| 7:30am-6:30pm |
Registration |
| 8:00am-9:00am |
Morning Coffee |
| 9:00am-10:00am |
Conference Welcome & Opening Keynote
Clay Shirky
- Keynote Speaker:
Clay Shirky, Author, Here Comes Everybody
|
| 10:00am-10:30am |
Grand Opening of the Expo Hall (open 10:00am-6:30pm) |
| 10:30am-11:30am |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the five sessions offered during this time.
Search Fundamentals Track
Introduction to Search Engine Marketing
This session will provide a clear and concise overview of the key concepts involved in search engine marketing. Who are the major search engines, and how can you best optimize them to gain "natural" or "organic" traffic without cost? Learn how to achieve top ranking or placement by utilizing search engine advertising opportunities. This is a must-attend basic session for anyone new to Search Engine Strategies events.
- Introduction by:
Matthew Bailey, SES Advisory Board & President, Site Logic Marketing
- Solo Presentation by:
Brad Geddes, Founder, Certified Knowledge
Search & Community Track
How to Optimize for Search & Engage the Community
Why do most people start with Google when they search for information, but they look to YouTube when they search for entertainment? Why should search engine marketers, YouTube directors and entrepreneurs create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community? Greg Jarboe, president of SEO-PR and author of "YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day," will tackle these thought-provoking questions in this featured presentation for the "Search & Community" track. According to Virginia Nussey, associate writer of the SEO Blog on Bruceclay.com, "You may know Greg from his video interviews on behalf of SES, or maybe from his articles on Search Engine Watch. Greg is considered an expert on everything from news search to video search to linkbait and beyond. If you don't know him, your introduction is long overdue because Greg has his fingers on the pulse of the Internet marketing industry."
- Solo Presentation by:
Greg Jarboe, President & Co-founder, SEO-PR
Search for the C-Suite Track
The Adaptive CMO: A New Paradigm for Digital Marketing
This session will set the stage for the C-Suite track and will provide a strategic view of how marketing is constantly evolving and will define the critical role that search must play. The rules have all changed and all bets are off. Brian Fetherstonhaugh, chairman and CEO of OgilvyOne Worldwide, will present a unique viewpoint on how brands are built, why the "four Ps" are no longer valid, how corporate cultures are created, and what happens as the world goes digital.
- Introduction by:
Bill Hunt, SES Advisory Board & President, Back Azimuth Consulting
Search & Measurement Track
Always be Testing: Marketing Optimization in Challenging Times
Tough times call for tough measures. While media costs rise, marketing budgets shrink; yet, demands for accountability increase. Many businesses are starting to believe that flat revenues are the new up. Now more than ever before, organizations must optimize their marketing efforts so that every marketing dollar invested yields the maximum return on investment.
Testing seems to be the flavor of the day and A/B or multivariate testing has become a technical darling. Do you know where to begin? What exactly should you test? How do you get corporate buy-in? How can you maximize returns on testing investment? What do you have to do to go from a culture of having to "always be right" to one of "always be testing?" In this session, Bryan Eisenberg will tell you what you need to know about customers, testing and persuasion in these challenging times.
- Introduction by:
Pauline Ores, Senior Marketing Manager, Social Media Engagement, IBM Corporation
- Solo Presentation by:
Bryan Eisenberg, SES Advisory Board and NYTimes Bestselling Author, bryaneisenberg.com
Search & the Future Track
Search: Where to Next?
It's been said that the best way to predict the future is to invent it. And almost everyone likes to speculate about the future. When it comes to search marketing, none are better at it than our veteran panel of industry insiders. Join us for an illuminating discussion as we peek into the next generation of digital marketing and predict what search might look like in the following five to ten years. What should be on your search radar for 2010 and beyond? Does the key to the future of search lie in personalization? Do social networks herald the end of search? Certain industry pundits have even been heard to say that SEO is dead. The future is coming. Are you ready for it?
- Moderator:
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
- Speakers:
Stephan Spencer, Co-author, The Art of SEO
Pavan Lee (Peiwen Li), Senior Research Manager, Microsoft
Heather Dougherty, Research Director, Hitwise
Chris Boggs, Director, SEO, Rosetta
Eli Goodman, Media Evangelist, comScore, Inc.
Carla Borsoi, VP, Research & Analytics, Ask.com
|
| 11:30am-11:45am |
Session Interval |
| 11:45am-12:45pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the five sessions offered during this time.
