I just wanted to get a feel for what kind of conferences any of you still attend.
As for me, I pretty much go to all the Affiliate Summits, both East and West. Affiliate Summit West will be in Vegas January 9-11 and East is August 21-23 I think in New York. I have probably been to about 8 Summits and I really enjoy them. 90% of it for me is just hanging out with friends and catching up. I will be speaking in Vegas this year talking about datafeeds and also how to improve the affiliate and affiliate manager relationship and it will be my first real time speaking at an Affiliate Summit. Should be fun.
Been to the last 4 Shareasale Think Tanks. This is a private event for merchants and affiliates of Shareasale to get together and talk and figure out how to do more business and how to improve stuff. Awesome time and one of my favorite meetings of the year.
Last month I checked out my first BlogWorld. Probably won't go back. There were a lot of people but a totally different crowd than I am used to. Lots of bloggers who have no clue about monetization and no idea how to market anything.
In the past I have been to an AdTech, a few Pubcons, an SMX, and some other smaller IM related meetings.
Are there any others that are worth attending? Any that you are planning on going to?
I'm ready to start hitting a few.
Need to make more connections, do some biz dev, and get the fuck outta the office once in awhile.
Not sure which ones I'm going to attend.
Nowhere cold :)
0 here
I would try to make arrangements to see you guys and others I have met online but that's about it.
>>>>>Much prefer a select meet and chat than the full on conference stuff
100% agree
Ditto
We have been holding fairly regular smaller (private-ish) meets over here - 2 or 3 a year perhaps.
I hate the larger conferences with a passion, smaller meets have always produced more value for me.
Having said that, I am actively trying to shed clients and wind down to a nice easy passive income model (or at the very least, a client-free model)
I suspect I would put myself about a bit more if I was pursuing a more client based model.
Early days of course, but I guess there may be some value in cranking up the SEORoadshow engines again - we will know when the time is right :)
In a lot of ways I like the smaller meetup better also. That is why I like the SAS Thinktank. Only about 100-150 people.
But I also enjoy the larger conferences like Affiliate Summit. I think they are expecting 4,500 people or so in Vegas this year. But I am able to ignore most of the people there so it kind of seems smaller. There are maybe 50-75 people I would talk to on a regular basis there. Everyone else is just filler.
Also prefer the smaller confs. The large ones were just a good excuse to be somewhere, legit face on the tax writeoff.
I'd be up for something probably after first of the year. With holidays coming and my production rocking right now I can't do it yet.
One problem we have is that the west coast US members won't go to jackshit if it's further east than Vegas. But, in general, the mood still seems to favor small meetups. But the big problem with small meetups in the US is that the US liquor laws re serving hours and/or public drinking kill them.
QuoteOne problem we have is that the west coast US members won't go to jackshit if it's further east than Vegas.
hhh, Denver would be fine, Chicago is pushing it ;) You guys just have to walk down the block and you're in the next state.
I'd do a New England or NYC area trip for sure....drop the wife & kid off with the family :)
Hey Jason, what about Dublin instead?
>Dublin
I'm just moving you westward.
Virginia Beach? Airport = ORF
No, I'll stop there. And I'm not really suggesting this (yet. And ignore anything NFFC or the Vikings might say about our "Redneck Tour Service"), I was just seeing if you were flexible. Stansted would likely be the way to go for the coming May. But, as familiar as you EU'rs are with Stansted, you should know that it's not particularly easy to get to from the US. Schiphol is far easier.
And ORF is actually about half-way between our EU contingent and our West-of-Vegas group. But, again, I think that's for another time.
<added>
And, of course, we have the fringe territories to consider; AU, JP, and --if mivox is still living there-- the independent country of Alaska.
Yeah, nowhere is cheap, easy or convenient to get to from Alaska... a round trip ticket to Vegas costs very nearly the same as a round trip to London, so location makes no real difference to me.
What about Australia? Or Brazil? Or maybe Antarctica? Then you lot can be as inconvenienced as I am for a change. ;-)
hhh. welcome home, mivox
>AU
Yeah, I've been begging Woz to set us up for -what?- 10 years now.
OK, yeah, scratch Australia. Woz clearly doesn't want us down there for some reason. ;-)
As for Alaska, I'm all for it, but I'd have to do some hunting around as far as good locations... if there was sufficient interest though, I'd be happy to. Otherwise, I'll just start saving my pennies for airfare as per usual. hehe
QuoteAlaska
Great fish place down in Seward, we could take over a train car on the way down ;)
QuoteThat kind of defeats the object for me. If people want a holiday / vacation then go for a holiday vacation not an industry catch up.
>So how about Alaska, I've never been there
Oh, so YOU get a vacation but I can't go to Dublin? How does that work?
Quote from: JamesR on November 04, 2010, 10:50:55 PM
Great fish place down in Seward, we could take over a train car on the way down ;)
There's always Denali Park too, during the summer at least. :-) Depends on whether people are more interested in fish or bears and mountains, I suppose.
