If you’ve heard of 99Designs then Google’s latest venture, Prizes.org, which has just been launched on the quiet yesterday will feel familiar.

In essence, Prizes.org allows you to create a contest for tasks on nearly any topic you choose – not just graphic design jobs but anything from tips for hassle-free plane journeys with kids, help naming a company, new running route suggestions and so on.

Google Prizes.org homepage screenshot

The team responsible for the creation of this crowd sourcing site is a largely autonomous team that Google acquired last year called Slide. Before you create a contest you must purchase credits (1 credit costs $1 USD). At the moment the platform is in Beta and is only open to contest creators that have a “credit history” meaning they have to have participated in or created contests in the past, but this restriction will likely be lifted eventually.

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Nichola Stott and I are pleased to announce the SES London 2011 networking party, which will take place on Wednesday 23^rd February, at 7pm.

SES London is one of the largest search engine marketing conferences in Europe and is taking place between the 21^nd and 25^th of February at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre, in Westminster. Over 1,500 search marketers will descend on London for three days of SEO, SEM, and social media marketing strategies and tips from a variety of industry experts. We are pleased to announce the conference networking party, supported by SES and Incisive media will be something a little different thanks to our venue sponsor, Raven SEO Tools.

The essential SES London 2011 networking party details are as follows:

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So, Google rolled out Google Buzz in my Gmail account last night. I thought I would share my experiences since and my thoughts on their impact and its future. There are a few positives towards the end too, I promise! Here are a few quick links: 

• The negatives
• The positives
• Google’s positives
• Mobile Buzzing
• A summary

My “oh Buzz off” moments: 

1. Connected sites
   Google decided to connect PicasaWeb and my Flickr account automatically. I disconnected both twice, but they resurfaced each time. So far I’m winning. Watch this space.
   Google also appears to have ‘found’ my YouTube page. Naturally as they own YouTube, this isn’t a massive surprise, just not expected. My YouTube channel does not have the same name as my Gmail account, however… Some clues can be found on my Google Profile page where Google has clearly done some sniffing around to find the following sites. Note however, I have NOT used my Gmail account to sign up to any of these sites. I can only assume Google has been reading my email:
   

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I’m finally back home in London after a fantastic day yesterday in Nottingham at the Chartered Institute of Marketing East Midlands annual one-day conference, the Power of Marketing. I really enjoyed giving a couple of workshops on SEO, including some cutting edge tips, practical social media and web analytics advice and some PPC guidance. A lot of you requested my slides after the event, so I’ve posted them below. I hope you find them useful – if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

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Firstly, thank you to all of you who sent me questions via Twitter to ask Sir Tim Berners-Lee tonight at the Science Museum (see previous post as well). I was live Tweeting the event using the hashtag #Berners-Lee.

The talk was truely fascinating, and by no means just a simple run down of how the Internet was born. I left feeling Sir Tim Berners-Lee was a true genius, and so genuine. The talk was actually filmed by BBC Click and as I was on one of the front rows you are guaranteed to see me in the background mesmerised by his talk and tweeting updates!

Below is a mini write-up including answers to your questions tonight:

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I’m incredibly excited to announce that I’ll be speaking at A4UExpo London in October 2009!

Together with Lisa Myers from Verve Search and Will Critchlow from Distilled, we’ll be covering analytics for affiliate conversion, identifying and breaking down the obstacles preventing visitors from converting.

And, especially for you guys, I’ve got a special discount code giving you 10% off places at A4U Expo London! [Read more...]

Last night I attended the brand new technology industry networking forum in Nottingham otherwise known as Nott Tuesday. It is one of the first dedicated technology events of its kind in Nottingham, and many attendees expressed their enthusiasm for its launch and the ability to connect to other local professionals in the industry to share advice, make business connections and friends.

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From time-to-time we all feel under the weather. That is why I created this mini list of online marketing pick-me-ups. Each one takes little time or effort, but should leave you feeling more motivated, or if nothing else, be able to take a constructive break from your work. Feel free to leave a comment with what online marketing motivators you use and help to expand the list.

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I’ve got to admit that since I discovered Twitter, the last couple of months I have been totally fascinated by it and it’s abilities. I wasn’t convinced at first, but after experimenting I soon realised the benefits of getting to know people, particularly other professionals in my field of work, but also companies I have a strong interest in.

Twitter can be used as an online marketing tool, not only to promote services or products, but also aid online PR and customer relationship management. Below are my top ten fundamentals Twitter business users can’t afford to ignore:

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