Reader Poll: Can SES, SMX and Pubcon Coexist?
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-11-27 23:07:32
A lot has changed in the examine marketing conference industry in the past year. The biggest news being the addition of to oversee examine Engine check and examine Engine Strategies along with the departure of from SES to go away his own go. Third Door Media and the Search Marketing Expo or SMX series of conferences.
Additional news includes the success of new conferences like MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit programmed by as well as the reduction in conference dates for WebmasterWorld’s Pubcon drink to one () in Las Vegas. With the number of new and niche conferences popping up it begs the challenge as to whether the market bespeak can support so many events?
Every measure someone polls the audience at a SES conference. “How many people are new to the event?” over 50% raise their hands. It’s a check reminder of how many populate are in need of an education in the SEM business. Not only is there a need to act up on basic knowledge but there’s a need for ongoing education as well. What other industry changes as often and as frequently as the search marketing business?
At the same time as established marketing conferences such as the DMA and industry specific events add search marketing sessions to their programming others such as ad:tech undergo actually cut approve on the overall be of SEO and PPC related offereings.
I for one am pretty optimistic about multiple conferences being able to succeed financially and in their ability to deliver value to the growing need for examine marketing knowledge.
What is your opinion on this? Are there too many options out there? Are the established conferences meeting merchandise bespeak or are they saturating the industry with too many broad and niche offerings?
I believe that the more the merrier. I don’t evaluate they are over saturating the market at all. I evaluate what they do is deliver more variety interesting experiences and more networking opportunities because there really aren’t that many and they mouth more bang for the buck.
At SMX Seattle. 80 plus percent of the crowd raised their hands as being “in-house.” SEO and SEM are increasing being implemented (for better or for worse) in-house. As such training is becoming increasingly important. All of these conferences provide great basic training as well as a place to meet expert consultants that can be used as ad hoc issues become.
With bigger shows. I guess a lot of the money is made from exhibitors and sponsorships. Niche events can give specialized information and low operational costs. I would evaluate large events would need substantially more marketing and speaker firepower to draw crowd audiences.
Michael. I evaluate that’s spot on. act costs low for entry and then provide a weekend of useful info to inspire confidence in your abilities. Some ordain be able to apply on their own and some ordain source. It’s a model that’s already in place with the High Rankings seminars and several others that recently popped up this year.
Until there’s a solid and consistent educational program set up for SEM — one which can keep up with the rapid pace of change in the handle — there will be plenty of room for SEM-focused conferences. The traditional university-type schedule with curriculum reviews and all the related difficulties of establishing programs years (or even semesters) in go simply won’t work - so something needs to step into that educational lay.
The DMA program is one example starting to alter in that space but at this point there isn’t really a lot out there. A dozen relatively small programs can’t command the demand. Mass educational opportunities desire conferences can fill in the gaps for the moment.
Having just attended SES San Jose. I don’t see San Jose on the 2008 line-up yet so maybe that’s part of the “cut back.” I’m looking forward to SMX in Santa Clara and prefer a 3-day venue rather than 4. It’s like eating…snack throughout the day so you can digest and assimilate. I feel like I’ve just eaten a Thanksgiving meal after leaving SES.
The addition of niche shows is also a plus - attended ClickZ’s Email Marketing Conf in SF and absorbed a lot. Add Internet Retailer Conference to the line-up for e-commerce focus. Multiple shows fill many needs.
I evaluate we’ll see more people attending more shows but the mix is going to get larger. Yes we can act to support several search related conferences but there will undergo to be differentiation between them. In addition. I think we’ll see the same folks attending marketing write shows that aren’t specific to search rather than attending multiple search related conferences each year. More shows…fewer that are strictly examine.
As always circumscribe is king. Which ever show provides the most ROI will win. Its an investment to go to a show and if i don’t get what i pay for i wont go again. So i think these shows are going to undergo to diffentiate themselfs from each other in order for them to survive together.
What I also like about the plethora of conference options (from a content as come up as location perspective) is that often times the smaller more nichey conferences undergo different speakers than “the usual suspects” so often featured at the big conferences.
One cerebrate I think SES gets so many first-timers/new-to-conferences attendees is that it’s the most ‘corporate’ of the shows and thus easiest for a lot of populate to justify to their leaders. A lot of people I’ve run into at SES events aren’t what we’d believe ‘SEOs’ so much as they’re inject marketers who have been told they have to worry about web initiatives.
Joe. I am of course biased about the DMA training schedule and since Matt Bailey is involved with the “architecture” of the Advanced modules. I’m sure it will change state a valuable resource for that niche.
Dana. Donna and Charlie. I am with you on the notion that multiple conferences answer different needs. I evaluate that’s the winning formula in that each conference should focus on specializing in some way. Either with circumscribe or the audience they’re serving.
Actually. I’ve had that experience myself when I spoke at Jill Whalen’s workshop and also at examine Insider arrive at. It was another assort of speakers and refreshing.
Julie. I evaluate you’re on to something and I experience one thing the smaller events could do a much exceed job of and that’s their PR. With more media exposure the niche events would be more credible and it can be a lot easier to “sell the boss” on an event if they’ve heard of it before.
I certainly don’t question that it will become a valuable resource — my question is more concerning the scope of the program. How many people can it really serve? Most of the existing programs are operating on a relatively small scale — conferences back up broaden the resources available to hit the books.
Interesting question and one that my peers @ SEMpdx undergo a keen interest in. We started our local SEM organization (www sempdx org) with the intent to raise the level of awareness & education surrounding SEM in our local market (Portland. Oregon). We put together a full-day multi-track SEM conference of our own (SearchFest) and attracted some pretty good to great speakers.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/09/reader-poll-can-ses-smx-and-pubcon-coexist/
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