Quite recently I interviewed Lewis Webster of Little Orchard about video online.

I was in no doubt after talking to Lewis about what video can deliver and what its potential is – the SEO power & potential of video is something in itself, let alone just the content.

So the first SAScon speaker, Bruce Daisley from YouTube should have pulled few surprises.  But he still impressed….

Video is one third of all web traffic – Cisco

Bruce again quoting Cisco, saying it would be 90% by 2013

Every minute 24 hours worth of video is uploaded onto YouTube

And a few more points of interest….

More people are referred to YouTube than come straight to it

Twitter & 3G is pushing video

YouTube is concentrating on delivering live content such as recent U2 & Alicia Keys gigs, and is aiming to facilitate ordinary users doing the same, albeit perhaps on a smaller scale.

Bruce ended by a little name checking of great viral video: Ok Go’s fantastic video – parodied by The Simpsons, so it must be good and the Evian baby commercial.

The viral potential of both far outstripped expectations: it made Ok Go, leading to sponsorship and big increases in record sales when I believe they were pretty insignificant at their record label; the Evian brass only expected 2 million views, they got 58 million.  Wow quite a return on both.

This brings me neatly on to my selling opportunity: if you are a digital agency that is looking at video, then continue reading….

Vision + Media is heavily sponsoring experienced TV professionals to undertake placements in digital agencies.

The cost is a paltry £30 a day to the agency, everything else sponsored by Vision + Media.

So you can learn about video – could be editing and production techniques as much as camera elements – and use highly skilled professionals to work on live projects from the word go.

If you are interested click here for more, but hurry you only have until this Friday to register (you can use your placement at anytime afterwards).

Wednesday was the inaugural get together of SAScon – a social media and SEO conference.

I should say the online search conference for highlighting the strength and ability and energy of the northern digital scene.

When conceived there must have been a few worries – even if not admitted now – about how much support it would receive. The organisers needn’t have worried.

As you can see from the above image it was a  packed house: some 160 attendees with speakers from across the UK and Europe came to the Bridgewater Hall in the centre of Manchester.

There were essentially two streams of seminars / panel talks: the more technical SEO and social media.  I stuck with my prime interest in social media.

I will discuss in future posts the points of some of the talks I attended.  But for now I want to make a couple of points about why I attended:

First, besides continuing my social media education, there was ample opportunity to network.

However, more impotantly in many respects – and I suspect for many attendees – it was a chance to make a statement about the strength and potential of the online community in the North West to deliver: you don’t have to go to London to have access to top digital suppliers.

By attending, digital and non-digital, be it PR or marketing, those that lent their support by simply taking out a day from busy schedules to come along made that exact statement.

SAScon is about to have its inaugural conference launch on 28th April at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

The aim is to bring talented and knowledgeable SEO and search marketing experts, from Europe and the US, in one place to deliver informative and practical advice to marketing, PR and fellow digital professionals.

It is an exciting opportunity, especially as it is in Manchester and will promote the city as a centre of digital talent.

I spoke to Simon Wharton of search marketing agency PushON, and a driving force in organising the event, on why this is a must attend and what attendees will get out of the day.

Simon Wharton explains more, click here to hear the interview. (Is that alliteration?)