It’s PubCon Vegas time, baby! Freaks, flamingos, and campy buffets are deployed in force. Each year the online marketing brain-trust swoops into sin-city for days of an original and definitive industry conferences of the year. This year I’ll have the serious pleasure of speaking on three sessions (Keyword Research, Selection and Optimization, Facebook Today, and How SMBs Can Use PR Campaigns to Grow Traffic.)
PubCon, literally, brings together speakers who speak at many other conferences. This post offers a list of those speakers I personally will make sure to tell our team to take in, and why. Now, let’s get this out of the way. There are dozens of other speakers that we totally respect and even are my ♥ personal friends. Not being on this list means nothing. Don’t read into it. Just have some fun. We’ve interviewed many of you over the years and will get to all others. Enjoy! BTW, AIMCLEAR team members Manny, Ryan, and Mike are here at PubCon. Make sure to say hi.
Bill Hunt |Â @billhunt
♥ AIMCLEAR thinks the world of Bill Hunt, and he’s been a go-to guy for us over the years. He is considered a top thought leader on Global Search Engine Marketing and is an internationally recognized speaker. He’s spoken at conferences in over 30 countries. His credits are numerous to research. If you want to know about SEO, especially as pertains to workflow and international, this guy rocks the Global 500 World.
Laura Lippay |Â @lauralippay
Laura made the famous statement, “The best SEO is a product that does not suck.” We love her for that. With an eye for the big picture she’s helped large brands. This lady is a spark plug. Her moderation at mozCon was amazing. She was big time before most new big time even existed in our industry.  #ClassicSEOSpeaker
Joe Laratro |Â @jlaratro
Joe is a very passionate guy. His list of accomplishments includes being an active speaker at industry events like Webmaster World, SMX, and Search Engine Strategies (SES) Conferences. He sits on the Advisory Board and is the lead moderator and speaker liaison for Pubcon.His academic track record is there for you to discover. I get to speak on a panel Joe again this year, which rocks.
Lisa Buyer |Â @lisabuyer
♥ When it comes to relationships, Lisa Buyer @lisabuyer believes the connection between social media, search and public relations is exponential. She’s a successful agency owner, guest writer for Clickz, the editor of several blogs and teaches online courses on applying social media to business networks. Go Gators! (NOT) Lisa understands the next gen’ mashup of PR and social… and how to use engagement, money, and guile to amplify content across reasonable KPIs. Don’t miss her.
Todd Malicoat |Â @stuntdubl
Todd Malicoat (aka stuntdubl) He’s the SEO faculty chair for MarketMotive. Todd is an amazing freakin’ speaker, usually packed with tools and actionable tips. He is an influential dude and a hell of a boat captain/fisherman and always brings it. Old school is better! New skool is old skool.
Gillian Muessig |Â @SEOmom
Gillian Muessig is the Co-Founder of SEOmoz, one of the web’s most recognized and respected name in SEO tools, resources and community. She’s been a trusted and informal advisor to AIMCLEAR, and I’ve spoken on panels with her all over the world. When we first met (@PubCon 2009), I flew from Duluth to Seattle, just for a cup of coffee with Gillian within 2 months. Then we doubled our revenue in 10 months based on things we discussed over coffee.
Known as SEOmom throughout the industry, Gillian travels the world evangelizing for both the company and the search marketing industry. She’s stepped away from SEOmoz, to the even better life. Gillian and her then partner, Rand Fishkin (son and CEO of SEOmoz) have been featured in publications such as Newsweek, NPR, and the NYTimes.
Jonathan Allen | @jc1000000
Jonathan Allen, Director of Search Engine Watch is well known for his too-the-point blog posts and steady editorial hand. He’s also a super smart marketer, when it comes to content. Don’t miss Jon, given the chance to see him speak.
Elisabeth Osmeloski | @elisabethos
♥ Elisabeth Osmeloski is the Executive Features Editor for Search Engine Land and is responsible for managing all editorial content from guest contributors and daily articles from expert columnists. She’s is a fantastic speaker and moderator and I’m not going to miss her sessions if I can. She’s another speaker who we see everywhere, thank goodness.
Tim Ash | CEO SiteTuners.com @tim_ash
♥ Tim Ash is the CEO of SiteTuners.com, the original conversion optimization wizard. He’s also a friend and guy I respect for walking the walk. SiteTuners’ AttentionWizard visual attention prediction tool can be used on a landing page screenshot or mock-up to quickly identify major conversion issues. Author, speaker, agency owner, clinician, friend. Be careful though. He may yell into the mic. Sit in back 🙂 .
Jim Boykin | @jimboykin
Jim Boykin is the Founder and CEO of Internet Marketing Ninjas. He”s a total original, always bringing information that cuts straight to the heart of our industry. Foundational online journalist /blogger, Jim’s what the music industry calls a “Lifer.” He’s been making tools since before doing so was sexy. Don’t miss his sessions, especially if you don’t totally understand the topic and want to know. I met him in 2008 in New York and have been watching his company for years.
