My Pictures

Welcome to my photo album. I’ve created these pages as a way to share my photos with website visitors, colleagues, and others in the search marketing and website design industry. Here you’ll find photos from the many search marketing conferences that I’ve attended, in addition to any other work-related events that I’ve been fortunate enough to take part in. Enjoy!

Description: Once again, I was on hand for the annual December Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago - held downtown at the Hilton Hotel.

For the most part, I'd have to say that this year's event didn’t really impress me all that much, at least nowhere near to the way it once did. I found that the after-hour networking opportunities were slim and disappointing and that overall there seemed to be a serious lack in "advanced" topics and discussions. In fact, those "nuggets" of information that I usually walk-away with were nowhere to be found. Oh well, I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Description: The very first ever Search Marketing Expo (SMX) conference, a conference for the advanced search marketer, came live from the Bell Harbor Convention Center in downtown Seattle.

Overall, I'm thinking that SMX Advanced was a huge success. The conference provided an atmosphere where veteran search marketers could learn, share ideas, and even interact with others as proficient in the industry as they are. I was very pleased with how the conference was scheduled (location, time of year, times of sessions and breaks, etc.), and I very much enjoyed the smaller, close-knit atmosphere that was emitted.

Description:The Search Engine Strategies conference returned to the Hilton Hotel in beautiful downtown Chicago. Seeing how my office is only 1 1/2 hours outside of the city, I was among the many who were in attendance.

Overall, I thought the show went quite well. I was able to jot down a few worthy notes, as well as pick the brains of some of the SEO industry's brightest minds. In addition to meeting up with some of my old conference buds, I also had the opportunity to meet a few other interesting people... which I guess is sort of the point of such conferences.

Description: This year’s Yahoo! Store Developers meeting was pretty similar to that of last years, with the exception that this year delivered a much larger turnout. Members of many of today’s top Yahoo! Store design firms were in attendance, and it was a great pleasure to meet and chat with many of them.

I was unable to take many photos at this meeting, mostly because everything discussed and shared is considered privileged information and protected by non-disclosure agreements. However, I did happen to grab a few shots of the campus before the meeting and some afterwards while we were at dinner.

This year's August Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference returned to the San Jose Convention Center, and featured several new tracks, sessions, and speakers. It's a good thing too, because I really needed an excuse to get away from the very humid summer we've been having here in Illinois. Nothing beats a cool San Francisco Bay breeze and clam chowder.

This year's exhibit hall was much larger than any previous that I've attended and featured a few new vendors to meet and talk with. Overall... I wouldn't exactly say that I walked away with tons of information, as I did with previous conferences, but I did come across a few new SEO strategies.

After a venue change from the Hyatt/McCormick Place to the Hilton and Towers on Michigan Avenue, the Search Engine Strategies conference kicked off in beautiful downtown Chicago! Having lived in the Chicago-land area my whole life I am completely custom to Illinois' December winter conditions, unlike a large majority of the west coast attendees. Ahhhh... it made for a good laugh.

As usual, the SES conference and exhibit hall provided lots of updated information, optimization strategies, and product reviews from many of the Internet's top venders. Even though there was an extreme lack in sponsored evening activities the show was quite enjoyable. In fact, I used the extra time to get in some much needed Christmas shopping.

Description: It was great to be back in Sunnyvale, California visiting Yahoo! for what has become an annual Yahoo! Store Developers meeting. I was joined by fellow All Webbers Michael Roebuck and Kelly Wilson, in addition to Yahoo! Store gurus Rob Snell, David Burke, and Michael Whitaker.

Pretty similar to that of last year, we toured the campus and found ourselves shopping in the gift store. However, this year Yahoo! had a few things planned. After an hour or so on campus, the Yahoo! Store division sat us down in one of their massive meeting rooms and proceeded to share with us a few of their future projects. Afterwards, we all went out for dinner and drinks... a truly great time.

Description: This year’s San Jose trip was truly remarkable. The conference featured several new sessions including one on analyzing search algorithms and another where panelists shared some of their most valuable search engine related tools.

The expo hall was a real treat as well. It featured many more vendors than the previous Chicago conference. Needless to say that I flew home with mountains of information and ideas to test and plan for future projects... which is what usually happens after attending these types of shows.

Description: The Search Engine Strategies conference returned to the McCormick Place Conference Center in Chicago, and seeing how our office is only an hour or so away, team All Web and I were in attendance.

After attending the conferece last December (my first SES show), I was really excited to be doing so again. These shows provide tons of information and I of course want to soak as much of it in as possible. I wasn't able to take any pictures at the show, as I found myself to be preoccupied with sessions, the exhibit hall, and with catching up with those I met at past conferences. However, I was able to grab some from my colleagues.

Description: After the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose had wrapped up, Michael Roebuck, David Burke, Rob Snell, and I found ourselves with a few extra hours before our flights home, and thus decided to mosey on down (or up) to Yahoo!. There, we were greeted by our Yahoo! Store representatives Randy Yim and Vince Dinh.

This was my first time to Yahoo!, and honestly it is a great site to see. On campus, there are 4 huge buildings (two of which I was able to tour), 2 full-court basketball courts, 2 full-size volleyball pits, a huge fitness center, and several game rooms which housed arcade-like games, pool tables, air hockey, and foosball.

Description: Taking place in San Jose, CA, this was without a doubt one of the best SES conferences that I’ve attended to date. In addition, this was also my first trip out to the west coast... which made the whole thing extra special.

While in bright and sunny California, I attended many informative day-seminars, and partook in some very eventful evenings, including those sponsored by FindWhat, Google, and Yahoo!. There was never a dull moment on this trip.