enjoyed it. Panelists discussed the dumbness of bots and how to avoid pitfalls that are bot related. there are many things that can go bad and usually it is avoidable . It was good. I’ve been doing this for near 10 years now so I knew the info but the specifics were good.

This was a fiery panel too. I did appreciate what each of them had to say, Stephan Spencer, Michael Gray, Hamlett Batista and Adam Audette. Hamletts “White Hat Cloaking” presentation was great. They shulda gave him another 10 minutes as he had the audience mesmerized. Danny could of just taken the time from the Search Engine Reps on the panel. They got way to much time and bumbled their way through the session.

These rookies from the Search Engines were not quite ready for that panel and they certainly were outranked by everyone else on it, and they knew it, and… ok thats enough rant.

But they did provide a highlite, in that, Nathan Buggia, Lead PM, Live Search Webmaster Center, Microsoft had an iBook in front of him.

That’s funny! And a serious business faux paux! It is like a Mercedes dealer who shows up to work in a Lexus each day. That is old school Bill, go ahead and send your guys out into the feeding frenzy armed with only an Apple. My next computer will certainly be a Mac sumthin. I’ve had PC’s for 16 years.

Buying Sites for SEO – This was another session, from the Organic track, that about halfway through it I found myself scratching my head wondering why this years event wasn’t just branded as “SMX Black.” The idea is to grab expired domains, resurrect content to it (mouth to mouth resuscitation) then grab the trust from the seasoned and now not broken links and then use 301’s to send the trust to another domain. Well, this works. It always has. But I bet Google is fast working on closing the loophole and why risk your future reputation with Google forever over a tactic?

I enjoyed all the presentations by Gab Goldenberg, Todd Malicoat, Jeremy Schoemaker, and Jeremy Wright. I know it works, but don’t you think teaching it here crosses the line with Google, as far as their Quality Guidelines and Trust Rank system?

You & A with Matt Cutts – Hey, I had a front row seat for this one. Mostly Matt talking about Google best practices. But I did get to ask Matt an important question directly after the session and before he was pinned against the wall with questioners.

The Networking Bash was great. Not as loud as last years. Google did not sponsor it this year so those people who went to SMX Advanced last year, my be the only marketers to get to go to a Google Dance, not at the Googleplex in California.

I am going to take a break now. I’ll tell you about day 2 later…

Yesterday I bought two Sony digital audio recorders. Tiny lil things but they work great. Hopefully I can tape some of the great stuff that I would otherwise miss.

Some are of more interest to me granted. Like day 1, “Blow Your Mind Link Building Techniques,” Um, err, yeah, I want to hear that one, just, I mean, at least one nugget please! But at the same time is an interesting looking topic on “Search Marketing Payment Models,” duh, I want to hear that one too! and on day 2, the session about “Surviving a Recession” looks good as does the “International SEO” and then the “Platform Considerations” presentation looks real good!

Last year it was alll organic for me but this year I need some freshening up on “PPC strategy” too, so I gotta get to one of them, and “Analytics,” yep usually find a gem or two in that one. And then, oh, hey looky theres an “Amazing New PPC Tactics” session!

And then there are some great Networking events, like the Google Dance North West.

I don’t think I am actually going to blog the event as my hands are full already. But I’ll sure give a summary or review of the event when I return.

Cheers!

Robert

* Fantasy Sports Consumer Trends
* Fantasy Content
* Evolution of the High Stakes/High Prizes Fantasy Contest
* New Applications of the Fantasy Model

Yummy Lunch.

* Pitch Me
* New Fantasy Sports Documentaries
* Enhancing Your Web Presence Through Search Engine Optimization
* Research into the Fantasy Sports Industry
* Conference Conclusion
* FSTA Expert Fantasy Baseball Draft

Our panel on SEO went great! I had the pleasure of being accompanied by Mary Bowling from Blizzard Internet Marketing, and also Mike Belasco from SEOverflow. We were very well recieved.

Conference was great. I’d come again.

