Conference & Expo 2004 Japan

[kazonik]

Hi People,

For you folks in Japan,
you might like to register to come along to the first Search Engine Expo in Tokyo.

http://www.idg.co.jp/expo/ses/english/index.html

Peace,
kaz

[bill]

I won't be able to make it, but I hope that those of you who go will report back here.

[kazonik]

Hi Bill,

I'll definitely be there as I'm based in Tokyo.

Will report back of course:)

I belive there will be official speakers from both Google and Overture as well.

Peace,
Kaz

[bill]

Any word on whether there will be any overseas presenters? Last time I looked it seemed the whole show would be in Japanese.

[kazonik]

Not as far as I know.

I will be contacting them this week and I'll see if I can get an up-to-date list.

Peace,
Kaz

[globalseo]

Kaz & Bill,

I plan to be at SES Japan. Will be in Japan to meet with a couple of clients, the in-laws and of course - Sakura no toorinuke.

No information on the site as of today about sessions or speakers. I spoke with them in Chicago about speaking as well as my wife (Native Japanese SEO)- No confirmation yet.

So far I am not aware of any of the usual suspects from the other shows who are speaking. I do not believe Danny will be there either. I hope to follow up with them at the New York event.

I would love to get a drink with any other AP SEO's who attend. I will be in Tokyo April 19 - 21. Osaka and Hiroshima area for the rest of the week.

[kazonik]

I spoke with the organizers briefly today.

Sorry Bill, I forgot to ask about OS presenters but I'll ask tommorrow for you.

From what I can gather, most of the Japanese Corporations attending are more interested in speaking than having a booth.

A mix of SEM type companies as well as your standard SEO consulting companies will present. I'm guessing "their take on why you should choose them" will be the topic of discussion.

[kazonik]

Bill,

I confirmed that we can expect some speakers from overseas to be at the event.

Although no names were available, I believe a technical rep from Google (USA) will be speaking, perhaps an overseas guest from Overture, and some others but I didn't get a 100%, only a "thats what we hear" kind of answer.

peace,
Kaz

[bill]

Thanks for following up on that. I knew that the big guys weren't making the trip (D.S. and company), but wondered who might show up in their stead. I know that some Japanese companies are indeed interested in the world outside Japan. It would be good to get some firsthand info from the barbarians as well. ;)

[globalseo]

Hi Bill,

This gaijin will be there -- so far I am not speaking at this one though...

I hope to see the IDG folks at SES in NYC next week and get an idea of who else may be attending.

Maybe we can set up some sort of informal get together for WebmasterWorld members to share tips & triks and a few Kirin.

[kazonik]

Funny post Bill :)

I'll be around for most of the event and I'm happy to meet up. Just send me a sticky to set a time.

Though I have a feeling we'll meet at the event anyway.

peace,
Kaz

[bill]

I wish I could make it. It sounds like there will be a good crowd. I've got to be in a friend's wedding in Florida when this whole thing will be happening, so I won't even be in the country.

I keep bumping this topic because I'm hoping for some news from you guys who will be there. ;)

[Edwin]

I'm not sure I'm going to go yet - would probably mean struggling into a suit for the first time since early last year.

[kazonik]

Registration to the event is now open.

Its free if you register online and 3,000 yen at the door.

Peace,
Kaz

[bill]

...interesting... [idg.co.jp]

On-line Registration is Free, available until April.10, 2004
On-sight Registration is charged 3,000 yen

All presentations will be Japanese language only.
We are sorry, we do not have interpretation from Japanese to English.

That's a bit cheaper than other SES events. ;)

[kazonik]

Yup, not a bad deal at all.

Looks like its the sponsors who'll be coughing up the dough on this one!

Peace,
kaz

[globalseo]

The going rate for a full 4 day pass for the NYC event last week was $1600 and there were over 1000 attendees. The onsite expo pass was $50.

It is being run as a Japanese style event where they hit up the exhibitors at a "significantly" higher exhibitor rate and the attendees get in for free.

I do not know any of the big US/EMEA companies that are going to the event and it is not because it is in Japanese. The price to exhibit was just too high and many do not yet see demand for these types of services in Japan.

I have heard that there are a number of Japanese companies that decided not to exhibit since the price was too high and the target market focus seems to have changed.

