I am happy to say that living under the bridge is behind us now. The Social Media Job Hunt experiment lasted only five days before receiving an exciting employment offer, and numerous freelance offers to carry me through the interim.

I will miss all my bridge-dwelling neighbors, and will think fondly of our times chasing down rodents… er…dinner, with the kids. Moving was quick. We simply flipped our cardboard house over, put our few belongings in it, and carried it back to the house. That’s what I call a mobile home.

Now for the final update, and a few resources for those of you in a similar predicament:

If you aren’t familiar with the SMJH test, start by reading the original Social Media Job Hunt post, or find links to the SMJH and each daily update on ScottOrth.com

Though this final wrap up and resource guide is being posted after a four-week hiatus, the experiment actually ended on November 26^th, with my final post stating “I have a feeling something great is going to happen this week” – and it did.

Just before closing up shop for Thanksgiving, I had a great conversation with Mark Knowles at Smart Solutions (www.smartz.com). It wasn’t a signed deal yet, but it was pretty obvious we could do great things, so I hung up my hat and focused on meetings, interviews, and negotiations with them.

When you know something feels right, you put all your energy into it. So I quickly turned down other interviews and opportunities. I don’t always recommend that action; but to me, this was the right thing to do. It paid off. The SMJH lasted just five days…then success!

I knew negotiating and putting together final details of an executive position would take a while to complete – so I had to stay silent on the SMJH until I had something conclusive to report. And now I do. Negotiations are complete, final details are in place, and I am now the VP of Marketing Strategies at www.smartz.com – a highly successful software and web development company out of Bend, Oregon.

Let’s wrap it up

Before I go any further, I’d like to personally thank a few people who were instrumental in the success of my Social Media Job Hunt:

Li Evans

Chris Winfield

Darrin Olson

Kevin Jones

David Luffy

Rebecca Kelley

Rand Fishkin

David Wallace

Jenny Hansen Stradling

Todd Mintz and my other peeps at SEMpdx

Of course, there are so many more to thank for taking part, or even just for paying attention; but these few really stood out and gave the extra effort to help spread the word. So Thank You!

I hope a few tips and a short resource guide will be helpful to others; but I’ll be completely honest – I barely touched the roadmap I had built for an ongoing social experiment. There are dozens of tactics and avenues that I never got a chance to try. I’ll list some of them here, and I’d welcome anyone to put them to the test and let us all know the results.

When this experiment was in initial planning, I figured LinkedIn would be my best bet for success. After all, LinkedIn is a professional networking site right? It’s full of contacts, business associates, and professional groups; all eager to engage one another. Wrong.

I was surprised, in my first couple of days, how flat and unsuccessful LinkedIn was in my quest. I’ll chalk some of it up to not knowing how to use it best; but the rest simply is what it is, a list of a bunch of people that you may or may not have actually met; who you may never speak to again, and who are unlikely to raise a finger to help others in their job search. I realize that is a generalization. I’m okay with that.

A friend told me I should look at LinkedIn job postings. I was told executive positions were sometimes posted in LinkedIn and nowhere else because these employers wanted only to speak to people that were referred by contacts. That’s exactly what I was looking for.

I found six positions fitting my skill-set and I got to work. Some accepted resumes, so I submitted them. Others would only accept referrals from their connections. My network linked me to over 3.8 million contacts across LinkedIn, so I figured this should be easy. As for LinkedIn, they did make it easy. They told me who was connected to each employer, and who in my network were connected to them. This made my initial contact easy and I figured requesting introductions would work well.

Several of my own contacts never replied to my request, while others admitted that they didn’t really know the other person that well. Others did exactly what I asked and submitted introduction requests or even sent personal emails.

Many factors can come in to play here, but the bottom line? Not a single phone call. Not one reply from an inside contact. No calls or emails from employers. No leads for employment through LinkedIn whatsoever.

