Can someone who has been to one of these tell me how basic/advanced the seminars are? I'm tyring to figure out if it's worth the money -- I'm not looking for a variety of seminars explaining the fundamentals of paid & organic search (although they're good to review, but not worth $1700).

It's definitely worth the money. If you're looking for some basic information then there are tracks/sessions just for you--if you're advanced then there's tracks/sessions covered that include the latest and greatest tricks and techniques.

I've been to quite a few of these conferences and am now a regular speaker--the amount of information you can learn in the few days that you're there is definitely worth every penny.

I'll second what's above. I've been to a few now and well worth the money.

If you already feel you have a handle on the "basics of search", skip straight into the Advanced Tracks. The review is nice, but the real meat is in the Advanced sessions.

The nice thing I've found in the ATs is that everyone, generally, is pretty clued in and advanced - this means you learn new stuff rather than spending time explaining old stuff.

Are those the US sessions?

I found the London stuff (2005 June) all fairly basic.

Are those the US sessions?

Yes. As I recall, London was not one of the longer conferences--only two days? A lot more is covered at the San Jose event, usually held in August.

If you want more advanced stuff, try WebmasterWorld's conferences. I believe PubCon is coming up very soon (like tomorrow or something) in London. And then there's the WebmasterWorld Conference in Las Vegas in November, where I'll be speaking.

I am in London tomorrow.....

Sounds great. It will be great if you're able to provide some feedback and a report on how it went.

I was at a Canadian show and the last NY one - Toronto was only 2 days and pretty basic. The NY show offered a great mix (though I only went ot the advanced tracks).

I am going back in February 2006.