Internet Conferences Archive

I’m en route now to Seattle from Las Vegas. Watch out for a post on PubCon 2007 later, but today I just want to wrap up The Travel Convention I attended in Tenerife…..

I had met Paul Evans from LowcostBeds on the plane who gave me a bit of advice:

Be short, be funny (erm thanks Paul) and to not think of the delegates as a bunch of travel agents (very few of them were) but as the travel community.

Just as well really because my part of Riding The Wave was to outline what is going on with Web 2.0, communities and social networking.

It was broad brush, high level 20 minutes, littered with facts, figures and off the wall stories about how the web is changing people’s lives by connecting them in so many different ways, and how companies like Microsoft and Google are helping advertisers connect with those audiences.

This kind of set the scene for Kevin may to go macro and talk about the travel industry, letting the conference know that perhaps they weren’t embracing this new way of doing things, suggesting some things hadn’t changed much.

The screen shots of Expedia’s homepage were telling – not changed in 10 years! Citing a couple of new sites that were doing thing’s slightly differently helped to hammer the point home.

Kevin posted on the Travolution Blog his main bullets and encouraged a discussion which has seen people initially disagree with him but end up talking themselves round – check out the thread here.

The travel industry is a very much a tight knit community – everyone seemed to know each other and boy do they party hard!

Thanks to Kevin, Simon Ferguson and Charlotte Davies for the opportunity to get out there and spread the news.

Thanks also to Dan Robb and Robin Frewer for picking up the dinner tab. Always nice when Google pays!

You can find our travel presentations here.

And if anyone bumps into Paul, let him know I was short, people did laugh, and I hope I’m now an honorary member of their community.

Can’t wait for next year!?

So I felt like a bit of a plum last night as I came back into the Wynn Hotel, having spent a couple of hours blowing $300 on slot machines at Treasure Island. I foolishly thought the change of scenery to a hotel across the road would change my luck, as I’d blown $200 the night before at The Wynn.

As I enter the hotel and I hear Rand Fishkin and Gillian from SEOMoz calling me from the other side of a yucca plant in the lobby. I told them I’d lost some dough – enough to pay the tiler for some work on my kitchen – and they felt sorry for me and took me for a slap up Italian dinner, which was jolly nice of them.

Fast-forward 22 hours….

I get back from the convention centre where PubCon 2007 is being held, (watch out for coverage later!) and walk through the casino to get to the lift (elevator) to my room.

In amongst the heaving throng of elite gamblers I spot my favourite slot machine, which has a kind of Wheel of Fortune thingy on the top. I hesitate because this one has a minimum stake of $5, and you have to bet $10 per spin to get a chance of spinning the wheel and collecting a fortune.

So like an idiot I get $10 out and stick it in!!!

The wheels spin for what seemed like eternity……………………Bar…………..Triple Bar…………………….FORTUNE SPIN!!!!!!!

I look up and I see I’m going to win AT LEAST $100 – not bad for a $10 stake – so I press the button and wait………..

The wheel stops on $500!!!!!!!!!!

So I “high 5” the nearest attendant (who tells me the biggest win he’s ever seen was $100k!) and cash out 🙂

Now I’m still only half way to the lift and I happen to pass another Wheel of Fortune machine which has a minimum 25c stake, so I think “it’s only ten bucks” and shove it in.

30 seconds later………….$252.25!!!!!!

So I’m now $250 up and never going to gamble again………….ever!!!

Just goes to show although gambling does not pay, persistence obviously does!

I have arrived in Vegas now.

A lady on the plane asked if I lived here. Without thinking I said “god no!” loudly enough for the passengers that did live here to overhear me……oops 🙁

Staying at The Wynn, which is very nice, at the conference rate, which is even nicer.

But where do they get off charging $25 just to use the gym?

I’m also $5 up having dabbled on the slots while I waited for my luggage to arrive at the airport 🙂

Still writing up the conference summary but Kevin May’s just sent me a podcast we did a few minutes after we got off stage.

Riding The Wave Podcast – Travolution & Microsoft

Myself and Kevin May from Travolution have just done our slot at The ABTA Travel Convention – Riding The Wave – Out in Tenerife.

Over a 1000 people in the audience and they appeared to love it!

Jeremy Vine from the BBC is a nice guy – much taller in real life and a real pro at MCing the conference.

He did complain about his mobile phone not working properly though, but then acknowledged Windows Mobile 5 probably wasn’t in my remit, so we talked about Genesis and OMD instead:)

Full round up tomorrow – got to catch a flight!

Kevin May – Jeremy Vine – Me!

Very Impressive Staging

I’m up at “O Crack Sparrow”  tomorrow to catch a flight to Tenerife.

Simon Ferguson and Kevin May from Travolution very kindly asked me if I’d do a double act during The Travel Convention with Kevin, and speak at a session called Riding The Wave.

I’ll deliver the “here and now” of Web 2.0 and how consumers are interacting with the web, what their expectations are, and I’ll tell a few stories about what the internet holds for big brands and one-man-bands alike.

Kevin will then leap in and narrow down the opportunities to the travel sector.

It should be good fun, and I must say the setting couldn’t be more perfect.

Not sure I’ll want to come back…..oh no…..hold on… I’ve got to be in Las Vegas next week for PubCon!!

Bummer!

If SMX London was a residential property, a British Estate Agent would have described it thus:

“SMX London is a bijoux, four-roomed apartment, laid out over 3 floors. Packed with all the mod-cons a professional would desire, the kitchen needs a special mention for its capacity to create fine cuisine, rarely seen in properties of this ilk. Close to all the local amenities, direct access is provided to handymen from all disciplines from whom advice flows like fine wine.