So what didn’t I try on LinkedIn? In my modified plans, I was preparing to:

1. Try a Google Presentation app to line out “why you should hire me”

2. Create an SMJH group

3. Submit employment or SMJH related questions to the various groups I already belonged to

I didn’t get a chance to try any of these. Give it a shot and let me know how they work for you.

A local friend and colleague warned me that mass-blasting this type of experiment may actually backfire, as recruiters may see it as too competitive and stay away. Wouldn’t you know, calls and emails from recruiters finding me on LinkedIn DID slow down once I started the SMJH.

This doesn’t resonate well with me. Staying away because of competition is a sign of weakness. I applaud the few of you who did contact me and weren’t scared away by a little competitive exposure. Job seekers beware though – it was apparent that this could have been an issue in the long run.

Facebook and Twitter became great venues for updating SMJH follower’s and people interested in the outcome. Posting on these sites also gave me a great deal of exposure and created an influx of contacts from people offering freelance jobs, tips, ideas, and resources. It was very helpful.

As Tamar Weinberg stated in her Social Media Etiquette Handbook, if you’re going to promote yourself or your own interests, you better take part in the social medium in general (not her exact words). Retweet other’s posts, post comments on blogs, and help others gain exposure for their news, posts, and stories. Self-promoting only, without reciprocation to others will backfire in the end. I walked a fine line with this. The whole idea of the SMJH was to see if mass exposure would bring a new employer to my door. Pretty hard to do that without self promoting; yet I was careful to also take part in other communities and topics. Regardless, I think by day five some people may have been seeing the SMJH as nothing more than self-promoting, so be careful.

Also, Joanna Lord says some great things about online job searching in her interview from Todd Mintz of SEMpdx. In her interview, Joanna states that many employers simply won’t “get” social media. I did, in fact, recognize this as a problem in the SMJH. Potential employers will either never see my experiment online because they’re not paying attention anyway. Or if they do see it they may disagree with the idea entirely. As it turned out, I did have a local executive contact me to say he just didn’t understand what I was doing and asked to be removed from any further communication regarding the SMJH.

It never ceases to amaze me; the difference in people and their ideas of the world. The very same day, I was also contacted by a national brand and marketing expert with over 25 international Echo Awards, and more prestigious mentions than I could possibly list here, to say “Nice work…I love it!” We may actually be talking soon about doing some cool things with this experiment. But that’s exactly what Joanna talks about; some people will get it – some will not. The social medium will only make sense for a job search with certain employers; mostly in marketing, media, and online industries. If you’re a hairdresser, forget it – its doubtful online social media will help you in your job search.

So what was the actual winning technique that ended the SMJH? With all the tools, resources, and tips available, it was a single email to my closest colleagues that actually put the word out and got me connected to Smart Solutions. So though I hope to help people with the resources below – for me, it ended up being who I knew – and who they knew, that was the key to success. Old news – but it really does seem to be all about (real) connections.

Resources

Okay, let’s get to some resources. I hope these will help in your own job search. If you have additional tips or resources, please comment – let’s help each other end this job drought.

First, I recommend creating a LinkedIn profile. Even if it’s not useful for your job search activities, it is still a great resource to show off your professional side, get recommendations from co-workers, employees, employers…even clients. Once you have a complete profile with employment history, volunteer positions, and a few recommendations – add your profile link to the top of your resume (along with your contact info). It’s an excellent resource that many of today’s employers will appreciate; if not expect.

Feel free to connect to me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorth. I’ll be happy to introduce you to a few recruiters or power networkers in my connection pool.

Job and Resume Posting Sites

It seems like there are a million of these out there. That’s because there are. Here are a few that I found most useful in my own job search.

• www.Theladders.com
• www.CareerBuilder.com
• www.TheOnlineBeat.com
• SEOmoz Marketplace
• Post yourself on Twitter through Friendfeed
• http://twitter.com/seojobs (if you’re in SEO/SEM) – Or look for similar Twitter resources for your industry

Blogs, articles, and other job search resources

As I said earlier, my experiment only lasted five days, so I’m sure this list can get much longer with your help. The following are resources that were offered to me during my job search. They may be useful for you as well. If you have additional resources, please comment and let us all know.

