Our group, “SEO Austin” now has 334 members with no real promotion ever done on our part as the organizers. We enjoy the atmosphere and space Spaghetti Warehouse provides, but we should probably look for a bigger place to keep up with the unstoppable growth due to the excellent networking and information this group provides. The next one, you guessed it, is likely going to be Jan 7th 2009!! Of course we’ve not decided on a topic. It’s much more interesting to wait till the last minute

Someone asked at the end of the meetup why we do it. Well, if it weren’t for Laura it wouldn’t happen cause she set it all up, I just show up when I’m able to and yap about a few things I know in the area being covered. Also, if it weren’t for some of the excellent guest speakers we’ve had, Laura and I would probably be burned out. What it comes down to though is we all have things to learn and while we bring a majority of the info to the sessions we speak @, we still take away from it making it well worth the rental on the projector screen and appetizers! Plus the networking is great for everyone. Though she’s usually booked and tries not to pick up clients, Laura has picked up a few new consulting gigs that she has enjoyed and I’ve made some connections in my field that have helped. We’ve made friends in our field as well. It’s really nice to have fellow geeks to talk to who know what you’re even talking about when mentioning our industry. I hope this explanation makes sense, I know some may think we’re somehow making money from it or farming a group to cash in on down the road, which we’re not. On the other hand, I don’t want anyone thinking we’re trying to get our kicks building our names as “guru’s” to make up for lacking areas of our lives!

We welcome anyone to join the group, even those not from Austin who will never make a meeting. We sometimes share things we find in the industry… for example, we’ve had a couple of headhunters come to us looking to fill some high level SEO/PPC positions we’ve passed on to the group. With the economy the way it is, I suspect some are looking or know someone that is so if we can help someone in our group find a sweet dream job, we’ll most certainly try.

Also, off topic… I apolgize to anyone trying to add me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other social media site that I decline.  If I don’t recognize you and you use the generic “add me” message, I just decline it.  Having too many people on my friends lists that I have no idea who they are leaves me out of control!  If you want to connect, put in the message who you are and why, or where we met cause I’m a tard that can foget.  Otherwise I will asume it’s someone just trying to get as many friends as possible on their list doing mass invites.

Our first meetup was in May and every month the group grows. We’re outgrowing venues very quickly and have to put a cap on it. We’ve had sponsors approach us which we’ve considered for reasons of getting a larger location, but we’re holding off because the fun and free atmosphere is very important for us to maintain. The initial meetups Laura and I covered all the speaking, but lately others have been stepping up and covering their topics of expertise which has been a great help with our busy schedule. The meetup profile can be found at: SEO Austin

Unfortunately, I didn’t even make it. I left the office at 5:30 to be there by 6:00 and there must have been a wreck on Mopac because traffic wasn’t moving at all. I turned around and went home after hardly moving for over 30 minutes and let Laura know she was doing this one solo!

Sorry everyone!

I’ve been purposely flying under the radar for a long time now in hopes of not being identified with the many self proclaimed gurus in SEM, SEO, E-commerce, ect. I won’t waste anyone’s time trying to look any smarter than I really am. Ok, I admit I do use spell check, but give me a break, I grew up in hickville Indiana where I warshed my clothes in a muddi crick!

Just gonna have fun with it and if something useful gets posted then, oops.
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