Portland, March 10th, 2016. A record-breaking crowd of nearly 500 professionals celebrated SearchFest’s ten-year milestone and learned about the event’s new title: Engage. This year, the Northwest’s premier digital marketing conference highlighted the industry’s hottest topics, including: social media advertising, content strategy, paid search and optimizing for mobile devices. SearchFest is hosted by SEMpdx (Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland), a Portland-based nonprofit dedicated to nurturing the development of the digital marketing industry in the greater northwest. Ten percent of the event’s proceeds will go to SEMpdx’s 2016 charity of choice, the Brody Borlaug Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing pediatric immunology to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. (Photo credit, Nina Johnson) 

“Changing SearchFest’s name to ‘Engage’ will speak to a more diverse group of attendees,” said Alan George, President of event organizer, SEMpdx (Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland). “Ten years ago, SearchFest focused on the technical aspects of search engines, while today, the conference offers four different tracks. The name ‘Engage’ encompasses the many directions that attendees can take to customize their experience.”

A capacity crowd of nearly 500 attendees look on as Michael King delivers dynamic closing keynote at SearchFest.

A capacity crowd of nearly 500 attendees look on as Michael King delivers dynamic closing keynote at SearchFest.

The sold out SearchFest crowd participates in one of the 16 sessions throughout the day.

A capacity crowd of nearly 500 attendees look on as Michael King delivers dynamic closing keynote at SearchFest.

Once again, this year’s SearchFest sold out and redefined the conference’s capacity. It was attended by guests as far away as Australia and also nearby prominent Pacific Northwest companies including Vacasa, Keen Footwear and Microsoft. Presenters come from all over the world to speak at SearchFest (Australia, Germany and Nashville) from companies like Salesforce and Moz. This was the first year that SearchFest had the support from a presenting sponsor, Yext.

From SEMpdx:

Video bundles are available for those who could attend SearchFest 2016 and for those who could not. For those who did not attend SearchFest 2016, pricing levels range from $199 – $299, depending on SEMpdx membership. Those who did attended SearchFest 2016 will receive the video bundle for free. The entire conference will be available to stream onto various devices unlimited times. Each video will be packaged with the presenter’s slide deck and will be available for viewing in four to six weeks.

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