SMX East, I’m Attending, Are You?

I missed the SMX East conference last year, so I am excited to go this year.  I am going on my own budget so money will be tight, I can only afford the Free pass to the expo itself. It gives limited Access, but at least I’ll be able to show my face among the various SEO Vendors.

I’d also like to be able to attend the SEOMoz conference, but there is no free pass and the minimum ticket cost is $649. At the moment it’s just not feasible. Not to mention it’s in Seattle, so the flight ticket cost is even more than to NYC.  It also will most likely be sold out. I asked SEOmoz if they could hook me up, sadly no. Oh Well. On to SMX East!

The reasons I am going to SMX East are:

Attend more than 30 presentations in the SMX Theater

I really would like to see the latest cutting edge info on search. I’ve heard a bit about these presentations and they always have something to take away. I also wouldnt mind twittercasting events at SMX. I remember following SMX when it was going on last year. It was fun enough just to hear what was going on. I plan to sit back and soak up the knowledge here.

Meet the market-defining vendors

I’d really like to get to know the competi…err, the big players out there. I am hoping to find many people I can actually physically talk with that know more about search than I do. In Miami, I hear a lot, some people talk about SEO and search as if they know what it really is, what it really means. They think its easy, cheap…something you throw a couple bucks at and it takes off on its own…I beg to differ, especially for competitive markets.

I have yet to meet anyone who is as involved online as I am, except maybe my evolving Social Media prodigy Alyssa Jones aka FlirtyKumquat. She is doing great with social media, though still not as technically minded as I…she’s getting there. I am hoping to meet many new people in the field that I can learn from and establish long lasting relationships.

Attend a conference session with your Session Sampler

I am really looking forward to testing out one of these sessions, it may inspire me to save up enough money to register for multiple pay for sessions next year.

Attend the keynotes

Keynotes are always important. This is the bulk of the reason to go to SMX, to hear first hand whats happening in SEM, and then chat about it afterwards with experts and professionals in the field.

Network with speakers, conference attendees and vendors

Social networking is at its best when its face to face. I can’t imagine how many Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare accounts I am going to connect with just by meeting different people face to face.  I’ll be checking in at every booth, making sure my name is up there.

See you at SMX! I Hope to learn a lot of new names and faces!!!