SEMPO Announces Three New Advisory Board Members

[Joseph Morin]

The new SEMPO Advisory Board members (http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/9/emw162569.htm) are Chris LaSala, the Search Engine Marketing Channel Manager at Google; Neg Norton, the President of the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association, and Safa Rashtchy; a managing director of Piper Jaffray and well known industry analyst.

[hiero]

Is anyone familiar with the people mentioned? Does it mean thet SEMPO has a chance?

[Nick W]

Untill DUMPO have the good grace to communicate with the community they purport to serve I find it very difficult to give a flying <eek!> who they appoint.

Nick

[Joseph Morin]

Yes, Chris LaSala is the SEM agency rep so he works directly with the SEO's themselves, kind of like Overture's ambassador program. I don't know Neg Norton.

Safa Rashtchy (http://www.piperjaffray.com/info2.aspx?id=361&analystid=133) is a very well known industry analyst from Piper Jaffray who has been covering the ecommerce and search spaces for quite some time and is commonly referred to as the one who projects figures such as "SEM is an $8BB industry by the year 2007"

[bethabernathy]

That's nice. Members didn't get a chance to vote on the appointments or even comment on them.

[Nacho]

Is anyone familiar with the people mentioned? Does it mean thet SEMPO has a chance?
All three are very important players in this industry. YES, I do believe SEMPO has a chance to survive and grow strong. Even more with board members like Safa Rashtchy and others. :)

That's nice. Members didn't get a chance to vote on the appointments or even comment on them.
I approve with the new advisory board members and perhaps it would have been nice to see some type of mebership consent process. However, keep in mind that not every decision SEMPO makes will be given to the Members to vote on.

All together I continue to have the same belief that SEMPO is an organization that is very well needed in our industry and therefore it is here to stay. As members, what we do with it will be what we get back from it. It has way too many things that still need to be addressed and improved. Oh! but they will done and current policies, boards and goals will get better. Someday SEMPO will be all we want it to be. :)

[Elisabeth]

i think it's important to note these are ADVISORY board positions, not Chairman, VP, treasurer, secretary type positions that members should get to vote on.

[bethabernathy]

Well the current board or at least 1 needs to go before anything will get done. Just my opinion.

[Nick W]

It's an opinion shared by many. They should be ashamed of themselves, small children have better manners...

Nick

[Mikkel deMib Svendsen]

All good people for an advisory board but I could not help to notice that the SEMPO board apparently don't seem to need any more advise from Europe :D


However, keep in mind that not every decision SEMPO makes will be given to the Members to vote on.


Well, to be more accurate there haven't really been ANY voting at all for anything, right. This dosen't seem like an exception but the rule.

[bakedjake]

It scares me that search engine employees are on an advisory board for an organization of search engine marketers.

"Dear optimizers, please only use approved methods to manipulate our money making products. Signed, Vendor G."

*shudder*

[Nick W]

bloody good point :eek: jake, nice to see you here :)

Nick

[bethabernathy]

High profile lawyers, high profile advisors, is that really non-profit? :confused: Maybe Mr. Blair would have the answer. :eek:

[I, Brian]

So...what is the constructive outcome the appointments??

[Chris_D]

<takes mod hat off>

I especially like the way that sempo has taken on board the recent criticisms regarding their total failure to communicate with members.

So - once again - speaking personally as a paid up sempo member - I get to read about strategic sempo decisions on a public forum.

Barb and the rest of sempo - if you are reading these threads - what part of COMMUNICATION WITH THE PAID MEMBERSHIP don't you actually understand?

It's pretty dangerous to keep shooting yourselves in the foot, when you keep putting both your feet in your mouth.

<puts mod hat back on>

[Mike Grehan]

Excellent... Another three high profilers with no background at all in trade associations. That should change things a lot.

Well done SEMPO... So it's business as usual then?

[The PR Guy]

One of the new SEMPO advisory board members, Neg Norton, has an extensive background in trade associations. In fact, Neg is the President of the Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association. The Yellow Pages Integrated Media Association (aka Yellow Pages I.M.A.) is the association of the publishers, marketers and suppliers responsible for producing Yellow Pages directories in more than 20 countries. Founded in 1988, the Yellow Pages I.M.A. has been instrumental in leading, serving and growing a print and electronic media industry valued at more than $14 billion in the U.S. and $25 billion globally.

And, with the growing importance of local search, SEMPO should benefit from Neg's perspective on search as well as associations.

[Chris_D]

<mod hat off>

Speaking personally as a paid sempo member - there is only ONE position that I believe that sempo needs to fill urgently - and that is the role of 'Member liason' - in order to keep the membership informed.

