Crowd constitution at SEO conferences, such as Chicago’s Search Engine Strategies is rather varied. While one can certainly rub shoulders with veterans, for obvious reasons, newcomers are present in force. Imagine being thrust into the role of Search Director for a large company… then being directed to “pick up” the trade. How can anyone expect to master such a nuanced skill set and knowledge… even if you’ve been afforded the opportunity to visit shows like SES? Gordon Hotchkiss, president / CEO of Enquiro happens to have some advice.

“Obviously, search is hot ( and everyone’s trying to hire people with skills in search) [but]… there’s not a lot of opportunities for people to get the training. SEMPO definitely recognized the need for that.”

As a member of its board of directors, Hotchkiss reminds us of SEMPO’s (or Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) 2007 initiative, SEMPO Institutes. Announced in November of 2006, Institutes plans to become an entry point into education on search engine marketing. Aside from obvious benefits, there’s another huge caveat for such an organized educational program.

“Certain people think that SEMPO should police the industry: define ‘black hat’ and ‘white hat.’ We were never built to do that, it was never really a mandate… but I think that by training new people coming into the space about… best practices and fundamentals… there’s two ways you can control something, you can police it on the back end or you can prevent it on the front end with education.”

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...