SearchFest 2013 - Agenda - Portland, Oregon

Check out our exciting line up of speakers for our 7th annual SearchFest conference! We’ve added a fourth track, giving you more session and speaker options than ever before.


Time	Search Track	Paid & Analytics Track	Social, Local, & Mobile Track	Bonus Track
7:30am – 8:30am	*Registration & Breakfast*
8:30am – 9:20am	Opening Keynote: Marty Weintraub – aimClear Moderator: Mike Rosenberg – SEMpdx / Rosenberg Marketing Who Gets The Marketing Cheese? A Survivalists Guide To Remaining Relevant: How Do We Fit All THIS In Our Marketing Mix? There’s a radical shift underfoot and it’s not clear who will serve what role. Smart agencies and marketers are working hard and taking on new roles, seeking ways to provide value in an RTB, social, programmatic media, and emergent attribution analytics environment. With so many new options, vendors and techniques, it’s getting more difficult to choose what shiny new technology to test next. Marty will provide a sane roadmap for marketers to evaluate their program.
9:30am – 10:45am	The Switch to Content Marketing Strategy Audience: Intermediate The Switch to Content Marketing helps pave the way for a more holistic approach to Search. Effective inbound marketing, search results, social engagement and business results are all enormously connected to great content. Search is uniquely positioned to quarterback the integrated content marketing effort. Hear how these pros get it done. Speakers: Ian Lurie – Portent Interactive Michael King – iAcquire Moderator: Lisa Williams – Rosetta	Paid Search Audience: Intermediate David and Dan address PPC building blocks such as Keywords, Ad Copy, Account Structure, and Testing. They will outline intermediate approaches born of experience and expertise. David looks at Alpha Beta account structure – which is a way of creating very high ROI campaigns in Google. Dan will take a look at testing ad copy the RIGHT way, while also continually sculpting keyword lists. Speakers: David Rodnitzky – PPC Associates Dan Sundgren – Intelius Moderator: Tom Hale – Thomas Creek Concepts	Social Media Audience: Beginner We all know content is king. But what does that mean for companies wanting to use the more visual social media platforms? Will Scott takes on Facebook and Matt Siltala takes on Pinterest, diving deep into how marketers can win lasting engagement and get significant results by extending content strategy in these two highly visual platforms. Speakers: Matt Siltala – Avalaunch Media Will Scott – Search Influence Moderator: Aliza Earnshaw – AboutUs	Schema, Open Graph, and Semantic Markup Audience: Advanced Meet the new markup, definitely NOT the same as the old markup. Semantic tech and the associated markup options can be intimidating, but this session will help you sort it out. Which markup types will enhance your visibility in Google and Bing? Is Facebook Open Graph important to use on your website? What semantic technologies are important as we move forward into a “web of objects”? Jeffrey Preston and Aaron Bradley are well-versed in both SEO and the semantic web, and they’ll help you sort out a semantic strategy for 2013. Speakers: Jeff Preston – Disney Interactive Aaron Bradley – InfoMine.com Moderator: Matthew Brown – SEOmoz
10:45am – 11:00am	*Morning Break*
11:00am – 12:15pm	SEO for eCommerce Audience: Advanced Adam and Ross will share how you can build the most optimal ecommerce strategy and become more competitive in vertical markets. They will discuss the importance of site architecture, product inventory management and pagination. Plus, they’ll review the value of a multi-faceted search effort and how to strike the right balance between off- and on-page SEO through quality content marketing and other means. So if you are interested in earning more business, increasing links to your product pages—and potentially generating viral traffic growth—you should attend. Speakers: Ross Hudgens – Siege Media Adam Audette – RKG Moderator: Mark Knowles – Pixelsilk	Digital Evangelism Inside & Out Audience: Advanced Evangelism is the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others with the object of conversion. This session will cover tips and tactics for using technology to effectively advocate the corporate philosophy both inside and outside your organization. Or, put another way, you’ll learn how to use digital to amplify your brand and find customers in new and, until now, mysterious ways! Speakers: Joanna Lord – SEOmoz Mel Carson – Delightful Communications Moderator: Todd Mintz – PPC Associates	Social Media Analytics: Discovery and Attribution Audience: Intermediate Dive deeper with social media analytics, then show real, measurable ROI. Rhea Drsydale will show you how to discover new ways social metrics can enhance other marketing efforts such as link building, PR, and content creation. Mike Pantoliano will show you how to use micro-conversion funnels, site engagement goals, and attribution analysis, to show real gains from those tweets, pins, and likes. Speakers: Mike Pantoliano – Distilled Rhea Drysdale – Outspoken Media Moderator: Anne Kennedy – Beyond Ink	SEO Bootcamp Audience: Beginner It’s time to whip your website into shape using SEO as your weapon of choice. In this session you’ll learn the basics of SEO, which will include keyword research tools & strategies, how to write optimized title tags & ALT text, as well as get an overview of the state of the engines and the resources they have available. Speakers: Marshall Simmonds – Define Media Group Moderator: John McPhee – Formic Media