The rooms have been decorated in various themes to suit your mood and professional persuasion, and the clear access between them is punctuated only by its own elevator, built in the style of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

The dynamic designer duo responsible for bringing this property to market, have assured us it is the perfect place to entertain friends both old and new so early viewings are recommended! Price on application…”

Given the success of the inaugural SMX in London, I’m sure the next one will be even better attended. Although much of the coverage has been about SEO, there was a whole track on Paid Search.

I counted 30 delegates in the What’s New With Search Advertising session in which I was speaking with Richard Firminger from Yahoo! Richard Gregory from Latitude and Alexis Sitaropoulos from Miva. Maybe it was because more people were interested in the organic tracks, maybe it was because Google didn’t trot along. If it was the latter I’ll have a chat with Mark Howe tomorrow, as I’m on another panel with him and Firminger at Mindshare.

The highlight for me, other than me having two other colleagues, Colm Bracken and Max Whiteford, speaking about ad copy and paid search tactics, was the What’s New With The Algorithm sesh.

Now ok…..so I knew all four guys up there pretty well – Kristjan, Dixon and Mikkel were on the now infamous Icelandic Jaunt last November, and I met DaveN at SEODays and nearly had him blown up by al Qaeda – but they didn’t have to mention Live Search and what Microsoft are doing in this space quite so much unless they thought we’d crossed over to the useful/viable side of Search Street.

Nathan Buggia leant across during the course of the talk and asked had we ever had quite so much airtime and I had to say no. I think we were taken a little by surprise, but maybe because we come so far and still feel we have a lot to do – but at least the seeds are germinating. The adCenter Community Team have done sterling work with the blog and being active on the forums and now with Paul Stoddart in the UK and Nathan in the US we’re trying to get in amongst the SEO community and show we’re innovating, listening and acting on their feedback.

I thought the whole event was a great success, the sessions our guys spoke at became nice little debates and discussions rather than: Present, Question, Answer – and it was great getting Gord Hotchkiss over – I could listen to him for hours!

We didn’t get over to the Case Study track and was wondering how that was attended and received? Some folks in the UK have recently said of SES and SMX that they’re “old boys clubs” and of little value any more. That’s a sentiment I feel is totally unfair, as they have introduced case studies and real world examples that are approachable and accessible for newcomers and green search marketers. It’s the key to keeping the balance between the more advanced types and helping people new to the channel have as much success as we have utilising it.

Looking forward to next year although I can’t see a date on the site!!!

…I’m going to do it all again next week!

Quite a few of us Microsoftees will be speaking at Search Marketing Expo – Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman’s inaugural London conference under the SMX brand.

The conference, taking place on 15th & 16th November at The Hilton Metropole in London, is aimed at:

 – Advertising Budget Holders
 – In-house search marketers
 – Brand managers
 – Paid search advertising planners and buyers
 – Organic search optimization specialists
 – Web technology experts

We’ll be covering a number of sessions on:

What’s new with search advertising? – Me

Creating search ads that convert – Colm Bracken – Lead Search Media Analyst

Search ad testing & tactics – Max Whiteford – Editorial Policy Analyst

Dealing with the penalty box – Nathan Buggia – Product Manager Live Search

If you’re thinking of coming Register Here using the promotional code SPSMX07 to get 10% off the entry fee!

I am sitting at Arlanda Airport, Stockholm. It’s very quiet, I’ve just eaten smoked reindeer and the bar is closed….

The last 48 hours that was SMX Stockholm has gone in a flash of furious learning, rabid talking and the much needed drink or three.

My session on what’s new with the search engines went off without a hitch. A 9am slot is actually pretty nice as everyone’s keen, attentive and of course, awake! It also meant I had the next couple of days to relax and listen to all the goings on which was nice for a change.

Singling out the Universal Search session, Andy Atikins-Kruger and Dixon Jones both spelled out the advantages and disadvantages of a shift by Google and others to a more blended set of search results, including not just regular links but also pictures and video.

Adam Lasnik, who I’d never met until last night, then gave us the inside scoop into why Google went down this route.

Adam, who is a lovely bloke, obviously very clever, and an engaging, extremely polite speaker, said that as Google want to organise the worlds information, the natural course of action would be to try and include all forms of media in whatever format.

It’s just taken so long to come up with the 1-stop-shop because they had to figure out ways to scale it.

The mantra seemed to be – Keep it fast, keep it simple and keep it relevant – which is kinda what you’d expect?

He hinted that partnerships were in the offing too, so not just GoogleBot sniffing around for content, but going deals with third parties.

Keen to put agencies who specialise in search engine optimization mind’s at ease, he encouragingly said “it’s still about the web, keep the usual strategies, create quality content in other forms and expect similar SEO guidelines to apply.”

So how has it been received by users? Well according to Adam users are finding what they need a lot more quickly, resulting in them doing more searches for other stuff, and far fewer users clicking on the second page of results. 

I asked him if it had had an effect on the paid ads (AdWords) but he said he didn’t know because he’s not on the advertiser side of Google, but judging by the recent revenue figures and the share price crashing through the $700 barrier, it can’t have had that much of an adverse effect!!

Other than the usual suspects that attended as speakers, there was a new kid on the block (the speaking one anyway) – Joost De Valk – a Dutch 25 year old SEO consultant and web developer, who impressed me with his knowledge and, more importantly, his delivery of it.

One to watch….