Online Industry Conference

[Chatmaster]

Hi everyone

As discussed before I am considering having an Online industry conference in Johannesburg at the end of the year. Now the most important part of such a conference is topics that will be discussed. I was thinking about this for a while now and believe that South Africa is not ready for a pure online marketing conference yet, so perhaps a little bit more general conference will be more suitable and attract more delegates. So for now I am looking at having 2 or maybe 3 Tracks over a period of 2 days.

Tracks

Technical Track
Webmaster Track
Online Marketing Track


Any suggestions for topics that we can discuss on the conference?

[Blazingpie]

<snip>
here are my suggestions (hope i understood what you meant by 'general'):
online marketing:
*what is OM and why bother?
*how SEs work and how to use them
*The culture on the internet, it's importance and its effects - if you want to market on the net you have to understand how ppl think online, etc
*Why Digital-M rocks (:p)

technical:
*What is open-source and what it can do for you - if you can get a big boy like linux at the convention it bring enough clout to bring more ppl in :)
*using technology correctly to assist marketing - gathering & interpreting stats, etc

Webmaster:
*latest trends in site design, technology (ajax, css, Ruby, etc) and how thy can benefit you
*building effective sites to get your message across
*maintaining a community (eg forums)

I tried to make these things all relevant to OM, however i found it difficult to decide where to put things as they all inter-relate :p

Hmmm, as ive never been to a convention before Ive actually got no clue on the type of topics they ahve so I hope these didn't sound stupid :p

[Chatmaster]

*Why Digital-M rocks (:p)
Great topic, we shall do so! :-D

[Paz]

I'd have a section for web developers on making search engine friendly websites, CMS's, penalties (causes of, diagnosis and fixing).

Maybe some specialist seminars on SEM for casino, tourism and any other specialist South African markets.

[Koz]

Chatmaster, are you going to include SEO in your online marketing section (may sound silly but there is a difference)?

I hope I get and invite :shhh:

[Blazingpie]

I'd have a section for web developers on making search engine friendly websites, CMS's, penalties (causes of, diagnosis and fixing).

Maybe some specialist seminars on SEM for casino, tourism and any other specialist South African markets.

well, do we want to get very technical very quickly? most dont even know about SEO, or very little...

[Chatmaster]

Yes, SEO will most definately be included. In my opinion that is one of the main objectives of the conference, to get SA informed! Besides, to a large extend SEO is the basis on which a proper online marketing campaign is build, any arguments I would love to proof you wrong :)

[Glen]

I would love to come, if free flights are included :p

[Chatmaster]

Hi Glen

Where exactly are you based? We are paying the airfares of about 300 affiliates with the current conference we are arranging and the costs boils down to about $1500 for a return ticket, but we are block booking. I might look into that for you... :shhh:

[Chatmaster]

I'd have a section for web developers on making search engine friendly websites, CMS's, penalties (causes of, diagnosis and fixing).
This is a great idea. This is one of the main problems companies are facing in SA. These guys can design sites but they have no or little knowledge on the effect their designs have on the effectiveness of the site.
Maybe some specialist seminars on SEM for casino, tourism and any other specialist South African markets.
I haven't even thought of this. We can have specialist seminars for Real Estate, Insurance, Bonds and Tourism.

Great suggestions thanks, Paz! :-D

[Glen]

Did you ever look into finishing this as theres still plenty of time to the end of the year

Oh and im currently based in England ;)

[Chatmaster]

Hi Glen

It will definately not happen this year. I had several issues that I needed to address. I think the most important one was to obtain funding for it. I am still working on bring the conference here but I will only onnounce anything once I have obtained all my funds I need.

[Glen]

Hi Glen

It will definately not happen this year. I had several issues that I needed to address. I think the most important one was to obtain funding for it. I am still working on bring the conference here but I will only onnounce anything once I have obtained all my funds I need.

OK was just interested as I was looking through some old threads for the site

I'm sure it would be a great event

[Blazingpie]

Thats a pity to hear - hopefully you can get the funding soon :)