Search Engine Strategies 2007 in New York is now at an end and my head is spinning from all the talks I've had, beers I've drank, people I've met, and sleep I've not had.  I probably won't be a staple of the botw team at these things, but based on what I've seen and heard during this conference, it seems like it might be a worthwhile thing to do from time to time.  It certainly was great seeing my friends and colleagues, although it did get a bit tedious explaining exactly what it is that we do to all the mom-and-pop shop attendees looking to increase their traffic with a quality backlink.  It is certainly grueling staying up until the wee hours drinking/networking and then manning the booth with professionalism and a smile at 10 am. 

So, as promised, here are the top 5 things I learned from the conference

1.  Apparently, the germans are pretty much the same as you or I; it's just that they're superior.

2.  If you show me some of that brown eye, four goats may arrive for your family.

3.  It's hard to turn down a "joint" interview.

4.  You should not let your 12 year old daughter sing karaoke to "baby got back", though some people can get away with it.

5.  Even if you're a phenomenal concert pianist, it's still not OK to pick the lock on the piano in the lobby bar and start playing.

While I did not enjoy waiting 3 hours to get into my room due to a security mixup, having some face time with the SEO crowd was definitely worthwhile.  I appreciated the opportunity to talk shop with the overseas guys and meeting ShoeMoney and family, Jim Boykin, Lee Odden, Michael Gray, Frank Watson and others too numerous to mention.  Hopefully I'm not leaving anyone out, but I would especially like to thank Aneil Weber, Cameron Olthuis, Neil Patel, Marcus Tandler, and Loren Baker for hanging out and making me feel welcome.