Dana Todd:
CLASS OF 1983
Tipton High SchoolClass of 1983
Tipton, OK
University of Georgia - JournalismClass of 1991
Athens, GA
Matthews Junior High SchoolClass of 1979
Lubbock, TX
Abernathy Junior High SchoolClass of 1978
Abernathy, TX
Bowie Elementary SchoolClass of 1976
Midland, TX
Dana's Story
College
I took the nine-year route to a college degree, changing my major at least three times. Attended Cameron U, followed by a series of community colleges, then OU, then finally completed a degree in Advertising from University of Georgia. In between, I was furthering my career as a journalist, working at papers in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Georgia.
Now, I'm actually teaching people in my industry (Internet) through conferences and expert speaker roles around the US. I am an expert witness in a trial involving a major search engine -- very exciting!
I may or may not go back to school to get an MBA. I'd really like to pick up some more business skills. Or, if I ever get bored with Internet marketing, maybe I'll go back to school and become a psychologist. You never know...
Workplace
Wow, how to describe what I'm doing now...
It seems like the culmination of my entire life, everything I've ever done. I sort of fell into this wacky Internet thing when I had a falling out with my business partner in a small ad agency. I met some people at a new company called Bien Logic, which was building these things called "web sites" in 1995. I joined them in early 1996, and started working as an account executive on major accounts, developing awesome sites for companies like the San Diego Zoo, SDG&E, and other large San Diego companies.
At the end of that year, our boss said that the investors wanted to shut down our division, so that they cou...Expand for more
ld focus on software development. Three of my fellow execs and I decided to do a buyout of the company. By the end of 1997, we had paid off and fully owned our Interactive Agency, which we renamed SiteLab International Inc.
Since then, we've become one of the Top 100 agencies in the US, with major clients such as Intel, WD-40 and TurboTax. I have not been bored since 1996, I can honestly say. This industry has me jumping all the time -- it's constantly changing, and very exciting. I get to work with really brilliant people, and our staff of 17 are practically like my family.
In the last few years, I've gained a bit of "fame" in our industry as an expert in the field of search engine marketing. If you're not in the industry, it's a little hard to understand, but basically we try to make companies more visible in Google and other major search engines. I speak at conferences all over the US (all that Speech and Theatre paid off!), and am called on by the press for quotes in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, TheStreet.com, RedHerring and CNET.
Big Fish, Small pond, I know, but I'm so passionate about the subject that I can easily spend all my time studying it.
I'm the happiest I've ever been, and I intend to keep growing our company into a multi-national conglomerate~!
ADDENDUM-
Got a new startup, Newsforce, in the internet news/ad space, naturally. Working on getting venture funding, with hopes of becoming the next Google...
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