Despite challenging economy, industry stalwart fills gap left by Google after Google Dance canceled

By Michelle Andersen

Search has become such a pervasive technology that every single demographic knows what it is, knows who the players are and have an opinion on the topic. It's part of the world of technology that has seeped into popular culture to the point that the new celebrities are technologists.

Which is why the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo, 5,000 attendees strong this year, has continued to be an technology industry staple. Contrary to past years, however, SES San Jose 2009 was a much more sober and intensive year for attendees. Gone this year was one of the traditional events of the conference, the Google Dance. It was apparently canceled due to the company's concerns about the economy. Everyone admits that it's been a tough year.

However, the party had to go on and, in the vacuum created by the absence of the Google Dance, Searchbash, created by WebMasterRadio.FM, stepped up its game to fill the void. The party balanced the sheer size of the Google Dance with a dance that brought everyone a little closer together and provided a little bit of happiness to the 1,000 plus search aficionados who attended.

In its fifth year, Searchbash has also been a mainstay of SES, and the favored event of this year's low-key crowd. With an Alice in Wonderland theme, resembling the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland, complete with costumed characters, party-goers experienced ambient music while they worked on their drinks and their deals.

Brandy Shapiro-Babin, co-founder of WebMasterRadio.FM and creator of Searchbash commented, “We wanted to create a wonderland for our community that has worked so hard this past year. We've been digging in and it was a moment to have a bit of fun. We appreciated that our presenting sponsor AdGooroo and sponsors Findology, Litle, PixelSilk, IdeaLaunch and LeapFish stepped up to the plate in a united front to provide everyone with an amazing life and business experience.”

Brandy confided that some people claimed to have done their biggest deals at the party, which went from ambient to full-on dance party in no time flat. One SEO executive was spotted pole dancing with a feathered boa. He was cheered on by colleagues that he did and didn't know and was seen during a conference break at the Fairmont Pool the next day.

WebMasterRadio.FM has become an intrinsic part of technology industry conferences in the past few years, and is the go-to resource for everything related to b-to-b digital marketing. From SES alone, their continuously-manned booth broadcast 40 live-streamed interviews and streamed every keynote from the conference. Full coverage of SES can be found at www.webmasterradio.fm.

OBSNews plans to party at the next Searchbash at SMX New York in October.

Story sponsored by Sacramento real estate broker www.TheHomeBuyingCenter.com.