• http://www.sempdx.org/business/jenuinely-joanna-my-interview-with-joanna-lord/ for social media and online job hunting info.
• http://www.theonlinebeat.com/blog/other/spy-you-sign – It might be a good idea to investigate your prospective employer; the same way they will investigate you.
• http://www.jibberjobber.com A great place to track your job search activities
• http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10073394-2.html – A great list/database of who’s hiring. Posted on cnet
• www.squarepegsolution.com – A good book on some tips and tricks to land your next job
• http://seogurltalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-time-for-social-media.html – If you want to create profiles across a mind-boggling number of social sites, here is a great list of all the sites you should care about.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to follow the Social Media Job Hunt (SMJH) experiment. I am thankful that it lasted less than a week. This brings me to my final tip…

If you plan to do a similar campaign on your own, let me warn you; social media takes an incredible amount of time, persistence, and determination. If not for my early success, I’m not sure how long I could have kept up with the minute-by-minute tasks needed to stay on top of it – and to respond to the flow of emails, tweets, and Facebook contacts.

The work is well worth it, as I landed a new position in only five days and lined up a good deal of freelance work as well. Just prepare yourself. I worked harder looking for a job, than I ever did when I had a job.

Best wishes and good luck in your own endeavors.

Living Under a Bridge – Final Wrap Up is a post from: SEMpdx

It’s cold, dirty, smelly, and cramped under this bridge; and people are so rude. Yesterday I was like “No, I won’t share my fire-grilled possum with you! I caught it fair and square – so go get your own!” It worked out alright though; my wife eventually did catch her own.

There was rumor today that we might be moving out from under the bridge. We’ll see, but hopes are high, and morale is good. I’ll miss all my new neighbors and campfire sing-along pals – but I suspect we’ll get over it.

Day four results (no, I’m not including weekends in my day-count)…

Today was a slow start for two reasons. One, I have a good deal of behind the scenes work I’m doing while plowing through the fantastic list of social sites on my friend Jenny’s page http://seogurltalk.blogspot.com/2008/10/its-time-for-social-media.html. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a list so complete…or long.

Second, I am working hard to return calls, emails, private tweets, and friend and connection requests. The response is great, but it definitely takes time to get back to everyone.

Well, there’s actually a third reason… I’m beginning to feel like a thorn in the sides of all of my friends and colleagues. Social media needs constant attention. And like with most things, out-of-sight out-of-mind. If I don’t keep the message flowing in front of people – followers, connections, tips, and offers of help all begin to dwindle.

I know people are busy. To send a personal request to all my contacts once is one thing; but to keep hounding and asking for retweets, blog posts, and mentions over and over is just annoying. So, based on a contingency plan in my original test design, I need to focus on some alternate options.

There is one other problem plaguing me – its Thanksgiving week, which means many people are on vacation and not tuning in. I may be missing out on opportunities because people are tuned out for the holiday. I will likely need to plan for some repeats next week to bring people back in.

But – no worries. I have a feeling something great is going to happen this week. So while I am planning numerous activities to keep this experiment growing, I am simultaneously planning for a successful end… possibly in my day five wrap up!?

Keep your fingers crossed. It would be great to show the success of this experiment in such a short period.

Find links to the original post and each day’s wrap up at www.scottorth.com

Living Under a Bridge – Day Five is a post from: SEMpdx

It’s been a cold, but dry, weekend under the bridge. We did some hunting for small rodents Friday night, and found quite a few. My son liked them, but my daughter said they’re too crunchy. We’ve kept the kids running on the people-wheel to power the laptop and a small radio we found. They seem to enjoy their time on the wheel, but without showers the smell is beginning to offend our bridge-dwelling neighbors. We’ll need to address cleanliness before we invite the in-laws over for dinner.