Amanda Watlington |Â @amandaw
Amanda is the founder of Searching for Profit, a Boston-based management consulting firm. Amanda is an educator. She has served on DMA’s Search Engine Marketing Council and was co-chair of the Council from 2002-2006. With all kinds of fancy degrees, Amanda is the author of three books. Here is a braniac, super smart. There is nobody else on the speaking circuit like Amanda, anywhere in the world. I get to speak with her again this year. No dolphins will be harmed during the session.
Christine Churchill | @chrischurchill
Christine Churchill is the President of KeyRelevance and my original Search Engine Watch mofo. I first saw her speak in 2006, when I was an attendee, not a speaker. She’s a dominant voice in the area of keyword research and SEO, with material that is always current, at the intersection of creativity, power, and a true marketer’s heart. Ask her about her horses. 🙂
Kristine Schachinger | @schschin
♥ A local girl, Kristine currently resides in Las Vegas, NV. She’s had her fingers in government, academia, entertainment and e-commerce. She’s geeky in an amzing way, the kinda of lady who thinks about W3C, Section 508 and WCAG accessibility compliance all the time. She is often cited as a favorite speaker, and consistently gives back to the community by sharing.
Michael Dorausch |Â @chiropractic
♥ Michael Dorausch is run Planet Chiropractic, an online resource developed to serve both chiropractors and those interested in the chiropractic field. How cool is that! Obviously he dominates. You will never find a person with cooler energy that Michael, who lives on Venice Beach and is an amazing marketer. Right as I was getting to know him there were full-page articles in both Investor’s Business Daily and USA Today. Well deserved.
Wil Reynolds | @wilreynolds
One of the most popular speakers on the circuit, Wil Reynolds has dedicated to our industry. He destroyed the SEMpdx morning keynote. After everyone has left, you can catch Wil speaking with anyone who wants to learn about search.Dude just keeps on giving unselfishly. Catch his sessions. Just do it!
Ulli Muenker
Ulli oversees all SEO initiatives at Bloomberg.com, Businessweek.com and other Bloomberg company websites. A native German, Ulli is very worldly. She holds an M.A. in Media/Communications from Germany. Her sessions are always lively and informative. Talk to her afterwards. She’s a trip!
Ken Jurina |Â @kenjurina
Ken is, unsurprisingly, the king of the lizard people. That’s one of the reasons his work has been influential to me over the years. He was the first one AIMCLEAR ever heard the word say the word “WordPress.” Obviously that was a big deal.
Krista Neher |Â @kristaneher
♥ Krista Neher, an international speaker on digital marketing and  currently the CEO of Boot Camp Digital, a marketing consultancy that emphasizes the creative use of technology and social media to grow brands online. She has deep roots in marketing having worked at Procter and Gamble for 5+ years in a career spanning sales, finance and marketing. From newb to advanced, there is something for all in the sessions she proffers. Don’t miss the chance to see her in Vegas this year.
Bryan Eisenberg |Â @thegork
♥ Bryan Eisenberg. He’s is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, USA Today and New York Times bestselling books “Call to Action”, “Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?” and “Always Be Testing.” None of those things are the coolest part about Bryan because there is so much.Bryan’s on my never miss list. Catch him in Vegas if at all possible.
Richard Zwicky |Â @rzwicky
Richard Zwicky is a successful serial entrepreneur and a friend. One of his greatest features is the way he encourages up and comers, and was a big support personally. A chance encounter with him in 2007, has a lot to do with why I’m a speaker today.
Todd Friesen | SVP of Search, Search Fanatics @oilman
♥ Todd Friesen is an SEO strategist, consultant, and complete freak. Don’t miss his amazing sessions. I’ve spoken with Todd all over the world, from Sydney to New York. AIMCLEAR.
John Marshall
Straight up, John is the father of modern analytics. Formerly the CEO and Founder of web-analytics-success stories ClickTracks. A Netscape alumnus responsible for several other successful software companies, John Marshall brings 20 years of experience and a track record of excellent teaching to Market Motive. John regularly speaks on the topic of web analytics, conversion techniques and marketing. Do. Not. Miss!
Dixon Jones |Â @receptional2
Dixon is the Marketing Director of MajesticSEO – he swims in a trillion backlinks. He’s totally up on the link universe and is among the hardest working guys in the industry. His sessions are legendary.
Stephan Spencer |Â @sspencer
Simply put, Stephan Spencer is one of the smartest SEOs in the world and extremely smart social marketer. He is author of Google Power Search published in July 2011 by O’Reilly, and co-author of The Art of SEO, now in its second edition (March 2012), also published by O’Reilly and co-authored by Eric Enge, Rand Fishkin and Jessie Stricchiola. I’ve spoken on panels with a few times and he always brings it.
Dennis Yu | @dennisyu
Dennis Yu has really found his place and is one of the few Facebook marketers that I think is are thought leaders. Dennis, don’t put that in a press release please. 🙂 I’ve spoken with him many times, globally. Don’t miss Dennis’s sessions. He’s the real deal…a very smart guy.
Roger Montti
I love the way Roger thinks, with a real sense of savvy and humor. He understands that link building is relationship building. Also, he’s another fisherman. Catch his sessions if you can.
—
Well that will do it for this installment. It’s Vegas, baby, and ♥ PubCon’s here. See you around the conference!