Quote from: rcjordan on November 04, 2010, 10:52:05 PM
Oh, so YOU get a vacation but I can't go to Dublin? How does that work?
And what exactly is wrong with a vacation in Alaska? :-P
Actually, I'd rather go to Alaska that Dublin. In fact, the boys have been talking about a meetup in Yellowstone NP but -damn- talk about hellatious logistics!
Yellowstone? Pff. Denali is way cooler than Old Faithful. ;-)
Woz would love to organise a get together in Aus, :)
but is just far too busy at present. :(
Oneday ...
>>>what is Alaska actually like
Awesome. Russia is so close by, ya know? :)
>allowed to do that on a motorcycle?
Until the oil in the crankcase freezes.
Yellowstone isn't that great IMO and most of it stinks, Denali is definitely a step up as is Glacier (but definitely a PITA to get to).
- Denver or Salt Lake has access to some nice mountain retreat spots. Denver - go hang out at the hotel where they filmed The Shining ;)
- We've talked about Charleston, SC in the past, I can't remember if you guys did that or not (or did Outer Banks get that one instead? - I was sad to miss that one, bad timing).
- More Brit friendly and mildly to very tropical - Bermuda or the BVI (Tortola and Virgin Gorda not too shabby)
- Washington DC is fun
If we were looking for East Coast options I will be in NYC in August. I will probably be there from the 19th-25th or so. Anywhere on the East Coast around that time would work fine for me.
What about Lake Tahoe?
Skiing/snowboard for people who like it
Good resorts
Good food and hangout spots
and casinos!
>Lake Tahoe
That has my vote. Great place.
Quote from: JasonD on November 04, 2010, 11:16:15 PM
All joking, tea party politics and the Discovery channel aside, what is Alaska actually like Teresa?
The parts I've been to are nice, although my area is colder than fuck in the winter. It's very pretty. When you fly over it, rather than being a bunch of settlement & fenced fields with little patches of trees here and there, it's a bunch of trees with little spots carved out for people. Not for the sort of people who get nervous without the sound of traffic in the background while they sleep. hehe
And a lot of people here do think Sarah Palin and her ilk are morons. We just, unfortunately, aren't the majority. hehe
SEO conferences attended:
0Web related conferences attended:
0I've never attended anything industry related. I followed all of your original PubCon goings on with great interest from afar, but I've never made one, and probably never will at this rate. :( ...Unless Woz ever gets the time to do something in AU. I've never been there either.
Quote> Alaska
I fly over that place on the way to Asia from the US once in a while. It looks just like Canada...snowy. :P
whats the cost of beer in iceland these days? We can stick up a marquee at Thingvellar and not leave our own continents (aside from Woz - sorry- can't think of a solution for the Aussie contingent).
Jason,
you really don't mean that :)
Small moots for me. Gave up WMW when it went to Vegas. I cannot hold a meaningful conversation with 2500 people. Tends to be in the UK, but can travel...
Ideally where I can mountain bike, ski, waterski as well as drink and chat. That place in Stanstead, didn't it have a tennis court Jason?
I don't know, but I suspect Dublin would be a cheaper place to be right now, with the Tiger credit crunch, they will be anxious for visitors...
I don't really care where we have it, but I want the entire place to be for smokers.
I personally can't stand smoke, but if the smokers have to "go outside", then they just stay there and then it splits the group into two groups instead of one big one.
Or we make all the smokers use those electronic fags...I don't care which. But the two group thing sucked.
Yes, and when those smokers get outside, you never know what they might be saying ....
All the best discussions were either with a cigarette or a beer, preferably both. And now I don't smoke, I don't know what they are saying >:(
Reykjavik sounds like a great idea.
Its somewhere not many of us have been before (I suspect)
Beer prices same as London - ie not cheap, but not £10 a pint either.
Hotels reasonably priced
Shortish flight
If it was a good enough neutral ground for Fisher/Spassky and international peace treaties, it should be able to satisfy our humble needs, no?
Just a thought
>Beer prices same as London - ie not cheap, but not £10 a pint either.
We pitched Reykjavik privately two or three years ago, before the crash. That came to a screeching halt when Torben gave us a reality-check on the prices.
>Reykjavik sounds like a great idea.
I'm in. Is it still frozen in May?
its a great place and prices have dropped a lot, plus you could always get a group rate on food and hotels if you asked. I think booze would still be the problem though. And no smoking applies - good point Heather!
Price seem Ok for beer:
hxxp://www.pintprice.com/region.php?/Iceland/USD.htm
hxxp://www.pintprice.com/region.php?/Iceland/GBP.htm
hxxp://www.pintprice.com/region.php?/Iceland/EUR.htm
hxxp://www.pintprice.com/region.php?/Iceland/AUD.htm
(knew this internet thingy would come in useful one day)
Airfare from here is about the same as for Schiphol. low to mid $700's return, mid-May
Tahoe :)
Stanstead
but don't bother with the pizza boxes this time Jason, just give me 24 tins of spam in a large box ;)
I do work for the Vienna Tourism board. You want me to check into it?
hello Jason :)
>Vienna
I'd save that for later. It may be worth more after we achieve critical mass.
