Pros & Cons of SES & WMW Conferences: Open For Member Discussion

[rustybrick]

5th topic in this series is by murugan who asks;

What are the advantages & Disadvantages of Attending SES / WMW Conference?

As an FYI - you can read our full, incredibly detailed, search conference coverage of SES and WMW events in our archives by scrolling down.

I am not sure of the number of disadvantages our mods can come up with. But let's give this question a shot...

[dazzlindonna]

The answer really depends upon your level of experience.

If you are a newbie, then the information presented can be mind-boggling, or mind-numbing, but extremely useful. You can gain lots and lots of knowledge in a short amount of time.

If you are experienced, then much of the information presented is nothing new, but almost inevitably, there will always be at least one little nugget of gold that you didn't know, or hadn't really thought much about before.

For the experienced, the networking is the best part. Meeting peers in person and having one-on-one conversations with them can be informative, or inspirational or both.

The one thing that the conferences do for everyone, newbie or not, is energize the attendees. When you leave, you are geared up and ready to get to work and try new things. It's like a booster shot.

So, to recap, for newbies, the massive amount of information available is priceless. For pros, the little nuggets of information may lead to ideas and thoughts you'd never had before, and the networking is great. For everyone, the energy provides a renewed excitement to do something new, or different.

All in all...worth it.

Disadvantages? Wow, really none, except the expense, which can be tough for a lot of people. But even that is tax deductible.

Added: I thought of one other thing that isn't necessarily a disadvantage, but it is a semi-negative aspect. If you are wanting to network, it can be very difficult to find the people you want to talk to. These events are very large, and unless you know specifically what someone looks like, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack to find your online buddies. I talked to tons of people at the conference I went to, and although I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations, they were all strangers to me. I rarely found people I "knew" from online. The few times I did, I felt incredibly lucky to have done so. Would be nice if there were a better way of finding people. Maybe that's a new "search service" that can be provided at the conferences. LOL.

[rustybrick]

First let me respond to Donna's;

Added: I thought of one other thing that isn't necessarily a disadvantage, but it is a semi-negative aspect. If you are wanting to network, it can be very difficult to find the people you want to talk to. These events are very large, and unless you know specifically what someone looks like, it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack to find your online buddies. I talked to tons of people at the conference I went to, and although I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations, they were all strangers to me. I rarely found people I "knew" from online. The few times I did, I felt incredibly lucky to have done so. Would be nice if there were a better way of finding people. Maybe that's a new "search service" that can be provided at the conferences. LOL.

The folks at SES knew this was an issue, and over the past year or so they have instituted something they call "Birds of a Feather" Network Lunch. the description reads;

Bird Of A Feather Tables: Looking to meet those with common interests, such as people who work with non-profit sites, retailing sites, who are in the B2B space or those who run SEM firms? The Birds Of A Feather tables at the networking lunch offer an opportunity for this. Some tables are premarked with networking areas of interest. Just grab a seat, and you'll be among kindred spirits. Did we miss a topic? Sit at any unmarked table, then use the provided materials to set up your own birds of a feather area.

They also have networking cocktails and many after hours parties.

Ok, so some pros and cons.

Pros:
- Awesome refresher for any level
- Tons of new research released at major conference
- It's great to catch up with industry buddies
- It's awesome to meet people you have never met in person
- Lots of new niche sessions to be inspired by
- Tons of basic sessions for newbies

Cons:
- Can be overwhelming for newcomers
- I know of several attendees who wanted refunds, they felt they didnt learn much
- I agree, hard to network within the already built tight cliques in the community

That is what I got so far.

[Darrin Ward]

Well, I think I'm infamous for not being an attendee at these conferences. So perhaps I'm not qualified to answer, but there's a method to the madness of not attending..

I've spoken with a lot of people that attend these religiously, but the general feedback I get is that they don't turn out to be worth the cost involved. Most of those people claim that the information from event to event is the same, thus attending one per year or so is sufficient.

