...SMX Advanced, simply put there is no substitute for face time you get with someone at a conference. I met with quite a few people from from the engines and we talked about a wide range of problems, suggestions, issues, and a few non search topics.

I know in times of economic hardship conference and that travel budgets are shrinking and with excellent conference coverage, its hard to justify the money and time a conference requires, but IMHO its worth it. What you learn from the session is good, what you learn outside of the sessions is the icing on the cake.

I agree with Danny that Google changing how it handles links and losing backwards compatibility is an issue. I also agree with Rand (who I somehow missed talking to) that Google needs to clarify how its handling pagerank and javascript, and hope Matt Cutts or someone else will do so in the upcoming weeks. Expect some additional commentary coming this week from me on pagerank sculpting and the unanswered issues on paid links.

The most fun I had at SMX was at the organized lunch table where I chatted with Michelle Robbins and Richard Baxter of SEOGadget about Battlestar Galactica, followed by me eating Matt Cutts macaroni and cheese. I fully expect Matt to try and break into my hotel room and steal all the chocolate out of my fridge next conference as retribution.

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