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The Future of Search Conferences: Smaller Is Better

Went Hot: April 27, 2008 - 7:48 pm
Posted By: willscott 436 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://www.smallbusinesssem.com)
Category: SEM Industry

Great writeup by Matt on Small Business Marketing Unleashed. It was a great show and his post captures nicely some of the intangibles.

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from Jill 435 days ago #

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I've been telling people the same thing for years (the value of small seminars/conferences) but it still seems like pulling teeth to get people to sign up!

from thejenn 435 days ago #

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Yep, the first go round took a look of effort on the pushing sign-ups front, but I have a feeling the second one is going to be easier. It's been five days since I came home and I'm still waiting to come down off the high of this show.

I think there's true value in "feeder shows" like this one and like what you were doing with High Rankings Seminars. Ones that let the true beginners come in and get a solid foundation from a handful of speakers. I talked to many attendees at our show who are now quite ready to head to an SMX and SES or a PubCon and who will really be able to digest the information they get there.

from toprank 435 days ago #

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There are different reasons for attending SEM conferences. Education, networking, prospecting, recruiting, competitive intelligence, finding vendors to hire and more. Small events can address some of these needs better than large confereces, no doubt.

This post is valid in context but not as a sweeping generalization or some kind of industry prediction.

Getting signups might just be a matter of branding and marketing because the SMB market need for SEM is HUGE. The current/impending economic climate should be motivating small businesses into, not away from, search marketing education investment if the small conference messaging is right.

from MattMcGee 435 days ago #

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There are different reasons for attending SEM conferences. Education, networking, prospecting, recruiting, competitive intelligence, finding vendors to hire and more.

In case it wasn't clear, my article focuses on education. That's best done in the format I just experienced at SBMU, and I don't think anything will be able to change my mind. :)

from thejenn 434 days ago #

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Lee,

I'm with Matt on this. I see HUGE value in SES/SMX/Pubcon as shows. I wouldn't speak at them and promote them on my blog othewise. But the value I see there is threefold.

1.) Giant networking - the chance to meet a broad range of people and get to know them a tiny bit. Breadth instead of depth, if you will.

2.) Expo halls. The chance to view and sample a wide range of companies, to get their spiel in person and then to head home and research them more thoroughly.

3.) Keeping up on changing trends in an industry you are already familiar with. The sessions at these shows are often "speciality" topics with a variety of speakers offering up a variety of view points. That's great for those who know enough to realize they're getting a wide range of viewpoints and they'll need to take what fits. Not so good for the folks who were sent by their company with a "go learn SEO" task.

I mentioned above that I see the value of shows like mine for those who are new to the industry, but that I also see value in them "growing out" of the small conference and heading to larger shows. In fact, we've already spoken to three people from our show who have now registered for SES San Jose to go get the broader perspective. I know of two others who were looking at some of the SMX speciality shows.

from willscott 434 days ago #

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my article focuses on education. That's best done in the format I just experienced at SBMU, and I don't think anything will be able to change my mind. :)

I am totally with Matt on this. The beauty of the small format was:

Direct interaction with knowledgeable practitioners
Many to many communication rather than one to many -- in other words, conversation!
Networking on a personal, getting to know you, versus card-swapping level

from smallbiztrends 433 days ago #

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Speaking as a small business owner: the challenge with large search conferences is that you're plopped down into the midst of topics you know little about, with little context given. It feels like everyone is talking a foreign language. Instead of walking away empowered, you walk away feeling insecure and stupider than when you arrived.

Plus, large conferences leave outsiders feeling like outsiders. I've gone to a couple of large search events and hardly met anyone, because it felt like everyone there already knew one another. Many weren't too interested in meeting new people unless you were a mover and shaker in the search field.

It seemed that the SEO firms were there to snag big clients and few would even bother to make eye contact unless your name tag had a big company name attached to it. While I can certainly understand wanting to get large clients if you are an SEO trying to build a business, it still doesn't help the small business owner.

A small conference designed for small business people is definitely much better.

from toprank 433 days ago #

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Exactly where did I say attending a small conference wasn't beneficial from an education standpoint? Matt and Jen, you have a vested interest in agreeing with each other and that's fine. LOL

If the only reason a person attends a conference is for personal education, then they're leaving an awful lot on the table whether it's a big or small business and whether it's a big or small conference. Doing so is a choice that attendees are free to make.

It's also a choice to get as much out of a conference as is possible whether it's ad:tech San Francisco with 15,000 or something smaller like Search Insider Summit with 300.

from thejenn 432 days ago #

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"Matt and Jen, you have a vested interest in agreeing with each other and that's fine."

Not sure why? Just because he spoke at the show?

Lee, I've never said there isn't value to big shows. As I've mentioned, we've already talked three attendees into signing up for SES San Jose. In fact, when i sent out our after-show email, I suggested they check out SES, SMX and Pubcon for future shows.

The point we're trying to make is that a show like what we put on is ideal for a FIRST conference, especially for the small business owner. I built this show after years of talking to folks at the big shows who had that deer in the headlights look. Their experience was exactly what Anita described. You can say it's their own fault, but keep in mind that's easy to say from our perspective. You and I can walk in a room at an SEO conference and always know at least one person. Even if we don't, chances are high someone there knows us.

The same isn't true for the person trying to sort things out for the first time.

In my mind, there has long been a need for those like ours and the ones Jill put on. People get a soft, easy intro to the industry and a soft, easy intro to the conference circuit. I've already made dinner plans for San Jose with people I met for the first time at Unleashed. I'll introduce them to the people I know, and they'll have met enough people to feel confident meeting more on their own.

I may not agree with Matt's title (because I think the "big" shows are essential to this industry) in a literal sense, but from the amount of work I do with small business owners, I KNOW that education is generally their absolute top priority when they are attending shows. From that sense, a show like ours was an idea starting point.

from toprank 432 days ago #

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What's the expression, "fencing with ghosts"? I'm not advocating big or small shows. I'm advocating getting the most out of conferences with no bias towards company size or conference size. There's more to be gained than education.

I've been involved in plenty of search conferences big and small and there's a lot of value a person can gain out of both. It's shortsighted to make a generalization that the future of all search conferences is smaller is better - unless a person is solely focused on education and chooses to ignore the other benefits.