That said, I have been thinking of doing one per year or so.

[randfish]

Advantages -

- It's really easy to achieve "insider" status by attending these events. If you talk to the usual "crowd" - including bloggers, SES folks, people from the forums, big (and small) name SEOs, etc, you can build up relationships that can be leveraged in the future. The value of these relationships is very, very hard to quantify, but needless to say, it's been an incredible boon to myself and my company, so I highly recommend it.

- Attend the right sessions (no matter who you are) and you'll come away with something valuable. If you're a whiz at organic SEO, go to the paid search track and the click fraud sessions and the analytics-focused sessions. If you haven't got experience in organic SEO, there's link building sessions, duplicate content issues, re-directs, etc that get covered.

- Feel connected. I think this touches on what Donna said about getting motivated; an SES conference will leave you hungry to work hard on your sites and projects, maybe even try some new ones.

Disadvantages

- If you're not the type who can easily mingle, you might have a tough time building relationships at first.

- If you don't learn well through lectures and slides, you could find the presentations a bit boring

- I've never found great value in the expo hall, but, then again, it's always mobbed with people, so that could be just me.

[ShandyKing]

I asked Rusty if I could post on this as I really have quite a few opinions about SES NY 2006.

I’ve been in the internet marketing arena for a long time but I never enjoyed spending time in forums. I found most of them to offer very little accurate advice and there seemed to be quite a few cliques. But late last year I began to realize SEM had grown up and there are now industry folks who provide professional insights into the SEO / SEM area on their personal blogs.

After filtering out the noise, I came across a handful of bloggers who seems to know their stuff. Then I came to realize they all knew each other and was going to be speaking at SES NY. I spent quite a bit of time reading these bloggers thoughts and in my opinion if I could hear all of them speak live in one central location then that’s money well spent.

I attended SES for the very first time this past year and I have to say, I had absolutely no trouble meeting the right people. I am a completely new face to all the regulars yet I was taken out to dinner by a few speakers and I spent quite a bit of time hanging out in the bar with many of the bloggers I have come to enjoy reading on a daily basis.

To show the kind of environment SES was I have to talk about Rand and say how impressed I was with him. I introduced myself briefly in the hall and the guy had dozens of people talking to him. I can only imagine how many names and faces he has to remember. Then we bumped into each other in the bar a night or two later and he threw out my name like we were old friends. This actually threw me for a second. I don’t think I could have done this.

But it was things like this that happened many times over the course of the week. It could be a lot of it had to do with me taking the time to learn about the people I came to see.

I did speak with a large number of people who did not enjoy themselves and I believe I know why. Most of the people I had gotten to know at the Bird of Feather luncheons had said in one way or another they did not realize there is so much to know in SEM. And many of them hoped by sitting in on some sessions that they would have walked away with the secret sauce to make their sites rank higher. One lady said to me, she had no idea there was so much more work to do.

When registering the first day we are all handed a book to help us map out our agendas. Whereas I spent 30 min each night before climbing into bed reading about who was going to be talking at what session and what the session was going to cover, I found many people jumping around with truly no clear direction.

If I was one of them I could see why an event like SES would not been enjoyable.

I want to say seriously walked away from SES NY convinced it was the best convention I have ever been to and well worth the cost of admission, flying across the country and cost of hotel. This is coming from someone who attends quite a few trade shows in Las Vegas each year.

I say keep up the good work.

[EGOL]

I've not had any trouble meeting people from the forums at these meetings. Randfish told us that he would be wearing yellow shoes and that attracted forum posters like bugs to a porchlight.

Some folks might not want to spend the money on yellow shoes so they can do like rustybrick and say that they will hang out after a specific presentation. I met him that way and have seen him at every SES meeting that I have attended since.

Webby confessed that he was seven feet tall (a slight exaggeration) and that made him easy to find.

I've had a few people ask if I was EGOL because they recognized me from my avitar. I was surprised because that pic was taken about 20 years ago before my hair turned gray and my glasses were a lot thinner (everybody uses old photos on the web, Right?).