Let’s get to Friday’s results; day three…

Unlike day two of the experiment, Friday saw an outpouring of support, well-wishes, and tips and tricks for finding a job quick. Thanks to all of you who helped. As we go through this together, I will continue to try to publicly thank each of you – but be sure to send me an email or tweet if I forget you…there are so many!

I actually didn’t do nearly as much work on the SMJH test on Friday. I had a meeting to attend in Bend, Oregon – which to those that aren’t familiar is about a 3-hour drive, over Mt. Hood, from Portland; 4-hours with snow, ice, and occasional stops. So, I only had a few hours in the morning to do all I could do – then I was off on a 9-hour trek to Bend and back.

What did I do in those few hours that was so successful? I spent the morning creating and sending personal emails and private tweets to my closest friends, family, and colleagues. Instead of a broad-reaching, vague message – I took this time to speak on a bit more of a personal level about the SMJH and requested help from anyone able to lend a hand.

The funny result was getting dozens of phone calls from parents, grandparents, uncles, and the like – all asking what is this “Twitter Thing?”, and “what is LinkedIn and what am I suppose to sign?” They were so confused. I explained what I was doing and that word of mouth was great too – just keep the email handy and send it to people who are close to you.

On a serious note, a good number of friends and colleagues responded quickly with links, tweets, posts on their own blogs, and private notes back asking what else they could do to help. I’m not kidding; it felt incredible to know so many people cared to help out.

I watched as numerous Tweets went out exposing the experiment and retweeting the cause. I continued to gain followers across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and I noticed track-backs from many sources. In fact, there was a spike of interest/traffic that crashed my site, www.scottorth.com. The biggest problem was that I was on the road and unable to fix it until late Friday night.

I had an interview with an executive recruiter, scheduled a meeting with another, and took a handful of phone calls from others inquiring about my skills and experience. Seriously? With all this going on you didn’t already see my resume? Damn, how many more places do I need to post it?

I also had a great meeting in Bend that just might turn out to be something fantastic, and I received another four or five inquiries for contract or freelance work. I think this experiment may end soon – and just as I was starting to have fun!

I’ve yet to find value in LinkedIn, but I have some plans to test that platform this week. Facebook has continued to be a promising place to connect, and Twitter…well, what can I say? I couldn’t fathom “twittering” six-months ago; but now it’s one of my most-used resources.

Other top day-3 resources included some great information in the book “Stop Sending Resumes”, by Paul Copcutt (www.squarepegsolution.com), and in the spreadsheet of who’s hiring http://is.gd/6XWr, as listed by cnet.

I said in an earlier post that I am a novice at social Media Marketing (SMM) – but some that are “in-the-know” let me know that I haven’t even scratched the surface. With a new arsenal of information, I am excited to see what happens this week.

If you’re new to this experiment, it all starts at www.scottorth.com, where you will find links to the original post and each daily update.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken interest!

Living Under a Bridge – Day Four is a post from: SEMpdx

It was a wet, windy day under the Hawthorne Bridge. We tried to keep warm by the radiation of the laptop screen, but it just wasn’t enough and battery power was running low. Then an idea struck. Using many abandoned shopping carts for parts, I built a rather clunky mouse…er, people-wheel, just big enough for my wife and kids to run on – and to power the laptop. Ahhhh, now we are all warm and I can keep looking for work…

See the original post, Search Expert Forced to Live Under Bridge

A bit about me

I have been directing Internet Marketing strategies for 10 years; almost entirely in SEO, PPC, analytics, and conversion design, testing, and enhancement. But I’ve never dealt hands-on with Social Media Marketing (SMM). I leave that to experts like Chris Winfield at 10e20 (hi Chris).

So though I am blessed with a large network of search colleagues and friends, I’m really running this test as a social media novice. I hope people of all levels will learn something through the journey. So let’s look at day two; an interesting day to say the least.

