Archive: October, 2008

There are dozens of reasons to consider going to Chicago in December. OK… perhaps that statement was a bit of a stretch. As wonderful as the city of Chicago is, there are few reasons for anyone who doesn’t live there to travel there at the beginning of winter. If you’re a member of the search marketing community there is one enormous reason for planning to be in the windy city at a time of year when one would rather be on the west coast or in the tropics. Search Engine Strategies Chicago happens then.

Beloved by speakers and veteran conference goers, SES Chicago is considered the most intimate of the five flagship SES conferences. For people who really want to meet speakers and get a better sense of their ideas, outlooks and personalities, SES Chicago is the show to attend. The venue feels smaller than others in London, New York, Toronto and San Jose (though the physical floor space might be larger) and nearly everybody can be found by yelling their names across the threshold of Kitty O’Shea’s.

We are entering the last three weeks of the US presidential election and previous public figure fence sitters are starting to declare support to one of the two candidates. While the mechanizations of American politics might seem a world away from search engine marketing, the decision made by American citizens on November 4th will have long-term effects on the evolution of the Internet and the search marketing space.

Earlier today, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated he will campaign on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to the Wall St. Journal, Mr. Schmidt has been an unofficial advisor to the Obama campaign and might be asked to join an Obama cabinet as Chief Technology Officer. In an interview with the Wall St. Journal, Mr. Scmhidt was quoted saying, “I’m doing this personally. Google is officially neutral.”

Eric Schmidt is not the only well known tech name being considered for a cabinet position in an Obama White House. According to BusinessWeek.com, Vint Cerf (VP – Google), Steve Ballmer (CEO – Microsoft), Jeff Bezos (CEO – Amazon) and Ed Felten (Prof., Princton University) are also in the running to be CTO to the ultimate chief executive.