Has anyone been to SMX or any other SEO Conference?
-
Hello All,
I have been given the opportunity to go to several conferences. But like most SEO guys, I have a tone of work, and need to use my time sparingly. The one conference that has peaked my interest is SMX.
I was wondering if anyone has been to SMX before and if they recommend it.
Also if anyone has any other conferences they would recommend, preferrably on the east coast, that would be interesting please let me know.
Any answers are appreciated. Thank you.
-
Thank you all for the kind responses, I will definitely see what I can do.
-
The other conference I would suggest is worth considering is SMX Advanced. Unfortunately it's west coast also (Seattle in June) but depending on your level of expertise, it's a terrific conference. It shares the good aspects others have mentioned about SMX West etc, but the presentations are at an even higher expertise level.
Not hard to come out of the sessions with your head swimming with new stuff, even if you've got lots of background. If you're thinking of attending and need to minimize accommodation costs, lemme know. I can recommend the terrific pensione I stay at that's less than a 10-minute walk.
I will say too - if you're looking for ways to take your practice to the next level, a conference is a really good next step. In addition to whatever new skills/info you pick up, the time to be immersed with so many others who "get" what you do without needing a long explanation is wonderful! Those new connections can often be critical to our further development as well.
Paul
P.S. If you're looking specifically for east coast events, check out the Distilled SearchLove conference in Boston. I've never attended but they're a terrific company and I've heard good things about the conference. It's in May http://www.distilled.net/events/searchlove-boston/ (I've got a ping out to my east coast SEO connections - met at last SMXAdvanced actually - and will update if I get more suggestions.
<object id="plugin0" style="position: absolute; z-index: 1000;" width="0" height="0" type="application/x-dgnria"><param name="tabId" value="ff-tab-97"> <param name="counter" value="320"></object>
-
You cannot underestimate the importance of food selection!
-
I've attended SMX West for the past couple years, and have always found it helpful. I've been in this industry for 6+ years, but I learned a lot of new things from the sessions at SMX, and my head was just buzzing with new ideas after the conference.
I also had the opportunity to attend SES San Francisco last year, but I didn't find the sessions there to be very helpful or informative. However, it was still a good networking opportunity and I got to meet a lot of cool people people who work for Search Engine Land and a couple other companies.
-
I would recommend SMX (as well as MozCon, of course!). Things I appreciate about SMX:
- They seem to work hard to add new sessions and make sure that it's not always the same speaker talking about the same thing.
- There are ample break times between sessions. You have time to network with people, time to ask questions of the speakers, use the bathroom, check in and respond to messages from your office, etc. I have found this to be more important if you're trying to attend as many sessions as possible, less important if there are only a few sessions that interest you and you're willing to skip a session to have a break.
- Delicious food! I do think Mozcon beats SMX for food, but in my experience SMX beats the other large conferences for food. There's enough food for breakfast if your hotel doesn't provide any, well-stocked snack breaks, and a good lunch.
I would also recommend MozCon, though as an employee of SEOmoz, I have to admit my bias here. We are a bit more reasonably priced when you factor in the discount for being a PRO member, which can help make up for being in the opposite corner of the country from you. We have three days of keynote-style presentations. We don't have panels, but instead have 45-60 minute sessions with one presenter giving an awesome presentation. We also have all of the 2012 Mozcon available on video for $299 for pro members (see our announcement at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/2012-mozcon-videos-are-here) that can allow you to virtually attend MozCon and make it to SMX in person perhaps.
-
Hi Andrea and Jason,
I highly, highly recommend MozCon. I attended last year and, because it was the first time I had attended any SEO event, I made a point of asking everyone I talked to about what conferences they attended and which ones were the best. Hands down, without question, everyone I asked said MozCon. They liked SMX too, for the most part, but said that MozCon was different (and better) because everyone had the opportunity to attend all of the presentations. This is in contrast to SMX where you have to pick and choose what you want to attend and if two things you are interested in are going on at the same time, you end up having to choose. MozCon is also great because it's not about selling you anything. In that way, it's not like a traditional convention because there aren't 100's of vendors also vying for your attention.
While I think both are probably great for networking, if you really want to leave a conference feeling like you've learned some seriously important things related to SEO, I have to believe that MozCon is going to be hard to beat. Please don't tell my boss, but if the company didn't send me, I'd pay for it out of my own pocket....That's how valuable I think it is.
Hope to see you both there!
Dana
-
I went to SMX West last February and I found it to be very valuable. I'd consider myself a middle-experienced SEO; I say that because I am constantly impressed with the technical proficiency of many of the posters in this forum and their depth of knowledge. That said, I felt like there was a good balance of presentations for the different levels of knowledge and it was a great way for me to immerse myself into some more technical and advanced learning opportunities.
I liked the variety of presentations SMX offered as well as the access to experts and general networking. I was able to balance my interests of SEO, PPC and social media and come back with some actionable (key word there) insight to help our performance. I'd attend again, no question.
Although not on the East Coast, this year I want to look at MozCon in Seattle. The SEOMoz team was in Milwaukee this October for a Mozcation and if that's a taste of what their annual, bigger conference is like then I think it'd be a worthwhile investment.
Good luck!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is bright edge an SEO platform you would recommend?
Hi mozzers, Has anyone used Bright Edge before? Is this a good platform for a website that carries over 1800 pages and is looking to scale their content? I would like to know the pros and cons of this platform. Thanks for sharing any other valuable information about this platform!
Industry News | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
SEO Serice Company for aspx website
Do you know a reputable SEO company that has good experience in optimizing aspx website ? We are looking for one if you know one.
Industry News | | ypl0 -
What is the best place to learn reputation management, with regards to SEO
I have a new client that needs help with a bad review. Of course it may not be able to be deleted, but I have started to scratch the surface on how to help 'push it down' using SEO. Can any offer advice on a definitive source of learning reputation management? Many thanks!
Industry News | | adell500 -
What is the best seo software?
This question is in relation to doing site audits and creating branded reports for clients. Do seo agencies create there own software or do you use one that is accessible for all? Also what do you think is the best general seo software?
Industry News | | paulbaguley0 -
Does anyone have a copy of the 2011 Google Quality Raters Handbook that was recently leaked?
http://searchengineland.com/download-the-latest-google-search-quality-rating-guidelines-97391 Google has been on a conquest taking them down online but I would really like to take a look at it if you have a copy! [moderator note - please use the PM system and exchange email addresses there. We've removed emails from this thread before it gets indexed and exposed to the world]
Industry News | | altecdesign4 -
SEO Certification + SEO Experience = Ideal SEO Consultant ???
Since the responsibilities of SEO have increased so much, I think there has to be a kind of basic industry wide Certification / Degree system. Many people may argue that experince is much more important than certification but how about like any other trade or profession; we have (1) SEO Certification PLUS (2) SEO Experience for the Internet Marketers. One of the reasons, I get so many calls from people that they claim they are SEO experts and they are trying to sell their services to us, but when you talk with them, you can easily tell that they do not have any knowledge about it. But they sell the service to business owners that do not understand SEO. It is very sad to see small business owners believe those people.. and I understand it is business owners responsibility to check the background & portfolio of SEO agency, but wouldn't it be nice to have another credential that they can ask "are you also certified SEO"? what do you think about "Certified SEO" or "Certified Internet Marketing Consultant" concept? can there be an international or national organization to coordinate and superwise the certifications? Thanks, Lewis
Industry News | | CertifiedSEO0 -
Who is the Rand Fishkin of black hat seo?
If you had to choose one person to represent the black hat community who would it be?
Industry News | | JasonJackson0