SEMPO Canada Updates

As you might know, SEMPO Canada, the Canadian Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization is involved in the launch of SEMPO’s 4th annual State of Search Marketing Survey. Whether you are seasoned in SEM or still wet behind the ears, your input is valued and needed! Therefore, if you have been involved in the preparation and/or implementation of a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Plan in 2007 or if you know someone in your organization, we want to hear from you.

Please take a few minutes to answer the 4th Annual SEMPO Survey.

If you are not involved in Search Marketing, please forward to the appropriate Canadian people within your organization and network. Your help means a lot to us in improving the growth of Search Marketing in Canada. Feel free to blog about it and thanks for you collaboration!

More on SEMPO Canada:
SEMPO Canada is Canadian Non-Profit Professional Search Marketing Association working to increase awareness and promote the value of Search Engine Marketing in Canada. This Working Group was founded in November 2006 by Ken Jurina & Alexandre Brabant and focuses on improving the growth, awareness and understanding Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in Canada including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Link Building, Pay Per Click Management best practices in this new field of marketing and how it uniquely pertains and is of relevance to Canadians worldwide across any sector, vertical or industry.

Thank you so much for participating.

Alexandre Brabant & Ken Jurina
Co-Chairs SEMPO Canada
Canadian Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization

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SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, just launch a section on YouTube where they put all their videos from various sources. You will find videos there from many people sitting on the Board of Directors where they talk about SEMPO, SEMPO Institute, SEMPO Research & Marketing and all the other SEMPO committees. These are the leaders shaping the Search Engine Marketing industry worldwide and it is very inspiring to hear them speak about their respective responsibilities as part of SEMPO. I selected this one for your review, where SEMPO Director Dana Todd talks about SEMPO and the SEMPO Institute.

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It is with a lot of regret that SEMPO Canada announced last week that Nurun / Ant Interactive decided not to renew their SEMPO membership and therefore withdraw from all SEMPO-related activities involving the growth of Search Marketing in Canada. They simply stated that they were not getting enough of this relationship and this position was shared by every member of the Nurun / Ant Interactive team. In an industry that is in development, especially in Canada, I would like to take a moment to ask for your feedback on the nature of these relationships between SEMPO but especially the underlying expectations that business people may have in regards to SEMPO, SEMPO Canada and the Canadian Search Marketing Industry in general.

It is becoming a common understanding that the Canadian business community expects more out of this industry than they contribute to its growth. We are facing a scarcity of Search Marketing talent in Canada since very few schools, colleges or universities have a search engine marketing learning curriculum. The industry does not regenerate itself yet, which is why it is adequate to raise the question why we would see such a major icon in the Canadian web economy leaving our organization.

I have been working hard to launch and support SEMPO Canada in order to create an entity that anyone can call upon when they need support on Search Marketing and as such I would like to ask you for suggestions, criticism or any type of input that you may have so that we can fulfill your expectations in a way that would entice you to stay in and contribute. In the long run, everyone will benefit from it.

We are all in this together.

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It took a few rounds of iterations but we finally finished it. Ken Jurina and I completed a 5 Question article/interview that has just been published on Onedegree.ca. It presents our current and future initiatives to foster awareness and stimulate the growth of search marketing in Canada through our work with SEMPO Canada. Read about it here.

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Here we grow again. SEMPO Canada Working Group which I am a Co-Founder is pleased to announce a new member on the team. Linda Gharib from Microsoft Corp. is joining the Canadian Search Marketing group of experts and we are very pleased that her experience in Search Engine Marketing along with her strong relationships will help us grow the Search Marketing industry in Canada. Here is some more info on Linda as you may also find in the SEMPO Canada Members area.

Linda Gharib is a Search Media Analyst at Microsoft Corp. based in New York. She partners with Canadian and Fortune 500 companies advertising on the MSN network, to optimize their search marketing campaigns, to improve ad relevancy, and to increase return on investment.

Before joining Microsoft, Linda was responsible for managing the marketing and investor relations functions at Kaplan Fox, a law firm specializing in securities and antitrust litigation. Linda developed integrated marketing strategies mainly targeting pension funds and institutional investors. Linda interned at the Legal Marketing Association and worked on marketing campaigns for the Direct Marketing Association.

