Those of you who follow me on Twitter, know that I couldn’t make it to SMX East because of a prior engagement I had, and I was sorely disappointed I didn’t go. Well I noticed enough people blog about their experiences at the conference that I could still learn a few things, albeit not everything.
The concepts taught are easy to understand from a blog, but I missed out on the one on one time. Also, I couldn’t network and meet people. Personalized help and friends are probably the best reasons to go to a conference.
But since I missed SMX East and I’m sure some of you weren’t able to attend either, I’ve compiled the some blog posts about SMX…
Things that I learned from attending SMX East… without attending SMX East
Shana from SocialDesire.com writes an awesome post about what she gained from just getting the Networking Pass. Sounds like she had a lot of fun, with some of the highlights being: lots of laughs, probably lots of drinking, and in my mind most importantly $1 pizza.
SMX East: The Great Search Industry - The Big Water Story
Brent wrote about his time there, with an emphasis on the people. One thing he said stuck out in my mind
“I would like to highlight one aspect of this situation though?the quality of people. I have often mentioned that the search industry has the largest group of quality individuals within it. There is an immediate acceptance that one feels within the industry.”
It’s absolutely true. Search industry people are great fun, and happy to be friends with anyone.
SEO Aware - SMX 2008
It seems that there’s a running theme about SMX, and it’s that a lot of great people were there. Melissa writes about all the people she met, and why you should want to meet them too. It’s a great article and has lots of pictures!
Search Engine Roundtable - SMX Coverage
At the bottom of the list of links, Search Engine Roundtable has posted all of their SMX Coverage. It’s a great summary of many of the presentations, and definitely worth a read. Although not as much fun as the others, it’s important to get some of the knowledge that comes with these conferences.
That’s my quick roundup, if you have some more SMX stories feel free to drop a line, or leave a comment. I’m sorry I missed it, but I promise to be there next time!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Shana Albert 10.13.08 at 12:42 pm
It’s too bad you couldn’t make it to SMX East, Samir. It would have been awesome meeting you. But, there are plenty of conferences going on so often that hopefully you will be able to make it to the next one in the area.
Thank you so much for the link love, my friend.
Melissa - SEO Aware 10.13.08 at 1:39 pm
Thanks! I am glad you liked the article. It was fun.
Samir Balwani 10.13.08 at 5:07 pm
Delicious | Digg | StumbleUpon | Technorati | Twitter@Shana thanks for the comment! I’m really looking forward to meeting you soon. I won’t make the mistake of missing SMX East twice!
@Melissa It really sounds like you had a lot of fun at SMX. I’m glad you got to go!