Thoughts on a face-to-face, first time SEO Forum for Hoteliers & SEO Execs?

[Ron Callari]

What are your ideas on developing a first-time SEO forum for hoteliers and SEO Executives? Format, Venue? Location? 1-2 days,etc.?

[Shane Keener]

I think that this is a great idea. There are several different conferences, forums that cover parts of SEO and internet marketing, but no one who really does it right for hoteliers.

I think that the forum would have tracks like beginner, intermediate, advanced and social media to start with. I think it would be best to have something like this regionally due to costs and hoteliers hesitancy of incurring too much of them, especially during the current economy. I would say 2 or 3 days would be needed in most cases to cover the content.

I would be happy and excited to participate in running something like this.

[Steven Herron]

I think that is an excellent idea. Central location like Chicago so the most people could attend relatively easily depending on the amount of European and Latin American members of course.

Would this replicate the “Eye For Travel” series in any way? I’ve not attended those but have heard they are not that great.

[Ali Etemadi]

It would be a great idea as SEO is one of our primary focus for Hotel Internet Marketing.

SEO marketing needs more awareness among the hotels and educational conferences and forums would be a terrific way of getting the message out to Hoteliers.

I would definitely attend such a forum as it would be beneficial for all our Internet Marketing efforts.

[Shane Keener]

Would this replicate the “Eye For Travel” series in any way? I’ve not attended those but have heard they are not that great.

Steve - I sure hope not. It needs to be more like a search engine strategies (SES) or search marketing expo (SMX). The current offerings for hoteliers are weak. The best combo I have attended thus far is the HSMAI Travel Internet Marketing Forum which runs prior to Travelcom each year. I have attended two eye for travel conferences and have been very underwhelmed so far.

[Carrie Hill]

Hi All -

I know Shane on Twitter and I work for a SEM agency that only serves hospitality websites. I'm excited to be participating and hopefully we can learn a lot from each other. This has been a long time coming.

[Carrie Hill]

I thought I'd add that I've spoken at a few SES shows and attended SMX Advanced - so if you need help organizing, brainstorming, etc. I'm definitely interested.

I think 2-3 days would be good, and regional would be best, if possible. Maybe the first in the most densely populated region to gauge interest? There's a lot of overhead involved in putting on conferences, but I think the lack of "providers" could help justify charging a decent amount per attendee.

I might suggest putting up an online survey and buzzing it up a-bit in the hotelier community, to gauge interest. I think many larger hotels like to keep their SEO/SEM "in-house" but are reluctant to send them to general shows such as SES or SMX. Having a "travel" or "hotelier" specific show is a great idea, and I bet you could put together a decent exhibit hall, too.

[Joaquin Duenas]

Everyone believes that SEO works the same for every industry, but undertstanding the needs that Hoteliers have is complicated and not many companies do. I would say it would be a great idea, properly done. I constantly attend seminars, forums and conferences, but they are getting worse and worse by the minute. Something useful and effective, that would make grounds for learning and exchanging real ideas would be the key

[Luis Abreu]

I applaud this endeavor as well.

What are some the challenges that we could exploit? Conversions and ROI - Measurable? How is Search Visibility adding to the bottom line? Search and Social Media - Can they work together? SEO Branding/Reputation Management initiatives: Direct Sales and Brand Awareness during High and Low Seasons.

Can we make the forum a multi-fold experience for the hoteliers so they can tie it in with a family excursion? A destination capital: Orlando FL, perhaps? [full disclosure - I'm in Orlando] ;-)

[Steve Farina]

One item I would be interested in having a discussion is the use of social media. There is a lot of talk out there about what you should do but not much on how to get an actual ROI. I've personally launched blogs and several MySpace sites as well as Facebook listings for hotels but thus far I've not seen any indication that this makes a difference. Other than providing a 'cool factor' what other benefits are there in going down this path?

A forum such as the one proposed would be a good venue to further this discussion and the others that have been mentioned. I would support a two-day forum that ended early on the second day to get back for travel. Keeping costs down for the meeting would be better as opposed to having it hosted with a full service hotel package. If it happens after mid-October as is likely, no place cold!

[TheDonSansone]

OMG !

Am I slow on the uptake ?
I thought this forum was to attract hoteliers large and small from around the world as the core base brought about by hoteliers for the benefit of their industry and create advantage for its members !!

I agree... many SEO "specialists" are nothing of the sort... glorified web developers if lucky!
Let alone have proven success in the travel / hospitality sectors !!!

Is this group really a group of SEO's with experience in the travel and accommodation industry ? that are looking to focus on that industry to better serve that market sector ?

Either way... Bring me up to speed please.... I'm 'IN' either way as I really enjoy the tourism market and am having huge success with clients treating me to free holidays etc. due to their measurable business growth and upsetting their competitors !! :-D

Most of my clients are currently in the UK and Mediterranean but I like living in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA near my Church 'Saddleback' as much as possible. The more I can justify being in the USA - the better for me ... ha ha ha.

[Michael Bower]

Good afternoon -

I agree that this is a great idea, however, potentially not totally unique. I have attended the Online Revealed Conference the past couple of years and the content of this conference has been very similar to Shane Keener's suggested format with 'tracks'. I believe two years ago the tracks centered around SEO, PPC, Social Media and Revenue Management and this year followed the beginner, intermediate and expert format.

This conference is 100% hospitality focused covering a broad array of online topics and is spearheaded by a Canadian based marketing firm, A Couple of Chicks Marketing. Online Revealed has great support from industry experts and has continued to gain momentum. The format is usually two and a half days and tends to be very casual.

I think a industry specific conference specifically targeted to SEO would be a well received idea and one that most hotel professionals are searching for as a complement to the general conferences available. The key would be to keep it focused on SEO to avoid redundancy. I look forward to attending.

All the best.

[Trevor Cullen]

Good idea Ron and certainly in favour of this as I belive Search is going to become more vertical in time as the 1 brush stroke principal for all industry types is beginning to reveal certain cracks. May not get across the pond in the coming months but most definetly do support the reasoning behind an independent event.