BlueGlass Conference to Debut in LA, Rock the Industry

You may have heard that the search engine marketing industry underwent a tectonic shift recently. Search Engine Journal, Search & Social, 10e20 and Brent Csutoras, Inc. merged to form a powerhouse agency, publisher, and now, Internet marketing conference.

The first BlueGlass conference takes place in Los Angeles on July 19 and 20, and if you plan to attend, use the code bcbgla to receive a 15% discount on registration. Susan and I will be there, with plans to liveblog and capture interviews for our podcast while we soak up the knowledge and networking.

And you’ll want to be there, too. The conference promises dynamic and action-oriented conversations about Internet marketing in an intimate setting at a reasonable price. To find out more about just how BlueGlass LA can deliver on its lofty goals, I spoke to organizer Tony Adam about what we can expect.

1. LA has a very active Internet marketing community and yet it’s lacked a consistent conference presence. What do you expect BlueGlass LA will bring to the LA IM base?

I think LA has severely lacked a good conference that represents the massive Internet Marketing community that it has. I don’t think people realize how big the community is down here from InHouse SEOs to agencies like Bruce Clay. That and the ever growing startup and technology scene down here makes for a very interesting environment for a conference like BlueGlass LA.

2. What’s your role in BlueGlass LA? You seem very active with it but you’re not listed on the employees page. Is it the eternal party planner in you? Did you have a hand in bringing the first conference out to LA?

You’re right, I’m not an employee of BlueGlass, the company. I still work for MySpace heading up SEO and Viral Marketing. My role was that I wanted to see a conference like this make it to Los Angeles, for some of the reasons I mentioned. I love the Los Angeles Technology ecosystem and want to see it flourish with a major event like BlueGlass LA. At Search and Social Summit I would not stop nagging Dave and Loren about how badly we need a conference to LA, so, I’ve worked tirelessly to help them make it happen!

3. Who’s the target audience for BlueGlass LA? Marketers? Business owners? Developers? It seems like there’s something for all these groups in the agenda.

If you own a website, if you run a startup or any sort of business online, or if you just want to learn about online marketing, this is a must-attend conference. Essentially, if you have any sort of internet presence at all, you NEED to attend BlueGlass LA for the wealth of knowledge being presented, bottom line.

4. If someone is able to attend just one conference this year, what should they consider about BlueGlass compared to large, established shows like SES, SMX and PubCon?

You know, it’s hard for me to answer this because I don’t want it to seem like we don’t need any of those conferences, but there is a need for all them. I think that is the obvious part. What BlueGlass LA brings to the table is an environment where the networking and connecting of like minded professionals is a key focus.

5. From the agenda, it looks like the titles and topics of sessions themselves are familiar, but I know the members of the BlueGlass team too well to believe anything in this session will be the same old stuff. What’s going on?

We wanted to keep the base SEO, Social Media, etc. type topics available, but the key is that they are mixed in with topics that aren’t covered at a typical online marketing conference. Rarely do you see people talking about distribution and traction, really diving deep into metrics and what to focus on to build a killer product, raising/spending capital wisely and finally the deep community elements that make sites like I Can Haz Cheezeburger amazing. Also, we don’t have panels with 4+ people on it, squeezing into 10 minute slots with lots of information being shared. Think of each session like a mini-keynote, two experts per session, and only in a couple cases, three experts. That’s what we are delivering in this conference that makes it special, an AMAZING mix of content with a DEEP dive of that content tied into the fact that we WANT people connecting with one another.

6. What’s your can’t-miss for BlueGlass LA? A particular session? A speaker who always kills? Monday’s no-doubt rocking party? Are you going to sing this time like at IM Spring Break?! (Please say yes, please say yes…)

Honestly, I love Dave McClure and Neil Patel, they are two of my favorite people in the industry, so kicking it off with them is going to be fabulous. But then I’m super excited to hear J.R. and Ben talk about building communities, because it’s such an important aspect to online marketing much forgotten. Finally, I keep saying it, but, networking and connecting. I’m all about this and at the end of the day the people are the most important part of the conference. BlueGlass LA allows for some great opportunities to connect with others.

Virginia Nussey is the director of content marketing at MobileMonkey. Prior to joining this startup in 2018, Virginia was the operations and content manager at Bruce Clay Inc., having joined the company in 2008 as a writer and blogger.

See Virginia's author page for links to connect on social media.