Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association Announces New Officers

Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association Announces New Officers

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Members of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association voted in August to select new officers and board members to serve for the 2008-2009 board year. The new officers are: President, Tony Wright, WrightIMC Chairman, Christine Churchill, KeyRelevance Vice President, Sean Jackson, Lead Maverick Secretary, Mark Barrera, Vizion Interactive Treasurer, Jeff Martin, PowerPact The new board members are: Rob Garner, iCrossing Shelley Ellis, iCrossing David Host, GetLegal.com Dan Sturdivant, The Leadstream John Bagwell, Bagwell Marketing Bill Hartzer, Vizion Interactive Harry Lennard, Advance Web Promotions Nathan Holman, Standing Dog LLC Brian Medina, Selfopportunity.com "We are fortunate to have such a strong group of leaders," said Rob Garner, former president of DFWSEM and current Strategy Director with iCrossing. "DFWSEM is at a pivotal point in its growth.

The depth of industry experience the new officers have, combined with their extraordinary understanding of search marketing, will be a huge asset as our organization continues to flourish."

What started as an informal group gathering about search marketing, has now grown to be one of the most influential groups within Texas. DFWSEM continues to help serve the search industry by bringing together influential thought leaders with industry initiatives and creativity.

"We have a number of people who come from all over Texas and even Oklahoma to attend our

meetings," said newly elected DFWSEM president Tony Wright. "As a board we have a number of opportunities before us. Our number one goal is to present programming that appeals to the broad spectrum of experience of our member base. We also have an obligation to continue to provide benefits for our members that provide value."

DFWSEM is anticipating a record year and is prepared to meet the challenges associated with a highly relevant and growing local trade organization.

"We are honored to have some of the top United States SEM experts on the board," said Wright.

"The interest in the organization is at all time high thanks to the work of last year's president Rob Garner. My job is to keep that momentum going and expand upon it. We've got great volunteers and an incredible board. This should be a banner year for the organization."

DFWSEM Officer Profiles Newly elected DFWSEM President Tony Wright is the President of WrightIMC, (http://www.wrightimc.com) where he is responsible for the day-to-day management of search engine marketing programs, online media strategies, online public relations and other interactive marketing projects. Tony is a frequent contributor of articles, columns and quotes to various national and trade publications that are widely read and cited. Wright's work for his clients has been recognized in several local and national award campaigns, including the Excellence in Interactive Marketing Award, the Katie Awards, Webawards and the PRweek awards.

Christine Churchill is the President of KeyRelevance.com, (http://www.KeyRelevance.com) a full service Dallas search engine marketing company, which offers search engine optimization, web analytics, and pay per click management. Ms. Churchill speaks regularly at international search conferences such as Search Engine Strategies, Search Marketing Expo, and WebmasterWorld. She was a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) and has served as an officer on the Board of Directors of DFWSEM since its inception. Ms. Churchill holds a Masters Degree in Business and has over ten years online marketing experience.

The new DFWSEM Vice President, Sean Jackson, is the CEO of Lead Maverick, (http://www.leadmaverick.com) a Search Engine Optimization software company. His company is a SEMPO Circle member whose web application is used by numerous top search strategy firms in Dallas/Fort Worth. Sean is also involved with a number of other civic and business organizations including past president of the Dallas Ad League and member of the Dallas Round Table. Sean is a speaker at industry trade shows, conferences and at academic institutions.

Mark Barrera will serve as DWSEM Secretary for the upcoming term. Mark is the Client Services Manager at Vizion Interactive (http://www.vizioninteractive.com). He has a bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of North Texas. Mark is a member of DFWSEM, DFW Interactive Marketing Association and is a Google AdWords Certified Professional. Mark has been featured in industry magazines, recognized as a top-notch blogger, and has consulted with companies in varied industries (mortgage, pharmaceuticals, retail, service, technology, software, and many others).

The new DFWSEM Treasurer, Jeff Martin, is a nine year veteran in the search marketing space working in numerous verticals and consulting with companies such as American Airlines, Experian, Northrop Grumman, The Colombian Coffee Federation as well as the U.S. Federal Government.

Forbes, Revenue Magazine and The Age have interviewed Martin as a search expert. Martin also

served as a subject matter expert in the Lane's Collectibles v. Google case in the field of fraud around paid search advertising. Martin is currently service as the Associate Director of Search Marketing for PowerPact.

About the DFW Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM) The Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Organization (DFWSEM) is dedicated to education and promotion of the Dallas/Fort Worth search engine marketing industry, conversing various topics related to search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click search (PPC), as well as other emerging media. The group meets quarterly at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas, and is open to anyone interested in search engine marketing, including in-house marketers, independent consultants, and agencies. Initially founded in 2003, DFWSEM is the oldest and longest running local search engine marketing group/meetup in the country. Member agencies include DexterityMedia, Vizion Interactive, iCrossing, Range Online Media, Key Relevance, MarketNet, AffGoo, Creative Support, Did-it, SearchDex, WrightIMC, and Bridgepose. For more information, visit http://www.dfwsem.org.

DFWSEM is sponsored by Lead Maverick (http://www.leadmaverick.com).

Sponsoring DFWSEM DFWSEM Association members cumulatively represent over $100,000,000 in annual search engine ad spend, and sponsorship is a great way to get your message in front of this group of decision makers and key influencers. To find out how to sponsor a monthly meeting or other opportunity, contact Tony Wright at tony.wright@wrightimc.com.

DFWSEM Speakers Bureau Many members of DFWSEM are actively speaking at various interactive marketing conferences, including SMX, Search Engine Strategies, ad:tech, and WebmasterWorld, among many others. If you are looking for someone to speak about search engine marketing related topics, or would like to interview a member, feel free to contact the group for more information at 214.210.6793.

DFWSEM welcomes requests to speak to the group at info@dfwsem.org.