I’m still going through SXSW notes and will eventually post some great recaps of sessions and events, but I’m still in conference mode.  With that said, it’s just two days away to the Internet Marketers of New York charity party in NYC (during SES NY) which is sponsored by the coolest guys on earth, Best of the Web.

What: A charity party.  Your $40 at the door goes straight to a charity.
When: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 8PM until 12AM.
Where: Black Finn NY, 218 East 53rd Street
Who: Yours truly and a bunch of awesome people who are flying in to NY to attend the Search Engine Strategies conference
Why: Because you know you want to support a charity and hang out with some of the biggest search industry leaders

Will I see you there?  I hope so!  Make sure to tell Greg Niland that I sent you.

SMX West occurred last week, kicking off a bunch of conferences and meetups for yours truly (I’m headed to SXSW Interactive on Thursday followed by SES NY right after I get back, and then there’s the Saturday night Blogger Social event only a week later). As all conferences I’ve attended, it was a great one, and by far the best part was the smallness of the conference overall which really helped the networking efforts. As for the sessions I liveblogged, there were eleven in total (see the Search Engine Roundtable’s SMX West coverage for details). Here are some of the bigger takeaways for me:

• We all know that the search landscape is changing. Louis Monier’s Wednesday keynote summarized the future in the world of search, as we’re looking at the following elements:
  • Human powered search: you get high quality content but since it’s human driven, the coverage isn’t as vast as we’d like.
  • Personalization: presenting results based on past activity. Monier suggests that it could be flawed, however, as in describing a “diamond:” what if a baseball enthusiast chooses to buy his wife a nice piece of jewelry?

When Digg came out with its new social features, some folks applauded the move while others despised it. Nearly four months later, the social features appear to be here to stay.

But are they secure?

As Digg becomes more of a social network and less of a social news network (or a hybrid that incorporates both elements), it has a lot of obstacles it needs to face. Besides major usability issues, duplicate stories submissions, and ads that literally scream at you, Digg has yet another issue to deal with: privacy.

Ben pinged me earlier today with a very interesting observation. It turns out that your shouts are not private after all, even if you keep them absolutely hidden. Your friends can see them. Actually, anyone can see them, even if they’re not logged in.

Allow me to illustrate. My current Digg settings prohibit anyone from seeing my Digg shouts.

My shouts are blocked for everyone to see, and to ensure this, I’ve saved this selection multiple times.

When I go to my profile, Digg makes a clear assertion that I want my shouts kept private. But look at that red arrow.

The highly anticipated Las Vegas Pubcon 2007 has come and gone, and I can tell that everyone is waiting for Pubcon ‘08 from the enormous success of this conference. First, some educational takeaways:

• Social media is the “new” medium for businesses to communicate with consumers in a way that is interesting to them.
• Craig Newmark isn’t altruistic, but he sure created a damn good website.
• Every conversation shifted to Twitter, as folks recognized that they can brand themselves and their businesses through a Twitter identity. On that note, if you’re so inclined, you can follow me on Twitter too.
• Good content and copywriting will win over new readers and customers.
• Make sure you have good pockets (or a wallet) if you are carrying cash in Sin City.

I’ve been tagged against my will by Jane and Jason in one of the latest memes: do you respect media snackers?

Well first, what the heck is a media snacker? Watch this short video to see:

Here’s the transcript for the video-phobes:

Media Snackers. What’s it all about? Well, you see the world has changed and it’s not turning back. Media snackers are young people. No longer is there a set menu of mass media delivered at specific times and to the masses. Print, radio, [and] television is now “push the red button and go interactive,” “text in your request,” or “let us tell you a story.” The internet and technology ownership has changed everything: digital TV, mobile phones, iPods, weblogs, instant messaging, [and] social networking. The media landscape has shifted from the linear to one of many layers consumed by creative and empowered individuals. Young people of the new WWW generation snuck in whenever, wherever, and on whatever they like. Crucially, their expectations have changed. Everything is multi: multi-screens, multi-channeled, multi-conversations, and multitasking. Totally connected groups are average sharers, creating as much as they can consume and using free sites to display it all. Whereas before when computers were only found in banks and offices, media snackers have access at home, in school, or in libraries — all for free. Remember visiting arcade centers to play games? Media snackers play at home and against the world. How about taping your favorite tunes off the radio? Media snackers simply download them from the web and carry their whole music collection with them. Previously, to have a mobile phone, you needed a large bank account. Media snackers just have pockets. Media snackers are young people.