| Speakers Overview of Search Engine Optimization & Search Engine Marketing 
William McHenry
Assoc. Professor of Management
The University of Akron
| William McHenry, Associate Professor of Management, has been teaching in the area of e-commerce since 1996. Among the more than 40 papers he has published are articles devoted to topics such as relative performance of search engines, enacting knowledge management through the Web, electronic payment systems, and electronic government. Main research areas include computers, information systems and electronic commerce in the countries of the former USSR, the global diffusion of the Internet, and knowledge management systems. In 1999 Professor McHenry completed a large study of the Y2K problem in Russia and testified about this subject before the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Problem.
Presentation Abstract:
Professor McHenry will talk about why search engines are a critical means for bringing customers to your business. He will explain key concepts including types of searches, the underlying reasons why searches are imprecise, and the differences between "natural" and "paid" search. | Makeover Case 1 
Paul Chaffee,
Progress Book
| Paul Chaffee is president and co-founder of Software Answers, Inc. Paul Chaffee & Scott Miller established Software Answers in 1994 as a software consulting and training company. In 2000 Software Answers launched a K-12 educational product, ProgressBook™, which has grown from conception to now having over 40% of the Ohio Public Schools using ProgressBook. Software Answers was started to create an organization that provides quality IT services and attracts employees who enjoy technology and strive for excellence. This goal has proved to be successful since Software Answers has won the Weatherhead 100 award twice, the 2001 Cascade Capital Business Growth award and the NorthCoast 99 award which recognizes the 99 best places to work in Northeast Ohio.
Company Overview:
ProgressBook™ is a K-12 educational application that supports both traditional and the most recent K-12 standards-based educational practices. The ProgressBook application integrates a grade book, lesson plans, attendance, special education and parent access into a single, robust web-based system. ProgressBook enables educators, parents and students to effectively collaborate for a successful educational outcome. | Makeover Case 2  Rick Maselli
President, Maselli Construction Co., Inc.
| Rick Maselli, president of Maselli Construction Co., Inc., has been working in the Home Building and Remodeling industry for nearly 40 years. He has done the hands on work as a skilled carpenter, woodworker and cabinet maker. He also is a licensed Chief Architect, Cad Designer and was a beta tester in the early days of software’s inception. As a Cad Designer, he is able to provide his clients with "permit ready" drawings as well as presenting them with real life 3-D renderings of their plans. Rick also has his own blog site, LevelAdvice.com, where he provides professional advice and information of all aspects of residential construction.
Company Overview:
For nearly 60 years, Maselli Construction Co., Inc., has carried on a tradition of quality custom home building, remodeling and custom cabinetry, and has kept that business tradition in the family. When Tom Maselli founded the company in 1947, it was the first construction company in Summit County to file a building permit. Today, at age 86, Tom still works along with his sons and co-owners, Tim and Rick. The company also provides custom cabinets to it's clients and Rick's son Jason, who is a master cabinet maker, builds just about any type of cabinet imaginable for the company. Maselli Construction Co., Inc. strives to do things the right way because that is what is best for the people they will eventually be working for. They are long standing members of the Better Business Bureau and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. They are fully insured, licensed and bonded and carry Workers Comp. Insurance. | Makeover Case 3 
Steve Trommer
Vice-President, Trommer & Associates, Inc. | Steve has 15 years experience implementing Material Handling and Software solutions for a variety of Clients and Industries. He has assisted clients in the evaluation and development of software and hardware specifications for ERP, WMS and WCS software solutions. He has utilized his knowledge of Material Handling Systems to assist in the development of Computer Simulation models to verify system design applications. Along with his project work he is responsible for the information technologies systems and marketing of the company through traditional methods as well as eBusiness. He serves as an active member of APMHC (Association of Professional Material Handling Consultants).
Company Overview:
Trommer & Associates, Inc. is a Material Handing and Facility Planning Industrial Engineering Firm. The Primary Business is focused on Warehousing, Distribution and Manufacturing Industries. Established in 1975 the primary focus of the firm was Facility Planning Layout. As the firm has grown, it has broadened its business and technology services to include strategic planning, facility and operational improvements, design, information services planning such as ERP, WCS and WMS implementation. Trommer & Associates, Inc. established a website in September 1998 to allow for a better response to perspective clients inquiring about the company and the services we provide. The website allows our firm to hold a prospects’ interest until we were able to be on-site for a face-to-face meeting to discuss their needs. Trommer & Associates, Inc. has established FTP sites to expedite the transfer of large data files, which has improved response time when working with national and international companies. | Search Engine Optimization - Expert Advice 
Geoff Karcher
President, The Karcher Group
| Geoff Karcher, owner and president, founded The Karcher Group in 1997 based on his vision of the Web and how it was growing. He saw business potential in the growth of the internet as early as 1994 when he entered the field as Web sales and marketing specialist. Geoff recognized a need within the industry for agency-quality design backed by solid programming, so he began selling Web sites on his own, out of an office in his parent’s basement. Geoff’s focus on improving business processes through technology allowed his clients to make money, rather than just spend it. This approach, combined with exceptional customer service, has fueled the growth of the company ever since. Today, Geoff remains very involved in all aspects of his business and oversees a staff of 25, including sales, production, IT, and SEO personnel. Geoff's favorite part of his job, though, is working with clients to make the Web useful for them. Since the beginning, he has worked to skillfully position The Karcher Group to stay at the forefront of the Web business. In fact, he began offering search engine marketing services as early as 1999, long before SEO became the industry standard it is today. Geoff speaks nationwide on search engine optimization through Incisive Media’s Search Engine Strategies conferences.
