Will SEMPO Survive?

[rustybrick]

So you think they will be closing the doors soon? Makes for a nice poll in a new thread.

(1) SEMPO Will Survive Forever
(2) SEMPO Will Close within 90 days
(3) SEMPO Will Close within a Year
(4) SEMPO Will Close within 3 Years

Poll at the top.

Oh, put personal feelings aside. Doesn't matter what you think of SEMPO, I just want to know what you think will happen to it in the future.

[Nick W]

I voted for 90days becuase it's what i think they should do. But i would have rather seen a poll titled "should sempo close"...

Nick

[rustybrick]

Nick, its not about what they should do, I wanted to know what you feel they will do.

Feel free to start a different poll, this one is mine. ;)

[Nick W]

Nah.... i dont want to start another poll, quite frankly, i cant be bothered ;-) There's enough threads on dumpo to accomadate all views methinks heh..

Nick

[bethabernathy]

Based on this: "Staggered replacement/election for BOD in 2005" I voted on 1 year.

[seobook]

I said a year...think it will last more than 90 days (especially as christmas seo stuff gives many people other things to think about) I am thinking springish

[hiero]

Since they have some cash in the bank I think it will take more >> than a year.

[bethabernathy]

That is all going to go to their "High Profile" lawyers and/or to back taxes & tax penalties. Just my little humble opinion.

[mugshot]

I chose 90 days, but again it is really relative. Does surviving mean that sempo will continue to offer it's website as a resource, retain it's current members, find new members, heck even renaming the organization?

The way I view sempo, in my opinion, they will not survive 90 days if their image doesn't change. Perhaps they can pick up the pieces and move on, and like Aaron said, 1 year might be the limit to sempo given their current lack of efforts.

By the way, the forum that they are going to launch sounds like something of an afterthought. You would think that the forum was one of the first thing such an organization would have....to encourage communication!

[hiero]

That is all going to go to their "High Profile" lawyers.
Makes cents to me........http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

[David Wallace]

I voted three years because nothing can last "forever". With that said, I think they "can" survive but certainly not with its current leader at the helm.

[Brad]

It may never "officially" close. Or at least no announcement will ever be made, the website will just cease being updated, nobody will answer any emails and stuff will just stop working.

[Anthony Parsons]

I gave it a year....had to allow old Barb time to draw the account down with her stipend and all.

[Nick W]

EEEEOW! Anthony......

That's so bitchy, you a girl? :eek: only kidding mate :)
Rumour has it that they are waiting for the chatter to die down then biz as usual. (which means doing sweet FA as far as i can see...)

Nick

[seobook]

(which means doing sweet FA as far as i can see...)
what is sweet FA?

[Nacho]

The poll doesn't talk about specifics (board, goals, etc.) it just requests a life term, therefore in general I think SEMPO is something needed in our industry and it will survive forever. It just needs a lot of work to be what everyone wants from it.

[Nick W]

>>what is sweet FA

FA -> Rymes with "cluck call" :eek:

Nick

[seobook]

FA -> Rymes with "cluck call" :eek:
and hence Charlie the Rubber Chicken... :cool:

[rustybrick]

It is not safe to make jokes about sempo in this room, there is no padding on the walls here. So be careful, and do not play with sharp objects here. :D

On a serious note, I started this poll to get an idea of what people in this forum think in regards to if SEMPO will actually succeed. Ultimately, that decision is in the hands of the decision makers at SEMPO. But I just wanted to see what y'all (i am not from texas) think.

[glenn]

As mentioned earlier, SEMPO has the cash to survive and I'm guessing the $$$s aren't drying up anytime soon; however, there is a lot of industry consolidation going on and the landscape three years from now for search engine marketing altogether could be quite different. I voted for 3 years and could see SEMPO being a chapter of a larger organization in that timeframe.

[Jill Whalen]

Can you change "forever" to "more than 3 years"?

Forever, in this business is just silly. There probably won't be search engine marketing, or even Search Engine Watch -- forever!

[rustybrick]

Can you change "forever" to "more than 3 years"?

Forever, in this business is just silly. There probably won't be search engine marketing, or even Search Engine Watch -- forever!

Sure. Did not think people would take the word "forever" literally, it means in this case, ore than 3 years. Thanks for pointing it out.

[fathom]

The poll doesn't talk about specifics (board, goals, etc.) it just requests a life term, therefore in general I think SEMPO is something needed in our industry and it will survive forever. It just needs a lot of work to be what everyone wants from it.

Putting misdirection aside - if search engines support it, and search engines survive... and growing numbers of clients of SEM(O) support it and they survive - its foolish to believe that any unorganize group will last longer by being unorganized.

[rustybrick]

Sorry, I don't know how to edit the poll. Just pretend it reads "more than 3 years" instead of forever.

[steve sardell]

Unless SEMpo is forced to close the doors, I see them lasting. I say this with a proviso the current leadership step down, and experienced individuals who know how to run a corporation take control. The basic idea is solid, there are ample funds to get it on stable footing, and some of the volunteers are astute. However, if the staus quo remains I will give it a year, even with gross mismanagement, the money will last a year.

[Chris Boggs]

I hope SEMPO survives... we need a "unified voice!"

I wish more people would spend a few minutes referring a few associates to the SEMPO site instead of bashing it in some forum in here...my 2 cents :)

[Mikkel deMib Svendsen]

I hope SEMPO survives... we need a "unified voice!"

I don't think SEMPO will ever play that role. If they survive they will just be one voice of some people - not THE voice of the entire industry. There are apparently too different oppinions of how such an organisation should be run and what the focus should be.

[Chris Boggs]

But I believe (cue the patriotic music here :D ) that many great groups such as the USA or any other self-governed nation, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and even the local PTA have all experienced "growing pains." Simply writing-off SEMPO because of a rocky road is not exercising enough patience for the development of a potential flagship of this still fledgling industry.

[ihelpyou]

Simply writing-off SEMPO because of a rocky road is not exercising enough patience for the development of a potential flagship of this still fledgling industry.
Flagship? :D You are entitled to your opinion. Thank goodness the majority of SEM people don't have that same opinion. This is the only thing I know right now where "all" types of SEM people are in agreement on, no matter what color hat they may wear. LOL

You don't think giving a few people who put themselves out there as "leaders" and giving them over 1 1/2 years to address all the concerns is not enough "time"? How much time is enough then?

The very basic foundation is very much flawed. It's an issue that I don't see being fixed at all. Since that seems to be the case, I see this group as lasting maybe another full year......... that's it. They are doing more harm to the industry than good.

[Mikkel deMib Svendsen]

Chris, to me this is not about a "rocky road" but a completely wrong basic structure of the organisation. I do not personally want to be part of something this undemocratic and I don't think democracy is something you just add on the top but something you start out with and build on. SEMPO chose to not be democratic and I have chosen not to be part of it. That has nothing to do with rocky roads or time.

[Chris Boggs]

I might have to change my vote to less than three years, judging from the discontent found in here and on other boards :o

It seems now painfully evident to me that too many people in this industry’s toes have been stepped-on by SEMPO. It would be nice to see it grow into what I think we all agree that we need, the “flagship.” The anarchist strategy of “starting anew” might be the only possible way for SEMPO to survive… or perhaps the arrival of a “competing” association would force more people into action.

[Carlos Chacón]

A lot of Latinos and hispanos are new in the SE business.
Maybe SEMPO is the first step that many people from Latinoamerica will take to know more about Internet and the SEM.
I am agree with Nacho, who knows the power of the Internet marketing in the Spanish market.
SEMPO born to survive! ;)