• Search Engine Guide, Monday, January 7, 2008 4 PM

Deciding which of the myriad search marketing conferences to attend can be hard--let alone justifying why you need to spend a few thousand dollars to attend a few, or whether to agree to speak on a particular panel. So Todd Mintz corralled a number of veteran search conference attendees and speakers to give their take on the virtues of these industry mixers.

Mark Knowles says that he's never had a bad experience at a search conference, and that he can almost always apply something he's learned from a panelist, keynote speaker or just in casual conversation with other attendees to a project in the following work week. Others like Benjamin Lloyd, Colleen Wright and Adam Audette also said that conferences had educational value.

Speaking at conferences is often the Holy Grail of building personal and corporate visibility and credibility, according to Kent Lewis. And while speakers often get perks like complimentary admission, the competition is fierce, there's a need to invest time and effort to come up with a presentation, and there's potential for disappointment with a small audience turnout.

Meanwhile, Lisa Williams says she attends search conferences specifically to meet potential clients and grow her business.

Read the whole story at Search Engine Guide »