Presentation Abstract:
Geoff Karcher will go over the top 5-10 things that they look at when initially reviewing a Web site that needs to be optimized and go over the strategies/tools/shortcuts that they use to help evaluate a site. For each of the three sites, Geoff will discuss, what is good about what they already have, what needs to be improved, what are the next steps, and prioritize them in terms of importance. | Search Engine Marketing - Expert Advice 
Paul J. Elliott
President, eMergent Marketing
| Paul is the President and Co-Founder of eMergent Marketing, one of the fastest growing search marketing firms in the Midwest. Paul has years of experience in Internet marketing, with a focus on organic search engine optimization and paid search engine marketing. His work has helped many companies achieve significant results and return on investment from their Web sites. Representative clients include well known brands like: Marriott, Hallmark, Dirt Devil, Citizens Bank, National City, Progressive Insurance, Cub Cadet, Kay Jewelers, and many more. Paul is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of eMarketing and Web analytics and for three consecutive years has been named to Crains Cleveland Business Magazine’s “Who’s Who in Technology.” Prior to launching eMergent Marketing, Paul served as the Internet Marketing Manager for Things Remembered, where he was charged with growing qualified site traffic and sales for the ThingsRemembered.com Web site. Prior to that, Paul was the VP of Sales for a Cleveland-based Web design firm and started his career as a business process consultant with IBM.
Presentation Abstract:
Paul Elliott will cover the following topics in relation to the three makeover sites: Overview of Pay-Per-Click; Proper Goal Setting; Campaign Research and Setup; Defining and Tracking Conversion Points; and Ongoing Campaign Optimization. |
Panel Discussion: The Future of Web-Based Advertising Moderator: Bill McHenry
Panel Members: Jim Kukral, Jeffrey Rohrs, & Susan Lowry
Panel Abstract:
Old advertising models centered around bundling content and ads in media such as television are breaking down as consumers have more and more choices about where, when, and how to consume entertainment. This panel examines these trends and their implications for the future of advertising and Web-based marketing. 
Jeffrey Rohrs,
President,
Optiem, LLC
| Jeffrey K. Rohrs serves a President of Optiem, LLC, a full-service, Internet marketing agency whose clients include Sherwin-Williams, Insurance.com, and Calphalon. A "recovering attorney," Mr. Rohrs is well-versed in marketing law, and he is a featured speaker on legal and emerging issues at Incisive Media's Search Engine Strategies Conferences held in San Jose, New York City, and Chicago. He was also a featured speaker at Marketing Sherpa's inaugural Email Marketing Summit. Mr. Rohrs has been quoted on variety of interactive marketing topics in publications including Advertising Age, Wired.com, Marketing Sherpa, Target Marketing, ClickZ, Inside Business, and The Plain Dealer. Mr. Rohrs received his J.D. and Masters in Mass Communication from Boston University. He received his undergraduate degree from Miami University where he currently serves on the Advisory Board for the school's Interactive Media Studies Program. | 
Jim Kukral,
Online Marketing Guru,
jimkukral.com
| Since 1996, Jim has been working in the Internet industry as a designer, coder, project manager, writer and entrepreneur. Jim's expertise comes in helping people and businesses find success online. He is the publisher of ReveNews.com, and his writing has been featured in publications such as The Buchtelite (1990), all the way up to online publications such as Clickz.com and Builder.com. | 
Susan Lowry
Senior Consultant,
ATTEVO, Inc.
| Susan has over 16 years of business related experience and has had leadership positions including sales, marketing, procurement and engineering. She also has over 8 years of internet and web-enablement experience encompassing content assessment and management, information architecture, web site design, portal applications, and e-strategy for Global 2000 clients. She has also managed one of the top Internet 400 websites on a global level managing development and implementation of site features and functionality. She has designed, written and produced interactive (CD) and web-based training programs and e-learning via portal and internet- based applications. Susan is a United Way volunteer, a Board Member of Mobile Meals Akron, Inc, Advisory Board member for Virginia-Marti College of Art of Design, a returning lecturer for the University of Akron MIS program, and has participated as a panel member for Leadership Akron | Keynote: The Fantastically Wild Success Story of Blogeristic Organization 
Eric Olsen
Founder & Publisher
Blogcritics.org
| After 30 years in every corner of the media, Eric Olsen is now publisher of Blogcritics.org, one of the 25 most successful blogs in the English language and an online publishing phenomenon. He is the co-author/editor of the award-winning Networking in the Music Industry (Rockpress, 1993), one of the more successful and celebrated indie music books of the decade, and of magnum opus The Encyclopedia of Record Producers (Billboad Books, 1999), widely regarded as the standard work in the field. Olsen is also a recording artist/producer himself, having created two CDs of electronic music thus far with partner Mike Crooker as Elliptical. He compiled, produced, and wrote the liner notes for Straight Outta Cleveland (Oglio/Sony, 1995), a wildly successful collection of the Cleveland area's "greatest hits."
Olsen entered the online publishing world, writing for Cleveland.com, MSNBC.com, and founding Internet magazine Blogcritics.org in 2002, which he has edited, published and been lead writer for ever since. From humble beginnings in the early days of the blogosphere, Blogcritics.org has gone on to win numerous awards -- including a Bloggie for Best Music Site and selection as the second best media blog extant -- and has grown to over 1500 writers, 20 editors, and 100,000 readers daily, with many hundreds-of-thousands more reading Blogcritics content via syndication and aggregation.
Keynote Abstract:
Olsen will detail Blogcritics' wild four-year ride from quixotic notion to viable business as one of the fastest growing and most successful independent magazines on the Internet, all with exactly zero outside funding. | |
