Social Scene Recap - SES San Jose 2007

As my current clients can probably vouch for, I’ve been scarce for the past ten days or so–last week was a whirlwind tour of pubs, pizzerias, and parties. Oh, and a few very entertaining sessions at SES San Jose :).

With all of the truly amazing people in the SEO community, it’s shocking to me that the profession has gotten such a bad rap among traditional advertisers and traditional media. Even the experts in the field are down-to-earth, straight-shooting folks who know how to have a good time! A few bad apples on the fringe of the industry seem to be spoiling the entire bushel…

So, for those who are interested, here’s quick list & a few links to the terrific people I’ve met and/or enjoyed hanging out with again for the past three weeks (in order of appearance):

• Todd Malicoat, aka Stuntdubl, dropped in a couple of weeks early to enjoy the Bay Area winter summer and set up the first SEO get-together our regional group has had in nearly six months.
• Although I knew from Facebook that Todd was in the area, it was quite a surprise to see him and Scott Smith at a local Tapas bar just up the street from my place the night before the meetup! (For those not in the industry, Todd and Scott are among the top SEO consultants in the country.)
• Ethan Hays of Healthline, a Health and Medical Information Search Engine
• Kris Keimig of MyNewPlace, an Apartment Search Tool
• Brent Csutoras, currently a Midwesterner and a proprietor of WeirdAsiaNews.com, an offbeat news website.
• Neil Patel of ACS SEO, one of the top Social Media Marketing consultants anywhere
• Natasha Robinson, aka That Girl From Marketing (who’s tremendous fun to hang out with despite being an Amherst grad)
• Will Radcliffe, Joe Paone, and Forrest Kolb of BizzFlip.com, a “Craigslist for businesses.”
• Lorna Li, a Green Business SEO Consultant
• Daniel Riveong of e-Storm, an international SEO company based in San Francisco
• Laura Lippay, SEO Manager for Yahoo’s Media Groups
• Robert Charlton, a top-notch SEO whose heart lies in producing high-quality videos
• “Van from Monterey” — Van, send me your website address so I can link to you :)
• Roger Montti, aka Martinibuster, one of the true pioneers in SEO & proprietor of a popular link development blog — thanks for the ride back from the Mission, Roger!!
• Carolyn Shelby, an SEO copywriter and PR producer based in Illinois–yeah!
• Rhea Drysdale, Matt Inman’s second-biggest fan (see below), SEM for MPS Group, co-founder of SEMJax, and Associate Editor for Search Engine Journal
• Carolyn & Rhea’s chauffeur – sorry, bud, your name escapes me…:(
• Lucas Ng, Lead SEO for the Sydney Morning Herald and a huge Manchester City fan — needless to say, we hit it off immediately. With Sven at the helm, there’s no stopping the SkyBlues.
• Thomas McMahon, an SEO for TopRankBlog — thanks for the power outlet on Monday afternoon!
• Karl Brown, Lead SEO for Reed Business Information. Another Aussie…why are you all so easy to get along with?
• The guys from Blogsvertise, an advertising service for bloggers — thanks for Monday’s dinner, guys, it was terrific!
• Tamar Weinberg, Matt Inman’s biggest fan (see below), and proprietor of a fabulous technology blog called Techipedia
• Chris Hooley, one of the true characters in the industry. He’s an SEO based in Phoenix.
• Chris Boggs, SEO thought leader and moderator at Search Engine Watch — thanks for squeezing me into Tuesday’s outing, Chris!!
• John Krystynak, an internet entrepreneur and AdWords expert. But more importantly a GolfClubAtlas fan and a 6 handicap :)
• Andrew Goodman, PageZero Media. PageZero are the top Google Advertising Consultants in Canada. But more importantly, Andrew’s an avid golfer :)
• Frank from Australia — Yet another easy-going Aussie. Frank, how come I didn’t get a business card from you?
• Pat Sexton, everyone’s favorite drinking buddy who’s recently started a great Google Gadget Search Engine called Gadzi
• Rebecca Kelley, one of SEOmoz’s loveliest employees, and a top Social Media Marketing expert in her own right. (Jane, if you’re reading this, I promise I’ll give you the same link in my SEOmoz Seminar recap :). Shame that you couldn’t convince Rand to work on the SMO article remotely… )
• Matt Inman, talented web designer and CTO for SEOmoz. Matt has a lot of fans in the SEO community & seemingly only has competition from Pat…
• Susan & Heather Sipe, my friends at one of the top SEO for law firms firms (no, that’s not redundant) in the country
• Gilbert Galindo, an independent SEO consultant based in the Quad Cities.
• Josh Lee, Account Executive at ClickPath — great meeting you at the Ramada breakfast, Josh!
• Will Scott, CEO of a New Orleans Internet Marketing company called Search Influence
• Alex McArthur and Jon Wadley of OrangeSoda, an up-and-coming player in the Local SEO game.
• Jon Kelly, president of the incomparable SureHits, an Insurance and Loan online advertising network
• Cameron Olthuis, now of CameronOlthuis.com, one of my favorite SEO speakers and an amazing Social Media Marketer.
• Greg Boser, one of the SEO industry’s top consultants and a now-(in)famous proponent of paid linking. One of the few guys who can stand toe-to-toe with Matt Cutts & not look away!
• Barbara Boser, a radiant, completely charming “SEO Wife“
• Gillian Muessig, president and co-founder of SEOmoz. Gillian, thanks for your great advice on thinking through my business model for the next 24 months!
• Greg Hartnett, president of Best of the Web, which really is the best directory on the web!