I am so excited that BlueGlass announced a conference in September because I had just been told by my doctors I couldn’t attend SMX in New York. It has been no secret that I love BlueGlass conferences. I went to (what was the) Search and Social Summit last year and had a blast. I also attended the November 2010 conference, learned a lot and had so much fun.

Smaller Crowd Means More Learning

BlueGlass conferences are different because there are a limited number of seats. At each conference the majority of attendees are what I consider die hards in the the industry. So you learn from speakers that live this industry everyday and you learn from the attendees.

The Speakers Rock

• Dennis Goedegebuure -In-house SEO manager for eBay and one funny dude!
• Brian Clark – CEO of Copyblogger Media and very cool guy.
• Simon Heseltine – Director in charge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at AOL Inc
• Greg Boser – Coolest guy ever and a genius.
• Jon Henshaw – Co-Founder and Director of Product Innovation at Raven Internet Marketing Tools (will be buying him drinks)
• Lee Odden – I am most excited about meeting Lee in person. A great guy and someone I can’t wait to learn more from.
• Tim Mayer – Chief Strategy Officer at Trada – looking forward to meeting him
• Melanie Mitchell – Melanie Mitchell is the SVP of Search Strategy at Digitas – looking forward to meeting her 🙂
• Ben Cook – A nice guy that delivers sweatshirts in conferences when you are cold 🙂 and a nice guy!
• Chris Winfield – Chris rocks and you should write down everything he says in conferences and in the bar
• Ross Hudgens – SOOO excited to meet him in person! SEO Manager at Full Beaker, Inc
• David Snyder – Dave looks big and tough, but he really is just a nice guy.

Blue Glass Understands the Importance of Non-Session Discussions

I am not sure how the conference will work this year, but last May we had breaks between sessions where we could just sit around the pool, drink a little [:-)] and talk. I learned a lot sitting in the pool and sitting around the pool. At the November conference I learned some valuable info in the bar…info I have used all year.

A Tight Network of Friendships

The entire BlueGlass crew is amazing. They treat everyone well and they are kind people. That kindness and their willingness to welcome everyone creates a unique feel. The smaller conference allows you to be in smaller crowd and you will have a better opportunity to get to know people better, learn and create a bond. If you follow the BlueGlass crowd on Twitter you will see that there is a great amount of respect and many friendships that go beyond a “net” relationship. Many of these friendships formed or strengthened at BlueGlass.

This year there are even fewer seats so you better get your ticket now.

Register Now to Learn, Hang with Fellow Geeks and Meet Great People

The conference dates – September 26th & 27th, 2011 in Tampa, FL

Location – Doubletree Guest Suites Tampa Bay

Link to register – http://www.blueglass.com/conferences/tpa/

Hashtag – #blueglasstpa

I look forward to seeing you there. Come and say. I am on the shorter side of the SEO spectrum according to Joshua Titsworth 🙂

Melissa – geek extraordinaire