Jairus Mitchell
  Program Manager - SEO
  Red Hat
 

Jairus Mitchell, the Program Manager of SEO at Red Hat, told us about the challenges of getting SEO buy-in at an open source company. He said the best way to get people on board is to be a teacher and spokesperson and not portray optimization as magic.

  Jolene Pierangeli
  Associate Director, Digital Marketing
  Mylan
 

Jolene Pierangeli, the Associate Director of Digital Marketing at Mylan, described achieving SEO success with just one person or a small team. She elaborated on the importance of helping everyone understand SEO, elevating SEO in the organization, and building dashboards to manage the data.

  Scott Lavelle
  Director, Global SEO Marketing
  OpenTable
 

Scott Lavelle, the Director of Global SEO Marketing at OpenTable, opened his session explaining how to become successful in your work life. It is important to avoid barriers, such as fearing change and doubting yourself. You need to recognize your moment, prepare, practice, and take the opportunity.

   Adam Audette
   SVP of SEO
   Merkle
 

Adam Audette, the SVP of SEO at Merkle, spoke about the “digital mind” and hacks to grow your career. In his 8 step career algorithm, he explored the importance of actually ‘doing,’ following great leads, and not being afraid to make mistakes or ask for help.

  Mel Carson
  US Brand Ambassador
  Majestic Delightful Communications
 

Mel Carson, the US Brand Ambassador for Majestic and the founder of Delightful Communications, discussed the importance of building a personal brand. By doing so, professionals can make themselves more discoverable, shareable, and memorable. This involves thinking about how you fit in your team, how to project your expertise and skills, and making the right connections.

     Dave Lloyd
     Principal Consultant, Optimization and Personalization
     Adobe
 

Dave Lloyd is the Principal Consultant of Optimization and Personalization at Adobe. He spoke about aligning personal goals with the company and team to help you grow both within your personal skill set and in your career. He addressed the importance of asking for feedback and being willing to revisit data. Lloyd also touched upon the importance of using creative storytelling to get buy-in from executives.

 
  

Eric Hess

Senior Program Manager, Content and SEO
REI

 
  

Ryan Ricketts

SEO Program Manager
REI

 

Eric Hess and Ryan Rickets, Program Managers of SEO at REI, addressed the idea of splitting up SEO into Content and Technical Aspects. The two of them are a team where one handles the technical and one handles the content and they find that the system works well by leveraging the strengths of each.

  Garrett Mehrguth
  CEO
  Directive Consulting
 

Garrett Mehrguth, the CEO of Directive Consulting, spoke about the importance of moving quickly and regularly testing. He believes that testing inputs is essential to SEO. Inputs must be measurable to be used. Mehgruth notes that there is no failing in SEO, there is only learning.

    Mauricio Moreno
    Director of SEO
    Revana Digital
 

Mauricio Moreno, the Director of SEO at Revana Digital, spoke about how to build “Centers of Excellence” and how they are integral to SEO success. Brands need to focus on three stages: pre-content generation, content generation, and analysis. This means identifying the audience and doing the research needed to know what they want to see, creating content that answers those needs, and then watching for good results during analysis.