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ThinkVisibility2 Leeds, Lolcats and Chocolate

It’s been a whole week since I dragged myself up to Leeds for the second Think Visibility conference so it’s about time I dug this review out of drafts and into posts proper.  In case you were hoping it was worth the wait, I think you’ll be sadly disappointed…

!!essay warning!!

Think Visiwotsit?

To recap for those that have never heard of the event: Think Visibility or ThinkVis (or ThinkViz) is (to quote the website) “the things that usually get left behind in the web design process”. Crudely translated, I take this to mean SEO or Search Engine Optimisation but in reality the 1-day event crams in much more, covering topics like Affiliate Marketing, Search Engine Management, Social Media and lolcats.

I probably covered all of this the last time I attended ThinkVis, blindly punching the keyboard until these words appeared, so I’ll focus instead on what the latest event had to offer.

Ticket price, location, venue.

Depending on when you bought your ticket and which discount code you managed to wrangle, you could have paid up to about £100.   On the face of it, it might seem a little steep given that a lot of the attendees looked to be funding it out of their own pocket but it was good value (I’ll explain more later if you’re get that far).

Driving last time from Peterborough to Leeds was a ballache as it meant getting up at stupid o’clock and getting home late.  I learned from my mistake and chose to take the train and stay over (I twisted Matt Symond’s arm and went halves on a twin room).  Getting around Leeds as a tourist was a doddle so I’d like to tip my flat cap to whoever runs the public transport up there (ok, I did cheat and use Google Street View to walk around and recce the place out).

At least someone in Leeds has been to London.  I know this for a fact because someone has walked around Canary Wharf and decided to replicate it for the Clarence Dock development, where amongst the luxury flats and boutique shops they stuck the Alea Casino which played host to our little shindig.

Apparently some people thought it was hard to find their way, but it really wasn’t difficult and shouldn’t be a problem for any tech-savvy people.  I just caught a bus and got dropped off a few metres from the casino. Simples.

What a load of rubbish

One thing Leeds is getting very very wrong is the amount of litter on the streets.  Along East Parade you would have been forgiven for thinking it had just played host to Glastonbury the day before; bins were overflowing, crap all over the streets, really not a nice welcome as you get off the train on a Friday evening.  This got worse over the weekend and was disgusting by Sunday morning. FAIL.

Speakers

Again, like a good boy scout,  I’d done my homework and decided on which speakers I was going to see.

The first three up were forced on us and whilst I eagerly awaited Joost and Judith’s talks, I have to admit I wasn’t that fussed about Julian’s (it just wasn’t my thing, sorry, just saying).

After dry sandwiches and a cookie lunch we took up seats to watch Dom Hodgson (aka Patrick Altoft – it’s an in-joke, you either had to be there or in Egypt), Kieron Donoghue, Chris Garrett and Al Carlton, all expertly hosted by TV’s Tim Nash. The panel was a personal highlight and something I’d like to see return if anyone has any influence and is still reading.

Once that had finished were left to fend for ourselves and had to choose which speakers were worthy of our attention.  The lucky ones that got me were:

The speakers had loads to offer but I enjoyed some sessions more than others:

  • Joost was great, some good Wordpress tips;
  • Julian talked about The Telegraph (at this point my arse was hurting from the chairs in the room);
  • Judith handed out chocolate and made me realise I was missing a couple of tricks with Google;
  • Elaine gave me some great ideas on the world of affiliate marketing; Chris gave a great talk about his affiliate journey (worthy of an autobiography);
  • and Zoe showed the whole other side of Google AdWords with How to win at the Content Network – good stuff. And Lolcats, which is good because I like them.

Sadly, I didn’t make Artur’s session as I needed a break and decided to slope off for a bit.

Value for money?

If all you took away from your time at Think Visibility was the knowledge gleaned from the above sessions, I’d imagine you’d feel a bit cheated.  I on the other hand made full use of the networking opportunities (both in between sessions and at the evening parties) and found the contacts I made worth the cost of the ticket alone.

What would make it better for me next time

Soft, comfy seats. Or hammocks, yeah hammocks – my arse was numb after the first two hours.
Food was a bit lacking this time around having been tempted with mini Battenburg cakes last time. Saying that, it’s a conference not a dinner party so only a tiny tiny niggle.  If this was Come Dine with Me you’d get a 3.

I thought the venue was ideal, easy location from the city centre – got on a bus for the first time in years and it got me to the door! Plenty of nearby amenities, swish interior and working WiFi.

I think Zoe was a bit let down by the centre room’s acoustics – it seemed echoier than the left room so she would have benefited from being able to use the PA.

I’m sure there’s much much more to say, many more people to big up but if you went then you’ve heard it all before and if you didn’t go then you probably stopped reading ages ago.  As Al Carlton and Conference Calendar were the main sponsor, he’d be peeved if I didn’t mention him.  There’s also a ton of other more elegant reviews on the Conference Calendar ThinkVis page, so go there.

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