Adtech New York is always a great time, with lots of cool, innovative people to meet. Networking is a skill that should get better with time, and Adtech is a great place to practice your networking skills. But is conference networking something you do entirely for selfish purposes? I don’t thing it should be. When you go to a big internet marketing convention like Adtech, you should go to have a fun and meet business connection. Some people are more serious about getting business out of it and some people are more concerned with partying it up. I think you should land somewhere in the middle. I absolutely think everyone should go and take it serious and not slack in trying to meet people and exchange business cards. However, most of the business deals get done at the hotel bars. The parties and night clubs aren’t really that great, because a lot of times you don’t know that many people that actually make it there and it gets old really quick. You can sometimes find your self in an interesting discussion or 2 so I think the evening function have some potential.

ADtech is primarily a search engine and performance based marketing show. There are many “SEO companies” and affiliate networks that are vying for all the potential clients in attendance. I don’t even stop at SEO company booths because I already have SEO and PPC experience and don’t need their services. Sometimes it is interesting to hear their pitches and play along for a bit. Meeting people at the show is all what you put into it. If you aren’t afraid to just introduce yourself to someone standing next to you, you can really make some great contacts and even some friends. So make sure to go to this years Adtech NewYork, look for me..I’ll be there!

Anyone that has attended any of the last few Ad-tech Internet Marketing conferences in New York and San Francisco knows how absolutely huge and essential these shows have become. I always like walking around the show and trying to run into people I know in the industy, hit as many booths as possible, have a few drinks with people in the bar, and attend a couple parties, although the parties are more hype than networking. The actual seminars and speakers are quite good as well, although I don’t attend them these days, I did when I was interested in a few subjects. At this point, I’m more interested in furthering my internet explorations than hanging out until 4 with my peeps. Every year you see a couple of interesting things happening. Every year more and more women are at these show and getting into the internet marketing industy. This is a great thing because talking to a bunch of dudes gets really boring after a while! lol. No it’s really great because it show the industry is expanding and growing. Ad-tech is really a place that all the people in all aspects of internet marketing world convene including: email marketing, affiliate marketing, search engine marketing, display/banner advertising, and other new advertising concepts. Me, when I go to Ad-tech I probably have a little bit of a different perception of whats going on. To me, 90% of the booths are companies that are doing the same things. But you should go and check out all the booths to see the types of companies that are there. For someone relatively new to the industry ad-tech can seem overwhelming, due to the masses of humanity and the various booths that proport to offer such great services. It’s hard to weed through the crap with a lot of companies exhibiting but you should check them all out and decide for yourself or ask someone that knows the industry who you should work with. Try to meet as many people as possible, you never know who is who, I have met some tremendous players just bumping into people and asking who they are or what company they work for. Ad-tech is cool also because you can put a name to a face for people you have been working with in the industry. People always look different than you thought they would, isn’t that interesting! I hate it when people you know in the industry aren’t friendly or don’t have enough cooth to ask what you are doing these days. Some people are just so absorbed in what they are doing, silly people. This year our company with have a booth at Ad-tech. It’s a great spot with no one on either side. I expect to really meet a lot of amazing people that are doing different, innovative things on the Internet. Ad-tech San Fran will be a hugh event, probably the biggest one yet, they are projecting 10k plus, how could that be bad. If you are not someone that like to meet people and talk business you probably shouldn’t go! It’s a great place to network with other industry profesionals and really expand your business. It should be viewed as a springboard for propelling your company to the next level and beyond. I will see all of you there!