[Build Backlinks Online] Announcing the MozCon 2014 Community Speakers

Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, 'Announcing the MozCon 2014
Community Speakers'

Posted by EricaMcGillivray
Get ready to give some high fives, because I have some great news to share
today: The four community speakers forMozCon 2014, July 14-16th in Seattle!
First, I want to thank everyone who tossed in their hat. It's an incredibly
brave thing to do, so pat yourselves on the back.We had 146 submissions this
yearabout 10 more than last yearduring the week and a half that they were open.
There were tons of amazing ideas, incredibly thoughtful sharing, and all around
excitement. The selection committee all agreed that 2014's pitches were the best
yet. Though, of course, that makes the decision the hardest one.Our four
Community Speakers for 2014
In the order that they'll be presenting at MozCon:

Mark Traphagen

Google+ Game of Thrones: Claiming Your Kingdom for Brand Dominance
Be the ruler of your vertical by claiming uncharted ground in Google+ to
dragon-power your brand's Google influence.
Mark Traphagen is Senior Director of Online Marketing forStone Temple
Consulting and a sought-after speaker and writer on Google+ marketing and Google
Authorship. He runs the largest Google Authorship community on the web, and
offline, he competes in story slams, but never, ever slams a good story.

Stephanie Beadell
Bad Data, Bad Decisions: The Art of Asking Better Questions
Stephanie Beadell will discuss the power of surveys and how if you're not
asking the right questions, you risk making decisions on the wrong answers.
Stephanie Beadell is Director of Content Marketing atBuzzStream and was
formerly head of Digital PR at SEER Interactive. She holds a Master of Science
degree in Market Research from Boston University.

Zeph Snapp

More than Words: Localizing Your International Content
Zeph takes you beyond the technical implications of international SEO, showing
you real life examples of how to leverage your existing content in other
languages.
Zeph Snapp is the CEO ofAltura Interactive.

Justin Briggs

Talking Back to Conversational Search
Looking at how conversational search and theknowledge graph are changing how
users search and engage with content, Justin will talk about implementing
entities at anenterprise scale.
Justin Briggs is the Sr. Manager of Organic Marketing atGetty Images, a leading
stock photography company based in Seattle. Justin has over 10 years of web
experience, including sevenyears working in SEO and social media.Honorable
mentions go out to bothGianluca FiorelliandGreg Gifford.
Get ready to cheer these four on, and make sure that you've bought your ticket
toMozCon 2014, as they're going quickly and will sell out.

I get asked quite a bit about how the community speaker selection committee
process works, so I thought I'd shed some light on it for those who are curious.
This year, there were a total of nine committee members. That's a lot of people
vetting your submissions. And you may notice that it's the same number as a more
famous fellowship:
You can make your guesses as to who correlates to whom on Moz's staff.
The committee for MozCon 2014 consisted of:Cyrus Shepard, Senior Manager,
Content Team
Danielle Launders, Marketing Assistant
Erica McGillivray, Senior Community Manager (that's me!)
Jen Lopez, Director of Community
Keri Morgret, Community Manager
Matthew Brown, Senior VP - Special Projects
Megan Singley, Social Community Manager
Rand Fishkin, Founder
Trevor Klein, Content Strategist
I'm typically the one that does a first sweep through all the entires. I try to
do a "blind" sweep through them to stay as unbiased as possible by not looking
at names and emails, only readingthe content pitch itself. We use a grade scale,
A through F, and make notes on entries. (Sorry, person who submitted pretending
to be Matt Cutts, you received the F. We did get a laugh, though.) From
there,Cyrus, Danie, Jen, Keri, Megan, and Trevor jump in and they add their own
grades and notes. Yes, sometimes we disagree! But most of the time, we're all
pretty close in what we think.
One hopeful sent his pitchin letter format with a koala bear. Someone's
following my Pinterest account.
After that, it gets easier to narrow it down to 20 or so pitches. Both Trevor
and I also make special notes on ones that we might want to grab for blog posts
or Mozinars if they aren't selected as speakers. When down to 20 or so, Rand and
Matthew join in and give their thoughts on the top ones. We also start more
extensively reviewing to see what kinds of presentations people have given in
the past, if there are slide decks or video of them on stage, and what sort of
other content they're putting out there, like blog posts.
Once it gets down to less than 10, the choice gets harder. Typically there are
one or two people that everyone is completely onboard with. Then we discuss more
about what we've seen from the rest and how the topic would fit into what's
already being offered at MozCon. Usually, there aren't any "cons" to these
fabulous folks, just lots of "pros."
I reach out to the selected four first, to let them know and confirm that
they're still interested and able to attend MozCon. Then I have the somewhat sad
job of telling the rest of the potentials that they weren't selected. But it's
very important to inform everyone so no one is left wondering whatever happened
to that time they pitched. (I know how frustrating never hearing back can be
from the other side of a pitch.) Then I write this post.Hope that added some
transparency to our process!
A big thank you to all of you who submitted this year and congratulations to
our four speakers for MozCon 2014! We can't wait to see you all there.
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