The results please…

Results themselves were modest. I received several more Facebook requests and Twitter followers, set up a couple of phone calls, landed a small freelance deal, and confirmed an in-person meeting/interview for tomorrow… er, today when you read this.

So that’s all good and well, but let me take you down the interesting path of the day…

It started with a lot of confidence. I posted my day-one recap, Twittered it, sent numerous emails to colleagues, and got to work reviewing job listings and freelance postings. I was excited by the spike of traffic to www.Scottorth.com and my resume, and was hopeful for an even greater day two. Then things began to crumble.

First, more than one colleague let me know that they can’t just focus on me – that they have other things to do and can’t post about this social test every day. Wow – its only day two, and I’m pretty sure we all have at least 60 seconds in a day to help a friend, colleague, or perfect damn stranger for that matter.

I don’t hold this against anyone; but it did raise an eyebrow. Maybe I live by a different creed, but I believe in helping others. Not for reward, monetary gain, or anything else; but rather to help a fellow person in their own quest. A friend once told me to give till it hurts, and don’t think twice. He said you don’t need to think about rewards, because you will be rewarded in life, or after, ten-fold when you give unselfishly. I’m not perfect, but I try to live as close to this as possible.

So, I tried to move past the setback, feeling a bit abashed by their comments. I didn’t want to take it personal, yet I wondered if such sentiment would be wide spread. If so, this social test may have an ugly and unexpected end.

Then a second hit. Apparently I had posted of my assisted departure from my prior employer in a manner unappealing to their desires. Let me be clear – I never, in any way, said anything derogatory – but none the less, they were upset and may have jumped a little too harshly. I think the speed at which news travels online may have frightened them a bit. But what I thought would be an ugly mess, was not – and a couple phone calls cleared everything up. Let me just say – in case anyone questions – they are a good company, with good people. Enough said.

Day two was a bit dry. One thing I learned today, online social media is a lot of work, and all of your social success stops as quickly as you stop typing. That is not what I expected.

I envisioned an engine starting, or a wheel spinning faster – that once this thing got going word would spread fast. Well, not so far. Word spreads and spreads, then I take a break to care for other issues and the damn wheel falls off. Looks like I’ll be starting over on day three.

I’ll be taking a new approach over the next few days. In fact, I’ve written a plan based on feedback and daily results. Kind of a scalability plan, really. Stay tuned as I add new elements and try new things to get the wheels going full speed.

And to any recruiters following this – you should know that as this gains steam, the recruiter(s) that helps the most will be well-rewarded with a great deal of social exposure. Of course, you should help without concern for reward.

If you’re new…start following:

· Twitter (Scottorth) = http://twitter.com/scottorth

· LinkedIn = http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorth

· FaceBook = Scott Orth

· Personal Site = www.ScottOrth.com

Living Under a Bridge – Day three is a post from: SEMpdx

Damn, it’s getting cold under here, but things are looking up. I may move to a bridge with fewer leaks today, as the rain is affecting my ability to work…

I came home from PDX Mindshare last night in a bit of a quandary.

In my Living under a bridge post, I mentioned that the great thing about Facebook was that your connections are more likely your real connections; people you know. People you want to share your personal and professional life with.

Since starting this test, I’ve received several friend requests on Facebook. Shoot, now what do I do? I want to keep everyone in the loop, and hey…I’m a friendly guy, so I really don’t mind sharing some personal photos and stories with you – but it also goes against the very thing I found best about Facebook.

Then, after reviewing the profiles of some the friend requests, I came to a realization. Facebook is more of a personal connection site – but it’s also great for “meeting” new people. They don’t have to be your long-time friends, or buddies from high school or college. The real difference in Facebook is that you don’t just accept a request and never hear from, or of, the person again (like LinkedIn). They might be new to your ‘circle of trust’, but that’s okay; you get to see their daily updates, what they and their friends are doing, and what crazy, sometimes embarrassing situations they’ve gotten themselves into.