Linda holds an MBA in Marketing from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and a BA in English & Media Studies from Hunter College.  She also studied Art in Italy and International Marketing in Switzerland.

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SEMPO Canada Working Group which I am a proud Co-Founder is pleased to announce a new member on the team. Ezra Silverton from 9th sphere based in Toronto (ON) is joining the Canadian Search Marketing group of experts and we believe his extensive experience in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) along with his leadership skills will help us grow the Search Marketing industry in Canada. Here is some more info on Ezra as you may also find in the SEMPO Canada Members area.

Ezra Silverton works with small to multi-national companies making use of Internet marketing solutions to achieve client objectives. In 1997, he co-founded 9th sphere, now an award winning website solutions company in Toronto. Ezra has a degree in Business Commerce with a focus in marketing, a Qualified Google Advertising Professional and a Yahoo Ambassador. He also writes articles around Canadian website best practices on 9th sphere’s blog.

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I am working on something these days for SEMPO Canada for different interview formats that are coming. As I was making research about it, I came across a very interesting blog post interview done by Manoj Jasra from Enquiro.com. He interviewed Dana Todd, Member of SEMPO Board of Directors on the new SEMPO Institute.

Massimo Burgio & Dana Todd from SEMPO

The SEMPO Institute is an online distance learning program that allow you to learn every aspect of Search Marketing. Manoj asked a few questions to Dana such as:

* The SEMPO Institutes’ Target Market
* The Grading Scale of Courses
* Benefits of the SEMPO Institute courses
* The Advanced curriculum offered in March
* The strategies behind keeping the course content up to date
* How SEMPO plans on working with post secondary institutions

Listen to the full interview here. 

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As part of my involvement with SEMPO Canada Working Group, I am pleased to announce a new member on the team. Deborah Kilpatrick from DSide Marketing based in Montreal (QC) is joining the Canadian Search Marketing group of experts and we believe her experience in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) along with her leadership skills will help us grow the Search Marketing industry in Canada. Here is some more info on Deborah as you may also find in the SEMPO Canada Founding Members.

Deborah Kilpatrick has over 5 years experience as a search marketer. After working for Montreal-based search engine, Mamma.com, Deborah opened her own consulting practice. dSide Marketing is a full service Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing firm helping clients around the world develop and execute successful online marketing strategies and optimization programs. 

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SEMPO Canada Working Group which I am a proud co-founder is pleased to announce a new member on the team. Darcy Foster from VKI Studios based in Vancouver (BC) is joining the Canadian Search Marketing group of experts and we believe his extensive experience in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) along with his leadership skills will help us grow the Search Marketing industry in Canada. Here is some more info on Darcy as you may also find in the SEMPO Canada Founding Members.



Darcy Foster is the president and co-founder of VKI Studios. He has over eight years of search marketing experience. He has successfully helped clients grow their online businesses from the early days of AltaVista through to present, where he currently oversees multiple teams responsible for organic SEO, paid search, usability and web analytics. 

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As a lot of people know, I have been actively involved in the creation of SEMPO Canada working group with a few other leaders in Search Marketing in Canada such as Ken Jurina & Gord Hotchkiss. As part of this effort, we are always recruiting new SEMPO members to join the Canadian troops and continue the revolution of changing the face of marketing in Canada. As such, SEMPO Canada working group is pleased to announce a new member on the team. Brian Ussery from NuRun & Ant Interactive is joining the Canadian Search Marketing group and we believe his extensive experience in Search Engine Optimization along with his leadership skills will help us grow the Search Marketing industry in Canada. Here is some more info on Brian as you may also find in the SEMPO Canada Founding Members area.

Brian Ussery is the SEO Technology Specialist at NuRun | Ant Farm Interactive. With 9 years of experience, he is responsible for solving high-end technical issues related to natural search, which encompass design, architecture, technology and branding. Brian also helps identify new state-of-the-art enabling technologies as well as web service applications on the Internet, and other platforms for nurun | ant farm interactive. Brian and his team work with the world’s most widely recognized brands, as well as some of the fastest growing medium-sized online companies.

