I’m currently on vacation, which is a bad time to announce some of my plans for 2007. But I reached an agreement with Incisive on Search Engine Strategies literally minutes before leaving, which I can now talk about. In short, I’ll be chairing the SES NY 2007 show, co-chairing the SES SJ 2007 event and participating in the SES Chicago 2007 conference. Aside from this, I also intend to continue writing about search via a new search blog of my own plus do some events on my own. More details on everything below.
I’ll start with the Search Engine Strategies news. When I made my initial announcement, I said there was an “extremely slim chance” that I might still be involved with the conference series next year. Credit to Incisive, they diligently kept exploring different possibilities until we reached on that worked for both sides. Here’s the official announcement:
Incisive Media and Danny Sullivan announce today that both parties have signed an agreement to continue to work together to produce the market-leading Search Engine Strategies series of conferences and exhibitions.
The SES event series was founded by Danny Sullivan and Jupitermedia in 1999 and became rapidly established as the leading worldwide forum for marketers, agencies and webmasters to learn about the latest developments in search engine optimization and marketing. Since Incisive Media’s purchase of Search Engine Watch, the ClickZ Network and SES in August 2005 the events have continued their expansion with double digit growth in attendance at the major US locations and the successful launch of several conferences – both in new geographies (including China) and vertical and local search sectors.
In August this year Danny Sullivan, who has always been independent contractor, announced his intention to step away from an active involvement in SES at the end of 2006. Since this point both parties have remained in contact and today announce that an agreement has been reached to extend this relationship through 2007.
Speaking about the news today Danny Sullivan said “I very much look forward to working with Incisive Media on the SES events next year. The search industry loves gathering together at them, and I glad to continue as a part of that.”
Tim Weller, founder and CEO of Incisive Media stated “Search is a dynamic growing global industry. We have the market leading brands, excellent content, and a rapidly growing community in the search market. We wanted Danny to be involved going forwards, so I’m delighted that he will continue to do so”.
Incisive Media will make further major announcements about our plans for expansion of activities in the search marketing space at the Search Engine Strategies Chicago event, December 4-7 2006.
Here are the specifics:
- For the SES New York 2007 show next April, I’ll be chairing the show as I regularly have done, creating the conference program and inviting speakers to take part.
- For the SES San Jose 2007 show next August, I’ll be co-chairing the show with someone else, most likely Chris Sherman. That means we’ll jointly develop a conference program and invite speakers to participate.
- For the SES Chicago 2007 next December, someone else will be the conference chair, most likely Chris Sherman. That person will be in charge of the agenda development and speaker invitations. I’ll consult with them on the initial development, and I’ll also be taking part in the show as a speaker and moderator.
Overall, I’m glad things worked out. Like those who attend, I myself look forward to the SES shows. This allows me to remain part of the US ones for a further year. It also allows me to keep working with the SES team.
How about Search Engine Watch? No change there. November 30 remains my last day. Instead, I expect to continue writing about search as I always have via a new search blog. I should have more news on this in about three or four weeks. Similarly, I plan to do some search-related events of my own. Stay tuned, and I promise to bring more details when I can share them.
Finally, I’d like to thank everyone again for all the support that’s been given to me over this time. I can’t say enough how much it has helped. As I’ve pondered the many things I could do, the many people saying they like the writing and event work I’ve done has made me firmly want to stick with that.
Postscript: See I Work For Search Engine Land, Not Search Engine Watch for my status since this post was written.