AUTHOR BIOS

STEPHEN TURCOTTE, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER

Stephen Turcotte founded Backbone Media, Inc. in 1996. As one of the first Internet firms to specialize in search engine positioning, Backbone has grown to be a 13 person firm producing online marketing and website development results for large and small companies. With over eleven years of experience in the Internet marketing industry, Stephen continues to pioneer techniques that combine web development technology with online marketing strategies to drive qualified traffic and sales.

Prior to Backbone Media, Stephen Co Founded Music Interactive, a relational database based online music community and website development firm for the music manufacturing and publishing industry. Music Interactive was founded in 1994 and sold to Hal Leonard Publishing in 1996.

Stephen has been featured or quoted in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, BtoB Online, Boston Business Journal and many other business publication's articles about web marketing. Stephen is a frequent presenter to local audiences on the topic of search engine marketing. The websites he has developed and marketed have been covered by major national media organizations including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Time, CFO, and the BBC.

Stephen is a founding member of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization (SEMPO) and Chair of the SEMPO B-to-B Subcommittee. Stephen is also a leading member of the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX) CEO Roundtable Content Committee.

JOHN CASS, DIRECTOR OF INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGIES

John Cass was formerly the Marketing Director for 48hourprint.com, an online printer based in Boston, where he helped the company dramatically reduce the company's Online Cost Per Acquisition and managed 48hourprint.com's marketing efforts, including pay per click, e-mail, corporate blog and print media. John has also worked for a number of software product companies; including the consumer security products industry and the web load testing industry. A member of the American Marketing Association, John Cass is the 2005/6 President of the Boston Chapter of the AMA. In 2004 he conducted a corporate blogging survey where his research revealed how such companies as Microsoft and Macromedia are using blogs to communicate with their customers.

KRISTINE MUNROE, MARKETING ASSISTANT

Kristine previously worked at EGW Publishing as a marketing assistant and newsletter editor. She worked on getting more traffic to their websites as well as writing and sending out newsletters to the subscribed members. She also worked as a web designer for SearchUp, designing webpages and logos for both the company and for clients. Kristine studied digital graphic design at Expression College for Digital Art in the San Francisco area before coming to the Boston area and directing her career in a more marketing-oriented direction.