I attended the F5 Expo event yesterday in downtown Vancouver.  Very mixed reviews about this well attended event on twitter (#F5expo) with comments ranging from “basic sessions” to “fantastic” to “lousy logistics”.  I  enjoyed the event and always look for a few learning take aways plus the opportunity to connect with new and old friends. 

Here are some of the highlights and learning tidbits …

check out photos by Gus Fosarolli http://ow.ly/1vQ46

Search marketing session 

•  Bing and Yahoo are in process of forming an alliance  (old news but they mentioned it) – check out more info about this at http://www.ysearchblog.com/2010/02/18/search-alliance/
• social media ranks high on searches so makes sense for businesses to use twitter, facebook, flickr, youtube, etc (whichever channel(s) make sense for their target audiences)
• lots of discussion about PPC (pay per click) vs. SEO (search engine optimization) and comes down to strategy and budgets
  • stat given by Vanessa Wynn-Williams – Associate Marketing Manager, Yahoo! Canada is that with both “organic and paid you get 25% more likely to click” … which makes sense as it is more exposure to the brand
• Ryan Kelly – Founder & CEO, Pear Analytics recommends social metric tools such as google analytics and getclicky
•  recommendations from all to use long-tail keywords (meaning 4-6 word phrase)
• rising trend is social media optimization (SMO)

Video marketing session

• video consumption is rising
• for more search engine optimization (SEO)
  • add keywords into video text descriptions or introductions
  • embed videos in blog postings
• not all videos are meant to be viral
• what’s the best type of video for your audiences
  • educational with quick tips or demo– good way to build engagement and expertise

Mobile marketing session

• lots of focus on Apple apps as channel
  • now it requires traditional marketing and more $ to get app on iPhone or iPad
• fragmented with Apple, Blackberry, Android
  • Scott Michaels- VP, Client Services, Atimi Software Inc. said that there isn’t ROI to go after all platforms
• Olivier Vincent- Co-Founder & President, Canpages said they are working on a new mobile app coming out in the next 6 months or so
• Brian Wong – Business Development, Digg said they are working on an app for the iPad

Malcolm Gladwell Keynote

check out a video of his keynote Malcolm Gladwell plays the devil\’s advocate on Social Media at F5 Expo

read Gillian Shaw’s Vancouver Sun article about the keynote http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Social+media+promote+significant+social+change+author+says/2776878/story.html

For me the interesting points of the keynote were:

• 3 main points
  • anonymity of online vs. trust of personal encounters
  • strong ties vs. weak ties
    • weak ties are very important for positioning
    • strong ties result in commitment and powerful grass root movements
  • presence and importance of real institutions to help build trust
• use social media for what it is  (efficient, cheap, spontaneous) and don’t pretend that it is building strong ties and trust

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