SMX Advanced takes place in Seattle on June 8, 2010 and June 9, 2010. That’s Tuesday and Wednesday. I doubt I’ll attend the conference this year, but I am looking forward to meeting up with my search marketing and search optimization friends in between sessions and after hours in and around Seattle.

Seattle has a very rich culture and after hours activity. From Belltown to Capital Hill and many other nearby neighborhoods. Excellent food and wine, clubs, entertainment and most of all people. There is a LOT of search awareness in Seattle, and an enthusiastic web startup community. There is a lot more to Seattle than you’ll see in the official conference program or formal after-hours parties.

There is always a hardcore search conference crowd that likes to find a nearby, non-descript watering hole and plant themselves at the bar to talk and drink all night. I doubt that half the time they even know what city they are in. If you’ve participated, you know how it goes:

YOU: “Hey let’s go somewhere for some good food and drink/wine”

THEM: “yeah there’s a great sports bar downstairs. And they have BEER!”

YOU: “um, yeah, but we’re in (insert city name here) which has great (insert “food” or “wine” or something here). Let’s check it out!”

THEM: “I heard the sports bar on the corner has local microbrews like Alaskan Amber on tap! Awesome! Let’s go…”

And so it goes… 4-6 hours at the hotel bar or local version of  Chotchky’s (TGIFridays) drinking Bud Light, 2 blocks from the conference hotel. At SMX Seattle 2010 it will, once again, be that way for those guys. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you.

It is true that you want to hang out at those bars and buy drinks for experienced search marketers who may give you tips and advice you can use on your web projects. But it may also be true that you can do that and still see some of Seattle, because (don’t tell anyone) there is plenty of smart experienced search talent choosing to socialize out on the town, but NOT sitting at the hotel bar all night. How do you get involved with that crowd?

Watch this space for more as we get closer to SMX Seattle 2010 on June 8 & 9. I’ll add right here in the middle of this Seattle SMX Info page, details of places to go, things to see, people to hang with, including access to some startups, tips for great Sushi or only-in-Seattle foodie options (including vegetarian/vegan and of course wine).

Find the SMX Seattle 2010 Registration page :http://bit.ly/akP7yJ

SMX Seattle Contact Form : http://bit.ly/2H8×5

Conference Registration Fees go up on :  March 20 & April 24

Expo Hall Schedule: June 8, 2010 10am - 7pm and June 9, 2010 10am - 3pm.

Feel free to communicate on the topic through the comments… everything is moderated so I read it before publishing anything.  Let me know if you’re coming, if you want to meet someone in particular, or if you have ideas for places to go, things to do, etc. Eventually there will be Facebook pages etc. as we get closer, but I’m starting now because I totally intend to enjoy some of Seattle’s Best with my search friends during SMX Seattle.

Please note I am not planning parties or events… I’m going to enjoy the after hours of SMX Seattle with you or without you, I can guarantee that. But I would love to share some of it, and of course participate in other great ideas and plans without waiting around the hotel bar for someone else to decide not to go anywhere.

I just read a blog post about Twitter. It suggests that Twitter may go away someday, and we need to be prepared for that. Huh? If you read the post and the comments, it’s almost like some people think Twitter is what made them awesome, and some people think their own websites are way better than Twitter and should be the focus of attention, not Twitter. Huh?

Really now. Which one rocks, you? or Twitter?

Many people have blogs I will never visit (again). A little of their voice in my life is tolerable, but not a lot. I simply can’t stand that much of them. In many cases I’ve proven this in real life. I can say hello and maybe tolerate standing in a group with them at a meeting, but the one-on-one conversation just doesn’t work. Anything beyond superficial becomes grating. Yeah, I know…it’s me, not them. But guess what… twitter has been very good to those people, giving them a chance to stick around. And since I can “follow” them on twitter, effectively limiting them to 140 characters at a time in a stream of other tweets competing for my attention, I barely even notice they are there. Their tweets are rarely any better than their blog posts. Twitter rocks for me that way.

Some other people have awesome blogs and some write awesome articles. I read those and appreciate links to them when I come across them (often in Twitter). In that way, twitter rocks again, for both of us. Increased awareness of your awesomeness. Period.

No one should have to say publicly that their blog is better than twitter. The people will decide. And if you find yourself going to Twitter not because you like it but because you have to “be on Twitter” in order to get attention.. well… I hate to be the (only) one to tell you, but it’s not Twitter. It’s you.

See Google’s announcement  that Google AdManager customers will be migrated over to a new DoubleClick for Small Business version of the new Double Click for Publishers by Google system.