Search Engine Marketers in Dallas/Fort Worth Create Organization to Educate Businesses on the Benefits of Search Engine Marketing

DFW Search Engine Marketing Organization elects board members and approves Charter

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) May 5, 2004 -– A group of leading search engine marketers in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) area have formed an organization dedicated to educating DFW businesses on the benefits of search engine marketing and search engine optimization.

Currently named the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing organization, or DFWSEM, the organization recently elected board members and approved an organizational charter.

The purpose of DFWSEM is to educate area marketers on the benefits of search engine marketing and search engine optimization as well as provide guidance to the local marketing community with regard to the best practices and latest developments in the search engine marketing industry.

“It is important to have a local organization that can be called upon to provide education and guidance in the often confusing search engine marketing landscape,” said John Sanchez, President and CEO of Zunch Communications and the newly elected president of DFWSEM. “As an organization, DFWSEM’s job is to help businesses make sense of that landscape in order to make the right decision for their company in regards to its search engine marketing needs. We want local companies to understand that search engine marketing works, and when done right, will increase your bottom line.”

At a recent DFWSEM meeting, members of the organization approved an organizational charter and elected board members. The board members elected are:

President: John Sanchez, Zunch Communications, Inc. (http://www.zunch.com)

John Sanchez currently serves as the President & CEO of Zunch Communications, Inc, which is an Interactive Professional Services Firm providing search engine optimization, website design & development, strategic consulting, application development, software development, media research, planning and buying, email marketing, website analytics and hosting.

John started his Interactive career by founding a portal in 1996, which then went public in 1999. Additionally, John has consulted with various national Web properties as well as national agencies on business modeling, strategic consulting, tactical implementations as well as interactive marketing. Prior to starting his Interactive career, John was as General Sales Manager for Univision and prior to that for Telemundo. John also was involved with starting a national publication where he served as Advertising Director. Additionally, John served as the Marketing Manager for Church’s Chicken and has held Account Management positions with various national advertising agencies.

John is involved with the Dallas/Fort Worth Interactive Marketing Association and is the President of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association.

Vice President: Christine Churchill, KeyRelevance (http://www.keyrelevance.com)

Christine Churchill is President of KeyRelevance.com, a full service search engine marketing firm offering organic search engine optimization, strategic link building, usability testing, and pay per click management. She is on the Board of Directors of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), the professional association of the search engine marketing industry and is co-chair of the SEMPO Technical Committee.

Christine was part of the original founding family of NetMechanic and served as the Director of Web Development where she developed the knowledge-base behind their best selling promotion tool, Search Engine Power Pack. Christine's many roles at NetMechanic included Webmaster, Search Engine Optimization Guru, Marketing Manager, Usability Engineer and Newsletter Editor. Under her guidance NetMechanic's popular Webmaster Tips newsletter grew from 20,000 to 100,000 subscribers.

Christine is the Search Engine Friendly Design and Usability Moderator for the High Rankings Search Engine Optimization Forum. Christine has numerous published articles and currently serves as the Associate Editor of e-marketing-news.co.uk (http://www.e-marketing-news.co.uk). A frequent speaker at Search Engine Strategies, Webmaster World PubCon, and other conferences, Christine enjoys sharing her passion for search engines.

Chairperson: Jim Gilbert, Position Concepts (http://www.positionconcepts.com)

Jim Gilbert is President of Position Concepts, a specialty service search engine marketing firm providing search engine optimization (SEO), research and pay per click (PPC) campaign development and management.

Jim has performed search engine optimization since the inception of public access Internet search engines in 1993. Before his involvement with the Internet, Jim spent twelve years providing analysis support in statistics, simulation and numerical analysis for several large companies including Sabre and EDS.

Treasurer: Doug Lay, IO Media Group (http://www.iomediagroup.com)

Doug Lay is the Managing Principle & Owner of IO Media Group, a Dallas-based Web Services Agency providing custom web site design & maintenance services, professional search engine optimization & PPC program management, custom email marketing software, custom e-commerce solutions, market research, database development, flash animation, streaming video production, site hosting, & DNS services.

Doug brings twenty-four years of management, marketing, and sales experience to interactive project management and production for information technology and new media projects. In addition to being the managing principle and owner, he’s also involved in search engine optimization, web site architecture, user interface design, research, industry trends, content management, strategic planning, project management, and process improvement. His years of practical experience are backed by a solid education, including a degree in Psychology and Advanced Certifications in Multimedia Technology and Internet Communications.

Doug has worked on both national and regional accounts including Centex, Comware, Crescent Real Estate, Qualcomm, and Seagram’s Americas.

Secretary: Rob Garner, itraffic/AGENCY.COM (http://www.itraffic.com)

As Search Marketing Strategist, Rob Garner works with itraffic/AGENCY.COM design and media teams throughout the North American offices, supporting Fortune 500 clientele in their SEM efforts. He has 5 years experience in search engine marketing, and has also served as Internet Marketing Manager for multi-channel retailer Brook Mays. Rob has a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

The next meeting of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Organization (DFWSEM) is at 6:30 p.m. on May 17 at Nedley’s restaurant in Richardson, Texas. All individuals and businesses interested in search engine marketing are encouraged to attend. For more information on the meeting, send an e-mail to e-mail protected from spam bots.

About DFWSEM: The Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Organization is dedicated to educating businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area about the benefits of search engine marketing. The group meets once a month at various locations throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. For more information, please e-mail e-mail protected from spam bots.