Next Monday night I’ll be making the drive from Rhode Island to New York City to attend my first SMX event. This SMX event is called SMX Social Media, and it marks the third event in the SMX series that was launched earlier this year by Danny Sullivan and Third Door Media.
I hear people all the time saying that their experience is what makes them successful in SEO. While I subscribe to that train of thought, I’m not naive enough to think that my old ways of optimizing sites will always produce results in this dynamic industry.
In my mind — you need to be on the pulse of what’s happening if you’re going to be successful. It’s clear that both social and local influences are shaping search optimization efforts. With this in mind, I need to be at SMX Social Media, or I’ll risk falling behind.
The Agenda
I find myself jaded by the settings of SEO in a corporate office. The agenda at SMX Social Media provides a much needed relief to the standard conventions of on page optimization.
The two sessions I’m particularly looking forward to include A Marketer’s Guide to Social Bookmarking & Tagging with Guillaume Bouchard, Michael Gray and Neil Patel — and — Linkbait – Chumming for Traffic on Social Media Sites with Brent Csutoras, Rebecca Kelley and Cameron Olthuis.
These two sessions apply to what I’m after most, and being avid readers of Neil, Rebecca and Michael certainly makes these more appealing. More importantly, these topics apply themselves to organic search marketing – and that’s where I have always specialized.
The People
Like any search conference, SMX Social Media is more about the people in attendance than it is the events themselves. While Danny Sullivan and Third Door Media have done a great job in creating a solid agenda — it’s the ability to rub elbows with others in the SEO industry that really gets me excited.
For me, my mornings are consumed with reading nearly one hundred RSS feeds. It becomes rewarding when you have the chance to sit down over a drink or dinner to discuss SEO or social marketing with the smartest minds in the industry.
The Information
The word “privileged” comes to mind here. That’s what happens when you’re among hundreds of professionals who are passionate about what they do. Admittedly, I’m not a social media or marketing expert. Hell, I don’t ever aspire to be one… but if I’m going to succeed in my career as an SEO, I need to be at these events with my eyes and ears tuned into everything around me.
The information that circulates at search conferences cannot be found elsewhere. Sure, reading RSS feeds and forums will get you on your way, but people still like to discuss things in person. I’m not only hoping to gain some valuable information – but I’m hoping to share some helpful information with others as well.
So… What Do YOU Want to Know?
Going to SMX Social Media as the sole representative from Search Engine Journal, I want to make sure that any questions that can be asked, will be asked.
Please take this opportunity to have your questions answered. Use the comments area here on this article to post your questions, and I will try my best to have them addressed next week when I return.
If you are planning to be at the event, please let me know if you’d like to meet up. I’d love to have the chance to sit down with the readers of Search Engine Journal. So, be sure to give me a heads up, and I’ll keep an eye out for you!
