Here at SEMPO Canada, we are extremely pleased to announce that SEMPO has decided to change their rates for individual membership, which turbo-charge our Canadian Search Marketing community coast to coast. As such, we are very excited that the value of individual membership has increased and that the rates has dropped by more than 50%. This is the new SEMPO and now, every Search Marketing Specialist in Canada can benefit from this.

What is the new SEMPO, and what does it mean to you?
Let’s start with money. We’ve dropped the individual membership rate from $299 to $125. You got it, a $174 annual savings. Before you get distracted with how you’ll spend that money, let’s talk about how you are going to get even more membership benefits at the new, reduced price.

Expand Your Knowledge
- Receive 20 percent discounts to SEMPO Institute courses
- NEW Participate in regular roundtables on emerging trends featuring industry leaders
- Access annual state of the market and Industry salary data research
- Access Resource Library (white papers, point of views)
- NEW Participate in a vibrant, interactive online member community

Engage with Industry Leaders
- Attend SEMPO Members Only events at industry conferences
- Participate in committees
- Attend local chapter (SEMPO Canada) events
- NEW Participate in special interest groups
- NEW Participate in vibrant, interactive online member community
- Network with peers on LinkedIn and Facebook

Maximize Your Career Growth
- Access salary and industry research data
- Post resume to the Career Center Marketplace
- NEW Attend Careers in Search webinars
- Participate to our SEMPO Canada LinkedIn Group

Grow Your Business
- Get noticed in the online Member Directory
- Participate in Speakers Bureau program
- Post open positions on the SEMPO Canada Job Board on LinkedIn
- Get leads through the Request Services program
- Obtain links from the SEMPO Canada websites

Save Money
- Receive discounts to subscriptions, tools
- Receive 20-30 percent discounts to industry conferences and training programs
- Free membership in SEMPO local chapters (SEMPO Canada)
- NEW Free registration at SEMPO local chapter events (as you join SEMPO, you automatically get access to benefits from SEMPO Canada)

So, let’s get it started. Shortly, you will receive an email with instructions for how to login to the new online community. Once you’re in, set up your membership profile and get started. Join a local chapter group (SEMPO Canada). Make connections and meet some new people. Start asking questions. Start answering questions. And, most importantly, enjoy the new SEMPO – this one’s for you.

Very important: What to do when you join
When you decide to Join SEMPO, and in order to support your local Chapter SEMPO Canada, you need to designate which chapter you are coming from. When prompted, please select SEMPO Canada as the Chapter you are interested in. Please, let us know if you have any questions by emailing at: canada-chair@sempo.org

Click here to join SEMPO

I am working on something these days for SEMPO Canada for different interview formats that are coming. As I was making research about it, I came across a very interesting blog post interview done by Manoj Jasra from Enquiro.com. He interviewed Dana Todd, Member of SEMPO Board of Directors on the new SEMPO Institute.

SEMPO Institute is an online distance learning program that allow you to learn every aspect of Search Marketing. Manoj asked a few questions to Dana such as:

• The SEMPO Institutes’ Target Market
• The Grading Scale of Courses
• Benefits of the SEMPO Institute courses
• The Advanced curriculum offered in March
• The strategies behind keeping the course content up to date
• How SEMPO plans on working with post secondary institutions

Listen to the full interview here.

If you are attending Search Engine Strategies New York this week, please make sure to stop by SEMPO’s booth #1516, which is located in America’s Hall I. Also, please note that some of our founding members Gord Hotchkiss and Ken Jurina will be present at SES NY and will most likely attend SEMPO meetings and events which are summarized below.

Don’t forget – SEMPO members receive a 10% discount off the registration price for all SES events, compliments of IncisiveMedia. When you register use the priority code – 10SEMPO.

Here are some other SEMPO events during SES NY you don’t want to miss:

SEMPO Meeting:
You are invited to attend our bi-annual General Meeting, which is a great opportunity to learn about SEMPO’s initiatives, the new SEMPO Institute, recent SEMPO research, and more.

Who is invited? SEMPO members and non-members
When: Tuesday, April 10 from 6 – 7 PM ET
Where: Beekman Parlor/Sutton North

Refreshments will be provided.

SEMPO In-House SEM Networking Event:
Are you an in-house marketing provider? If so, you are invited to attend SEMPO’s in-house search marketer gathering, hosted by SEMPO’s In-House Committee. If you’re in-house, this is YOUR event and shouldn’t be missed.

This meeting will facilitate excellent networking and sharing of best practices from some of the industry’s leading in-house search marketers. The event is open to all in-house search marketers, not just SEMPO members.

Who is invited? In-House marketers only – no vendors, please
When: Wednesday, April 11th at 6:30 PM ET
Where: Playwright Tavern (8th Avenue between 45th & 46th, 212-354-8404)

The Playwright Tavern is a 10 minute walk from the Hilton (the SES event location) and a private room has been reserved for this meeting. For Google Map directions, click here. Please RSVP to rsvp@sempo.org if you plan to attend the meeting.

About SES NY:
During this event the industry converges for spirited discussion and high-level learning, and attendees leave with actionable battle plans to go forward with for their companies. SES Alumni can come prepared for new content and developments that they’ll need to stay on top of.

Event Overview:

* Organized by world-renowned search authority, Danny Sullivan
* Keynote by Steve Berkowitz, Windows Live Chief, Microsoft
* Delivers real-time actionable information you need to grow your business through search engine marketing
* Teaches the ins-and-outs of search engine marketing from top search experts and the search engines themselves
* Provides a unique setting to network with fellow marketers and search engine industry professionals, and discuss the trends in search engine marketing
* Grants access to the world’s most comprehensive gathering of search engine marketing and optimization-related solutions providers, and potential partners and affiliates
* Get the latest event information at the SES Event Blog

What You Will Learn:

* How search engines list web sites for free and through paid placements
* How to get free “organic” traffic by building a site that pleases search engines and your visitors
* How to efficiently purchase listings guaranteed to rank your company at the top of search engine results
* How to calculate the ROI of your search marketing efforts by tracking your visitors from the time they hit your site until they buy-and get tips on improving conversion if they don’t
* How to build links that generate traffic to your web site, and how to avoid the penalties of “spamming” the search engines
* What’s coming next in the constantly evolving world of web search, and how you can profit from those changes.

In my last post on the New 2007 SEMPO Board of Directors, I was mentioning how fortunate we are to have some Canadian representation on the SEMPO BoD. What I did not know, and thanks to Gord Hotchkiss for pointing it out, Duane Forrester from Sports Direct and The Online Marketing Guy is also a Canadian SEMPO member who has been elected on the new Board of Directors. Sorry Duane for neglecting to include you in my praise. I remain hopeful that we will able to count on your participation to join the SEMPO Canada Working Group.

For the last few weeks, there has been a lot of activities at SEMPO in an effort to elect the SEMPO 2007 Board Of Directors. As such, we are pleased to congratulate our fellow Canadian Gord Hotchkiss from Kelowna (BC) as a member of the BoD of Sempo.org. Gord has always been a dominant figure in Search Marketing in Canada and a leader in the growth of Search Marketing worldwide. For weeks, every nominee was scouting the Search Marketing industry for votes to be part of the elite of our industry. We are proud that one of our own founding members of SEMPO Canada was elected to such prestigious and responsible position. Please find the full list of the new 2007 SEMPO Board of Directors here.