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SES

SES Latino 2007 Wrap-Up

by Carolyn Shelby on June 20, 2007

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Sessions and General Overview…
While I enjoy the huge conferences like SES NY, I have to admit that I really dig these smaller events. SES Latino had a few hundred attendees and a small expo area that was literally in the middle of the two session rooms. Everything was close by and there wasn’t any schlepping all over hell’s half acre trying to run from session to session, or the need to wander to the other side of a huge conference center to get to the expo hall and back again. Everything was very compact (which was great for me because I was tottering around in my strappy 4 inch heels).

The other really nice thing about this conference was that I never got that feeling that I was missing out on twelve other things I also really wanted to attend but just couldn’t because I couldn’t be in multiple rooms at once. There were just the two tracks… Fundamentals and Landscape & Tactics. The Fundamentals being… obviously… a little more focused on fundamentals, and then the Landscape & Tactics track was more advanced topics, case studies, speculation on the state of the industry and where it might be headed, etc.

Everyone gave their talks in English (which was good for me because I’m very much not multi-lingual) and translations were available in Spanish and I believe Portuguese via a live translator in each room. For all the coverage of the SES Latino 2007 sessions, see Search Engine Roundtable.

The Venue and the Parties…
There was no big soirée sponsored by any of the major engines, or any soirée sponsored by a non-major engine for that matter; however, there was a networking reception [click to continue...]

Popularity: 35% [?]

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Miami: Getting there was not half the fun

by Carolyn Shelby on June 20, 2007

I’ve been debating whether to do this in a chronological format or just give a summary. The chronology is actually pretty entertaining (in hindsight anyway, I was pretty annoyed at the time), but nothing that was annoying had anything to do with the actual conference, which was great. So in the interest of sharing both, you can read the “play-by-play” of my trip to Miami right here or you can get right to the “SES Latino Wrap-Up” part, which shall be the next post I put up after this one.

The Play-By-Play

Friday, June 15th: Our launch has been pushed back *again*, but we were supposed to be getting a large portion of the new site for testing. I was waiting until 5:30p on Friday to find out if I was going to be grounded or get to go to Miami as planned. By the way, by “planned” I mean it is my intention to go… not that I actually had plane tickets or anything, because I didn’t buy those until 11:30p on Friday night.

Saturday, June 16th: Uneventful day making sure all the laundry and stuff is done. Packing, etc.

8:30am, Sunday, June 17th: Arrived at ORD. Printer broken on the self-check in kiosk I picked so I don’t have a “real” boarding pass. I have a reprint (and no checked baggage… with a ticket I bought on short notice… and tons of computer equipment… can you say security red flags? Body cavity search, anyone?)

While waiting for my flight to Nashville, the ticket agent announces the flight is overbooked and asks for volunteers to give up their seats. I know I have a couple hour wait ahead of me in Nashville, and then another couple hours on the ground in Miami waiting for Dave’s flight to land, so I volunteer. Ticket Agent says I can’t volunteer because they wouldn’t be able to get me to Nashville in time for my connecting flight. Oh well, I tried.

And yet, that’s not the end of the story… Keep in mind, I’m sitting RIGHT next to the ticket counter, so I can hear everything they’re saying… turns out that when there’s no volunteers to give up seats, they start bumping people based on LAST TO PURCHASE. So… Ticket Agent calls me up to the counter.

Ticket Agent: We need to bump you because there were no volunteers to give up their seats.
Me: Um. *I* volunteered to give up my seat. *You* told me no because you couldn’t get me to Nashville in time for my connecting flight to Miami.
Ticket Agent: Well, we have 2 too many passengers and we go by last to purchase.
Me: But… what you’re telling me is… I can’t volunteer to give up my seat (and get the free RT ticket for my trouble) but you can take my seat away from me *involuntarily*, *STILL* not be able to get me to my connecting flight in time, *AND* give me a grand total of bubkis for my trouble?
Ticket Agent: Pfft. You’re making it sound *bad*.
Me: It. IS. BAD.

[click to continue...]

Popularity: 17% [?]

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