SMX Advanced Review 2009

I wrote a review of SMX Advanced a couple of years ago and since it ranked so well some people have contacted me asking if I thought if it is worth the expense. So, here’s a review of this year’s conference.

I Like To Compare

It is hard not to compare SMX Advanced to PubCon. The biggest difference is the duration. SMX is only two days and PubCon is 3 days. This year I felt a little bit cheated because it seemed that on the final day of SMX, a session was missing.  PubCon packs each day full of sessions until you brain explodes  from information overload (which I kinda like).

Last Session

However, one advantage to SMX Advanced is having easy access to the speakers.  At each conference, I come with a list of questions for the experts.  At PubCon, you have to swing elbows to get access.  But, at SMX it is very easy to sit in the front and then ask your questions at the end of the session without having to worry about a mob of people behind you.

I Love Site Reviews

I love sessions that are very interactive with the audience. The more the better. That’s why I love all the PubCon site reviews. You can learn quickly and get new ideas by seeing other people’s mistakes. And nothing compares to the entertainment value of watching Rae Hoffman rip apart a site in 5 minutes flat.

Which is the best value?  I would have to say PubCon is better than SMX, but if you get access to an expert on social media and he or she provides you with some amazing piece of advice and you get a tons of .edu links in the next 3 months — than yes, it was worth the trip.

Get Me Out Of My Home Office!

For people like me that work out of their homes, it is really nice to get out of the house and go drinking with people that live and breathe the same stuff you do – sort of a “vacation from the home office“. That’s why listening to guys like Marty Weintraub is fun. I didn’t get any new information from his talk this year, but he is entertaining to listen to! (I loved the social profile talk he did this year.)

At this stage in my “career”, going to a conference twice a year mostly helps me know that I am on the right track and I am not missing anything new. For instance I used StumbleUpon a couple of years ago with success but have not had much luck recently. I went to Brent Csutoras session and learned what I have been doing wrong, and I will try using that tool again.

Great Food

Food wise, SMX blows PubCon out of the water. I think all of the staff at the Bell Harbor convention did an amazing job.

Convention Hall

Keynotes Should Not Be Based On The Top Sponsor

SMX keynote selection is usually Microsoft, which I am sure has to do with Microsoft being a big sponsor and the location of the conference. I think the Bing party was great and I think they are working very hard on search, but Steve Ballmer should have given the keynote.  His absense seemed to indicate they are not serious enough about this effort.

Bing Party with Live "Art"

Twitter Activity Rises Quickly With Boring Keynotes

You can always tell when the audience loses interest— the Twitter stream picks up. I must say the twitter stream during the keynote was more entertaining than the Microsoft keynote. Take the following.  A bit over the top IMHO, but funny.

I Recorded Most Of the Sessions

I recorded all the speakers that I was interested in on my IPhone and will listen to them one more time on my afternoon hikes before I delete them to see if I missed anything.

Quickvoice

Rae’s Karma

I loved Rae Hoffman’s little speech she gave on turning in your competitors. She told the story of how their top competitor is buying 6,000 links and she told Matt Cutts about the issue. Matt wanted her to give him the name of site but she wouldn’t because of karma, and she wanted Matt to find it on his own.  I don’t buy links.  My Karma is clean.

Ranking Factors

I really enjoyed Rand’s talk on ranking factors.  One of the things he talked about is going to heavily influence the direction I take for link development in the next 6 months.

seomoz linkjuice can

I will say that SMX is more advanced than the first year. Everyone gets to the core of their talk quickly now, without explaining the basics first (e.g. duplicate content).

All-in-all a great conference. Danny, if you are reading this, I think you and Chris did a great job (as always).  My only suggestion is to make it a little longer and have at least one site review in the SEO track.

Video I Created at The Matt Cutts Session

More Photos From My IPhone

Near Bell Harbor Convention Center

Seth Chernoff and Laszlo Ember

Dave and Seth Chernoff

John Beagle and Laszlo Ember