Group Cites Strength of Search Marketing and over $100 Million Search Marketing Spend in Dallas/Fort Worth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DALLAS, Jul 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The board of the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM) is perplexed at the recent announcement that Google would soon close its Dallas sales location.

“Bottom line, North Texas is a great place to do search engine marketing. We believe it’s the best place in the country to do search marketing,” said Tony Wright, Vice-President and spokesman for DFWSEM. “According to our internal survey at DFWSEM, our members represent more than $100 million spent annually in search engine advertising, and much of that money goes to Google. And while our membership is large, it’s only a fraction of the actual amount being spent or allocated from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I just don’t think the guys in Mountain View have ever been to Dallas and don’t know what they are missing.”

DFWSEM is currently the largest local search organization of its kind in the world, with close to 300 members and a four year history of providing networking and education for some of the brightest minds in the search engine marketing industry. According to a 2007 members survey, the group is responsible for the allocation of more than $100 million in search media dollars annually. DFWSEM considers this a very conservative estimate of the North Texas search engine advertising spend, and reflects a selected number of local corporate and agency spends, and does not take into account the vast number of small to medium sized businesses with substantial search budgets.

“In Dallas we have more industry leading search engine marketers than any market outside of New York City,” said Wright. “With all of the brand power, brain power and money that is controlled in Dallas, it is absolutely a mystery to me why Google would choose to close this office. Not to mention that Dallas is the absolute best choice for a Southern office because of the ease and cost-effectiveness of traveling anywhere in the country in less than 4 hours.”

DFWSEM members are proud to have worked with the competent and friendly team of Google sales professionals that will soon be forced to make the decision to either leave Dallas or leave Google.

“Our association members have worked with many different vertical Google sales offices across the country, and the general consensus is that the Dallas Google office was one of the best, if not the best team to work with,” said Rob Garner, DFW SEM president. “The Dallas Google office has supported the association and the North Texas search industry from the beginning, and their presence will be greatly missed.”

In order to show our appreciation, all current Google members are invited to attend the DFWSEM’s quarterly meeting on July 16 at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas for a night of networking and education. There will be many search engine marketers present that are sure to have opportunities for those Googlers that choose to stay in Dallas.

About the DFW Search Engine Marketing Association (DFWSEM)
The Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Organization (DFWSEM) is dedicated to education and promotion of the Dallas/Fort Worth search engine marketing industry, conversing various topics related to search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click search (PPC), as well as other emerging media. The group meets quarterly at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson, Texas, and is open to anyone interested in search engine marketing, including in-house marketers, independent consultants, and agencies. Initially founded in 2003, DFWSEM is the oldest and longest running local search engine marketing group/meetup in the country. Member agencies include DexterityMedia, Vizion Interactive, iCrossing, Range Online Media, Key Relevance, MarketNet, AffGoo, Creative Support, Did-it, SearchDex, WrightIMC, and Bridgepose.

Past presenters to the DFWSEM Association include Google, MSN, Idearc Superpages.com, ClickTracks, MIVA, Business.com, The Dallas Morning News, Dan Thies, AffGoo, Stephen Malouf, WebTrends, Catherine Seda / Seda Communications, Shari Thurow / Grantastic Designs, Vizion Interactive, Agency.com, ClickAssurance, iMediaConnection, and many others. The DFW SEM Association welcomes requests to speak to the group at info@dfwsem.org.

Sponsorships
DFWSEM is sponsored by LeadMaverick ( www.leadmaverick). For additional sponsorship opportunities, see below.

DFWSEM on LinkedIn
You’re invited to join our group on LinkedIn. Open to members and non-members. Click the link below to join. (open to all DFW area professionals interested in SEM). http://www.linkedin.com/ groupInvitation?groupID=51948&sharedKey=5251E65726B4. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser’s address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)

Joining DFWSEM
Corporate memberships are $175 for the first year and include three seats to monthly DFWSEM meetings, and individual DFWSEM memberships are $75 for the first year. Additional seats for a Corporate membership are $50/year. For more information, visit http://blog.dfwsem.org.

The DFWSEM Association also maintains a blog to keep members and non-members informed of upcoming events. Visit http://blog.dfwsem.org for more information.

Sponsoring DFWSEM
DFWSEM Association members cumulatively represent over $100,000,000 in annual search engine ad spend, and sponsorship is a great way to get your message in front of this group of decision makers and key influencers. To find out how to sponsor a monthly meeting or other opportunity, contact Tony Wright at tony.wright@wrightimc.com.

DFWSEM Association Board of Directors
President, Rob Garner, iCrossing; Vice President, Tony Wright, WrightIMC; Chairperson, Christine Churchill, KeyRelevance; Vice Chairman, Web, Bill Hartzer, Vizion Interactive; Secretary, Jeff Martin, CardsDirect.com;; Vice Chairman, Mark Jackson, Vizion Interactive; Vice Chairman, Dan Sturdivant, The Leadstream; Vice Chairman, John Bagwell, Bagwell Marketing.

DFWSEM Speakers Bureau
Many members of DFWSEM are actively speaking at various interactive marketing conferences, including SMX, Search Engine Strategies, ad:tech, and WebmasterWorld, among many others. If you are looking for someone to speak about search engine marketing related topics, or would like to interview a member, feel free to contact the group for more information at 214.210.6793.
SOURCE: Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association

WrightIMC for DFWSEM
Tony Wright, 972-516-3853
tony.wright@wrightimc.com
www.dfwsem.org