I’m back at the SES Expo in Chicago.  Last year I attended this expo and wrote a few posts about my experience….. This year I am attending the three days of speaker sessions as well.

Because I live outside of the Chicago area, about 45 to 60 minutes or so, logic told me to drive to the Hilton Chicago where the expo is being held.  Well, because we only have two seasons in Chicago; winter and construction, I got stuck in the first snow fall of the year during my drive.  Typically I allow myself about an hour and 15 minutes to arrive in downtown Chicago and let’s just say that my drive yesterday into the city was well over two hours.  Best words to describe my driving experience… It Sucked!

From Inside The Hilton Chicago

Well, today is day two (Tuesday) and our lovely Chicago weather does not fail as oddly enough the three SES Expo is also the ‘three day winter advisory’ for Chicago, awesome (tomorrow should be even worse).  So, right now I am sitting on a train on my way to downtown Chicago.  I do not take trains very often; it has been at least 4 years since my last train ride so I feel a bit out of place when taking the train.  Good news is that I am not the only way on this train car typing away on a laptop.

So now that I have said that, I believe it’s time to talk about the expo itself.  For the life of me, I could have sworn that last year’s expo had five days on speaker sessions and not three like this 2009 expo.  I have been thinking about it left and right, and I keep assuring myself that I am not crazy but rather SES has taken away two days.  Funny enough, it was not until I started writing this post that I realized that I have been crazy in that the 2008 SES Expo had three days of speaker sessions as well. Oh well, a lot happens over the course of one year and I know I’m not the only one that has seen 2009 fly by quickly.

In overall comparison of the 2009 vs 2008 SES Expo, I think first day experiences will go in favor of the 2008 expo.  When I arrived at the registration booth I received the same nylon mesh bag as I did in 2008 filled with junky ads, a pen and a notebook.  In the 2008 on top of the previous mentions I also received a search engine marketing hard cover book, a few novelty promotion items and hand sanitizer.  Am I complaining? Yes, but just a little.

Funny enough, I am more disappointed in the fact that I did not get the hand sanitizer like I did in 2008.  Not because I like free stuff, cause we all do; but because I am somewhat of a germ phobe in these past few months due to swine flu.  It would have made beyond sense to give out hand sanitizer at this 2009 expo.

My second minor beef in general is that it seems like a lower budget event this year as compared to last.  A pass to the three day expo costs over $1,000.00 per person.  Needless to say, it is not cheap to attend the SES Expo’s and spending a few bucks on SES’s part would be nice.  Sure, I understand; economic conditions, costs of the Chicago labor union and other overheads add up fast, and we are all in business to make a buck.  I just expected a little more.

When it came to my ‘free’ lunch at the expo, I guess they spring for lunch so that’s not too bad; I should have not been surprised but was.  I stood in the lunch line with a few colleagues for a good 15 minutes like cattle waiting to get slaughtered.  The lunch on Monday was sponsored by Google, basically because they wanted to pitch everyone on apparently the enhanced features of Google Analytics.  As we entered the main ball room for lunch, the line just got longer.  More noticeable then the line to get your meal was the utter lack of seating.  The room was filled with round tables, most of which were already taken and there were a lot of people to be seated.  Imagine 300 seats and 500 people that need to be seated.  In retrospect, seating was not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be.  What I found frustrating was the Hilton and SES tool a round seating table that was suitable for eight people and crammed in 10 people.

Now, I’m not a small guy by any means. But I do need some room to at least stretch.  When I fly, I get an aisle seat, when I ride a bus I sit on the upper deck in the single seats; I really don’t like rubbing up against strangers and I like to have leg room.  None of which I got at the lunch tables.  As a matter of fact, all ten of us the table were so short on space I could not even lean over comfortably to fork in food to my jaw, so I had to bring the food far from the table to my mouth and hope the napkin caught any mishaps.

I know what you’re thinking, what did Google talk about?  Well, I have no freaken’ idea.  The room was loud the presenter spoke softly and showed what I can only assume was power point presentation on single projection screen for everyone to see.  Ohh and by the way, 50% of the people couldn’t even see the presentation (you know, cause of the round tables, duh SES & Hilton, DUH).

Anyway, I chowed down as quickly as possible and left the ballroom.  Not because I was cramped, but that would have been a great excuse.  But rather because by the time you got seated and took a few bites the next round of speaker sessions began.

What I really enjoy this year at the SES Expo within the speaker rooms is they added tables and power chords at the front of the room for those with laptops.  I found myself with plenty of leg room, a spot for my computer and power very nearby, not to mention front row seating.  Bravo SES, very well thought out.

So, this basically sums up my personal experience for day one at the SES Chicago Expo.  You will find that I have created additional posts regarding the presentations, speakers and some not so good pictures I took inside the conference rooms.  After all three days have passed, I encourage you read my final thought on the SES Chicago Expo, I know day one may seem negative but I’m not here to feed you a bunch of bull shit, just pure honesty.