I just wanted to drop a quick note to let everyone know that I will be attending this year's SMX Advanced conference in Seattle this coming June. I've scheduled a very early flight out of Chicago on Sunday morning (1st), and will be arriving in Seattle with enough time to catch the Mariners vs. Tigers game that afternoon at Safeco Field. Yeah buddy... I love me some $5 hotdogs and $10 brews.

My fiancée Jackie will be accompanying me on this trip - she's in need of a much needed vacation - and so after the ballgame on Sunday and all of Monday we will be doing some sight-seeing. We did quite a bit of sight-seeing on last years trip, so I'm thinking that this year we'll pretty much be revisiting Pikes Place Market and some of the smaller shops within the city.

Looking ahead to the conference, I'm extremely psyched to be attending SMX this year. I've already reviewed the conference agenda, and am looking forward to several of the sessions and events... specifically these:

• SMX After-Dark In The Park (Networking Event)
• Kevin Johnson (Microsoft) Keynote
• Blow Your Mind Link Building Techniques
• Creating Value In Your SEM Businesses
• You&A With Matt Cutts
• Give It Up

All in all... this is shaping up to be a great trip with just the right mixture of work and play. Last year I walked away with lots of notes and ideas, and met some very cool people. Hopefully, I'll be meeting up with some of my industry buds (Disco, Todd, Li, Lisa, McGee, Taylor, Joe, Greg, Hooley, Balestrino, Rhea, Dustin - any of you guys attending?) as well as meeting some of you new folks, mainly those I've been reading via their blogs (Bill, Barry, Lee, Chris - Any of you guys attending?).

If any of you readers/marketers out there are attending and want to meet up... feel free to drop me a line at: karl [at] karlribas [dot] com. We can set up something then or at least exchange cell numbers. Otherwise, rest assured that I'll be delivering daily coverage and pictures of the conference and it's events as they unfold.