Comments on: US Blog/Web Conferences – Which one is best for ProBlogger?

By: Mike Sigal

Mike Sigal — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 19:02:05 +0000

Hi Darren, I'm Mike Sigal, the CEO of Guidewire Group, which produces BlogOn. Naturally I want more folks to attend our event, but your assessment is correct...our focus is helping professional marketing, communications and media folks understand why/how to make investments in social media (setting up their own blogs or social networks, advertising on blogs, etc.) to create better conversations and relationships with their markets and customers. The focus is not on how to make a living as a blogger (though several of our speakers, attendees and advisors fit that bill). That said, if you're goal is to sell to professional marketers (advertising or sponsorship on your blogs, selling blog consulting, whatever), then BlogOn is probably a great venue for you to engage your potential customers to figure out what they want/need. And with regards to the price, you should search through our speakers and advisors blogs...they've been given promotional codes for their readers to attend at $695. I hope to meet you at BlogOn, and one way or another, I wish you the best of luck.

By: nortypig

nortypig — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:01:00 +0000

Hang out for SXSW 2006 in Texas in March…

By: yunasville

yunasville — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 22:42:56 +0000

I am always interested in the SEO topic.. so the cheaper one sounds pretty good.. and it is in Vegas? Only hour and half from Denver.. and I wouldn’t mind going there to catch a show and meet Darren in person.. ;-)

By: Mike Sigers

Mike Sigers — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 21:00:54 +0000

How about we all just meet in Louisville, watch the horses run, eat some great Kentucky BBQ and put some faces with the names. Then we can make plans as to what we want to accomplish together in ’06.

Vegas is so cheesy and NY is, well, NY.

They shoulda picked the ” Ville !

By: The Other Mac

The Other Mac — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 19:26:27 +0000

“my worry is that it will be a conference for businesses that blog rather than blogs that ARE a business”

Seeing as you are possibly one of the top experts in the 2nd field, you’re probably not going to learn much more from others doing the same thing.

You might take home something unexpected from a field that’s related though. Like, the marketing patterns of businesses looking to sell online.

Just an idea. I don’t know the conferences at all.

By: graywolf

graywolf — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 18:57:30 +0000

Scott I wasn’t at SES so can’t really sayanything about it, however I can say that SES and WMW are completely different shows.

By: Nathan Weinberg

Nathan Weinberg — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 18:02:44 +0000

Actually, you might want to consider Ad:Tech in New York in October. Getting to meet with a lot of ad professionals might be very beneficial for your blogging.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 17:51:42 +0000

That’s a good idea, Gordon. We could do a ProBloggerCon meetup at Wo-Hops or something. Okay, maybe something a little nicer than Wo-Hops.

By: Gordon Montgomery

Gordon Montgomery — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 17:36:59 +0000

hmmm…I always look at the venue because the content of these things is often very similar even though the promoters try to make it unique…so…NY or Vegas….I’d say do the cheaper one, try to present to offset costs and include a cheap flight (southwest) back up to NY to meet the bloggers socially that you want to meet…even arrange to meet them all at some restuarant…

By: Scott Randolph

Scott Randolph — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:33:19 +0000

graywolf – i couldn’t disagree more with your statement about SEO’s. If you check out the latest Search Engine Strategies conference, there is an entire track (about 12 sessions) dedicated to blogs/rss and how to use them.

Darren – you should look into presenting at some of the SES conference blog sessions. You’d be a great addition!

By: Kurt

Kurt — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:25:34 +0000

I might be hanging around outside the first one, since I live in NYC and I’m interested. I’ll take the ‘poor college student’ method of buying dinner for someone who went and picking their brains about it afterwards. :)

By: graywolf

graywolf — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 13:17:52 +0000

WMW is very good, but more about running, maintaining, and marketing a site than blogging per se. They had one or two sessions last year, but very high level stuff. To be honest most SEO’s don’t see blogs as legitimate business tools which is a shame. Yes there are few here and there, but they are the exception not the rule. That said you will learn a lot and and get a lot of ideas. The “unoffocial” sessions that occur afterward can be very instructional if you’re willing to pick up someone else’s bar tab.