12:15pm – 1:15pm	*Lunch*
1:15pm – 2:30pm	The Applicable Side of Technical SEO Audience: Advanced John Doherty and Justin Briggs will share actionable insights and tips on how to apply technical tactics to problems businesses face, including content, indexation, data, and links. They’ll share how to diagnose what’s working and how to take it to the next level. Speakers: John Doherty – Distilled Justin Briggs – Big Fish Games Moderator: Michael Cottam – Visual Itineraries	Facebook Advertising Audience: Intermediate Facebook is officially a serious advertising channel. Prepare to leave this session with best practices for creating and targeting your ads, optimization and retargeting strategies, and what’s new in Facebook advertising – like Facebook Exchange (FBX), new ad units, suggested and promoted posts. Speakers: Merry Morud – aimClear Adam Berke – AdRoll.com Moderator: Kristina Weis – AboutUs	Mobile Audience: Beginner Renowned Mobile analyst Greg Sterling helps you make the case for why mobile is so important before taking a deep dive on the latest commerce numbers from the holiday buying season. Aaron Weiche of Spyder Trap follows up with specific case studies on responsive design and best practices for Mobile ad campaigns. Speakers: Aaron Weiche – Spyder Trap Online Marketing Greg Sterling – Sterling Market Intelligence Moderator: David Mihm – SEOmoz	UX and Audience Audience: Intermediate Everyone knows that great content is an important part of building great experiences that drive customer conversion and long-term loyalty. But few realize that inspiring content requires planning, management, strategy, and governance — which is far more work than marketing an infographic or including a block of “Lorem ipsum…” in a page design. In this talk, you’ll learn how to build, manage, and strategize content into your organization from the ground-up so that it succeeds in meeting your user’s goals while growing your brand. Content first! Speakers: Jonathon Colman – REI Susan Delz – Ion Interactive Moderator: Nathan Isaacs – Seven G Media
2:30pm – 2:45pm	*Afternoon Break*
2:45pm – 4:00pm	Tools Shoot Out Audience: Intermediate Who is the tool master? See Jon & Rand battle it out as they compete head-to-head in creating and managing a campaign. Learn the methods and tools they’d use, and decide who wins the tool shoot out! Expect to walk away with tips, tactics and tools that you can use in managing your own search campaigns. Speakers: Rand Fishkin – SEOmoz Jon Henshaw – Raven Tools Moderator: Ben Lloyd – Amplify Interactive	Advanced Analytics Audience: Advanced Analytics are second nature to search marketers, but clients and even practitioners can get lost in the weeds. This panel will help quiet the clutter by teaching the holy grail of analytics-using data to solve a business problem. Learn how to leverage analytics to craft compelling stories that lead companies to action and results. Speakers: Rachael Gerson – SEER Interactive Conrad Saam Moderator: Lisa Williams – Rosetta	What Drives Local Rankings? Audience: Intermediate Hear how two of Local’s foremost practitioners are working on behalf of their customers and clients today. Citations, reviews, links, and conversions — Darren Shaw and Mike Ramsey cover ALL of the key tactics that tie into a holistic Local Search strategy. Speakers: Darren Shaw – Whitespark Mike Ramsey – Nifty Marketing Moderator: David Mihm – SEOmoz	Link Building Truths for 2013 Audience: All Levels No presentations,just an honest discussion about what has become of link building in 2013 and where it’s going in the future. All three panelists have done their share of ‘pushing the envelope”, and in some cases they’ve pushed too far! Got questions about certain tactics? Need reliable advice? If so, this interactive session is where you’ll get the answers, and you can even pre-submit questions here. Panelists:: Scott Hendison – Search Commander, Inc. Michael King – iAcquire Will Scott – Search Influence Moderator: Scott Hendison
4:10pm – 5:00pm	Closing Keynote: Duane Forrester – Bing Moderator: Mike Rosenberg – SEMpdx / Rosenberg Marketing Embracing Quality & Your Next Horizon Join us as Duane Forrester from Bing explains key influencing factors in determining quality for websites and content. We’ll also explore the future of search as seen by a search engine to help you understand where you should be focusing your resources.
5:00pm – 6:00pm	Cocktail / Happy Hour
7:00pm – 10:00pm	After Party – New this Year! at Couture Ultra Lounge Not to be missed! Learn More