I've recognized several other posters from their avitar pics or the pics posted on their websites.

[webpundit]

A related aside - What about alternative conferences like the Internet Retailer conference? I'm currently trying to choose between the SES and the Internet Retailer and I'd welcome any thoughts/insights.

[Chris Boggs]

Everyone so far has made some great points. I think that Shandy and others were really right on about the idea that conferences are not for everyone. For me, I have learned as much from SES conferences as from doing hands-on SEO and PPC work. I am fortunate to help Barry with the write-ups, and that seems to work really well for me in terms of getting stuff out of each worthy session. I often refer to session coverage when participating in forums or to give more information to a client or prospect, and I keep the SER SES Recap posts that Barry creates such as this one in my favorites, for easy access to information about most topics SEM-related.

My thoughts are strictly about the SES conferences. I have not attended a WMW conference, but I have heard mostly good things about them too.

So what I am getting at is precisely what Rand pointed out when he stated that if slides and speakers aren't "your thing," you probably aren't going to learn much.

What are the additional value propositions? Networking, networking, networking, again as Rand pointed out. I love meeting people at these conferences that share the same nerdy ideas as me. I was very honored when someone who I have always respected in the industry, Michael Turner (aka Neuron), told me that he was thrilled to meet me. I have been fortunate to have many such experiences at SES conferences. It is tougher now, as Donna pointed out, to find people you are seeking. I would suggest if you want to meet someone that you attempt to contact them prior to the conference and setup a meeting during the lunch period. Birds of a Feather seating has worked well for me for this purpose since it was instituted.

SEM's are for the most part people who enjoy life, I have found. Therefore the more time you can spend in bars and at conference parties, the more you will be likely to meet people and get into good conversations. A few beers will not hurt most of us when it comes to being able and willing to divulge "trade secrets” and we expect the subject of most conversations at these after hours events to focus on marketing topics.

OK that's a long-winded response so I guess I'll have to come up with a couple negatives:

Too hard to hang out with everyone I want to and still go to sessions nearly every period.
So much information in such a short time usually tires me out for a few days after the conference (or maybe it's the networking?)
Less parties being thrown by the SE's during the "winter shows."
Lack of an established "Press area" in each session that would allow for placement of laptops on a table.
Not enough "booth babes."

(**added**My Avatar is a picture of me (in the middle) with (left to right) Todd (Stuntdubl), Barry, Ben (Phoenix) and Debra Mastaler, networking up a storm at the 2005 Google Dance. Google Dance is probably the best party of them all, held each year at the Google Complex during SES San Jose and open to all conference attendees)

[Phoenix]

I haven't been to any WMW conferences, so I am probably best situated to answer about the SES conferences, having been to many.

Chris and the rest of the guys are right, one of the best benefits of the conference is the networking. You met so many people in just 3-4 days, you could really come back and start some serious business with some people. I often use SES as a stage to meet current or new clients I have. Works great, because they get to attend the conference, I can point them in the right direction. When its over, they come back with a ton of ideas about how to start.

I will say in terms of "types" of networking. At SES you will probably get more of the business/corporate type networking oppourtunities. Those people that are big in search and serious about formal business oppourtunities. SES has also become a platform for which large small to large-cap companies now find an SEO or SEO company to hire. They are willing to spend the $2K not only for the conference but for the specific networking oppourtunites!! The past NYC conference was a good example of this. I ended up meeting a lot of people that were looking to hire someone. At WMW I bet you might get a wider and varied audience of networking opportunities. Everything from webmasters, small business owners, to those people doing work on the fringes of the net, but also all the major players as well. I have heard the way people dress between the conferences is totally different, business attire vs. flip-flops.

I think if you are not so much into Search that you should attend WMW. If you are more concerned with search, blogs, verticals, local and such go to SES. You will get some amazing information.

If you are looking for a good time! Go to both! SES is famous for its parties, and WMW as well.