SEMPO (the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) has successfully held their long-awaited elections. After more than a year of trying times for the organization, the recent election of a new board and officers represents a great opportunity for change at SEMPO.
SEMPO’s past difficulties are well described elsewhere, so I’ll just say that it was a real learning experience for the founders, who had no real experience in running a non-profit professional organization. Quite frankly, that inexperience showed in a lot of the group’s decisions and actions.
Today SEMPO has a chance for a fresh start. Day to day activities are now being handled by a management firm, which also facilitated the recent elections.
The new board members and officers are:
- Kevin Lee, Did-it.com – Chairperson
- Dana Todd, Sitelab – President
- John Sanchez, Zunch Communications – Vice President
- Jeffrey Pruitt, iCrossing – Secretary-Treasurer
- Ron Belanger, Carat Interactive
- Chris Churchill, Fathom Online
- Barbara Coll, Webmama.com
- Koichiro Fukasawa, Wasabi Communications
- Gordon Hotchkiss, Enquiro
- Mauro Lupi, Ad Maiora SpA
- Jessie Stricchiola, Alchemist Media
- Julienne Thompson, Advertising.com
- David Williams, 360i
I caught up with newly elected board member and Vice President of SEMPO, John Sanchez of Dallas-based Zunch Communications (he lives right up the road so it was a wee bit easier to get a quote), who had this to say:
“The new board of SEMPO will work to strengthen our position as the premiere search engine marketing organization in the world. The recent election of SEMPO board members was followed very closely by the vast majority of SEMPO members. Their active participation in the election process, as well as their attention to the issues and platforms put forth by the candidates, suggest that SEMPO members are excited and ready to tackle the bigger issues facing our organization and our industry.”
With more than 70% of member firms participating in the elections, the new board has a clear mandate to act, which the original (self-appointed) board lacked. It’s not suprising, however, that many of the original board members have returned.
Dan Thies
