I might be in a position to be able to get over to the US in October or November and am wondering which conference to get to. So far I know of two that might be worth while and would love to get your opinion on them. Which should I attend?
1. BlogOn 2005 – Social Media Summit – October 17 -18. This conference has a growing list of pretty cool speakers, many of whom I’d love to hear speak and learn from. The planned sessions look interesting but my worry is that it will be a conference for businesses that blog rather than blogs that ARE a business which is perhaps more my field of interest. As it is a conference focussed upon blogging it would probably be good for networking but I’m not sure how much I’d learn about entrepreneurial blogging.
The location is attractive as there are a number of bloggers that I know in New York that I’d love to catch up with during, after and/or before the conference.
The cost is a big downer of this option with early bird registration for the two days of $1095 or normal registration of $1495 (in $1AUD = $1.30USD). On top of a return airfare (add another $1500AUD) and accomodation – this could be a bit of a killer.
2. WebmasterWorld Pub Conference Search and Marketing Conference 2005 – November 15 – 17. There are less details of this conference on the site so far but they do have a good reputation and I know of people who strongly recommend it from personal experience. This conference is not blog specific but rather focusses on a wider spectrum of online activities. I’d probably find I learn quite a bit in this conference but wouldn’t perhaps meet as many bloggers.
The cost of this conference is a more affordable $375 for the three days. I’m not sure the location is quite as good in terms of meeting other bloggers before or after the conference.
I’m interested to hear from people who have attended either of these conferences in the past. How did you find them? What would you recommend knowing what you know about me? Are you going to either of them this year?
Ideally I’d love to get to both but they are probably one week too far apart to get to them both.
I’m also interested to hear from anyone near either of these conferences who would like to catch up if I make it over there.
