According to Jupiters Alan Meckler SES final figures were something to behold this year …

Total attendance was about 6000 (50% greater than 2004). Paid attendance was 1734 (52% greater than 2004). Exhibiting companies liked what they saw as 70% of them booked space for the 2006 show.

The excitement and energy on the show floor was equivalent to any of the Internet World shows of the 1990s. I never thought I would ever again see Internet World energy at a trade show in this century, but SES New York proved me wrong.

I saw Chris Pirillo saying SES was way to big via Peter this morning. He says it should be broken down into 3 seperate gigs rather than one large “get lost in the crowd” affair:

I think Search Engine Strategies needs to be three separate conferences, not three separate tracks in one conference. The value would be much higher for me with a smaller group of people. As it stands, I’m getting “lost” in the hallways – unsure of who’s who or why they’re there. You could be a n00b to Search Engine Strategies, a marketer who was ordered to attend the conference, or a complete and utter Search Engine Strategies junkie. I’d much rather mingle with the experts and passionate people, personally. They’re almost impossible to find at these 500+ events. At one time, I thought 1,000 attendees was a perfect number, but I’m starting to believe (and see) that less is more.

With every “A list” blogger and every wannabe A lister bowing at Danny’s feet these last few months and every tech pundit worth his salt becoming a Search expert seemingly overnight I’d say chris may be right.

But with SES raking in about $3M (can’t recall where i read that) this year i shouldn’t think Jupiter are that worried about a few old timers longing for the quieter days heh..

Well done Jupiter, now that’s the way to run a show…

Nick Wilson is the publisher and founder of Threadwatch.org.

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