Charlene Li, Co-Author of "Groundswell", to Keynote at SES San Jose

Charlene Li, the co-author of “Groundswell,” will be one of the keynote speakers at SES San Jose 2009. The event, which will be held August 11-14, 2009, is expected to attract approximately 6,000 marketing executives, managers, professionals, specialists and consultants this year.

SES San Jose 2009 is the largest search engine marketing conference and expo on the West Coast. The event will be packed with more than 70 sessions, multiple keynotes and Orion panels, over 150 exhibitors, networking events, parties and more.

Li is an influential thought leader and guide on emerging technologies, with a specific focus on social technologies, interactive media, and marketing. She is the co-author of the business best-seller, “Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies”, published by Harvard Business Press in May 2008.

Named “One of the Most Influential Women in Technology” by Fast Company magazine, she is the founder of Altimeter Group which provides speaking and consulting services to organizations looking to understand and thrive in a new economy driven by social media tools and techniques. You can also read her insights on the firm’s blog, “The Altimeter.”

Li is one of the most frequently-quoted industry analysts and has appeared on 60 Minutes, The McNeil NewsHour, ABC News, CNN, and CNBC. She is also frequently quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, and The Associated Press.

Most recently, she was a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. She joined Forrester in 1999, after spending five years in online and newspaper publishing with the San Jose Mercury News and Community Newspaper Company. She is a graduate of Harvard Business School and received a magna cum laude degree from Harvard College.

In a press release distributed this morning, Matt McGowan, Vice President and Publisher for Incisive Media’s Interactive Marketing Group, said, “More than 60 percent of the content at SES San Jose 2009 will be focused on topics that search engine marketing (SEM), pay per click (PPC) advertising, and search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, specialists and consultants need to know. That’s what makes SES San Jose a must-attend event year after year.”

He added, “As more and more businesses move ever greater amounts of their traditional marketing budgets into social media, we’ve also seen growing interest from marketing executives and managers in sessions that tackle a broader set of social technologies. That’s why we’re delighted to have Charlene Li as a keynote speaker at our conference in San Jose, which is home to the largest concentration of successful internet and high-tech companies in the world.”

For more information about the largest search engine marketing conference and expo on the West Coast, go to the SES San Jose 2009 website. Register through May 8 to save up to $600 with the early bird rate.