WAKEFIELD, Mass. (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) March 23, 2007 -- SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, http://www.SEMPO.org, today announced its 2007 officers chosen by its Board of Directors. The results of the election are: Gordon Hotchkiss, Chairperson; Jeffrey Pruitt, President; Dave Williams, Vice President; Dave Fall, Treasurer, and Chris Boggs, Secretary. Officers serve a one-year term. The entire membership body of the three-year-old organization elected its Board of Directors in February.

The search engine marketing industry is evolving and growing, and through our three SEMPO pillars -- research, education and global expansion -- we will create new initiatives to support this dynamically changing industry

SEMPO members can benefit from greater insights into how consumers search within the Internet, and how this behavior relates to online and offline activities

Dana Todd's leadership greatly increased the professionalism and scope of SEMPO's footprint in the world

We're very pleased that Dana has agreed to continue as a board member and lend her enthusiasm and creativity to further growing the organization

Dave Williams (360i), who is moving from the secretary spot to vice president, will also be a great link to SEMPO's past and future growth

and new officers Dave Fall (DoubleClick Inc.) and Chris Boggs (Avenue A / Razorfish) will bring a fresh perspective as well.

Among the planned 2007 SEMPO initiatives are continuing to build the subscription audience for the SEMPO Institute online distance learning classes. The Institute launched its first series of classes earlier this year and response has been very enthusiastic, says Pruitt. The board officers will meet later in March to map out a plan to take the Institute to the next level of performance, he says.

Also on the horizon is a further look at online consumer behavior through SEMPO’s research division. “SEMPO members can benefit from greater insights into how consumers search within the Internet, and how this behavior relates to online and offline activities,” he says.

SEMPO, during 2006, under the leadership of former SEMPO President Dana Todd, Executive Vice President, SiteLab International Inc., launched SEMPO Institute, created an in-house marketer membership program and grew the global membership base of the organization, opening up more than a half dozen new chapters around the world.

“Dana Todd’s leadership greatly increased the professionalism and scope of SEMPO’s footprint in the world,” says Gordon Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro Search Solutions, who is returning as SEMPO Chairperson for a second year. “We’re very pleased that Dana has agreed to continue as a board member and lend her enthusiasm and creativity to further growing the organization,” says Hotchkiss. “Dave Williams (360i), who is moving from the secretary spot to vice president, will also be a great link to SEMPO’s past and future growth,” he says, “and new officers Dave Fall (DoubleClick Inc.) and Chris Boggs (Avenue A | Razorfish) will bring a fresh perspective as well.”

In addition to this year’s slate of officers, the SEMPO Board of Directors for 2007 is:

Massimo Burgio, Global Search Interactive

Fionn Downhill, Elixir Systems

Duane Forrester, Sports Direct Inc.

Sara Holoubek, Free Agent Consultant

Bill Hunt, Global Strategies International

Kevin Lee, Did-It

Tanya Rietze Vaughan, Hewlett-Packard

The 2007 SEMPO Board of Directors represent all the key constituencies in the search engine marketing industry, including in-house corporate search marketers, agency professionals, consultants and solution vendors. Eight of the 13 members are returning as Board members from the 2006 group: Chris Boggs, Sara Holoubek, Gordon Hotchkiss, Bill Hunt, Kevin Lee, Jeffrey Pruitt, Dana Todd, and David Williams. All board members serve a one-year term. The new board will have its first meeting during the Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York City, April 10-13.

Officer Bios

Gordon Hotchkiss, Chairperson

Gord Hotchkiss, President and CEO, Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc., has been working in the search marketing industry since 1996. His company, Enquiro, has grown to become Canada's largest search marketing company. Gord has been a leading voice in search, calling for true strategic thinking based on a deeper understanding of consumer behavior. Through the research and thought leadership undertaken over the past years, Gord has built an interesting network of contacts both within the search industry and in other fields including academia, publishing, technology, and advertising. He believes the future of search lies in maintaining a wide field of vision to spot emerging trends over all these areas, but always bringing it back to be ultimately seen through the eyes of the user.

Jeffrey Pruitt, President

Jeffrey Pruitt, Executive Vice President, iCrossing, focuses on iCrossing's strategic relationships, including those with leading search engines, technology partners, advertising agencies, and Fortune 500 accounts. In addition, Jeffrey provides leadership to all of iCrossing's business groups to ensure high quality service and delivery to their valued customer base. Prior to iCrossing, he served as CPA with the Arthur Andersen Auditing Division in Arizona. He was promoted to the Arthur Andersen Investment Consulting Division, where he advised on asset allocation decisions for a $2.5 billion fund, and serviced multiple large and small cap clients. Jeffrey is a CPA, NASD Series 65 certified, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Dave Williams, Vice President

Dave Williams, Chief Strategist and Co-Founder, 360i, advises clients on search engine marketing strategies and maintains strategic industry relationships. He is recognized as one of the nation's leading experts in online media and search engine marketing. Prior to co-founding 360i in 1998, Dave was an Internet Strategy Consultant with IBM Global Services and was a CPA with Price Waterhouse, LLP. Dave currently serves as an Officer on Yahoo's Advertising Council, MSN Search Council, and Google's Search Council, and is on the Executive Advisory Board of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association's (AiMA). AiMA recognized him with the "Dottie Com" Award as Interactive Marketer of the Year in 2000, and in 2004, awarded him a lifetime membership for his significant contributions to the organization's ongoing success.

Dave Fall, Treasurer

Dave Fall, Vice President, Product Management - Search Technology, DoubleClick, Inc., has been with DoubleClick since January 1999. During that time, Dave has worked with DoubleClick's Adserving, email, and search technology in sales engineering, support, professional services, and product management capacities. Prior to joining DoubleClick, Dave was a Consultant at Andersen Consulting (Accenture). He developed and designed applications, as well as managed teams of developers at engagements with United Parcel Service, Reader's Digest, and Time, Inc. Previous positions include being a Management Engineer at a large hospital in New Jersey. There, he was responsible for turnover studies in operating rooms, the emergency room, and patient administration. While working at the hospital, Dave completed his MBA in Operations Management at Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.

Chris Boggs, Secretary

Chris Boggs, Search Strategist, Avenue A | Razorfish, is a specialist in search engine optimization and paid search advertising. Chris joined AA | RF in May 2006 as “Search Strategist,” responsible for assisting with SEO strategy development across multiple teams. Chris works with analysts and engineers to help ensure that AA | RF organic and paid search strategies remain both aligned and on the cutting edge. Previously, Chris was Director of Online Marketing for the G3 Group, where he worked with organizations ranging in size from small businesses to the Fortune 500. He is a certified Google™ AdWords™ Professional, a Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador, and was one of the early participants in the MSN AdCenter release in 2005.

About the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization

SEMPO is a global non-profit organization serving the search engine marketing industry and marketing professionals engaged in it. Its purpose is to provide a foundation for industry growth through building stronger relationships, fostering awareness, providing education, promoting the industry, generating research, and creating a better understanding of search and its role in marketing. SEMPO represents the common interests of more than 500 companies and individuals worldwide and provides them with a voice in the marketplace. SEMPO’s education and outreach initiatives are sponsored in part by Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, www.superpages.com, a division of Idearc Media Corp, Atlas, and Search Engine Strategies. For more information or to join the organization, please visit http://www.SEMPO.org.

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