Didn’t attend IM Spring Break? 23 Reasons You Should Have.

Written on April 6, 2009 – 3:19 pm | by Shana Albert |

After spending four days in Florida with the IM Spring Break crowd and attending the conference & enjoying the parties at night It didn’t take me long to realize that this is hands down the best conference I have ever attended. And, from reading others tweets I come to the realization that this conference is a "must attend". In case that wasn’t enough to get you to realize you should be totally bummed you decided not to attend the IM Spring Break Conference here are a ton more reasons you should Kick your own Ass for not attending IM Spring Break.

Small conference….. big knowledge. I know small isn’t always, the best description of something wonderful. But, trust me on this one. What I think made this conference so amazing was the small size. I had a chance to sit down with practically everybody and have a nice conversation. At no time did I feel rushed to hurry a conversation so that I could find the next one to talk to. There was plenty of time to get to everybody.
Intimate Conversations - Due to the small size of the Conference I was able to have some wonderful intimate conversations with not only Industry Leaders, but the awesome guys running the whole show. That has never happened to me…. but on the first day I shared lunch with Loren Baker and his beautiful wife, Janna.
The Best of the Best in our Industry speaking on Search, Social and Internet Marketing - Loren, Dave and Jordan made sure to get some of the best in our industry speaking on the panels…. making sure we were learning everything from the most knowledgeable in the field.
The Q & A’s after with amazingly awesome top secret info….. seriously, TOP SECRET. Only people that were there have the benefit of hearing the information. And, even if something wasn’t covered in the Q & A’s there was plenty of time for conversations with the speakers later. If you are beginning to the get the feeling of kicking your desk for not attending…. I can understand.
The food, the YUMMY food. And, I am not talking simple meals. I’m talking about meals that knock your socks off by simply looking at the colorful presentation. Loren, Dave and Jordan spared nothing to make sure we ate like Kings and Queens.

Open Bar - The attendees of IM Spring Break were offered Open Bar every night. Do I really need to say anything else about this? I’ll just repeat it….. Open Bar EVERY Night.
The pool - A Gorgeous pool that many of us got to enjoy….. whether we wanted to jump in or not. Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to personally thank Streko for my shoes just finally drying.
Poker Games - Yes, we even had poker. And, even though there were some winners and some losers from the looks of everyone participating we enjoyed ourselves either way. I even managed to spend some money during Poker just watching… Not sure how that happened.
Arm Wrestling Neil Patel - At what other event could I have a chance to kick one of the Speakers Ass’s in Arm Wrestling. I doubt anywhere else. But, at IM Spring Break I was offered the chance to do just that. I took Neil up on the offer to arm wrestle and I fought really hard to beat him. Unfortunately, I totally got my ass kicked. I’m pretty scrappy, but he must be freakishly strong for his small size. He also took $20.00 from me from losing.
Beautiful Friendships - While at IM Spring Break I was fortunate enough to build beautiful friendships that I have no doubt that will last a lifetime.
Free Chiropractor on Call - We can all totally use a good back massage from time to time. And, there were plenty to go around at IM Spring Break….. thank you Chiropractor Mike.
Killer DJ - At the indoor BBQ Party there was some awesome music during the open bar and dinner. I mean, I’m talking killer music. Thanks to Steve Plunkett for giving up his yummy dinner to make sure to keep us totally happy until the live band started. Proof the music rocked is in the pics my friend…

Lots of Dancing - Steve had the music playing for 2 hours until the live band started. Giving us 2 hours extra to dance…. and dance they did!!

Live Band - Yes…. Loren, Dave and Jordan spared absolutely no expense to make sure the attendees of the conference were kept happy and entertained the entire time. They hired a live band to get people out on the dance floor. But, it turns out they were just the opening band for a rock band MUCH larger….
SEO Rock Band - This might come as a total surprise to you, but many of the leaders in our wonderful Industry are also musically gifted. Our very own David Szetela and Jeff Quipp surprised all of us by announcing that they were going to get on stage and entertain us with The SEO Rock Band. And, they were good. No, I’m lying….. they were freakin awesome!! Like, I’m talking about lighter waiving and girls screaming kind of awesome. But, that wasn’t the end of it….Loren Baker and Tony Adam got on stage with them and were just as amazing making up their own SEO lyrics to popular songs. It was so much fun. Still not over…. I got more. Brasco from WebMaster Radio sang La Bamba perfectly. I mean, perfectly. Steve Plunkett did some singing as well… as did Aaron Chronister’s beautiful fiance, Jenny. It was an amazing night with some of the best fun I have ever had. Many of us want to know when the SEO Rock Band’s CD will be coming out…. it truly would be a must buy!!

