Public Registration is NOW open for the Elite Retreat NYC 2009! This will be the 6th Elite Retreat Conference and it is being held for the first time in New York City at the Hotel Gansevoort.
The Venue
We have always done everything first class at the Elite Retreat and this year we are blowing it out of the water. The Hotel Gansevoort was recently named the “hippest hotel in the world” by Tripadvisor.
Nestled among warehouses and cobblestone streets, the Hotel Gansevoort features a sleek and striking exterior of glass and metal. Breathtaking views from the landscaped roof garden along with a pool that emits soothing underwater tunes, makes it a popular, one-of-a-kind venue.
We have taken over the entire top floor of this kick-ass hotel for the event. You can check out pictures of the hotel here.
The History and Experience
When you go to a conference to hear an “expert” speak, the experience rarely has that much value. You listen to 60 minutes of a canned speech and if you are lucky, you get maybe 2 minutes of the “expert’s” time after waiting in a long line. The real value in conferences is always found at the hotel bar where you can buy an “expert” a drink, talk about your problems and get a solid action plan, tailored to your business, from them.
A couple problems with this approach are:
1) There are lots of speaker who honestly have no interest in helping you or solving your problems.
2) There is no way to scale this at a conference with thousands of people.
3) Most of the experts at conferences are only there to promote themselves or their products.
The Elite Retreat was formed to really solve this problem. We assemble tried and true cast of speakers who have not only achieved enormous successes of their own but really enjoy helping others. We also limit the amount of attendees so that each speaker can truly connect with each attendee and help them formulate a plan to solve their problems as well as follow up with them.
The Hostess/M.C. – Rebecca Kelley
Rebecca Kelley is the Director of Social Media for 10e20, one of the industry’s leading social media marketing companies. She has over three and a half years of experience in the Internet marketing industry and specializes in client consulting, organic SEO, content creation, viral marketing, linkbait, and blogging. In addition to being one of the industry’s most recognizable bloggers, Rebecca also speaks at various industry events and provides guidance and strategy for multiple facets of Internet marketing.
The Keynote Speaker – Seth Godin
Seth Godin is often regarded as the worlds best marketing mind. He is author of ten books that have been bestsellers around the world. His most recent titles include Tribes, The Dip and Meatball Sundae. Free Prize Inside was published in early May, 2004 and All Marketers are Liars was published in 2005. Permission Marketing was an Amazon.com Top 100 bestseller for a year, a Fortune Best Business Book and it spent four months on the Business Week bestseller list. It also appeared on the New York Times business book bestseller list. Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry’s leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998.
The Speakers
Aaron Wall – Aaron wrote the book on SEO, literally! He has been a leader at the Elite Retreat since the first event in 2006. Aaron’s in-depth knowledge of SEO is astonishing. What makes Aaron such a good fit for the Elite Retreat is that he is not afraid to speak his mind and tell you how things really work. From each of the previous events we had comments from people saying they thought they knew some neat tricks with SEO until they heard Aaron speak and show them how it’s really done. Key Search Engine engineers like Matt Cutts are always keeping a close tab on what Aaron is saying and they are frequently mentioning Aaron in their public speaking and on their blogs.
Brian Norgard is a passionate entrepreneur, angel investor and waterman. Brian co-founded Newroo which was acquired in 2006 by FoxInteractive Media/NewsCorp. He currently is a VP at FOX Advertising Network and works on numerous internal projects including MySpaceMyAds. Previously, he founded Ferrosity, which developed vibration dampening technology.
Chris Winfield is President and Co-Founder of 10e20, a publicity company that specializes in social media and search marketing services. He is considered to be one of the leading authorities on social media marketing in the world today. Chris has been featured in multiple articles by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Investor’s Business Daily, The Boston Globe and over 100 other media outlets. Chris has been a featured speaker at SES, SMX, Pubcon, DPAC, DM Days and is a columnist for Search Engine Land.
Neil Patel – When it comes to social media, one name always stands out – Neil Patel. He has been a top 20 digger and stumbler for years. Neil is also an expert at other social media sites like Newsvine, Reddit, and Del.icio.us, and for years he has been charging clients hundreds of thousands of dollars for social media services. Neil is the Internet Rockstar’s SEO/SEM/SMO with huge name clients like GM, NBC, Samsung, AOL, Techcrunch, Mashable, and Guy Kawasaki just to name a few. I think everyone takes a lot away from talking to Neil about how to leverage Social Media for their business.
Jeremy Schoemaker (widely known by his nickname of ShoeMoney) is an important player in the search engine marketing world, and his knowledge and expertise make him one of the top go-to guys for PPC, arbitrage, SEM, branding, and online income optimization. His weekly Internet radio show Net Income allows listeners to hear Jeremy’s honest assessment about his failures and successes in the online marketing space.
The Value
The value of the Elite Retreat does not stop at the end of the 2 day event. All speakers continue to work with attendees helping them achieve their goals. There is also a weekly mastermind call organized by previous attendees where people talk about their challenges and accomplishments and also give presentations. The one thing we hear over and over is that we should charge more for the event. This event does one thing; it solves problems for business’s and makes them more profitable.
The Guarantee
We have always had a 100% money back guarantee if you do not think this is a good conference for you.
