SMX Advanced: Reflections of a 50-Year Old Search Marketing Conference Virgin
By Katie Gausepohl
June 2007 is a momentous month for me. I turn 50, I attended my first Search Marketing Expo and I’m posting my first blog entry. Life does begin at 50!
So, as a 50-year old search marketing conference virgin – and as the finance manager for Third Door Media — I just want to say hey and thanks to all the people I met who made SMX Advanced a fantastic time. I’d never actually met these creatures known as ‘search marketers,’ and as it turns out they are an unbelievably friendly and inclusive bunch.
I didn’t know what to expect - but seeing that I could have given birth to many of the attendees I wasn’t expecting much. I’m still learning the language of search marketing, and my co-workers are working hard to pull me into the technology of the 21st century.
So here’s a quick re-cap of my whirlwind experience at the inaugural SMX Advanced:
Saturday:
Seattle is a spectacular spot. The Edgewater hotel looks a bit like a Disney themed hotel. The rooms are gorgeous – too bad I’d have my eyes closed most of the time I was in mine. Chris Elwell, president of Third Door Media, got the Beatles Suite, which he richly deserved for all of his hard work on SMX Advanced over the past 8 months. The weather was unbelievable 80+ degrees; Pike’s Market was jam packed and full of surprises.
Conference Job #1: Bag Stuffing
Took us three hours to stuff hundreds of bags with conference proceedings, pens, and other sponsored items. Here we met the women of Marchex for the first time – Gannon and Emily stopped by to see how we were doing. Later in the show, Gannon became infamous for bringing over co-workers to view the exhibit hall. (Next year, Gannon, we will get these name tags printed before the event.)
We hope you all loved the bags – and appreciate that they have not one, but two zippers which we had to open and close twice to stuff with goodies. (Next year, look for one-zipper bags, in black with two straps- we do listen to your feedback.)
Sunday:
Lowell’s for breakfast was a find, and I seriously considered taking home copperhead salmon. We had the morning off – the last free time we’d have until the conference ended. I managed to put a dent on the credit card at Nordstrom’s Rack.
Conference Job #2: Check-in for Microsoft Party
An evening cocktail party with fantastic weather, food and drinks. Adee from Microsoft- greeted me with 4 huge boxes of Microsoft Ad Center promotional water bottles, along with a roll of raffle tickets for the X-box, Zune and Vista give always. (I really wanted to win any one of those prizes.) So we quickly set out to open boxes, stuff the straws and place the bottles. Thanks, Seaton, for your help.
I checked people in at the registration desk and it was great to put a face to many of the names I had typed over the past few months. What surprised me straight away was how friendly all those arriving were. I can’t tell you how many people took the time to have a bit of a chat when people weren’t queuing behind them.
The venue was great and the doors open to the great weather - upstairs looking out the windows to the bay the view was magnificent. Lisa Williams, you will always be known for the spectacular white coat. Shari Thurow, great to finally meet after having done an especially challenging Search Marketing Now webcast with you. Everyone I talked to had a great time and really enjoyed what was a very successful party. Thanks, Rand Fishkin, for covering the registration desk while I darted in to check out the party.
Monday:
Conference Job #3: Expo Registration – Putting the faces to all your names
I was at registration at 6 am- which eliminates the opportunity for breakfast at the hotel since they don’t begin serving until 6:30. Exhibitors were beginning to arrive and set up. Some faces were already familiar from the night before. What really struck me was how friendly and patient everyone was. Karen DeWeese, our Conference Director, led the set-up and ran SMX Advanced with amazing grace and calm
The day ended with the Yahoo party in the expo hall. I loved the purple light-up ice cubes. However, when I brought one home my husband (who has lived in China) told me that in Shanghai when women have these ice cubes in their drinks it’s a signal that they are available. Note to Yahoo- don’t use these ice cubes in China.
And then there was The Google Dance, an event that had a real history to live up to and didn’t disappoint. Vanessa Fox was terribly kind and got me drinks tickets to the event. I got the bartender not to light up my glass so I could bring it home – I’m sure one of my kids will appreciate a light up cup at some party. When I got home and mentioned the Google dance my daughter wanted to see the dance. Is there a Goggle Dance? If not there ought to be.
Tuesday:
Conference Job #4 (Continued): Registration, Day 2
The final day flew by, as I continued at the registration desk and filling in on the expo hall floor. One of the highlights (as it also was Monday) was the staff lunch. We, too, got to enjoy the gourmet food that so many attendees raved about!
Conference Job #5: Covering the company booth when needed
At various points during the show I worked at our Third Door Media booth. This gave me a chance to get to know exhibitors and understand how things were going on the exhibit floor. Had some great laughs with other exhibitors, and again, found everyone to be welcoming and friendly to me, the search marketing conference virgin.