Antarctica!
QuoteAntarctica!
Isn't that the other side of the world from Alaska?
Yeah, but so is the UK, and I've never been to Antarctica. ;D
Although I kind of doubt whether any of the research stations are really set up for conference hosting facilities.
shame - we have just sacked our client that did antarctic cruises (not that miserable bastard would have swung us a discount)
Still, with all the spun content I had to do for Antarctica in general, I am almost glad the bloody place is melting away.
>Charleston, SC
No questions asked, I'm in.
>Iceland
Sure, whatever.
>Lake Tahoe
Sure, never been to those parts - same goes for Alaska.
I'd vote for the South. Either US or Europe is fine.
We like it warm, cheap and relaxed.
>>Charleston, SC
>No questions asked, I'm in.
HHH! I take it you enjoyed yourself last time?
>Charleston
Has to be near the top, if not the top, on my list of fav spamcons.
Super relaxing, great food, good beer, right on the beach and we had a ton of time to just hang out and talk.
It goes without saying, but I'd be all over that again.
>Reykjavik
Just got off the phone with a friend who has been over there the last few days, awesome place. I might be able to get us a tour of the most impressive data centre known to man and some great fish in to the bargain.
>>>Reykjavik
Fuck the rest of them, I'm in. Mid-May?
>> the most impressive data centre known to man
Orly? Will it withstand a near miss from a nuke?
http://www.krystal.co.uk/datacentre/
re: Reykjavik
Mid-May works for me :)
>Fuck the rest of them, I'm in. Mid-May?
Confirmed.
http://my.opera.com/chooseopera/albums/show.dml/?id=5114012
http://NonCon.com/
http://my.opera.com/chooseopera/albums/showpic.dml?album=5114012&picture=77243762
Blue lights on things. I dont care if it doesnt do anything I looks ace.
Manchester Computing, a part of the uni there used to have an awesome looking DC, all blue and stuff.
I only get to small semi private events. Maybe this place can take us back to TW stanstead of the early pubcons. :-)
Reykjavik weather in May (http://www.reykjavik.world-guides.com/reykjavik_weather.html)
9°C / 48°F Max
3°C / 37°F Min
Hmmm, just finally warming up in May I may have problems convincing Amy on this one.
>37°F
Let's not tell Louise about this, OK. Let it be a surprise.
There is not such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes (Billy Connoly I think)
nice heated swimming pool though
>nice heated swimming pool though
This will have to be on the must visit list http://www.bluelagoon.com/
>Let's not tell Louise about this, OK. Let it be a surprise.
Hah! I didn't know you could still outrun her.
Hahah, love the volcano picture RC. How important is the location draw? In other words, will attendance be much better at a vacation destination location? Otherwise, Washington D.C. is probably a good central venue for the first Noncon. Easy to drive around, lots of flights, lots to see and do. Unless everyone is bored with it. Charleston is great also, of course. Never been to Key West. Would it be suitable?
>vacation draw
Repeat after me... the primary purpose is for BUSINESS purposes.
Well, it appears you and I travel further to meet up for dinner than most of this group go for a conference.
>DC
That hell-hole? It'll be cheaper to go to Iceland.
>That hell-hole?
Awwh, it's fun to visit.
>Iceland
Pretty sure if we meet anywhere outside the USA it's going to be pricey for the foreseeable future.
QuotePretty sure if we meet anywhere outside the USA it's going to be pricey for the foreseeable future.
...and, of course, the reverse applies for all of us UK and European chaps types.
Which is why Iceland came up in the first place - not exactly half-way house, but neutral ground (so to speak)
>>>Charleston, SC
>>No questions asked, I'm in.
>
>HHH! I take it you enjoyed yourself last time?
With out a doubt my best trip to the US by far.
Next VacationCon I vote Cape Town
As 4eyes said, perhaps we need first date US, second UK, third ....well somewhere completely different.
How about the Philipines.... or India. We could see if we can find workers on the trip too.
Or China, for importing items, or selling to the Chinese..... Is Shak stil about ?? :-\
Philippines sounds great, planning to go there primarily for business purposes anyway.
>planning to go there primarily for business purposes anyway
Great! While you're there do all the ground work for a NonCon. Let us know when you're ready to announce.
Well I'll probably stay for a month so I'll do legwork first week, you all can show up 3rd-4th week.
What about Kansas City? I mean, if this is just for business purposes anyway, KC has a very clean International airport and plenty of conference spaces...
Yes, but our business meetings are held in bars, restaurants, and fun places.
Kansas City has barbecue joints... but Iceland sounds much more interesting. hehe