Why is this event so special to me? Well, some of you recall that last year I also spoke at Searchfest. That conference marked my first ever speaking gig, making Searchfest 2008 my one year speaking anniversary. (Awwww.) I thus have a special place in my heart for Searchfest because the organizers were nice enough to give this nervous noob a speaking spot. I talked about link building last year, and I royally sucked. I was nervous, stammery, had too much content on each slide, fumbled with note cards (note cards! as if I were giving a speech in high school!), and felt generally uncomfortable and miserable.
Thankfully, practice makes perfect(ish), and since last year’s Searchfest, I’ve spoken 10 times and given 8 presentations on topics like link bait, user-generated content, organic search issues, content creation, and widgets. I’ve gone from speaking in front of 50 people at Searchfest to addressing an audience of over 300, and while I’m still nervous when I speak, I’m much more comfortable and have a better rapport with the crowd. Of course, I’m nowhere near as great a speaker as Rand, but I’m happy to say that I improve with each presentation and I learn more about myself the more I speak.
That being said, I’m thrilled to return to Portland for Searchfest 2008. This year I’ll be speaking about link bait, which is one of my favorite subjects on which to speak. Rand is coming too; in fact, he’s the keynote speaker, and he’ll be discussing the evolution of search algorithms and how it impacts search marketing. If you’re thinking of attending, there’s still time to register. I have a handy discount code available for all of you who’d like to sign up–just enter “SEMBD” when you register and you’ll receive $40 off the listed price.
I hope to see you all at Searchfest 2008, and to those of you who organized the event, thanks for giving a girl like me the chance to get one foot in the speakin’ door. 🙂