This place was great because of all the room and space it had. In past years, the Nine Irishmen got so crowded and packed with “networking marketers” that everyone had to get very intimate with many strangers in order to get around. I used to try and find a good chair in the corner and see who came to me. This year though, everyone could move freely, with many entrances and exits, friendly bar staff. I really got a good chance to chat with everyone I hoped to this year and was able to meet some good new connections. I was a bit saddened when it was over after about 3 hours but while it was going it was the best PubCon I’ve been too in four.

About an hour in to the event, Danny Sullivan shows up! He must have chartered a jet from the Chicago SES event to get there that quick but I for one was real happy to see him make it.

Here is a link to the PubCon page. See ya next year at it.

Robert

Tuesday and Thursday each had five tracks equaling 25 sessions each day and Wednesday had 15 sessions. since I could only go to 13 sessions physically, these are the ones I went to:

Tuesday, December 4
Social Marketing – Leveling the Playing Field
This was a good introduction to the major social media environments like Delicious, Digg and Facebook.

Monetizing Social Media Traffic
This was a really good session for people who are already in the social media optimization and marketing.

Reputation Monitoring and Management
I’ve been to this session a couple times before but this was the best one. About using Press and the Blogosphere for reputation issues.

Link Baiting – 96 Different Strategies
I was headed over to hear Dr. Ralph Wilson Speak on e-mail marketing as I used to subscribe to his newsletter myself back in 2001 and 2002, but the title of 96 strategies sucked me in. “96″ was actually more of a gimmick for the talk title but nevertheless, I found it an interesting group and presentation.

Link Buying
This is one that I would think people would just shy away from but I found my self in session. At times it tuned into a Googlebash and Matt Cutts, sitting in the back row, was getting hit hard by panelists (who obviously were mostly hard practitioners of link buying). At one point a panelist asked the audience, “How many of you buy, or know someone who buys links?” (a very cleverly crafted question!) and about 70% of the room, including myself, raised their hands. I gasped! I have never bought a link for me or a client in my carreer. I started thinking how God must like me to allow me and my clients to do so well when such vast numbers are buying links! I agree with what Stephan Spencer said from the audience, that all this link buying will catch up to the buyers within five years they will be wrecked for having participated today. It is karmically correct I suppose. This was a volatile and charged session and one I am glad I decided to attend.

Wednesday, December 5
Domain Names and Trademarks – Legal Issues
This was just as it sounds. I’ve attended this session in past years but wanted to again. I have a couple of clients , as well as myself, who are dealing with legal issues on the Web. I got some great notes and advice from the lawyers on this panel.

Interactive Site Reviews – Focus on Social Media
This was a site clinic where domains were critiqued based on Social Media marketing efforts. So so session.

Interactive Site Reviews – Focus on Organic
I went to this one because of the amount of one on one site clinics I do weekly. Panelists reviewed sites and critiqued them based upon their organic optimization.

This day ended with a reception with Google Engineers and a game of Werewolf that was thrown by SEOMOZ and was a big hit. I had fun.

Thursday December 6
CSS and HTML Coding Today
I attended this session last year and it was better than this years session which had two “no shows” on the panel. But it was good to rehash the CSS and HTML topics, which I use a lot in my site rehabilitations, even though it was CSS basics, it is okay because that’s what it is really about, getting back to the basics. I do have a question for Brett, if panelists are to hung over to show up for their session, would that mean that next year someone else can sit on that panel?” Because I recoded my site to CSS with absolute positioning in November and December of 2002. Wouldn’t that make me one of the search marketing pioneers for this subject? If I were on this panel I would have gone to bed early the night before. Maybe next year I will pitch for being on this panel.

International and European Site Optimization
Just as it sounds. I went to this session because I currently have three international clients, one in Thailand, Hong Kong and the UK. Good stuff but a little complicated. Sticky issues were addressed.

Multivariate Testing and Conversion Tweaking
This session was about ways to improve your sites conversion through controlled, split and multivariate testing. Google Optimizer was demonstrated also. Good session.

Competitive Intelligence
This session was identical to last years session on same subject. Presenters even used the same Powerpoint presentations as last year. Nothing new here but it was still good to revisit the old stuff.

