Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 3

I wasn’t hungover. Since I had only two beers at the Google party (and they ran out!), I wasn’t really reeling from any overdoses. I skipped the swim in favour of a little extra sleep.

Craig finally pulled me out of bed with a phone call, and we headed up for breakfast. Our tales of the previous night were fairly tame. It was ironic that the “upstart” of the industry, and now current reigning king, also had the most conservative party.

Grabbing our stuff on the way back down, we proceeded to the first event of the day: an Executive Roundtable, featuring VPs from Yahoo!, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, and MSN Search. (Obviously absent was Google, but the SEC doesn’t allow them to postulate on anything this close to their IPO. Danny jokingly offered to forecast on their behalf.)

On the whole, the session was a bit of a wash. The AOL guy kept talking in circles and didn’t really say anything of note. The Yahoo! guy was an old hat, and had done this quite a lot. His measured speeches and “insights” were crafted to not say much, but say it well. The Ask Jeeves representative was possibly the most informative, but with them being #8 on the list, he really didn’t stand to lose anything by being there. All three of them eyed the MSN guy very carefully. Microsoft has been tinkering away in their garage for a while, and you can already hear the roar of the massive engine they’ve been building in secret. Everyone knows what they’ve been doing, but the question is what impact it will have.

Craig and I were not impressed with the MSN guy — he kept giving the company line. Following the roundtable, we were commenting about this very fact. Just off my left shoulder, I spied a woman listening in to our conversation. After a couple of moments, she stepped forward and introduced herself. Anna, from MSN.

(At this point, you’d think we should probably take back the things we were saying. We didn’t. We meant every word, and apparently that’s what she was interested in.)

The three of us chatted for a while about MSN and their plans for world domination (okay, I added that last bit — Anna didn’t mention anything about that). We knew that once MSN gets their search system up and running, they’ll drop Yahoo! as their search provider. Our question to her was, what will happen to their pay-per-click program? Overture currently powers MSN’s PPC system — so are Overture’s days numbered?

Anna, although only having been with MSN for four months, knew the answer. Of course, she didn’t tell us. One advantage of having listened to American politics on TV for so many years, and having a degree in rhetoric, we have a great ability for disseminating the truth. But not like it wasn’t much of a stretch, anyway. Without actually saying it, Anna told us that while they value their partnership with Overture, Microsoft does want to flex its own muscles. One day, Bruce Clay will have to update his diagram so that the MSN circle no longer has arrows going into it.

Successful Site Architecture came up next for me. This was a particularly interesting topic. Although a Fundamental course, it shed a few points on the work that I do every day. Nothing new, mind you, but confirmation of the direction we’ve been going in. (Although, when I get back, I need to change a few standards.) Everything I’ve seen paled in comparison to Trademark Brand Protection Issues. Despite the fact that my blood sugar level bottomed right out (I feel asleep for a short while), the issues raised in the seminar will be extremely valuable for us and our clients, as we’re sure to run into the same problems. Finally was the Very Vertical session, which was a discussion about other search engines and directories than the big ones — engines that are dedicated to specific industry and topical verticals. It wasn’t a very full session, but should have been — this wa a great session full of strong information.

The last session also shed light on the post-Yahoo! party. Everyone seemed to know that there would be a party, the question was who would hold it, and where? It would be Eon Media, a division of SBI.Razorfish (one of our competitors). The location? The Flying Pig Pub. I made sure to grab some cards to pass them around to the gang, so they’d know where to go.

Following the main sessions was Danny’s Evening Forum. Basically, his chance to do a Phil Donohue schtick, run around with a microphone, and have the audience be the panel. Questions were raised, questions were answered, and the results were exceptionally interesting. First, we need a form of Better Business Bureau to handle all the black hat and rogue SEM firms that are giving the rest of us a bad name. Second, although we know MSN will dramatically shift the search landscape, none of us believe that it’s going to completely steamroller Google or Yahoo! — it’ll be roughly a three-way tie.

After a quick run up to our rooms to dump our bags, Craig and I headed over to The Tech Museum of San Jose for Yahoo!’s soiree. This was the number two search engine’s attempt to make up for Google’s bash the night before. Not nearly as extravangant as Google’s, Yahoo!’s party was ripe with food and drink, and a very fun environment to play around in. Museum staff were on hand to help us out with some of the exhibits (a demonstration of a rocket pack, surgical implants and how they work, and virtual scanning to name a few). Unlike Google, Yahoo! didn’t run out of beer (though there was a fear they would).

