SEO, Social, Blogging and Online Marketing Conferences

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SEO conferences abound. Social media and blogging conferences are easily found. Heck, there are even dedicated conferences for analytics training. But with today’s tightened travel budgets and the need to spend wisely on everyone’s mind, which conferences offer the most value?

There are popular global conferences that cater directly to entry-level and advanced-level SEOs. Bloggers have many options to choose from when the need to meet others face-to-face for some hands on learning beckons. If you’re a number cruncher, relax, there are conferences designed to help you dig deep into your analytics and see the forest for the trees. Need help understanding emerging trends? No worries.

Almost all of the conferences share a common structure, regardless of theme. You fly in the day before the conference starts. You can usually register and grab your badge/pass and swag-bag at that time to start refining your conference session choices. Day one begins with everyone showing up more or less on time. Throughout the conference area, you’ll find session boards designed to help you understand where and when your chosen session will take place.

Upon entering your session, your badge is scanned or stamped to note your attendance, and you find a seat. Power is often lacking, so bring a full charge and arrive early front a front row seat (usually the first few rows have tables and most have power bars nearby). Trust me – when you attend a conference, being in the front is preferable. You’ve got anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes of note-taking ahead of you, so being on time allows you to get set up, claim your power space and allows you to introduce yourself to the speakers as they arrive. Give them some space to get ready to present, but exchanging business cards is fine and fast.

Day two and three (and four) are basically the same, with later days seeing attendance taper off as schedules and late nights take their toll on folks. be ready to network every single day. bring lots of business cards and leave your inhibitions at thew door. The instant the speakers wrap up, make your way forward to intro yourself. These conferences are a key opportunity for you to hit the radar of folks who can prove pivotal in your learning, career and success, so don’t squander the chance.

…and don’t be a doink either. Telling me you enjoy my blog, articles and books is great. I appreciate it. Telling me you want to treat me to dinner and pick my brain sounds a lot more like stalking-about-to-happen or that you’re looking for free advice.

It’s also safe to say that anyone speaking at a conference already has plans. We always do. By the time you’re speaking at conferences, you’ve been to enough to know the flow of events, so dinners and parties are planned well in advance. It’s highly unlikely you’ll find speakers with open time at the last minute.

You want to impress a conference speaker, here’s some advice:

A bit of research will uncover the last article I published online. Mentioning that you’ve read it and enjoyed it is always nice. Telling me you enjoyed my session and presentation is also appreciated. Next up, hit me with an intelligent question. If it was covered in the session, I’ll think you weren’t paying attention. By making me think a bit, I’ll enjoy the mental challenge and I’m more likely to recall our conversation later. be respectful of time, too. Look around – are others looking to speak with me? If so, be mindful that everyone has to be somewhere else – speakers, other conference attendees and even yourself.

Most of all, don’t forget to swap business cards with me. Then you can drop me a quick email the following week to follow up and cement the contact. While this might seem like an awful lot etiquette to remember, it all boils down to just being polite in the end.

And if your boss is asking you to explain why they should cover the cost of you attending the conference you’ve chosen, you can explain that it’s the cheapest way to obtain the latest knowledge on the subjects that matter. Where else will you have access to dozens of experts on a range of topics all willing to interact directly with YOU and answer YOUR questions? The real question is can you afford to not attend?