Thomas (TwisterMC) and I arrived fine in Chicago without delay. Unlike many other travelers, including Shoemoney who I talked to about a 4+ hour delay.

During an early session at SES Chicago 2006, the speakers on the topic of video optimization all made a similar suggestion – keep that meta data identifiable so your video will be too. Chris Richardson of WebProNews was on hand to pick up the details.

This was more of a speed intro to some of Google’s newer services. Topics included Google Analytics, Google Gadgets, Webmaster Tools and Personalized Search.

A “Packet Sniffer” is a utility that sniffs without modifying the network’s packets in any way.

The vendor spotlight session covered alternatives or additives to going with PPC campaigns from companies like Google and Yahoo.

It continues to amaze me how many clueless or sloppy PR pitches we get week in and week out.

To get one’s videos indexed correctly by the search engines dedicated to that content, it’s the spoken word rather than the pretty pictures that matter most. Mike McDonald listened in on the expert panel at SES Chicago discussing the process.

Women 2.0 (a division of Entrepreneur27) and Stanford BASES are hosting their next event focused on individuals who went against tradition and took big risks, resulting in careers that they really enjoy. In many cases, these entrepreneurs actually “created” or joined real business based on their passions, allowing them to earn a living doing something they love.

I should have a corporate blog of the week.

Resumes have come a long way since they were just typed pages that chronologically listed employment histories, job duties, and educational qualifications. Hiring managers are inundated with hundreds of Resumes that still follow “old school”.

UK SEO agency, Big Mouth Media announced over the weekend that they have merged with Euro online marketing firm Global Media, creating a company which is estimated in value between £100 and £200 million (reports vary depending where you read!).

I hear that CES this year is going to sign up bloggers as press for the first time.

So much for the partnership between Google senior advisor Al Gore’s Current TV and Yahoo. The joint effort lasted all of two months before the Yahoo site stopped accepting Yahoo uploads.

Researchers at the University of Washington report findings that the Apple Nike+iPod Sports Kit can be used as a tracking device.

I recently read Avinash Kaushik’s post Excellent Analytics Tip #8: Measure the Real Conversion Rate & “Opportunity Pie”. I like the approach in general but I have a differing view on point #1 and point # 3 in this article. In my opinion almost every real visitor who lands on your site provides an opportunity for conversion.

Not all Google products are created equal; some, like Google Catalogs and Google Code, were pretty much doomed from the start. Many onlookers believe that the company will soon start concentrating on its central products, instead of spinning off these strange little odds and ends every few weeks. Nicholas Carr picked the five products most likely to receive this special attention.

What’s the most popular Web site for today’s youth? There certainly is a large variety to consider. Would you be surprised if males and females ages 17 to 25 both shared the same favorite Web site?

Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke recently at the Arab Strategy Forum, and he made some thought-provoking predictions about the region’s future. “The next story in the development of the Arab world,” Schmidt said, “will be the unleashing of the power of the Arab entrepreneur.”

Later this afternoon Thomas and I will fly out to Search Engine Strategies in Chicago where I’ll be covering some sessions, doing more video interviews, taking lots of photos and the best parts: learning and networking. I will also be sitting in on the Social Media Optimization panel with Neil, Rand, Andy and Todd.

Ever since Randy Falco became the CEO, several senior officials at AOL have either left or are planning to leave.

Getting to an online retail storefront doesn’t always involve going straight to the front door, as many people depend on the traffic cops of search to point them in the right direction.

Rand mentioned that there are multiple types of linkbait, those that are known as controversial and those which are informational or comprehensive. I view them both as being in the same category though…evoking emotions and thus links.

AOL Video says Merry Christmas to customers of their online video service by giving away free movies.

The on and off again chatter about Apple finally developing and releasing a Tablet PC device running the Mac operating system has reached a dull roar again, with a prototype allegedly in existence.