I took a spin on the rocket pack simulator. You sit in a large, very uncomfortable chair that has three pads that support it on a cushion of air. You sit underneath a mockup of a satellite that has three circles of blinking green lights. The idea is to guide the chair so that a red light (projected from the chair onto the satellite) covers the green lights. That set will go out, and the next illuminate. It was fun.

Especially since I’d already had a couple of beers.

The museum was reminiscent of the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, with a lot of hands-on experiments. Guests either spent their time playing around, or stood and chatted with others. It was a better networking experience than the Google party, but we were still hampered by size and the fact that we were scattered across two floors (with the ground floor in between, for added separation).

Around 21:00, Brad, Megan, and I decided that it was time to move to the second party. The Yahoo! party was showing signs of beginning to wrap up, and we wanted to hit the next venue before it was too late.

Well, at least Brad was supposed to come with us. Somewhere along the line, we lost him. Instead, we picked up another fellow SEMer from Vancouver, whose name I now forget, and headed out in search of our destination. A vague map and an accurate address finally brought us to the bar. There were only about 20 people there upon arrival. It was only a short time before the crowds started to arrive, Craig appearing just before them.

It wasn’t long before the Eon Media party was turning into another LookSmart bash. Booze flowed freely, people shouted above the din of laughter and music, and we all generally carried on until last call brought an end to things around 1:15. Craig, Megan, Brad, and I headed out into the night, trying to find something new.

Which was a lot harder than it sounds. San Jose pretty shuts down at about 1:30. The hotel’s bar closes at midnight! That didn’t stop Craig from acquiring two bottles of wine from the restaurant’s manager (who even brought them up to Craig’s room).

Nor did it put a pause on Brad, who decided that he didn’t want wine — he wanted beer. While we were waiting at the bar for the wine to be prepared, Brad decided to acquire his beverage of choice. The bar was technically closed, so wouldn’t sell him any. Yet, a moment later, I saw Brad holding a Samuel Adams. How on Earth he’d produced it out of thin air was obvious when I saw the swinging kitchen door just behind him.

Laughing at his audaciousness, I commented that he hadn’t thought about the rest of us. Brad smiled and vanished again, returning with two Heinekens. Surprisingly enough, the bar staff didn’t notice, nor did the manager comment on the three cold beers we brought to Craig’s room.

The four of us went up to Craig’s room to engage in continued conversation and “wine tasting” until well into the wee hours of the morning. Brad didn’t last too long, having consumed far too much beer and booze for his own good. He staggered his way out the door and headed off for his hotel, somewhere in the general vincinity of I Don’t Know, and I’ll Find It Eventually.

The three of us continued until somewhere well after 5:00, after we’d polished off 2/3 of a bottle of red wine apiece. Megan and I were ready to pass out, Craig not far behind. I was more-or-less ejected from the room; Megan crashed with Craig.

It was already lightening outside when I crawled into bed.

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Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 2

The alarm started at 6:30. I hit snooze several times before I finally had the realization that I needed to get out of bed. Almost instantly, I knew that I was going to have an ill-feeling day. My stomach was empty and rotten from all the gin and beer, and my head felt like a boxer’s practice bag.

I tried to take in a swim before breakfast. I wasn’t able to make much of it. Alcohol poisoning usually retards physical ability, and exertion is a little difficult. But a little raise in the heart rate is better than nothing.

I went right up for breakfast after showering. I didn’t call Craig, as I figured he had to be feeling at least as bad as I did, if not worse since he drank more than me, and was out longer. A heaping batch of eggs and the greasiest bacon I could find was a start to me feeling better.

First up was the Keynote speech, delivered by our host moderator, Danny Sullivan. Danny is the most recognized search expert. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a really good presenter. Craig missed it due to a conference call that one our our project managers scheduled him into despite the fact that he was 2,000 kilometres away.

That kind of annoyed me. No, actually, I take that back. It really pissed me off. Craig and I are here for not only our benefit, but also the company’s, and he missed the entire morning session because one person (who didn’t even really have the proper authority to boss Craig around, in my humble opinion) decided that their priorities exceeded everything else. I don’t appreciate that level of short-sightedness, especially where plans aren’t fully concrete. It’s unacceptable, in my mind. Craig and I both suffer as a result, since Craig’s absence meant two sessions we wouldn’t see.