Search Fundamentals Track
Successful Site Architecture
This session will provide a fresh look at how to successfully architect your site for search engines and how specific page elements and design technologies may impact your ability to gain good organic listings. The speakers will cover topics such as directory and file structure, server-side includes (SSIs), 404 error trapping, JavaScript, robots.txt use, frames, secure area usage, and much more. If time allows, volunteers from the audience will have their sites examined to see how changes could be made to their site architecture and design to increase search engine traffic.
- Moderator:
Mark Jackson, SEW Expert & President/CEO, VIZION Interactive
Search & Community Track
SEO for the Greater Good: Using Search to Find Missing Persons
Most people searching for missing adults, children and runaways have limited funds and limited knowledge of search and the available strategies. In this ground-breaking session you will hear from Bob Rahn, a private investigator, who is working on the cold case of a missing adult - pro bono. His private investigation firm approached traditional media as a resource to help spread the word, since he did not know the various avenues available in search or how to implement them. The use of search has been limited due to a lack of funds and not understanding the available search strategies. Missing persons and runaway children cases are some of the most difficult cases to solve and in each case, time is of the essence.
According to Rahn, "Unfortunately with traditional media, we get limited exposure to the case. If we are lucky we get one article or news film clip and that's it. We believe that by using the unlimited resources of the Internet we would be able to keep the case out in the public eye for an unlimited amount of time."
Rahn will be joined by Kathleen Fealy, SEO Strategist, who is working with Rahn to optimize web pages and various digital assets in the cold case of missing person Vernon Kent Jones and by Lisa Buyer, PR/SEO, who for many years has been helping Patrick Sessions with a social media campaign to generate leads in the missing persons case of his daughter, Tiffany Sessions.
Who should attend? Businesses or individuals who may need to support employee's faced with a missing person situation, law enforcement and private investigative agencies, missing person organizations, non-profits, members of the media, bloggers and journalists who cover missing persons stories and representatives from the major search and social engines. A Special Interest Information Table will be available immediately following this session.
- Moderator:
Matt McGowan, Managing Director, Americas, Incisive Media
- Speakers:
Kathleen Fealy, President / Web Strategist Consultant / Certified Usability Analyst, KF Multimedia & Web, Inc.
Lisa Buyer, President & CEO, The Buyer Group
Lt. Robert H. Rahn, (Retired), CEO & Director of Investigations, Mgmt Resources Ltd of NY
Kim Anklin, VP & Director of Analytical Services, Management Resources LTD of NY
Search for the C-Suite Track
The View From the CMO's Office
Search marketers and non-search marketers have traditionally had difficulty communicating in the language of their disciplines, often creating friction and unnecessary conflict. This session will walk you through the day-by-day challenges of the CMO from two viewpoints: the traditional CMO and the CMO who has made the move to digital. This very interactive session will explore how both disciplines can educate each other and explore such issues as the nominal percentage of marketing spend that is allocated to search.
- Moderator:
Bill Hunt, SES Advisory Board & President, Back Azimuth Consulting
- Speakers:
Gina Poole, VP, IBM Software Group Marketing 2.0, IBM
Liz Miller, Vice President, Programs & Operations, CMO Council
Kevin M. Ryan, CEO, Motivity Marketing
Search & Measurement Track
Creating a Web Analytics Culture
This session will showcase various marketing methodologies which can be used to create, build and foster a measurement-based culture. Convincing the business owner/CEO/VP of Marketing to invest time and resources in measurement and analytics is the easy part. The real challenge is to identify realistic goals with limited resources and to encourage a shift in mind set to focus on metrics and actionable insights. The objective is to improve conversions and ROI for marketing spend. In this session you will learn how to establish and nurture this culture, from incremental improvements, data driven decision making, to insightful high level executive dashboards. A must attend for all companies involved in online marketing that want to stretch marketing dollars in 2009.
- Moderator:
Sara Holoubek, Consultant, Columnist and SEMPO President,
- Speakers:
Matthew Bailey, SES Advisory Board & President, Site Logic Marketing
Richard Zwicky, Independent Consultant,
John Marshall, SES Advisory Board & CTO, Market Motive
Feras Alhlou, President, E-Nor, Inc.
