Seriously though, Jon made an outstanding point in his email:
I think these informal gatherings are another way to get information, and sometimes having various channels and medium types is a good thing. I know I can only type and read so much, sometimes a real conversation in-person about SEO is quite welcome. Naturally conferences provide a lot of this, but these regional “meetup groups” help you to get your fix in between conferences.
I couldn’t agree more. Though you can probably find a conference to attend once a month, a lot of SEOs can’t make it to every single search conference in our industry due to company budget restraints, the desire to be at home with their families, big work loads, etc. Even if you do manage to make it to several search conferences each year, you may feel like you’re seeing a too many repeat sessions and drinking too much to adequately further your knowledge of SEO.
What about SEO blogs and forums? Well, obviously those are fantastic resources, but, if you’re like me, you can’t spend your whole day reading blog posts and poking around in forums because you have other tasks to do and deadlines to meet. Once I clock out for the day (figuratively–we don’t have punch cards here), I don’t really want to spend my evenings and weekends ignoring my friends and family members so I can become a better, faster, stronger SEO. It’s difficult to juggle both work and home. I want to be a knowledgeable, expert SEO, but I don’t want to ruin my personal relationships in the process.
Where does that leave me and other SEOs who are in similar situations? Well, how about SEO groups? Obviously, this idea works better if you live don’t live in some shanty deep in the Appalachians, but for SEO professionals who live in a somewhat urban environment, I think that meeting groups are a fantastic opportunity to get together once or twice a month, break bread, and talk shop.
I know that there are some SEO groups scattered throughout the country–SEModx is Portland’s SEM community, and I’ve read about SEO meetups in Philadelphia. Jon himself has created a group on Meetup.com for the DC/Baltimore area. In fact, Meetup has a whole SEO section, where you can see if there’s a group in your area (so far, there’s nothing in Seattle). EDIT: eCopt started a Seattle SEO Meetup, so join if you live in the Emerald City!
I personally think that meeting groups are win-win. If you’re like me and you want to improve your mad SEO skillz, you can meet up with other professionals and learn from them. If you’re already a pretty knowledgeable SEO, then you get to put your money where your mouth is and give other SEOs advice. Think of it as a consulting dry-run. Or, you could practice a presentation on your peers, ask people for help with a tricky site, or just expand your SEO network by meeting new people.
What do you guys think? Would you join an SEO meetup group if there was one in your city, or are you content to get all of your SEO information from blogs, forums, and conferences?