Anyway, I went through four sessions, not including the keynote speech. (I would go until well into the afternoon before I found Craig again and found out what had been going on.)

The keynote speech was important. It was a chance for Danny Sullivan (the host moderator) to make his points about Search Engine Marketing and its power and future. In particular was the addressing of Seth Godin’s accusation that SEO is black magic, something I felt was quite inaccurate. (I’m sure he’s had many a retort since then.) I won’t doubt that it *looks* like black magic, but when you deal with a million variables, and have no control over 999,999 of them, you can’t always predict the results.

(And you thought I was going to mention something about any sufficiently advanced technology resembles magic, didn’t you?)

The Organic Listings Forum was quite solid, delivering a lot of very interesting information about how to handle listings without having to pay for them (a common problem in the industry — all the bang with none of the buck). Of particular interest was seeing Bruce Clay, one of the SEM heavyweights. Dynamic Web Sites, though a Fundamental track session, did shed a couple of lights and ideas on the the problems we face on a near-daily basis on the MBUSA account.

During the lunch break, I made a point of circulating through the exhibit hall, seeing what Critical Mass is up against for competition (there’s a bit, but not really anyone like us, surprisingly enough), and what other services are readily available. Some we might want to offer, but in the end there’s just other things we need to be aware of.

I met Mike and Albert from SiteLab (what I would assume is a competitor to Critical Mass, based out of Houston). We chatted about our respective clients and the challenges they often face. They have the US Navy as one of their clients — government contracts are simultaneously the best and worst ones to have.

After lunch, I dove into Search Engines and Web Server Issues. Sadly, the session was light on content and didn’t really provide anything we couldn’t have read from the PowerPoint presentations. Last up was the Optimizing Flash session, which is something near and dear to my heart (as I am regularly touted around the office as being a Flash hater — which I am not, I just don’t agree with the frequency of use and the typical implementation). The only real thing I got out of that was the verification that while some search engines can scan Flash, they don’t really index on it, and that you shouldn’t plan on Flash ever being indexed.

Craig and I met up for a bite to eat after the sessions. Still hung over from last night’s little fiasco, we decided that we *absolutely* needed to eat something before we went out for tonight’s little soiree: The Google Dance.

No, it wasn’t a *dance* per se. (Although there was dancing.) It’s a party — a big one. The name stems from something in the SEM industry called the “Google Dance”. This is when Google updates its algorithms, usually about once a month. Sometimes, the effect is minimal, and it’s barely noticed. Other times, the changes are huge, as it was with a particular update known as “Florida”. This succeeded in changing the long-standing results for thousands of websites, causing quite the ruckus. It seems very appropriate that the name of the party should be a play off the one thing that our industry actually fears from Google.

They supplied buses. Their office is a 20 minute drive on the freeways from downtown San Jose. (A cab ride would have been something expensive.) After powering back an appetizer plate and a couple of beers, we hopped in line with Brad, the creator and host of Search Engine Radio. Craig had met Brad at the Toronto conference and is a regular listener (Brad says that Craig is his only fan). I’d listen, but the timing is lousy for me, since it’s always when I’m in meetings.

Upon arriving, we were all handed t-shirts bearing the name of the party, and ventured on in. Google’s offices are at the old headquarters of SGI (Silicon Graphics). They’re slowly expanding into all the available space, but for now only occupy about half of it. The courtyard in the middle is where all the hubbub was taking place.

Like all of the other parties we’d experienced so far, this was free. Didn’t cost us a cent, outside of the flight and hotel. (Okay, that costs Critical Mass…) Quite a party, too. Free drinks, free food, a live band (Ozomati, whose music defies simply classification, but was exceptionally good), a live DJ, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in INSANE quantities, giveaways, and demos of all their products.

Oh, and they tried to recruit new employees from the plethora of folk there.

Craig, Brad, and I wandered about a bit, seeing was there was, having some beers, talking with other people, eating, and generally taking advantage of the situation. (We joked about trying to break in and steal the algorthims, but we wouldn’t have even been able to get into the stairwells with all the security guards about.)

With all the people there, it wasn’t surprising that I eventually lost track of them and ran solo for a while. I ran into Nikki and Megan again, and chatted about our pasts, what we did for hobbies, and what we thought of Google’s impending IPO (officially announced tonight to be next Tuesday, 10 August).