Ron Belanger, Vice President of Worldwide Agency Sales, Omniture
Search & the Future Track
The Next Wave for Online Video
According to comScore, YouTube is now the #2 search destination in the world. While the good old organic results pages still attract tens of thousands of experts probing the latest algorithmic quirks and optimization techniques, video search remains relatively uncharted waters. Panelists discuss the importance of optimizing for video search, and probe into tactics like keyword research, copywriting, reputation enhancement, and sponsorships and special programs.
- Moderator:
Andrew Goodman, SES Advisory Board & President, Page Zero Media
|
| 12:45pm-1:45pm |
Networking Lunch in the Expo Hall |
| 1:45pm-2:45pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the five sessions offered during this time.
Search Fundamentals Track
Turn Brain Science into Bucks: Incorporating Persuasive Messaging into Your Content Strategy
Twitter. White papers. Optimized web pages. Blog posts. Companies have more opportunities than ever before to create content that captures new buyers, opens up communication, and builds loyal customer relationships — just by understanding how the latest persuasive marketing techniques mesh with the online content marketing cycle. We'll showcase some current online content campaigns, and explain how one-to-one and one-to-many content strategies help persuade buyers, build trust, and get great search engine listings. Plus, you'll learn how social proof, neuroscience, and psychology dictates whether your content strategy causes conversions — or misses the mark.
Search & Community Track
Turning the Social Web Into Real ROI
Today the social web is essential to how we live our lives and how we stay connected. We use it to keep up with friends, family, colleagues, and even public figures and businesses. But does it really present an opportunity to marketers? The social web has proven to be effective in helping marketers reach the right audience at the right time. The way we stay connected has moved beyond email to a world of real-time reciprocal communication. With more time spent on Facebook than email these days, marketers are able to reach a large and interested audience and engage in a two-way dialogue with consumers.
This session will explore best practices in how marketers can leverage the social web as a simple way to quickly build and manage effective campaigns. Our panel of experts will share their first-hand experience and help marketers gain a better understanding of what they can do to maximize their success through the use of these tools.
- Moderator:
Tim Kendall, Director of Monetization, Facebook
Search for the C-Suite Track
Integration: The New CMO Imperative
With the popularity of sites like YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook, brands increasingly need to engage with their customers outside their website. The portability of content and viral connectivity that occurs online requires a new approach to branding. Participants will learn strategies for increasing brand awareness and protecting brand equity in today's socially connected web as well as tactics that can be implemented in today's resource and budget constrained environment.
Search & Measurement Track
How to Turn Your Web Analytics into a Money Making Machine
You tagged your website with analytics. You may even login to check your stats or get them emailed to you. What does it all mean? How do you find anything useful in the endless amounts of data provided? How do you turn those reports into insight and action? Join web analytics godfather, Jim Sterne, Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, and conversion and continuous improvement guru, Bryan Eisenberg for this fast paced session where each panelist will provide you with 3 solid tips to make money from your web analytics and answer questions about everything your wanted to know about web analytics but were afraid to ask.
- Moderator:
Mike Grehan, Global VP Content, SES, Search Engine Watch, ClickZ
- Speakers:
Bryan Eisenberg, SES Advisory Board and NYTimes Bestselling Author, bryaneisenberg.com
Avinash Kaushik, Author, Blogger, Analytics Evangelist, Google
Jim Sterne, Chairman, Web Analytics Assn & Founder, eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit
Search & the Future Track
Don't Call it a Comeback: Semantic Technology and Search
Remember when Web 2.0 was supposed to be about "the semantic Web"? Social media hijacked Web 2.0, but heavyweights in the Semantic world have been quietly advancing the reality of true semantic technology and they're already claiming the Web 3.0 tag. With applications from better contextual ads, to personalized news, to government spying, is Semantic next year's technology darling? Bring your thinking cap; it's going to get geeky in here.
- Moderator:
Dana Todd, Vice President of Performance Innovation, Performics
|
| 2:45pm-3:00pm |
Session Interval |
| 3:00pm-4:00pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the five sessions offered during this time.
Search Fundamentals Track
SEO Tools of the Trade: What's in YOUR Toolbox?
If you are responsible for your company's search engine optimization, then you know that you need all of the various tools of your trade close at hand. This session will describe the tools that will help you to accomplish your tasks including indexing, competitive analysis, site ranking, diagnosing and remedying problems, page level information, site level information, on-page optimization and much more.
