Search engine presentation missing the magic bullet

John Sherrod’s SEO Presentation apparently was just basic SEO.  The title of the talk was, in fact, “Practical SEO for Successful Online Businesses, ” but I suppose some people were there with their laptops ready, ftp’d into their website, waiting for the drop.  One person said, “presentation skills lacking.”  Well, pal, seams I should say, “social skills lacking.”  Another complained that he couldn’t jot things down.  Sorry your hand couldn’t move fast enough to notate 5 years of experience in a Thursday evening presentation.  Aparently he was too busy trying to write down everything on every slide to write down the terms he didn’t understand.  He also complained about that.

Yet another stated “Basic SEO but hit on a few cool point.”  This gentleman is in internet marketing, himself. He operates SEO-centric websites.  He should know some things about tweaking the algorythm.  He also likes to link to himself.  Its gotten him to number three for his own name.  Not bad. 

Problem is, folks, I heard non of you speak up when John was there speaking and Mike passed out note cards for you to write down your questions.  “Write them down,” he said, “so you won’t forget them, and ask them at the end.”  If you had questions or didn’t understnad something, why are you now complaining that you are still without answers?  You had an opportunity to ask the speaker and resolve these issues.  You chose not to ask.  I’m terribly sorry but you are pointing that accusatory finger the wrong direction. 

Finally, the discussion of SEO is not like the discussion of writing a blog.  Its a very broad subject with lots of techniques and philosophy but not very many objective, black and white solutions.  If you didn’t understand that SEO is not something you do to a site but it is an architectural tenet of building them, then you were too busy telling yourself, “already know about links, already know about headers, already know about title tags, already know about meta, ” to actually get the point.  The magic bullet was in there but you were too high on your horse to hear it.  He said, “you don’t have to implement every trick andevery technique, you just have to out perform number 1.”  Its the philosphy of: do what is effective and nothing more.

…and if you can’t hear the speaker, move to the front of the room, you bafoon!  The whole front row was empty, except for me, and I am pretty sure I took a shower that week…

I am not trying to be abrasive.  However, I am annoyed that people will go to a free almost free event where the speaker is not compensated in any way to network with peers in the industry and then act like a bunch of pompus a-holes.  Most importantly, when you attend a networking event, network, be vocal, speak up and contribute.  If you sit back and say nothing and then comment spam the speaker, you are wasting valuable space in the room.

Of course, John, the Curly Headed Bozo, indicated he was not nearly as upset as I was.

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