There was a lot of head nodding between the three of us that this might be the start of the fall of Google. This was Google’s last hurrah as a private company. Next week, their staff will become millionaires overnight, there will be flashy, new cars in the driveways, and we’ll probably see a brief glimpse of the dot-com era for a while. But only a while.

Reality will set in again, and the pressure will be on Google to continually perform and produce. I’ll be surprised if this party happens again next year, particularly if it happens at the same level.

Google’s stock price will be the biggest question. It’s currently listed to start at USD$108. At that price, it’s well out of the range of most people, and only in the reach of investors. The biggest question is whether it will sell at that price, or if people will force it down. Undoubtedly, some will buy, and undoubtedly, the price will fall. It must — the dot-com era is over, and Google or not, the current reality can’t support a price like that.

Well, that’s what we think now. A week from now might prove otherwise.

The party started to quieten down when news spread that Google had run out of beer. When we heard it for the first time, the reaction was one of shock — how do you run out of beer? It’s like running out of water! Sure, there was still wine and some mixed stuff, but beer is the life blood! (Okay, yes, I’d only had two and wasn’t having any others, but that wasn’t the point!)

Nikki and Megan left about 21:30 or so. Nikki was tired, having been on her feet all day, and being five month’s pregnant doesn’t help. Megan, like the rest of us, was exhausted from last night’s alcohol-fueled marathon.

Craig had already left, having gone back to the hotel to rest. (I didn’t know for sure, but since I couldn’t find him…) I boarded a bus about 22:05, and was in my room by about 22:30. But I wasn’t exhausted, and decided to rest and relax a bit. Tomorrow’s another day of sessions and education.

And the Yahoo party.

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Search Engine Strategies 2004, San Jose, California, Day 1

After an exceptionally sound sleep, I awoke to get my day started. I had planned to start all my days with a workout (I’ve been slacking for the last little while, and need to get back into the habit), but ran out of room in my bag to bring my workout clothes.

I gave yoga a shot. If it weren’t for the slippery carpet, I might have done a better job (didn’t bring my yoga mat, either).

Craig and I met up in the Concierge Room on the 26th floor. Bacon, eggs, fruit, and a bit of juice. Far more than the muffins and pastries of the conference’s continental breakfast.

Following our morning meal, we headed down for registration. Didn’t take long — all we had to do was provide our names. That got us our name tags, and our bag o’ goodies. (Which actually contained a lot of useless stuff, too.) We spent some time trying to figure out which seminars we were going to, specifically trying to hit as many of the topics as we could. Not too easy, as there are at least four each period, and there are four periods a day.

I went to four sessions: Using Search for Market Research, Search Term Research & Targeting, Personalizing Search, and Search Detours. Search for Market Research was a good perspective change, if light on other content. I fell sleep during Search Term Research & Targeting. Craig had recommended it because it was a good introduction. However, I’m quite a ways past introductory level, so it was a tad dull. Having a long-standing beef with personalization, I wanted to see if the Personalizing Search had anything of value. It didn’t. Lots of talk about products, but no promise of effectiveness, nor any real content for marketers to handle the situation where the same query will generate different results for different people. It also didn’t help that the presenters weren’t the most interesting. The poorly-named Search Detours (most of the presenters renamed it Search Shortcuts). Like Personalization, it was very thin on content, and most of what was presented had no practical application from a marketing perspective.

Craig and I ducked out a bit early. We had some time before the Overture party, so went in search of some shopping. Craig was thinking of a new shirt, and I needed a swimsuit (guess what else I forgot).

Macy’s is supposed to be a great department store. You think I could find one swimsuit that was appropriate? They were all beach suits, and what ones I could find that weren’t too bad where all XL or XXL. Go figure. Luckily, a Copeland’s Sports store just outside in the mall had what I needed.

Returning to the hotel, we got ready for the Overture party, held at the bar in the Hilton next door. The party started at 18:30, and was pretty deserted when we arrived. Craig initially wanted to leave and come back, but before long, as swinging.

LookSmart staged what I can only call one of the most ballsy coups I’ve seen in a long time. They were running around, handing out cards for a party they were holding at a different location (not far away). I can only assume that Overture wasn’t particularly happy about that.

At the Overture party, I met Todd. Todd has a website that promotes Costa Rican destinations. I’m finding it quite interesting that there are so many people who know a lot about Costa Rica lately — it’s almost as if every person I meet has been there. It’s insane. But at the very least, I have yet another information source to use as Alex and I try to organize our vacation in January.

