SearchFest 2010 will take place on March 9th at the Governor Hotel in Portland, Oregon. Tickets are available now. To purchase, please click the following link.

1) Please give me your background and tell us what you do for a living.

I’ve been working in SEO since 2006, when a marketing internship at Onvia quickly ballooned into blogging and then a full-on search marketing position after their existing SEO left.  Over the years I’ve developed a passion for testing and data-driven decision making.  Currently I’m a Client Manager at Point It, Inc, a Seattle search marketing agency where I specialize in SEO, PPC and local search marketing.

2) Please look over the SearchFest Agenda (https://www.sempdx.org/engage/searchfest-2010-agenda/) and give us some of the sessions / speakers you’re looking forward to seeing.

Even though I love landing page testing, I don’t think I could miss the Blogosphere session – with Matt Inman and Rebecca Kelley speaking, it’s bound to be both hilarious and useful! I’ve recently taken quite an interest in Local SEO, so I’m also really looking forward to the Local Search session. Some of the best tips I learn at any conference are invariably at the networking events, so I’m also just looking forward to talking shop with the SEMpdx crew.

3) As someone who recently accepted a new position, can you give us your impression of the search marketing job market for experienced professionals?

When I was laid off in a re-org in late 2009, I had yet another reason to thank my lucky stars that I work in the industry that I do. Being in the market for a new job in a down economy is never a fun prospect – but unlike a lot of other industries, search is still experiencing some growth. An experienced search marketing professional is unlikely to be out of work for long (I was only out of work for about two weeks), whether it’s contract work or a full-time position. It helps that social media is such an increasingly big part of online marketing – I know I was thankful to my network of contacts for tossing contract work my way and passing on job opportunities they came across.

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