BTW... I thought I saw in the Japanese page that it was 5,000 Yen for admission but 3,000 in English -- need to check.

[globalseo]

The Program for SES Tokyo was just posted - Japanese only. Looks like just companies and Search Engines doing presentations.

I plan to be there on the morning on April 21st if anyone wants to meet.

[kazonik]

Hi,

Im happy to meet anyone who is showing up.

Im not sure of my schedule yet but please sticky me if you'd like to get together.

I'll probably be there both days.

Peace,
Kaz

[Edwin]

Has anyone been emailed their tickets yet? I applied 4 days ago but so far nothing.

[kazonik]

Hi Edwin,

I think that IDG only finalized the sponsor list and DM info last Friday so they may need a few more days to get it all together?

If you dont hear from them by Wednesday, I'd suggest giving them a call.

Peace,
Kaz

[Edwin]

I've now phoned twice, faxed and emailed the organizers... and still no sign of my ticket. With just 4 days to go that's rather disturbing. More frustrating is the fact that I'm trying to register for a couple of sessions, but so far no confirmation of any kind.

Has anyone else had more luck?

[kazonik]

Honestly, the way IDG has been handling this whole event has been very dissapointing.

As far as the conferences, I don't think they'll be full. I've been told you are free to just head in and take a seat and if its full you are welcome to stand.

In regards to the tickets, I would phone them Monday morning and give them a harsh word if you don't see your tickets in the mailbox! If you want the name of someone to talk to at IDG, send me a sticky and I may be able to help.

Not even sure if its worth attending. Apparently there are less than 10 booths.

Peace,
Kaz

[Edwin]

Thanks for the advice - I just spent 20 minutes on the phone forcing them to find my fax rather than simply "call me back". Now that they have all the info they need in front of them, they've managed to issue me the ticket and I should hopefully end up being booked into the conference sessions I was interested in.

If anyone else from this thread is going (and if the above gets sorted out ok) I'll be attending SK1-1 and SW1-2 tomorrow (not going on the 21st) - so feel free to come up and have a chat if you like... I shouldn't be too hard to spot since I'll be the rather large guy casually dressed in jeans :)

[kazonik]

Hi Edwin,

Glad to hear things worked out.

I'll be there undercover :) but I'll keep an eye out for you.

Peace,
Kaz

[Woz]

Hehe, sounds like a good time for an unofficial Japanese WebmasterWorld Members get-together. Have a good time people, look forward to the reports.

Onya
Woz

[Edwin]

I must give them credit where credit is finally due - I just received the conference confirmations about 15 minutes ago i.e. half-past-midnight local time. Looks like it came from an office address, and they apologised for how late it was being sent!

[GrendelKhan TSU]

I was debating whether I was going to go to this for a while now.

sounds like I made the right choice.

<<staying in Seoul waiting for a report. ^^

[Edwin]

Well, here's a really brief low-down...

A) The attendance was pretty good. It's hard to eyeball numbers in such cramped rooms, but there must have been 500+ people attending - and *everyone* crammed in to watch the Google keynote presentation.

B) There were only a handful of companies with booths, including a couple of SEO/SEM companies, two companies providing automated SEO-type tools a bit like WPG, a content management company and of course a Google booth.

C) The seating space allocated for the various presentations was IMO simply too small. The Google presentation had folks standing lining the walls and packed 5+ deep at the back of the area. And with the *very* quiet microphones it was tough to hear what the speakers were saying.

I got to meet a few people and to chat about some of the SEO tools on the market or in development, and it was fun meeting Googlites in the flesh, if only to say "hi"...

So [based on my admittedly short 1/2 a day sample size], I'd rate SES Tokyo as follows:-

1) Organization (tickets, notifications etc.) 3/10
2) Location: 4/10
3) Attendance (getting the word out): 9/10
4) Booths: 6/10 (friendly folks, but simply too few companies there)
5) Overall: 5.5/10 passing grade, not too bad for a first effort

Of course, if you were one of the enterprising folks who managed to beat the queues, secure a seat and attend all the sessions, your rating might look quite different to the above :)

[bill]

Thanks for the update Edwin. Any more information on the content of the sessions themselves?

Anyone else have any info? How was day 2?