Tools of the Trade
I went to this one the past two years and they were real good both times. This year was nearly the same as the past two but not much was discussed about any new tools that have not already been covered in past years. Obviously some of the better tools are spendy yet there are some great tools that are free too.

MSN threw a private party in the Ghost Room on the roof of the Palms. I didn’t get an Invite, it was just for Live Ad Center spenders, something I tend to wean clients off of, but I got in as a guest of a big spender. Great coconut shrimp and sushi. Actually it was one of the nicer search conference networking social afterparties I’ve been too. My son sure would have liked me to win one of those xbox 360’s but I did not play for them in all fairness since I was just a guest and not invited. It was from 7-9.

At 9 many went over to Venetian for the charity poker tournament. It was a great event; too bad I was out after 9 hands. My opponent tripled up his kings over my aces and nines on the river and we were both all in after the flop when I paired my ace and nine. O well, I got a really cool shirt and helped some good charities also.

So, that is about it for this review of the Webmaster World Conference in Las Vegas, 2007. Stay tuned for a review of the PubCon portion of the event.

Robert

PubCon.com

I’ll tell you more when I return. Or maybe while I am there I can blog some of it, maybe!
Robert

Look, SMX Social was a great show. Danny Sullivan was great! The new staff was great! The panelists were great! the topics were great! The attendees were great! The food was even palatable. The hard chairs on day one sucked. But they got swapped for better chairs the second day, as if by a miracle.

The presentations were very helpful. And since Matt Cutts wasn’t in da house, the presenters were very relaxed and candid and forthright and even revealing. A couple of the “presenters” could use an ego check for sure. But all in all and root in all, I was very pleased with the panel selections, which were well suited to the subject of social media; too many names to list for now. Of course a few stand out in my memory. Among the presenters, the “I am certainly proud of myself” award went to Diggster specialist and SMO, Neil Patel.

Mr. Rand Fishkin, kudos my man. If I did not work for Mr. Web Guru, I would be happy to work for you. At SMX Advanced in Seattle you impressed me, but in New York you really shined. Rand is my new Search Marketing hero. He is probably wondering then, why I am not paying for a subscription to his members site? Well, truth is that I’m a one-man show with a couple of very talented designers and programmers in the fold but not in the employee status. Lucky me. Therefore, I just don’t have much time for newsletter. I am actually forcing “read time” into my weekly schedule to get involved in the social media phenomenon, but I have a workload to fulfill that keeps me real busy. I make time for essential and crucial reading, usually data laden white papers and occasional, select blog posts and a book or two a year to home study related web niches I want to become proficient at. I do prefer my annual events though, like SMX, PubCon and Search Engine Workshops, where I can really put aside what I already know [works] and focus on learning and discovery of emerging strategies and tactics (often I will find the best gems off the clock like at lunch or at an after party off site). What I do daily, since 1997, has always genuinely helped my clients to succeed and grow wealthy online. For the most part, forums (I don’t like forums, as I was mob raped at one of the first ones I visited years ago the “ihelpyou” forum) and newsletters and blogs, take time away from my clients (and more importantly my family) and MUCH of the information easily accessible online is debatable, and even easily refutable. When I get time to read a subscription again, yours Rand, will be the first I’d pay for, at least today. Keep up the excellence and professionalism you exude. Rand is the founder of the SEOMOZ blog.

Mr. Danny Sullivan, thank you for another excellent SMX event. Some day, if I come to enough SMX’s, you won’t have to squint and look at my ID tag to get my name when I say hi to you. It is Robert Wright (a good ‘ol English name, from: Shipwright), my ancestors likely built the ships that brought your ancestors to New York. But now you’ve come to New York to ship me home with some great and timely information. My hat is tipped to you also.
And Lui, I was also impressed with you. Christine is real lucky to have you on board!

I may have been a good panelist for this event. I have dabbled in Social Networking sites and taught my clients to get involved in them (the newer Web 2.0esque versions, not just groups and forums) since 2004.

All of the presentations at this SMX event were very good. I would attend it again.

Robert