Comments on: A Face In Our Crowd

By: john andrews

john andrews — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:01:52 +0000

Yes all good conversation and valid points but seriously… SearchFest is the most underpriced search marketing event in history. How could anyone not get $249 value out of it?

You could simply blog about having been there and start earning dividends.

Hey Tood why not Send him 10% off the next HotSeat and tell him I’ll buy him a beer next time he’s in Seattle and wants to chat about search marketing or search engine optimization. This is obviously a call for help, and I am happy to help.

By: Marty

Marty — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:55:02 +0000

I found the opposite to be true. I watched true luminaries from our industry spend significant chunks of their time in the hall talking with newbies as peers.

While SEMpdx IS a new event with a few kinks, it was a very impressive event. Any city would be proud to have such a useful and relevant SEM gathering available.

The customer is always right…but sometimes the customer is out of his or her league. If ya’ can’t make friends at an SEM conference, it’s time to find a new field of endeavor.

PS, there were magic markers, name tags, name tag clips, and willing folks sitting at the entry table for most of the show. I watched Rand Fishkin help someone with a name tag, as HE was sitting at the desk working on the site clinic stuff for over 2 hours…and greeting new arrivals.

By: James Helms

James Helms — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:41:35 +0000

The SEMPDX event was my first search marketing event that I have ever been to…so I am new to search marketing. Even though I am a new face in the crowd everyone that I spoke with actually spoke back to me. It’s not rocket science it is the process of communicating. I have never thought nor have I ever been led to believe that networking is my strong point. Yet I still talked with people and walked away from the event more informed and connected then when I got there. Most people recognize that they are responsible for their own success, its too bad that some people are not able to accept that responsibility. Oh well.

By: David Mihm

David Mihm — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:00:18 +0000

“You’re not much of a marketing professional if you aren’t able to work a room at a network event. If people aren’t going out of their way to talk to you, try talking to them.”

I couldn’t agree more with that statement, Todd. This industry is SO open to new faces–all it takes is a little gumption to talk to a stranger (or even someone’s blog you read).

Having attended ~10 search conferences in the last three years, the opportunities for networking at SearchFest were about the EASIEST of any of them! It was a smaller crowd, and the concentration level of truly talented SEOs and online marketers was pretty darn high…

I also thought that the networking sessions and lunches afforded plenty of time, even within a compressed schedule, to do so. All you had to do was sit down at one of those tables on the patio, or in the conference hall, and start talking!!

Just my .02.

By: Scott Hendison

Scott Hendison — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:08:06 +0000

I have a retail background, and consider myself a customer service nut. I’m usually the first one to offer an unhappy customer a refund, because I believe that keeping them happy protects your reputation, and nothing travels faster than a bad reputation.

In fact, when we first got this e-mail, I was the lone voice wanting to kiss this persons butt, and I wanted to ask them to extend their refund request after another couple of events.

Watching the e-mail replies bounce around, I quickly came to my senses. You can’t please everyone all the time, and yes, you are responsible for your own success.

Well put, Todd, and thanks for writing this up…