Time does seem to fly when you are having fun. As I embark on my twelfth year in Internet and Search Engine Marketing, I cannot believe what changes have happened in our industry over the years. When I started back in 1998 there were 10+ search engines and directories that we manually submitted every page on a weekly basis, not to mention trying to keep track of their very different algorithms. I’ve seen the birth of paid search and have seen it grow to the sophisticated machine that it is now with more advanced targeting options (I’m looking to see it grow even more!) And how could I forget to mention social media and the ever changing role it plays within search engine optimization? I am proud to say that I love my job!
But one of the things I’m most proud of is the organization we’ve built here in Portland, Oregon – SEMpdx! I’ve had the privilege of working with the SEMpdx board for three years now and am honored to serve as President for the next two years. We met in August to plan for the 2010-2011 year and came away with some really cool ideas. I thought I’d give you all a teaser for things to come in the next 12 months.
- Members Only Events: Our membership team is working hard to create even more members-only events this year. We have a great membership and we hope to give back to you this year with discounts and special events. Not a member? Sign up today!
- Monthly Events & Webinars: We just had a very successful event last Tuesday and look to continue to bring expert speakers to discuss the hottest topics within search, social and analytics. We are also bringing back our monthly webinars, so stay tuned! And finally, we are looking to provide newer audiences to search and social with content, so please let us know if you have an organization in mind with which we can partner and train their members. We’d love help spreading the word about our great industry!
- SearchFest: This premier search and social conference is back again this year and with even bigger names coming to town to speak to you! We can’t wait and in fact have moved it up a month – so pencil in Wednesday, February 23rd and we’ll see you at the Governor!
- Charity of Choice: As we wind down our year of partnering with our nonprofit of the year – The Oregon Humane Society, we reflect on the tremendous progress we’ve made with this organization. We’ve helped them with their Google Grant, provided SEO assistance, and have helped them with their social media efforts, all to help them get their precious animals adopted! We are looking for nominations for next year’s nonprofit, so please let us know if you have one in mind!
- PSU Scholarship: We had such a great response for our scholarship that we had to bring it back again this year. We are currently taking applications for one lucky person to win a seat in an upcoming Search Engine Marketing class at PSU. Just tell us why you deserve it– make your case – and we’ll see you in class!
- Partner Events: We are pleased to continue partnering with local and national organizations to provide our members with discounts to events and educational content. Our first partner event is coming up soon so please don’t delay and sign up for an all-day social media workshop with yours truly!
- Sponsorships: We continue to look for valued sponsors to help underwrite our events and gain additional exposure for their businesses. We have restructured our sponsor opportunities to include even more visibility – so contact us today!
- Website: And to connect all this flurry of activity and opportunities is a new website. We are currently looking for a vendor, so if anyone would like to throw their hat in the ring, please contact us to find out our requirements.
What other fun things would you recommend we try this year?
Announcement type posts of this type are made by the board collectively, and you can see who the current board members are here.