With the “what are you doing now” line, the Twitter tie-in, and things like writing on their wall – you have a much greater likelihood of truly “connecting” with someone, than with LinkedIn. If I were to choose, I would say Facebook is much closer to an online social network than LinkedIn.

This is completely different than what I thought a day ago, but it’s true. I spent about 2-hours last night at PDX Mindshare; a face-to-face networking event at an Irish Pub in Downtown Portland. I’ve got to say, playing around on facebook is much closer to having a beer with a colleague than LinkedIn will ever be.

So… those of you who sent friend requests. I will be accepting, and I look forward to learning more about each of you.

First day’s results:

Well, it’s only been a day but I’ve increased my Twitter readers by 25%, my Linked in connections by about 50% (not sure those are worth it), and I’ve learned a great deal in a very short time of what to do and not to do. But what about a job?

Its day two, and I don’t have a job yet (duh), but I’ve received about ten new leads as of this morning, I’ve already had a couple phone interviews, and about two-dozen people have reached out to me with recommendations, or offers of help in one way or another. I suspect it will take some time to land, but I feel the wheels spinning faster and faster, and I’m anxious to see what comes next.

Thank you for following. I’ll post more as results come in…

If you’re not following yet, please read the original post, and be sure to follow me at:

· Twitter (Scottorth) = http://twitter.com/scottorth

· LinkedIn = http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorth

· FaceBook = Scott Orth

· Personal Site = www.ScottOrth.com

Living Under a Bridge – Day Two is a post from: SEMpdx

Okay, not really – but it could happen. Here we go – my very own social marketing test in action…

It’s strange to have been in search marketing and professional business consulting for 10 years, and currently work in a market (search) that is practically untouchable – yet be laid off.

Thankfully, though I do consider myself a thought leader, and I was the only person at my previous employer that could do what I do; I never once felt that I was personally untouchable, or free from job loss. The economy is just too volatile.

There were definitely some bad decisions made regarding my pink-slip, but I wasn’t the only recent cut – and that’s personal anyway, so I’ll keep this post focused on what it is… the beginning of a real-time Social Media Job Hunt (SMJH) test and case study.

If you’d like to follow the process and see how effective connections, networking, and viral marketing can be on a personal level, please follow me at:

· Twitter (Scottorth) = http://twitter.com/scottorth

· LinkedIn = http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottorth

· FaceBook = Scott Orth

· Personal Site = www.ScottOrth.com

Early results…

On Twitter

I had early success with a couple of Twitter connections; like getting Li Evans to connect me with Mark Knowles of Smart Solution within just a few minutes of a tweet. I’ve had two initial discussions with companies on my first day laid off due to Twitter… not bad

Two leads is great – but with over 100 pairs of eyes (followers) watching, one might expect better exposure. If you’re not familiar with Twitter, first – 100 followers isn’t really all that much. But you need to spend a LOT of time posting comments to really build it up any higher.

Another problem is that when you tweet, your message goes live in a message stream or thread immediately. If someone is watching the thread, or they have notifications setup, they may see your message. If they don’t see it at the moment it’s posted, they may never see it, as other tweets keep streaming in and yours gets buried. How do you battle this? You retweet your message over and over, and ask a few of your followers to do the same. This way your message keeps getting out there and just might get greater exposure.

On LinkedIn

LinkedIn is probably the best professional networking system online. That said, it has failed me thus far. Now, it’s only day two of the layoff, so anything can happen; but it has opened my eyes to a significant problem with how people use LinkedIn.

I found it useful in locating job listings, and finding who in my network was connected with employees and managers of said job listings. This is what LinkedIn is suppose to be all about – using your connections to get you connected to the right people. But here’s where it failed…

I sent emails to over two-dozen personal contacts (people I really do know), who were connected via LinkedIn to folks within organizations I wanted to speak with. Out of the two-dozen, only one…that’s ONE! Person actually knew a contact within the companies. Everyone else responded with messages like, “I really don’t know her, sorry.”, or “I’ve never actually met him, but I could send him a message.”