Also, I'd just like to clarify that normally I email suggestions, advice, and feedback directly to organisations that I'm a member of. However, its now becoming clear to me that the current sempo board feels that public forums are the most appropriate way to communicate with members.

<mod hat back on/>

[Jill Whalen]

Actually, from what I understand, I don't think they like communicating through public forums at all, and in fact would prefer not to communicate that way. However, since that's where people are discussing them, it makes sense for them to communicate this way to a certain extent.

Really it seems that at this point, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they don't announce stuff here, then they get yelled at for not communicating, and if they do, then they get accused of only communicating through public forums. :rolleyes:

From what I've heard (and I am not a board member, nor do I have any special "in") they have a communication committee now who are working on how to better communicate.

Guess we'll see how well it actually happens over the next few months.

[Nick W]

>>communications committee

Sheeesh! How many damn committees do they need? - No wonder they're a laughing stock, we all know committees cant make decisions...

IMO they should stop wasting time playing around with titles and appointments and generally finding administrative work for themselves and get down to business.

I've never seen anything so amateur in my life.

Nick

[Brad]

Committees are like meetings, they make everybody think they are busy and doing something even when very little gets done.

Committees are also an excellent way to shirk individual responsibility for performance.


Jill, it seems to me they don't like communicating by any means whatsoever. It takes them a year to set up a message board for members. Newsletters that actually say something seem to mystify SEMPO. Heck Yahoo has free groups that will work in a pinch. Moreover, they do not answer individual emails. Nobody expects SEMPO to rush around to SEW and other forums to answer questions if they would just communicate with their own members in a timely, informative, professional, workmanlike and honest manner. SEMPO just can't seem to grasp any of it.

Sounds to me like a bunch of kids "playing office."

[Nick W]

>>kids playing office

Yep, take a rep point for that brad, that sums it up perfectly.

Nick

[Chris_D]

Actually, from what I understand, I don't think they like communicating through public forums at all, and in fact would prefer not to communicate that way.

Jill - my point is that I only found out about about the 3 advisory board members here - on a public forum - not directly from sempo.

[Jill Whalen]

Jill, it seems to me they don't like communicating by any means whatsoever.

I agree, and it's a shame. I think they're working on it though, and am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt!

[Mike Grehan]

Actually, from what I understand, I don't think they like communicating through public forums at all, and in fact would prefer not to communicate that way. However, since that's where people are discussing them, it makes sense for them to communicate this way to a certain extent.

I think you hit the nail on the head there Jill. I can't imagine why SEMPO may not feel that industry forums are a place to communicate with members. Earlier this year it seemed as though Barbara Coll thought forums served a purpose for banging the SEMPO drum
< http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=57775#57775 >

The biggest (perceived) thing in search on this planet is Google and they don't mind having their GoogleGuy(s) and AdWords and AdSense guys popping in to keep the community straight on certain issues. Yahoo! has its own reps in the forums and also Jeeves doing exactly the same. These are the companies around which our businesses are built and they seem to recognise the value of forums and the quick dissemination of information they provide.

There are SEMPO members who are moderators around the various forums and many SEMPO members who simply post in them. Some of the most recognisable names in the search marketing industry such as Danny Sullivan, Chris Sherman, Gary Price, Brett Tabke, Andy Beal, Jill Whalen, Mikkel De Mib Svendsen, Barry Lloyd and others too numerous to mention (sorry for those I missed here but it would make a very long list) have no problem whatsoever in talking with the community in this way. [And let's not forget the thousands of 'lurkers' in the industry who visit the forums without ever posting.]

So, I think it's fair to ask, if the search engine marketing community at large, and that's the search engines, the vendors and suppliers as well as industry pundits and notable names are happy to represent themselves in forums - how is it that the very people who nominated themselves as industry representatives are the only people who feel they're above it?

One of the biggest PR gaffes ever, in the UK, was after the death of Diana when the royal family hid behind closed doors refusing to comment and showing just how elitist and out of touch they were with the ordinary people. Now the bit of flak that SEMPO gets from many of its members (and non members) via forums is miniscule compared to the tragedy of Diana. However, in PR terms the gaffe is just as huge.

If the taciturn board of SEMPO remains completely elitist as "search marketing royalty" in the way they have continued these past months, then its no wonder there's still trouble in the ranks.

The recent newsletter following the press release gushing about the appointment of three more high profilers to keep the press happy is significant. The appointment of an executive director was supposed to be a priority on the agenda following the SEMPO meeting in San Jose.

Two months have gone by, Barbara Coll continues to draw down her $78,000. And the replacement of Danny and Chris at the top of the totem pole with big hitters became more important than appeasing the members with the announcement of something positive for them: not the board for a change.