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Since the last few months, I have been actively involved with SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, located at Sempo.org, and as part of this initiative, I am thrilled to announce the formation of SEMPO Canada and soon to be launched Sempo.ca. Here are some more about it:

SEMPO Canada is a SEMPO Working Group founded in November 2006 by Ken Jurina & Alexandre Brabant, which focuses on improving the growth, awareness and understanding Search Engine Marketing (SEM) including Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Link Building, Pay Per Click (PPC) Management best practices in this new field of marketing and how it uniquely pertains and is of relevance to Canadians worldwide across any sector, vertical or industry. SEMPO stands for: Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. SEMPO Canada will play the integral role of educating on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) through attendance of, exhibiting and presenting at numerous conferences, seminars and tradeshows throughout Canada. These events will be attended by SEMPO Canada Working Group members with the intention of recruiting further members to SEMPO as well as SEMPO Canada.

Since November 2006, SEMPO Canada members have made three educational presentations at the University of Alberta, represented SEMPO Canada at the Canadian Information Processing Society annual conference as well as Bar Camp in Vancouver, been interviewed on CBC Radio, and presented at the Government of Canada Business Link Centre to multiple Canadian cities via video conference. By Feb 01/07, SEMPO Canada intends on having a modest website, Sempo.ca complete with blog (consistent with the brand of sempo.org), grow membership to 12 members, and present at additional educational institutions and seminars.

In early 2007 SEMPO Canada looks to promote SEMPO and the SEMPO Canada Working Group through the involvement specifically
with the Toronto Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference where SEMPO Canada intends on exhibiting at a manned booth, presenting on panels and co-sponsoring a wine and cheese event with support from corporate sponsors and SEMPO.org.

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Today, I will give you a little background on how Sempo.ca came to life.

After 2 consecutive years attending the SEMPO Global Committee General meeting during Search Engine Strategies in San José , I was somewhat disappointed to notice that they were few initiatives or committees within SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, to promote Search Marketing in Canada. As the ONLY Canadian present in that room that day, and I know who the Search Marketing leaders are in Canada, I could not believe that I would not meet either Andrew Goodman, Jim Hedger, Gord Hotchkiss, Ken Jurina or any other that I have learn from over the years in the multitude of sessions during SES & countless articles & blogs. I was MAD.I am not exactly sure what arises when someone gets this mad but usually something noticeable happens. And I am glad it did. Of course I started to ask some questions about where my mentors were and then I thought, maybe they are already too busy to get involve in this, so I have to start beating the drum and bring this to their attention. Thankfully, they listened.

After the SEMPO meeting, we head out to have a few more drinks, despite the fact that it was already late & I chat some more with Dana Todd about joining SEMPO & working at it. I felt inspired like I have never been and thrilled to realize that we share the same vision and the fierce determination to bring this forward. I am now part of the team, even more so than the organization that I belong to, that brought Search to life since its infancy, 10 years ago. For their accomplishment so far, I am extremely greatful to the founders of SEMPO and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. Without them, I would not be here holding the flame and pass it on to you, fellow Canadians. That being said, SEMPO Canada will do everything it can to bring Search Marketing best practices in your business so that you can pass it on to others.

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On behalf of the great executive team we are working with at the SEMPO General Committee, which includes Massimo Burgio, Bill Hunt as well as Dana Todd, we are very proud that our SEMPO Canada Annual plan was approved on November 20, 2006. This is the start of the vast expansion of Search Marketing in Canada and you may feel confident that founding members of SEMPO Canada will do everything they can to support Search, Coast to Coast.

Our Annual plan is modest for 2007 and includes the creation of this blog on sempo.ca as well as attendance to major Search Marketing Conferences in Canada, such as Search Engine Strategies in Toronto in the Spring of 2007. We will also attend numerous smaller conferences in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto & Montreal. If you host an event and would like one of us to attend and present Search Marketing Fundamentals, please feel free to get in touch with us on the contact us page.

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