Archive: December, 2008

The final major search marketing conference of 2008 opens next week when the venerable Search Engine Strategies Conference rolls into the Chicago Hilton next Monday. The smallest of the three US-based SES shows, SES Chicago sports a unique character that makes it a special week for speakers and attendees. It’s the show I look forward to most each year for a number of reasons.

SES Chicago is considered the most intimate of all large shows on the annual circuit. The sense of urgency that surrounds virtually every other show is toned down a notch in Chicago. Perhaps it’s because it is the end of a busy year and autumn is an especially busy time of year. People are too tired to work all day and then party all night so the tone of conversation is a little bit deeper. Perhaps it’s because Chicago tends to be insanely cold at the beginning of December and nobody wants to leave the comfy confines of the hotel. The conference venue in Chicago in particular seems to promote interaction between speakers and attendees.