On Twitter this morning, Lee Odden asked for people to send him their thoughts on Pubcon and why they’d recommend it. Didn’t think I could answer in the 140 characters allowed by Twitter. Hence this post.
I’ve missed a couple of PubCons in a row now. The timing just doesn’t always work for me. I’ve been to three PubCons, two in Boston and one here in Orlando. Boston has always been a no-brainer because I have family there and it’s nice to be able to see them while I’m there. I also spent my 20′s in the Boston area and visiting gives me a chance to reflect on memorable times.
Every time PubCon week comes around and I’m not there, I’m acutely aware that I’m missing something special. I try to follow live blogging of sessions, but it just ain’t the same. Haven’t been to a Vegas PubCon, but from what I hear I’ve really missed out.
My first PubCon was Boston 2003 (pics mislabeled as London PubCon) and it’ll always be my sentimental favorite because it gave me a taste of what I’d heard about PubCons. A month earlier I had attended Search Engine Strategies, also in Boston, and the contrast between the two events was striking. Search Engine Strategies was a professionally-managed event. The attendees ran the gamut from one-man affiliate marketers to corporate and agency types. In contrast, PubCon was more like an informal retreat organized by Brett Tabke for a few hundred of his close personal friends – really more of a forerunner to today’s "unconference".
It was the first PubCon that actually had a "conference" component, scheduled for about a half day on Saturday. However, on WebmasterWorld I was seeing that many were planning to arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I flew in on Tuesday.
First thing I did was head for the hotel bar. Sure enough, everyone in the place was there for PubCon, mostly from the UK (Ciml, 4Eyes, Shak, TallTroll, et al). The awkwardness of not "knowing" people lasted about 30 seconds as everyone was warm and welcoming, as interested in me as I was in them. The lobby bar was tiny and already filled to capacity. Eventually we discovered a bar a couple of doors down, called Dominic’s, that had more seating, and that became the unofficial conference venue for the rest of the week (when they first started naming Google updates, the first was called Dominic).
All week long Dominic’s was full of PubCon folks day and night. Bit by bit I had a chance to connect screen names to real names and personalities as we shared more beers than I care to remember! As the week progressed more folks continued to arrive from all over the U.S. and Europe, and even a few from across the Pacific.
Conversation inevitably turned to shop talk, and I learned a bunch by listening and asking questions. I also realized that I wasn’t as dumb as I thought I was, as I was equally able to fill in the blanks for others. Compared to SES my impression was that PubCon was more for the little guys, the ones with curiosity and an independent spirit who didn’t mind getting their hands dirty.
Some of those little guys aren’t so little anymore. Some have built successful search marketing agencies, affiliate networks, and other types of successful web companies. Quite a few are well-known names in the search industry, with popular blogs and in-demand as speakers on the conference circuit.
As social media has taken off many of these same names are emerging as thought leaders in the field. This is no big surprise really. Years before social media became the new "shiny object" these folks were already experiencing its power and reach through their participation in forums like WebMasterWorld and others. When I seek informed and actionable insights into social media best practices, I’m more likely to listen to these guys first, before many of the more recent crop of social media "pundits". Why? Because I know that they’ve been in the trenches longer, with deep experience in seeing cause and effect in their online activities in a world that predated blogs and social networks.
PubCon has since evolved to a full-blown multi-track conference in glitzy Las Vegas, but many of the folks from that Boston bar are still there as both attendees and speakers. Many who attend do so not so much for the sessions, but for the comraderie and shop talk that happens in the bars, coffee shops and hotel rooms. In fact it’s not uncommon to hear folks talk about what a great event it was in spite of the fact they attended few, if any, actual conference sessions. And, even though the web has evolved several times over since early 2003, much of the talk is still very much kitchen-sink-level nuts-and-bolts vs. high-level academic concepts and buzzwords that I see coming out of many of the newer conferences that have proliferated these days.
Much of my own work in recent years has been in corporate environments, in many ways the antithesis of the "in the trenches" entrepreneurial reality and spirit that can still be found at Pubcon. However, I’ve still had some success – within constraints often found in that environment – that would not have been possible had I not been rubbing elbows with the folks at PubCon and brought what I’d learned into the mix.
The cost of conferences these days are mostly too steep for the little guy. A lot of them are intended for people who are there on their company’s nickel, and many of them are long on high-level concepts and lean on actionable tactics and techniques. PubCon’s cost is still suprisingly reasonable. It’s also one of the most concentrated gatherings available of folks who actually know what they’re talking about, combined with a willingness to share what they’ve learned with others. Just don’t mistake the sessions for the "real" conference. By all means catch as many sessions as you can. Then head for the bar!
Have a great PubCon folks! Hope to catch you next year!
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