If last week’s excursion to New York City’s ad:Tech Conference was any indication, there is a world of growth happening in worlds of online advertising and media. This week’s adventure to WebmasterWorld’s annual PubCon in America’s adult playground of Las Vegas should show us a bit more on how we as online marketers are going to adapt and market to such growth.
Early tomorrow morning, the sun will rise over the neon of the Nevada desert and two or three thousand search engine marketers will do their level best to rise out of bed in time to listen to the opening keynote speech delivered by legendary venture capitalist and business developer Guy Kawasaki.
When Kawasaki is done speaking around 10:00AM, four days of search engine optimization and PPC management seminars begin featuring the voices and personalities of over 100 of the best-known search marketers in the world. If ad:Tech is about the deal, PubCon is about the technique.
Under normal circumstances, what happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, at least what happens at night. It is, however, my solemn duty to observe, record and interpret in public. It’s going to be tough but there is going to be a lot to report on from an SEO and SEM perspective. This is the conference at which practitioners talk to themselves instead of focusing on prospective clients. The truth is told at PubCon, without artificial sweetener or the artifice of the sale.
I can promise everything but the parties. There will be, without a doubt, a city full of silliness going on, much of it being conducted by some very serious search marketing players. While I’ll report on which parties happened where, don’t expect to find out exactly what happened with whom. Vegas is known to produce its casualties and I do not want my career discounted that way. ‘sides which, I plan to have too much fun to reliably notice.
During the day, there will be an industry full of information to absorb with a lengthy list of sessions spread over four concurrent topic tracks. There are over 40 unique sessions, not including keynote speeches and special events to fit into three packed days. The topic tracks this year are called, SEO: Organic Search, SEM: Search Marketing, The Webmaster World, and The Mosh Pit.
Due to the huge number of topics to address and the limitation of four to six sessions per room per day, a person attends one knowing they are going to sacrifice another equally interesting session next door. There is nothing the organizers of these conferences can do about the problem presented by time except to try to make each session as interesting and informative as possible. To do that, they book the best speakers in the industry and arrange the schedule so attendees can see seminars that compliment each other.
Tuesday morning looks to be an almost even mix of basic SEO and PPC sessions moving into the more advanced stuff after lunch. The conference looks to get heavy on technique on Wednesday with some more advanced topics being addressed. Things mellow down on Thursday with a half day of 4-track sessions followed by an afternoon of mega-sessions, including the ever-popular Search Engine Smackdown.
This is my first trip to Vegas, another city that doesn’t need sleep on my list of November surprises. As luck has it (a lot of planning goes into making such luck), I will not be alone down there. A group from Metamend and Enquisite will be there as well, along with a number of others from the talent heavy south Island. This is going to be fun. Serious fun. Hopefully we’ll be able to upload some interesting information from the conference as live time as time allows. See ya in Vegas baby.
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