After months of hard work from our SEMpdx team, SearchFest 09 launched their 3rd Annual event. It was, in a word, awesome.
Though there is so much to discuss since the show was such a hit, here are
Eight Things I Didn’t Expect from SearchFest 09
SEMpdx Brought In the Biggest Names in The Business
Todd Mintz, Kent Lewis and David Mihm were pivotal in bringing in the top guns in all the search areas discussed, Social Marketing, Technical SEO, PR, Online Reputation Management, WordPress and Blogging, etc. We had big names as well as the big three (Google, Yahoo, MSN).
Danny Sullivan Keynoted
Danny Sullivan, the Godfather of search, keynoted about the perception of search and helped create some potential new language for the industry to create clarity about the depth of search. Terms recommended included Technical SEO, speaking to the technical and site architecture side of search and Content SEO, speaking to the content development side of search. I’ve heard Danny speak several times and I thought it was great that he actually asked our membership what they’d like to learn from his keynote and he addressed those questions and issues. Didn’t surprise me that he’s such a classy, thoughtful guy, but that, even as busy as he is, he took the time to address SEMpdx membership questions.
We Sold Out
Okay, we knew it was going to be a big show, but we were being fairly ambitious, especially in this economic climate, way to go Hallie Janssen and Kent Schnepp.
One of Our Panelists Was Heckled
Neil Patel is considered to be one of the first social marketers, he is a confident, enthusiastic, very talented business man. He’s also very young and cocky (title of his blog “Quick Sprout-I’m Kind of a Big Deal”) and his ideas and vision can be very cutting edge, to say the least. The heckling was fairly surprising considering the caliber of professionals at the event, but it brought up an important point. Who are these people anyway? It’s one thing to heckle if they’re just post adolescent hackers who know too much because they spend too much time in front of a computer, but Neil Patel has helped AOL, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard and Viacom make more money from the web. By the age of 21 not only was Neil named a top 100 blogger by Technorati, but he was also one of the top influencers on the web according to the Wall Street Journal. Neil is a respected author and speaker and he is, indeed, kind of a big deal.
Building and Growing your SEM Business Was a HUGE Hit
We had this track at SMX West last year and it was great and well-received, but lightly attended because it was opposite some heavy hitters. Also, SEM’s are often at shows to get knowledge about learn about implementation, so we were excited to see so many attendees prepared to learn how to run a business. Anne Kennedy, Adam Audette and Rand Fishkin comprised our panel and they, also, were against some heavy hitters (Marshall Simmonds and Derrick Wheeler) but they packed the house. Their advice about running and growing a business was great, but they took it a step further and discussed their own growth and goals so candidly and so whole-heartedly that I actual got a little vaklempt listening to them discuss their struggles (“Sometimes we had to choose who on the team got paid that month”) and their revelations (“Hire people you know and trust”) and their enormous gratitude for their mentors and family (Adam learned a great deal about the search business from his father and one of the first search marketers, John Audette). Best piece of advice expressed from every panelist “Be Skilled”.
(Check out the live blogging of the session here.)
SEMpdx Is Considered One of the Best Search Marketing Organizations in the Country
Even though he’s from Canada and works in Gig Harbor, WA, Todd Friesen of Position Tech (one of our panelists and veteran SEM) said SEMpdx is one of, if not, the best regional search marketing organizations in the country (we were drinking at the reception at Hotel deLuxe, but confirmed his opinion later;)
SEMpdx and the Search Industry Got Some Coverage for SearchFest
Marketplace and NPR’s Sadie Babits had shown early interest in the story, but it was postponed and we hope to speak with her soon;) But, KPTV covered the event (thanks to our PR power from Amy Rosenberg) and, more importantly, the impact of search on the local economy. Portland Monthly Magazine ran a piece (from none other than one of our writers, Keri Brenner) about search marketing and SearchFest. Not to mention the ton of coverage from the people we got on Twitter at #sf09
No One Wanted to Take Credit
As marketers, we love to take the limelight. We love to be on stage, we adore the sound of our own voices. But when it came to taking credit, it was hard to get a “You’re welcome”. I thanked Scott Hendison for uploading powerpoints at the last minute, he said, “Not a problem”. I thanked Mike Rosenberg for getting all our wonderful sponsors, he said, “Thank the sponsors”. I thanked Pixelsilk and our other sponsors and they said, “Thank the board”. I thanked our SEMpdx President Ben Lloyd for his great keynote introduction and guidance through the process, he said “Thank Hallie and Kent”. I thanked Hallie and Kent and they said, “Thank the awesome panelists”. I thanked the panelists, they said, “Thank the great attendees”. So thank you, to everyone who made this SearchFest our best yet.
