This was my second time at SES San Jose and I have to say, I really enjoyed myself more this year than I did last year. Maybe it was because I knew more people, but really I think it was because we spent most of our time at the Fairmont bar instead of the Hilton Bar which is where we spent the majority of our time last year. Come to think of it, last year was the first time I met R Kelley. At the Hilton bar! Awe! I still like the Fairmont better, except for that. Oh and the fact that there was no BoDog party this year.  I missed that too.

Here’s what we did…

Sunday 8/19/07
We arrived at about 3:30 and pretty much headed to the above mentioned “Fairmont Bar”. I hate that the batteries were dead in my camera because I missed out on some great photo opportunities. Anyway, the place was packed. We hung out there for quite a while, and then headed over to McCormick & Schmick’s with Cesar, Dax, Dave, Daron, Brandy, Danny, Todd, Bob Wilson and Jeff Manson for a great steak dinner. After dinner we headed back to the Fairmont and saw the BOTW guys, Frank Watson, Vanessa “the” Fox, Dustin Woodard, Becky Ryan, and so many more fabulous SEOs. I mean really, I can’t remember who else, but there were a lot of people down there. I don’t think the bartenders knew what hit them, but with 477 martinis on the menu, how could they not expect they’d be the most popular hotel? Note to self…stay at the Fairmont next year!

Monday 8/20/07
After a slow start, Dax, Cesar, Greg and I headed over to Johnny Rockets for lunch were I tried to eat this burger, but the whole thing kept falling apart. It’s a good thing because I had to save my appetite for the Japanese dinner hosted by Allen Dick of Vintage Tub and Bath. We really had a great time and even though I didn’t win anything, I’m glad Todd Friesen walked away with his power drill. After dinner we headed back the the Fairmont and went to Joe Morin’s suite. Well, the party got a bit out of control and security kicked us out, but not before we had some great conversation with Dave and Gary of Joebucks. Thanks for all the advice guys, and Gary, congrats on your marriage!

After being kicked out of Joe’s room we headed downstairs to the bar where Dax had a crowd around him while he was playing the piano and not getting in trouble by hotel security for doing it. (The Fairmont rules!) He had a martini glass turned into a tip jar and walked away with $65. Sweet. Who knew that moments later he and Dave would be fighting and throwing water on each other? Yep, Michelle Robbins and I sat in the splash zone while they fought over Mojito’s and threw ice water at each other. Where was my video camera? Ugh!! Well, Dax might have won that battle, but I have a feeling the war isn’t over.

Tuesday 8/21/07
We attended the big “Are Paid Links Evil?” panel that seemed to be the hit of the conference. The panel was stacked with big names in the industry, Matt Cutts, Todd Malicoat, Todd Freisen, Greg Boser and the crowd went wild when Michael Grey started his presentation with “Google is not the government!” The session was filled with controversy and debates that won’t be dying down anytime soon.

Later that evening we headed over to the Google dance. We were running late as it was, then I realized, I left my ID in the room, so we had to go back. Everyone else went on ahead and Greg was not happy that we were at the end of the bus line at almost 8pm. Then suddenly out of the blue, this black Excursion limo pulls up and there is Brandy Shapiro screaming our names, so we ran like idiots to the limo and hopped in. That was one of my favorite moments. I asked everyone in the limo if anyone took photos of us running toward them, luckily nobody did, or at least I haven’t seen any yet. I got one of them though.

The Google dance was fun. I met Patrick Sexton here and learned that I have great eyebrows. Also chatted with Chris and Danielle Winfield, (probably one of the best looking and nicest couples of search).

The night continued as we headed over to the Best of the Web suite for more socializing and cocktails. Brian and Greg are excellent hosts and it was really fun to hang out with everyone.

Wednesday 8/22/07
I attended a couple sessions, ‘SEO Q&A on Links’ and ‘Search Engines Q&A on Links’. Both sessions covered various topics, but of course the “paid links” topic came up again.

The best part of the session for me was meeting Tamar Weinberg. I’ve always seen this blogging queen at work, but this was the first time we met. Did you know she publishes her posts right before the Q & A in most sessions? She doesn’t even use Word, she types on Notepad. Damn girl, you are good!

After the sessions we headed back to the Fairmont bar and spent some time with Emilio and Rob from Blogsvertise. Tim, Doug and Wade ended up showing up and we all agreed that we wanted sushi before we headed over to the Search Bash. Rob and Emilio had never had sushi before, but seeing as how we forced them into going, they had to try it. The outcome was very funny. I feel bad because we forgot to tell them to leave the wasabi off their sushi. Ooops.

After dinner we walked over to the Search Bash. As always, this is a fun party. The sumo wrestling was well under way when we arrived, but I got to see Neil Patel go at it against Ken Jurina. Ahh, poor Neil, he did try though. Later we got to see Dave Naylor vs Tim Mayer and Tim’s stealthy moves proved to work since all he did was step aside as Dave charged him.

The rest of the evening was filled with watching people dance, cocktails, and more cocktails. We left at about 1:30; right after Aaron Baker from Pepperjam was nursing his broken arm. Ouch! Good luck with that Aaron! Hope it heals quickly so you can get back to training. We never made it to the MSN thing afterward since Greg had a 9am session.

Thursday 8/23/07
Greg was out the door by 8:30 and I just couldn’t get up. As always, by the end of the week, I’m pooped. He went off to the Googleplex for an evening of Werewolf while I stayed back and went out to dinner
with Cesar, Rebecca, Matt and Pat. By the way, if you’re ever in San Jose and have a hankering for some good sushi, go to Fuji Sushi. Have you ever seen a Caterpillar Roll like this?

After dinner we went “where else”? The Fairmont bar and met up with Brett, Brent, Neil, Rhea, Carolyn, Dax and Greg. I had some great conversation with Brent Csutoras about life and work. Thanks for everything Brent!

Friday 8/24/07
Heading home. Back to reality!

Oh, by the way, if any conference organizers are reading this, you know what would be really cool? A conference on a cruise ship. Cough…to Alaska…cough. I’ve really been wanting to go there.