- Speakers:
Bruce Clay, President, Bruce Clay, Inc.
Dr. Horst Joepen, CEO, Searchmetrics
Aaron Wall, Founder, SEO Book
Michael Gray, Owner, Atlas Web Service
Rajesh Srivastava, Principal Group Program Manager, Bing
David Roth, Director of Search Marketing, Yahoo!, Inc.
Search & Community Track
Stop the Presses! How SEO Can Help Save the Publishing Industry
In this session we will explore the challenges, tactics and opportunities unique to online publishers. We will cover solutions for technical obstacles, duplicate content and CMS issues, writing keyword rich headlines, training the editorial staff and updating the publishing culture from print to online. This session will teach publishers how to save jobs by leveraging SEO, drive traffic to their site, and put advertising dollars back in their pockets.
- Speakers:
Allison Fabella, SEO & Social Media Manager, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Liesel Kipp, VP, Global Head of Product Management, Thomson Reuters
Ulli Muenker, Search Marketing Manager, Bloomberg / BusinessWeek
Brent Payne, SEO & Social Media Director, 435 Digital
Marshall Simmonds, Chief Search Strategist, New York Times, Define Search Strategies
Search for the C-Suite Track
Budget Migration: Going Digital Without Impacting Your Brand
The move to a predominantly digital marketing strategy can be overwhelming. Migrating from staid traditional channels to the open waters of the web can be daunting - especially for companies that are unsure of how to properly measure search, display, email and social media. This session will arm you with the information you need to know about migrating budget to digital without impacting your brand awareness or the equity you have built up in your brand. Participants will learn from companies that have started moving significant resources away from TV, radio and print and into search, social, display and email. Lessons learned will be discussed as well as the metrics and tools need to gauge the success of a balanced digital marketing program.
- Speakers:
Crispin Sheridan, SES Advisory Board & Sr Director of Search Marketing Strategy, SAP
Eli Goodman, Media Evangelist, comScore, Inc.
Search & Measurement Track
Meaningful SEO Metrics: Going Beyond the Numbers
As knowledge of SEO practices moves from the offices of the optimizers to the board room, the standard metrics used by the practitioners of this former dark art are straining under the weight of the all powerful bottom line. The days when upper management was impressed by subtle changes in Page Rank have been replaced by questions of LTV and ROI. As more resources are being dedicated to creating the perfectly optimized and keyword rich landing page, C-level executives are demanding proof of the return they are receiving from these resources.
This panel will discuss a myriad of ways to move beyond Page Rank, indexed pages or linked sites and into metrics that can make you a hero and, better still, get your budget increased to a respectable level.
- Moderator:
Jim Sterne, Chairman, Web Analytics Assn & Founder, eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit
- Speakers:
Richard Zwicky, Independent Consultant,
Jeff Ferguson, CEO, Fang Digital
Marc Engelsman, VP, Client Programs and Services, Digital Brand Expressions
Jamie Smith, CEO, Engine Ready
Ray "Catfish" Comstock, Director of SEO, BusinessOnLine
Search & the Future Track
Beyond Googling: Where Will Your Customers Be Searching in Five Years?
Nothing in search marketing is as certain as change. Ten years ago Google did not exist - now it's a verb that means searching on the Web. Growing use of media such as video, social and personal appear to provide new avenues for searchers. What are the early adopters embracing now? How will your customers find you? What media should you keep in your sites and what should you discard? This session is a long-view look at weak signals and trends that appear to point in new directions.
- Moderator:
John Marshall, SES Advisory Board & CTO, Market Motive
- Speakers:
Dixon Jones, Marketing Director, MajesticSEO
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
Frank Watson, CEO, Kangamurra Media
Pauline Ores, Senior Marketing Manager, Social Media Engagement, IBM Corporation
|
| 4:00pm-4:30pm |
Afternoon Break in the Expo Hall |
| 4:30pm-5:30pm |
Attendees may choose to attend one of the five sessions offered during this time.
Search Fundamentals Track
Search Advertising 101
Paid placement is a form of search advertising that provides a top ranking in return for payment. Every major search engine offers a paid placement program. Learn what's available in this session that is especially geared toward beginners, with details on programs from major providers and advice on how to succeed.