… and the lead singer even had his groupies:
Neil Patel made me Breakfast - I’m assuming that Neil was feeling bad for hurting my ego the night before in arm wresting, but whatever the reason he made me a toasted bagel, went out of his way to find the exact type of cream cheese I wanted and spread it on my bagel. Thanks, Neil…. it was an awesome bagel.
Drinking being part of a session - The wonderful Tony Adam brought out beers for everybody during his IM Business session. He was going through his 9 Steps to get people excited about what you are doing. And, as he pointed out sometimes you just need to "take a break and knock one back!!" I agree, Tony.

Milk & Cookies - Thanks to Allyson Fergison, aka SEOaly we all were able to enjoy her homemade cookies. Allyson was the very lucky winner of the free pass to IM Spring Break. She was so excited to have won she apparently didn’t know what to do with her pent up energy that she decided to bake like a mad woman. And, a mad woman she was….. she came to the conference with 600 freshly back chocolate chip cookies. Could you imagine this happening at a huge conference? No, I don’t think so. I’m telling you… small intimate conferences is where it is at!!
Rock’n Keynotes - We got to hear some of the best keynotes I have ever heard. The keynotes were from Chris Winfield, Neil Patel and Rae Hoffman. Really, really great stuff…. all three were totally passionate and equally motivating. The best combination.
Sushi baby - I will have to admit…. I have never had sushi. I have always been afraid to try it because of the fact it is raw fish. But, upon being pushed to try it…. try it I did. Oh My God…. it was so good!! I am now sushi’s biggest fan.
Bacon Explosion - At the IM Spring Break BBQ Party the food continued to be just as impressive as any of the other meals that the gentlemen of IM Spring Break provided for us. This meal had a BBQ flare. But, the highlight of the meal had got to have been the Bacon Explosion. This dish was thought up by Aaron Chronister and loved by everyone I spoke to that night. I can’t even describe the taste to you…. just trust me when I say it is like no other. And, you have got to experience it for yourself. Yep, just another reason you should be kicking your own Ass for not going to IM Spring Break.
Appearing on Webmaster Radio - Webmaster Radio was at the conference the entire time and many of the attendees of IM Spring Break appeared on Webmaster Radio being interviewed. Even I was one of the lucky ones. It was so much fun!! I felt like a superstar.
Weight loss - Apparently the more you eat the more weight you lose. It probably has something to do with the fact that you can eat healthy even at a conference.

Okay, you still don’t believe me that this was the conference of the year??? Don’t take my word for it…. check out what Alysson Fergison had to say about it. Her tweet totally sums up my entire post…

seoaly-kick-ass

Just to let you know….. IM Broadcast has other conferences coming up in the future. They mentioned doing one in the next few months in California and another Scary SEO in October… this time in Atlantic City. So, keep an eye out for the next IM Broadcast Conference and sign up. Otherwise…. you are totally missing out on the best Marketing, SEO, and Social Media Conference out there!!

Thank you to those who allowed me to use the wonderful photographs they took during IM Spring Break. Most of the photos on this page came from either Janna and Loren Baker at the IM Spring Break Facebook Fan Page, Rafael Montilla and Dana Lookadoo’s Flickr Page. So, make sure to check out their photo pages so you can check out the rest of the IM Spring Break pictures.

Share and Enjoy:

11 Responses to “Didn’t attend IM Spring Break? 23 Reasons You Should Have.”
By @steveplunkett on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

aww… thanks..

i gained 12 lbs too at #IMSB…

(no workout.. )
By streko on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

thanks for the link. :-p
By Hendrik on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Awesome, I think I’ll cross the pond next year. Looked like a lot of good info and of course fun :).
By Brasco on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Shana,

Thanks for the love!

IMSB 09 was an experience, and I’m glad to have made so many new friends. Here’s to hoping we’ll all catch up again real soon.
By TheMadHat on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Thanks for the multiple mentions - and just for the record, all that money Pam has playing poker was mine
By Michael D on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Haha, I weighed myself when arriving home Sunday, gained 5 pounds, still went out for Mexican food.

Excellent summary Shana, so many great things about the way they pulled this event off. On my list of all time favorite seo gatherings.

Most of all, great to meet you in person and get to hang out and have so much fun!
By Dana Lookadoo on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Great writeup, Shana! You rock!

Photos: FYI that I’m SLOWLY putting up photos into an “IM Spring Break 09″ collection, http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelposition/collections/72157616275386921/

Attending IM Spring Break was a life and career changer, in many ways, especially the development of new friendships!
By Shana Albert on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Thank you all. You guys are amazing and wonderful. I’m thrilled to have spent quality time with all of you. This conference was by far the best I have ever attended.
By Janna on Apr 6, 2009 | Reply

Thanks Shana for a wonderful article!!! Reading this article makes me want to go back to a beautiful Deerfield Beach Hilton:) This conference was the best conference EVER!
By Bofu2U on Apr 9, 2009 | Reply

There was not one mention of my snatch. FOR SHAME!
By Gab Goldenberg on Apr 12, 2009 | Reply

Sounds and looks like a blast. Great pics and narrative Shana!

p.s. Your copyright notice is outa date.