Since then, he's been exposed to the real SEO community: the consultants and agencies that add value to websites and get their work in front of an audience. He learned first hand from Neil Patel, who worked some magic on Calacanis' blog and boosted traffic by 21%. Now Jason's put SEO into practice at his Mahalo directory, which oddly enough is now skyrocketing.

A similar meeting of minds took place in Boston a couple weeks ago, when the local Social Media Club chapter gathered a 100 or so people to talk about search as it relates to social media. I was on the panel with some colleagues from the search and PR space, and fielded questions from bloggers and community builders who wanted to understand how search works, and how search marketers approach the task of popularizing a website.

Oddly enough, there were no fireworks or heated debates: just an acknowledgment that both social and search have proved themselves as legitimate marketing channels. It's great to see that both industries have matured to the point where they can coexist peacefully.

(And it makes you wonder when the next "renegade" marketing technique will make an appearance.)