Really? You could send him a message? If you don’t know him and he doesn’t know you, what’s the point? I might as well throw rocks at his office window and hope to get an appointment.

Through this, I realized that I have done the same thing. I was so focused on growing my network that I invited everyone I’ve ever come in contact with and accepted every invitation ever received. FAIL! This is not networking, and it actually makes the “its-who-you-know” part of LinkedIn worthless. I now have about 170 direct connections, but over 3.7 million people in my network. 3.7 million; but it seems only about 10 of my connections really matter.

On Facebook

Facebook has already created one connection, post lay-off. But oddly, it’s because of Twitter…my tweets are posted on Facebook so my facebook people, who may not necessarily be my Twitter followers, are also seeing what I’m up to.

The great thing about Facebook is that, if you use it like I do, you’re more careful about whom you connect to. These are actually people you know, who you’d like to share your professional and personal life with. Therefore, when you post a message like, “I need help”, you’re more likely to have friends and colleagues jump in and help.

Now what do I do?

Well, as the title of the above section read… “Early results”. It’s too early to truly pass judgment, but I have quickly learned a few things that can be done better, and that I will focus on moving forward.

The test has only just begun. This post is also a part of the test, so let’s see what happens. Follow me on Twitter (scottorth) to keep up, and I’ll post a follow up when I have something significant to report.

Stay up to date by following daily posts:

- Day One Wrap Up

- Day Two Wrap Up

- Day Three Wrap Up

- Day Four Wrap Up

Additional wrap ups coming soon. Stay tuned…

Search Expert Forced to Live Under Bridge is a post from: SEMpdx

Unfortunately, the conference Gods decided to create a conflict last week; hosting SES in Chicago the same week as PubCon in Las Vegas.

My decision? Vegas Baby! Actually, PubCon has grown to be one of my favorite destinations of the year, so it was really a no-brainer when it came to deciding which to present at this year. Oh yeah – and Matt Cutts was at PubCon too. That may have played a part in it.

All in all, another great trip. My presentation was on simplifying analytics in a session called, “Beyond the Page View”. It was a good session, with a mix of highly technical information and simple analytic guidance. I also attended sessions on local organic optimization, reputation management, and competitive tracking.

In my opinion, PubCon has become one of the top places to be if you’re learning the basics of Internet Marketing, or looking to sharpen your already-advanced skills. Yes, there are other conferences that are great as well…but I definitely recommend adding this one to your travel list.

As a PubCon speaker, I had the opportunity to stay at the Wynn Las Vegas, although that didn’t impress me at all. Read more about my bad luxury hotel experience at the Wynn.

I also attended my first Vegas show. Sad since I’ve been there a dozen times – but that’s beside the point. I decided to go to KA, the story of Imperial Twins separated (and later reunited) by a violent attack on their peaceful village that mortally wounds their parents.

Like I said, this was my first Vegas show, so I was a bit shocked by the imagery, the settings, and the insane acrobatics of the actors. The entire theater was built just for this show, so as an audience member you are immersed in the scene upon walking into the auditorium.

The stage was like nothing I’ve ever seen, tilting and changing throughout scenes – with actors running, jumping, and seemingly flying on it all the while. This is not your average theater. All in all, one of the most fantastic theater events I’ve ever experienced.

The weeks entertainment also took me to the SEOmoz Werewolf party, the MSN adCenter party at the Ghost bar (and a little side trip to the Playboy club), the Purpose Inc, SEO Texas Holdem poker tournament, and finally the classic PubCon event at the Monte Carlo Pub.

I feel sorry for all you SES attendees freezing in Chicago. You should have been at PubCon!

PubCon 2007 is a post from: SEMpdx