There was also the promise of elections at the San Jose meeting. I notice there's no mention of that in the most recent mailing. It's likely that elections will get put on the back-burner yet again I'm sure.

I have to say, on a personal level, should anything remotely close to democratic elections ever find their way out of the sporadic SEMPO spin, I can't imagine why anyone would want to vote any of the current board back into place. Even those that may deserve their place on the board are tarred with the same brush now (and I know that a few of them would dearly love to have been heard). As a would-be industry representative body, the only descriptive word which springs to mind for me, is: pathetic.

[Jill Whalen]

Like I said...damned if they do, damned if they don't...at this point at least.

[rustybrick]

This is getting kind of funny. Nothing like politics to make an organization spin its wheels. Don't all non profits spend way to much time with their foot on the gas but in neutral?

[Jeremy_Goodrich]

>>>Don't all non profits spend way to much time with their foot on the gas but in neutral?

Nah, I worked @ a non profit some yaers ago for a few months - the amount of work the executive director put in was amazing, and in a few short months, the organization put together all kinds of programs for their audience - they had a real impact on the community they were organized to assist.

SEMPO, from what they've said, is supposed to help *all* search marketing gain higher profile, help educate companies on the value of spending more of their marketing budgets towards search, etc - I've yet to see this happen. Though the funny thing is - people say they've gotten business by being SEMPO circle members, since they track leads / sales, the goal of the org, as stated, was to help the search marketing community.

Add all the high profile folks you want - it might be good for grabbing a few headlines, but what does Joe CEO know about search currently? What does he read? How do we get him to change his mind on his 05 budget plan, and kick some more to SEM / SEO?

Buying a link on Clickz.com (sorry) waste of money, imho - if you've been reading that, but haven't figured out search makes sense - you're a fool. Some of the best, most current information on how to do search - in more granular detail than most ever implement - has been presented on Clickz / and if that didn't sell people before, how's a lame text link gonna sway the opinions of the unwashed masses?

[andrewgoodman]

This is getting kind of funny. Nothing like politics to make an organization spin its wheels. Don't all non profits spend way to much time with their foot on the gas but in neutral?

Instead of SEMPO, more good could be done with my money if it went to the
Red Cross for Hurricane Relief in Haiti (http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=010612&tid=001), so that's where my renewal money's headed. (Or choose your favorite.)

[Mike Grehan]

Instead of SEMPO, more good could be done with my money if it went to the
Red Cross for Hurricane Relief in Haiti (http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=010612&tid=001), so that's where my renewal money's headed. (Or choose your favorite.)

Andrew,

Eminently good idea, I have to say. Very thoughtful use of the cash.

[bethabernathy]

"SEMPO continues to move forward at even faster pace then ever before! Membership is growing and SEMPO is now a recognized as a force in the industry by most search engine advertising publishers, analysts and online editors/writers who cover online marketing."

I am just a bit confused as to exactly who has given them this recognition as a Force in the industry?

[Mikkel deMib Svendsen]

I don't think its wrong to say that. Look at all the discussions going on about SEMPO, look at the newsletters that mention SEMPO. There are so much passion going on between the ones that hates SEMPO and the ones that loves them. People spend hours and days on SEMPO - maybe not within SEMPO but certainly around it. Just look at you, Beth. Honestly, how much time have you spend on and around the SEMPO issues? Would you have done that if SEMPO was nothing - a zero with no impact, no support and no recognition?

I was one of the few founders of WAIM back in 2001. It was probably just as bad as SEMPO (looking back at it) but never gained any impact, so it didn't matter. Did you chose to fight or question WAIM? No, off course not, because WAIM never had - and never will get - any impact or support at all. Why beat up a dead horse?

You and I may not agree with what SEMPO do, or think SEMPO have less support and impact than what a trade organisation should have, but I would definately agree that "SEMPO is now a recognized as a force".

[Jeremy_Goodrich]

>>>SEMPO is now a recognized as a force

Farce, more like - has anybody else noticed that they also changed the link structure of they're site so that not onlyt he circle members get the PageRank from the links there?

Surely, they must have realized that was pretty bad...gotta give them credit for at least cleaning up some of the cr@p they've been doing :)

However, one fix out of dozens, doesn't mean they're going to accomplish much - but I guess it does indicate that they're doing something.

[bethabernathy]

Beth. Honestly, how much time have you spend on and around the SEMPO issues? Would you have done that if SEMPO was nothing - a zero with no impact, no support and no recognition?

I didn't know of WAIM, but didn't know much about any of the networking end of the SEM until the latter part of 2002. This is simply because I was working 7 days a week to get my business running. Now that it is going well, I have more time and more interest.

added:
Although, the work that I can do in 15 minutes, may take another 1 year.