Would Microsoft be the same without Bill Gates? Yes, we'll find out soon enough ... it might be better. Would Google be the same without Larry and Sergey? Apple without Steve Jobs? Actually, we already know Apple isn't the same without Jobs.

Personalities matter.

The search marketing community is buzzing today about the departure of Danny Sullivan from the Search Engine Strategies conference and Search Engine Watch.

Now what?

Matt, Top Rank and Traffick offer some good insight, and it's arguable that both the organization and the conference are bigger than Danny. Maybe.

Many argued that Apple was bigger than Steve Jobs when he departed and that the company would be fine without him. It wasn't.

Time will tell if Sullivan meant the same to his organization.