- Moderator:
Rebecca Lieb, Search Authority and Author, The Truth About Search Engine Optimization
Search & Community Track
Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search
Numbers from all over the country indicate a veritable tidal wave of smart phone adoption. ComScore's March statistics on year-over-year cell phone usage for the period ending Jan '08 compared to Jan '09 showed an incredible 71% increase in unique user access to the web from mobile appliances. On top of that, daily usage of mobile devices increased 107% for the same time frame. This, according to many mobile media watchers, indicates a change of habit.
You and your friends head out after work for happy hour to a little place a few blocks from work for some R&R only to find out it's completely packed out. What happens? "Darn. Now, where can we go for karaoke without going back to get our cars?"
Out come the cell phones in a race to be first to find a suitable alternative. Guess what's really different about this picture? These folks aren't looking for web sites - they're looking for physical locations. This is Local Search finally working!
Local storefronts need to be where they can be found by the new wave of mobile users.
This session explains the relevant phone user habit changes, and demonstrates how effective local search listings can be when utilized to their full potential instead of cobbled together in an effort to support lagging SEO.
- Speakers:
Steve Espinosa, VP of Innovation, eLocal Listing, LLC
Michael Boland, Analyst, The Kelsey Group
Josh Siegel, Product Manager, Mobile Local Search, Google
Gregg Stewart, President, 15miles
Justin Jed, Group Product Manager, Bing Mobile
Search for the C-Suite Track
Performance Pricing Models: What Every CMO Must Know!
With many marketing organizations feeling the pain of financial pressures, pay for performance pricing models are gaining popularity in search today. At this stage of the game, chances are that you've either thought about trying this type of pricing model but held back because you were unsure of what's involved or perhaps you tried to pursue it in the past, but had trouble making it work for you and your vendor. Designed to maximize results, a performance based compensation model can truly be a win/win for you and your search engine marketing partner. Not only will it help to drive results and bring your partners' goals in alignment with your own, it will also allow you to reward your search partner for superior performance while keeping your overall ROI in mind.
In this session, the panelists will cover the keys to developing a successful pay for performance pricing model including a thorough overview of the concept, how it can be applicable to both PPC and SEO, the chief benefits it offers, and why marketers should consider it. In addition they will delve into what marketers need to know before adopting a pay for performance model, including how to assess if it's right for you, popular misconceptions, and the common problems that can arise along the way. Attendees will be provided with actionable advice on the critical success factors needed to make a pay for performance model work, including the role of goals, benchmarking, performance metrics, historical data, scenario analysis, and tracking.
Search & Measurement Track
Extreme Makeover: Conversion Edition
This session will analyze the metrics, usability and persuasion ability of three companies pre-selected for the session. The speakers will work with these companies to redesign a key page and then set up that redesign in an A/B test. This session will instruct you on how to identify the critical barriers to success on the sites selected and how this team of experts would go about fixing them in less than 48 hours. You'll learn key things to look for, obstacles to avoid and the key considerations when optimizing your website for conversion.
- Moderator:
Anne F. Kennedy, SES Advisory Board, International Search Strategist, Beyond Ink USA
Search & the Future Track
Launching a Global Website
As the world becomes smaller and search marketing becomes more complex, the era of "ranking well in Google" is over. This is especially true for companies who are targeting multiple markets or countries. This new opportunity also brings many new complexities to be considered other than standard SEO. This session tackles these key issues critical to successfully developing, optimizing, and launching the Global Websites that would meet those next generation marketing goals, without losing control or your mind.
The session will cover the following topics and will include some case studies:
- Keyword research
- Language & cultural issues
- Geographical issues
- Issues involving different engines and platforms
- Leveraging standardized templates to develop global websites
- Cross-border management issues
- Copy writing for multiple audiences
- Adapting unique market trends and techniques
- Moderator:
Bill Hunt, SES Advisory Board & President, Back Azimuth Consulting
- Speakers:
Motoko Hunt, Founder & Japanese Search Marketing Strategist, AJPR LLC
Maura Ginty, Senior Manager, Global Web Content, Autodesk
Todd "Turbo" Watson, E-Relationship Manager, IBM Software Group
Jay Middleton, Sr. Mgr., WW Search Marketing, Adobe Systems, Inc.
|
| 5:30pm-6:30pm |
Networking Reception in the Expo Hall |
| 8:30pm-late |
WebmasterRadio.FM's SearchBash
Please RSVP |