The most irreverent t-shirt giveaway was the “I hate doing this shit” shirt from the guys at Acquisio. If you didn’t manage to snag one, join the club. I thought my 21-year old would have loved that shirt, but I enjoyed talking with Marc and Eric who seemed to be very happy to be part of SMX. Natalia from Click Path is destined for stardom- listen for her at future webcasts on Search Marketing Now. And while I really didn’t have enough time to stop at all the booths, it seemed as though things were hopping in the exhibit hall.
Conference Job #6: Pack up Booth
All good things come to an end, and by 3:30 Tuesday it was time to pack up the Third Door Media Booth. I found conference services, packed up our boxes, and got ready for the group photo.
Conference Job #7: Quick! Hang a sign!
Just before the group photo, we realized we’d like an SMX Advanced sign for the backdrop, so I scurried around to get conference services to hang the sign. In the end, it won’t show up in the photo – but we were ready.
Conference Job #8: The schmooze factor: this is really a job?
Since this was my first search marketing conference I have nothing to compare it to, but I met so many people I can’t remember everyone’s names. Maybe it was the size of the event but by Tuesday the faces were familiar even if names weren’t attached. Enjoying that level of familiarity made it easy to talk to people, and I found this crowd especially open and friendly. I hope I get to attend more events and see these new-found friends again.
Ciaran Norris, I promise to read “Stand before your God” before we meet again. Ekrum Ashgar, I hope you will meet me and my son for dinner in London next week. I had the best time talking and drinking with you guys and appreciate all the introductions you gave me.
I really enjoyed meeting Marcel (Googler 634 - it’s easier to remember numbers instead of names) - a Google-lite man who is interning this year but is still at university in Canada. A shout out to Lisa and Jay from NC who showed me pictures of their babies –proving that they produce great work together.
Another great intro was Lisa from SEO Chicks. Though I hardly qualify for chick status, that didn’t deter Lisa or her friends from being super friendly and inviting. I’ve heard comments as to why do we need a group for women only. One look at the panels of speakers shows that although there are very competent women about, they are outnumbered by their male counterparts Anything that makes someone feel more comfortable and eases introductions and the sense of belonging can’t be bad. And when I looked up SEO Chicks.com I recognized everyone in Lisa’s photos. So a big thumbs up to you and SEO Chicks.
Met up with Brandy, a larger-than-life character from Webmaster Radio. This is a woman with more stories than I could begin to recount. Caught up with Patrick Crisp from Ask in his unofficial office on the couches outside the dining room. Seems to me he spent a lot of money on an expo pass to use the wireless connection in the hall. But I had a great time seeing the newly launched ASK format and was very excited to be able to go home and show my kids.
SMX Advanced has made me much cooler with my 4 kids ages 21, 19, 16 and 14. They think it is so unlikely that Mom would know something about the Internet and Search that they haven’t already found. (For Mother’s Day they gave me an iPod, aghast that I was still using a CD player, something akin to a Stone Age implement.)
I finally met Alan Dick. Alan, I hope by the next time we meet again, you will have read the Tipping Point. If you don’t know the story behind Alan and his website Vintagetub.com ask me at our next event and I will be happy to tell you the story. We also found out that there were two Matt McGee’s totally unrelated at the conference. Both great guys who we got to know when they tried to pick up each other’s badge.
The guy with the best eyeglasses had to be Matthew Glass from Epiar. I hope he will hook me up with his co-worker’s wife who produced his glasses. I also promise, Anton, that I will never again present you with a name tag on a lanyard- it will be a version that you may clip on to your impeccable outfit.
A special thanks for the shout out invite by Matt to the SEOmoz party that came after the final photo. This I took to heart and although this older woman was tired I ventured out to the Garage, where I had a blast.
Wednesday:
Conference Job #9: The Aftermath
As all the attendees were either sleeping in or heading to the airport, the staff at Third Door Media returned to the Bell Harbor for a post-conference meeting. Tired as we all were, we had an amazing sense of accomplishment, and are already looking forward to the next SMX Local/Mobile in Denver. We compared notes about SMX Advanced, and talked about initial reactions and ideas for improvement.
By late afternoon we, too, were on our way to the airport. SMX Advanced was over.
Was it worth it? You bet.
As a search marketing conference virgin, I’ll always remember my first – SMX Advanced was a special show, with very special people. Search marketers are a smart, fun, and friendly lot of people. To a person, everyone welcomed me like an old friend. It was truly an amazing experience.
And when it was over – I slept like a baby.