Craig bailed a little earlier than I for the LookSmart party; I followed soon after. The party was held at Pete Escovedo’s Latin & Jazz Club. LookSmart had booked the whole place to themselves, and you had to be with the conference to gain access.

It was a small venue, once a single-screen theatre. It’s now an intimate little club that features the music of Pete Escovedo, who is a Latin Jazz legend. (At least, that’s what the invite card says. I’ve never heard of the guy.) The music was hot, the environment lively, and drinks free.

I was quickly introduced to Megan and Nikki, who work for Urchin Software. They’re up as exhibitors, and were enjoying themselves hanging out with the rest of the troublemakers. (Nikki is five month’s pregnant, so wasn’t enjoying herself as much as she probably wanted to.)

Craig then introduced me to gin and tonic, a drink I had formerly snubbed because I dislike the taske of tonic water. Instead, I found the drink exceptionally tasty, and realized why the British have taken such a liking to them.

This, it would seem, was my downfall. (As Craig later commented, it’s a bad sign when I suddenly, and very loudly, exclaim: “This is the best [expletive deleted] thing I’ve ever had!”) I had started off with beer at Overture, and had switched to hard liquor. I don’t know how many I had, but it was too many. By at least five. When we finally headed back to the Marriott, I knew I’d had too much. The beer in the hotel bar finally did me in, and I had to leave Craig and Jill Whalen in the lounge and retreat to bed.

I was going to hurt the next day, and I wouldn’t be the only one…

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The trip to San Jose wasn’t the most enjoyable I’ve had, but it was far from a bad experience.

Craig and I breezed through security. It goes to figure that it you arrive with plenty of time at the airport, there won’t be a line for you to have to wait through. If you don’t arrive with sufficient time, the lines will be exceedingly long. We were through in minutes, with more than enough time to spare.

I had to lie at the immigration desk, though. Critical Mass has had so much trouble trying to get across the border into the States that Craig and I played the role of tourists — we’re only here to visit. That’s the problem with crossing the border — since 9/11, the privileges that Canadians have had crossing the border have been greatly reduced. Previously, all we had to say was that we were Canadian, and that was enough. Now, we have to have passports and papers. It’s ridiculous, especially when we’re coming here just for a conference.

What kind of conference, you ask? One on search engines. Yeah, it sounds kinda dopey. It’s the Search Engine Strategies 2004 San Jose show, one of the single largest conferences in this industry. It’s big. Really big. And Craig and I have to make sure that we really make the most of it and see what we can do.

Our flight to San Jose was in two segments: the first to Denver, the second to San Jose. And what we didn’t really know until we checked in was that we had a nearly three-hour delay in Denver. Not the most rivetting place to be stuck. Craig and I passed the time discussing business over beers at a quasi-French restaurant.

(Hmm. That’s not entirely accurate. More like a bistro with a French name. In the middle of Colorado, in a massive airport. Go figure.)

The flight to San Jose was late by nearly 30 minutes. A bit rocky, but uneventful, otherwise. United Airlines has gone cheap, though — you have to pay additionally for meals on domestic flights now. At least beverages are still free.

San Jose’s airport is small — we had to use stairs to get off the plane. Three baggage carousels, kept quite a distance from the plane we arrived on, weren’t enough for the flights coming in — it took a while for our two measly bags to appear. But at least they did.

The hotel was more trouble than I would have liked, but only because Mastercard hasn’t processed my payment yet. A royal pain in the butt, but not the end of the world. It just means that I’ll have to revisit the front desk in the next couple of days to get the issue sorted out. Since it’s a Sunday, I’m not going to get upset. If Tuesday rolls around and things are still amiss, there might be trouble.

The conference doesn’t actually start until tomorrow, but already the cast is beginning to assemble. Craig and I took the chance to whip down to the hotel’s bar to see who was about, and have a beer or two. Two of the speakers were there, along with several other attendees (at least, I would assume as such). We paired off with a couple of Heinekins, and went about ordering some food. We hadn’t eaten since Denver, and it was now almost 22:00. Appetizer platters, including crab cakes, shrimp tempura, basically what I’d call a lobster pogo, and something called black truffle popcorn (although it didn’t taste like a truffle). Pricey, but tasty.

We didn’t stay down for too long. We were both wiped from all the travelling. We cleared the bill, said good night to those around us, and headed for bed.

Certainly the next few days are going to be interesting.

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