I honestly believe this is the last time we will hold the event. I know I always say that, but I always think its as big as it could possible get. When I first wanted to run my own conference, my dream was to get Seth Godin as the keynote speaker, but at that time it was impossible. I was still having to sell people on the idea of the Elite Retreat, let alone get a big name like Seth to come and talk. Now, years later, the conference sells out within days, and Seth Godin will be keynoting this year. I never plan to have another event unless we can out do the last one and this one is going to be VERY hard to beat!
Last year the event sold out in less than 10 days and I expect this years to sell out really quickly as well. I don’t want anyone to go away from this even with anything less than a an off-the-chart experience. But in order to assure that, I like to review each and every potential attendee and make sure they can benefit from this experience.
August 3, 2009 at 10:38 am
Now these days we are getting a glimpse of Rebecca Kelley by her awesome writing skill …
Nice find Jeremy.
July 31, 2009 at 2:07 am
Shoe you look great in that Picture
cherees
July 20, 2009 at 4:06 am
All are HUGE names as far as blogging industry is concerned. Neil is super cool guy with TON of skills as far as Social media stuff is concerned. I will be surely coming to this event & looking forward to meet all speakers.
July 19, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Solid group of speakers, have fun.
July 19, 2009 at 7:04 am
I am not going to the place, but what I have read about and from Seth Godin, he is the man to listen.
July 17, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Hey Shoe,
I’d like to go but want to confirm somethings (I’ll probably call Tigh later but thought I’d post here).
So after paying for the event do we post about how we currently earn money online and if you think we’re not a good fit you refund the money?
July 16, 2009 at 5:18 am
Elite retreat is really worth attending but sadly its held in NY far far away from me.
July 16, 2009 at 4:38 am
Sounds like it is going to be a huge experience for the guys who go, it is a shame I’m too far away in the UK.
July 18, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Book a flight and come here … its very simple.
July 16, 2009 at 1:36 am
If Seth still your regular speaker. I will be attending the next event once I have enough money to pay for. Seth is R.E.M.A.R.K.A.B.L.E
July 15, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Seth Godin…..!
July 18, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Yes he is internet celebrity like you have movie celebrity.
July 15, 2009 at 10:13 pm
It’s intetersting Conference and the speakers are very competent. But I cant be there.
July 15, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Anyone else think Seth Godin looks like Voldemort.
July 15, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I really hope that you all continue the Elite Retreat for many years to come. I can’t go this year, but wanted to go next year. I can’t imagine that this event would ever be canceled since it sells out so quickly.
July 15, 2009 at 6:48 pm
This is going to be an unreal event. I also think a lot of east coasters will be thrilled to have an event of this caliber on their coast!
July 15, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Hey Shoe..make sure and add this event to Calendar Tweet with Twitter..it helps organize it..you owe me one…remember (doctwitter)..:p..
Great lineup either way..
July 15, 2009 at 4:33 pm
It seems that it gonna be another awesome event. Good luck with you guys hoping they will deliver their best.
July 15, 2009 at 4:03 pm
sounds like another great event, with a great cast and even better locations. but damn, out of town that week !
July 15, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I’ve heard of Seth Godin. His blog is very popular. I wish I could go and learn what I could from him in terms of internet marketing.
July 15, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I would go to New York just to hear Seth Godin.
July 15, 2009 at 4:37 pm
+1 I agree with you, this thing must ROCK if Seth Godin is going to be there. So tempted to go.
July 15, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Wish I could have a chance to attend this kind of retreat
This is too perfect to miss, New York is far away from my hometown. I saw Neil Patel also attent this retreat, it’ll be really cool to share some story tips from masters. If you guys lived near the event I highly recommend you all to join them if possible, a very good investment for a better knowledge.
July 15, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I just seen the pictures of that hotel in the link. The place deserves its name. Awesome.
But most of all the speakers are greatly offering great lessons from their great experiences.
Truly the Shoe is the best.
July 15, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Any contests to get a free ride coming up?
July 15, 2009 at 1:39 pm
not for this event
July 15, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Damn..
July 15, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I’d like to just go back to NY for the hell of it, but this is certainly one event I would press my ear against the doors to..
July 15, 2009 at 11:57 am
It was huge for me to make this investment to go to Elite Retreat in February, but it was absolutely an incredibly worthwhile choice. I have written a post about why I feel it was a bargain.
July 15, 2009 at 11:27 am
Great info. I would like to participate, too.
July 15, 2009 at 10:27 am
This looks great. I have seen Seth Godin speak before and he really is a good presenter. Should be a jam packed 2 days at a great hotel. I am in for sure!
July 15, 2009 at 11:03 am
I heard the event was great last year, too.
I still don’t see why they don’t promote an educational video-type product offering a “lite” version of the actualy affair.
The people who attend can reap a larger benefit, but the people that can’t make it could still benefit.
Perhaps releasing a video product of the prior years event while promoting this years.
July 15, 2009 at 9:35 am
Ive gone the past 2 years, and its WELL WORTH it!
You’ll learn more here than you would at 5 conferences combined…
- JUstin
July 15, 2009 at 9:10 am
This sounds like place where people can learn a lot of things and improve their bussiness! I wish you that everything go smoothly and satisfactorily for everyone who join this conference!
July 15, 2009 at 8:47 am
Sounds like it will be good