Happy New Year! We are excited to kickoff 2010 with an exciting SEMPO Atlanta Chapter event on Advanced SEO with a set of fantastic speakers. This event topic will take you beyond SEO 101 and provide valuable information for people looking for new strategies and ideas for 2010. So come join us on February 11th to listen to speakers from Bruce Clay, Inc., CNN, and Weather.com. As always, appetizers and drinks will be served with pre and post event networking with your peers.

EVENT SPEAKERS:

Bruce Clay – President
Bruce has been a recognized leader in the search marketing arena since 1996 when, after a long career as a technical executive with leading Silicon Valley companies, he launched one of the first consulting firms devoted to search engine optimization (SEO). His pioneering efforts continue to lead the search industry by providing award-winning SEO training and certification courses, the SEO Code of Ethics and the full-featured SEOToolSet®. He is a popular speaker at major industry conferences including Search Engine Strategies (SES), PubCon, ad:tech and Search Marketing Expo (SMX).

Bruce hosts SEM Synergy (www.semsynergy.com), a weekly half-hour show on WebmasterRadio.fm covering all aspects of Internet marketing. Bruce co-authored the all-in-one desk reference guide for SEO, Search Engine Optimization All-in-One For Dummies, and is a principal editor and speaker for SEMJ.org, a scholarly research journal for search engine marketing. Widely recognized as a search marketing expert, he has been quoted in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, PC Week, Wired Magazine, Smart Money as well as in several books. Bruce is also featured in many video interviews conducted by industry notables such as WebProNews and Dr. Ralph Wilson.

Topher Kohan - CNN
Topher Kohan came to CNN.com, a division of Turner broadcasting and a Time Warner company, in early 2008 after two years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the in-house SEO coordinator for CNN.com and the rest of Turner’s news properties (including CNN Money, CNN International and iReport), he has overseen a 17 percent increase in traffic from search year to year and oversaw one of the single largest search traffic days in the site’s history with the 2008 presidential election. He also over saw all of the SEO for the Fall re-launch of CNN.com.

Topher graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with a degree in Web development and interactive media design with an emphasis on SEO/SEM. Before working in the SEO world, Topher was a lighting designer / tour manager / production manger for various entertainment companies and touring groups.

Derek Fulford – Weather.com
Derek Fulford is the Search Marketing Manager for The Weather Channel Interactive (TWCi). Derek develops optimization strategies and manages paid search campaigns for weather.com and its properties as well as TWCi’s mobile, desktop, subscription and broadband products. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and an MBA from Texas Tech University.

EVENT DETAILS:
When: Thursday February 11th, 2010. Networking starts at 6pm, presentations start at or around 7pm
Where: Park Tavern
Cost: $25 in advance/$35 at the door.
1. Step 1: Register on MeetUp and Save $10
2. Step 2: RSVP for the Event by February 10th please

A huge Thank You to our annual sponsors:

If interested in future sponsorship opportunities please contact Matthew Pritchard at [masked] or [masked].

See you on February 11th!

Lindsay Blankenship
VP, Marketing - SEMPO Atlanta