Blogging Archives

Think Visibility 9 Review (Leeds Digital Marketing/SEO Conference 2013)

6th March 2013 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 1st June 2019

The Think Visibility conferences are all about helping you to “get more from your website”, no matter how you use it or what type of business you have.

Think Visibility 9 was the 5th anniversary of this impressive digital marketing, social media and SEO conference based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. I’ve personally attended all but one of these events for a variety of reasons including the quality of the speakers, the location, the other attendees that it attracts. But also for the fact that #ThinkVis isn’t like just any other conference, it’s well different…
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Computer Weekly IT Blog Awards 2010 Nomination – Vote For Zath!

9th November 2010 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 6th November 2018

Here at Zath we pride ourselves on bringing our readers high quality technology and gadget related content on a daily basis, it’s always good to get feedback from people on what they think and especially when that takes the form of an award nomination. So having said that, I’m pleased to announce that Zath has been shortlisted for Computer Weekly’s IT Blog Awards 2010 under their Gadgets category!

You may remember that Zath was also nominated for a Computer Weekly IT Blog Awards in 2009, unfortunately on that occasion we didn’t quite make it through to the shortlisted section where the public get to vote for their favourite that they want to win. However this year we have, you’ve got a chance to vote for Zath, so we’re definitely in with a chance of winning this time round.
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Think Visibility 3 Review (Leeds Digital Marketing/SEO Conference 2010)

17th March 2010 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 28th July 2019

think-visibility-conference-logo UPDATE: I’ve now reviewed the latest Think Visibility 9 conference, so be sure to take a look at that page if you’re interested in finding out how #ThinkVis did on its 5th anniversary!

This past weekend I packed my bags and headed down to Leeds for the Think Visibility 3 conference, as the name indicates, this is the third such event and the first of two in 2010. The whole idea behind these one-day conferences (organised by Dom Hodgson and his team) is that they cover “the things that usually get left behind in the web design process” and therefore typically covers topics such as SEO, PPC, social media, affiliate and digital marketing/branding.

The venue itself remained the same as that used for the Think Visibility 2 conference in Sept 2009; the Alea Casino (near the Royal Armouries museum) in a very smart and clean Clarence Dock area of Leeds. Upon arrival to the event we received our ID badges and just from that you know that you’re in for an event with a bit of character – the organisers had only gone and created our very own “Twitter Top Trumps” from the statistics of our Twitter accounts! These made for a great talking point during the whole event as you met up with different people that you already knew and even more importantly with people you didn’t – this was a great way to break the ice I thought, so well done to the Think Visibility team for coming up with that idea!
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a4u Expo London 2009 Review (London Affiliate Marketing Conference)

20th October 2009 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 28th September 2020

You may have recently read my a4u Expo London 2009 preview which I wrote after I managed to secure a ticket (rather luckily) in a competition over at Kieron Donoghue’s blog called here.org.uk — well I’m now back home after attending the event at ExCel conference centre in London’s Docklands and I can now report back on what was my first multi-day web-related / affiliate marketing conference.

The only other conferences that I’ve attended for the online marketing industry have been the Think Visibility conferences that have been run in the relatively local location of Leeds, so I was expecting a4u Expo London 2009 to be somewhat different not only given its size but also the fact that it’s more focussed around online affiliate marketing. However, as I was to find, these days that also involves a lot of work in terms of analytics, social media, generating useful and unique content for visitors and ensuring that your website is optimally set up for search engine optimisation – all interesting stuff!
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Think Visibility 2 Review (Leeds Digital Marketing/SEO Conference 2009)

14th September 2009 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 14th August 2020

This weekend I took the chance to attend the second Think Visibility conference, held in Leeds that is described as covering “the things that usually get left behind in the web design process” – with speakers covering various areas of blogging, SEO, PPC, affiliate and digital marketing.

First of all, I think it’s always good to see these types of events happening outside of London for a change and giving us northern bloggers and online, web-type people to experience an event such as this without having to necessarily travel all the way down south – not there’s anything wrong with that, but the chance to meet other people is always good!
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Write For Us @ Zath UK Tech Blog?

17th October 2008 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 6th August 2019

write-for-us-zath-uk-tech-blog-typing-on-laptop-keyboard Would you be interested in having the opportunity to write for us here at Zath UK Tech Blog?

Have you ever considered writing for a technology blog website such as Zath? Have you got an interest in topics such as technology, hi-tech gadgets, gaming and software that Zath covers? Can you write original content to a high standard about these things that you like?

We’re a long-established UK Tech Blog that’s been running for over 10 years. Over the years, we’ve received several award nominations, such as the Computer Weekly IT Blog Awards for Best Gadget Blog. And also been featured on many other websites’ “Best UK Tech Blogs” lists. Just do a quick search and you’ll see for yourself.

We’re always open to new talented writers joining the Zath team to contribute on topics that interest them. We like to cover a variety of article types for our readers, be it analysis/opinion pieces, how-to guides or reviews of the latest in technology, hi-tech gadgets and gaming.
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Northern UK Bloggers’ Meetup Review (Leeds Blogging Event)

16th August 2008 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 19th April 2019

The first Northern UK Bloggers’ Meetup took place yesterday at the Old Broadcasting House in Leeds — which is now one of the facilities of Leeds Met University, which happens to be where I was a student back in 2001-2004 — it kind of felt like I’d come full circle!

The aim of this first session was to decide on the format for future events (which we kind of did), have some informal discussions about blogging and basically get to know each other.

In total there were about 20 bloggers that turned out for this initial event, we proceeded into the “boardroom” — not quite like the Apprentice with Sir Alan Sugar waiting for us — there was certainly no intimidating grillings, it was a very relaxed and good-humoured affair.
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Dell Event at Formula 1 Silverstone Testing Day Review

12th July 2008 by Simon Barker - Last Updated: 23rd May 2019

A few weeks ago I was invited by Dell to attend a Silverstone Formula 1 testing day (26th June 2008) which was actually the final testing session before the British Grand Prix took place there just over a week later. The purpose of the day was for the launch of the new Dell Studio laptops. This was the second Dell event that I’d been asked to take part in, it was, therefore, a great opportunity and I gladly accepted.

Only then did I then find out that we’d be getting flown into Silverstone by helicopter – a place, where on the day of the British F1 Grand Prix is the busiest “Heliport” in the world!

I had to meet up at an Elstree Aerodrome in North London for 8.30am — it meant I had to get up at around 3am — which is probably the earliest I’ve ever had to, so that was bit of a shock to the system! I was out of the house and on the road by around 4am — but it would ultimately be a very worthwhile journey!
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