And the SEO Community Rejoices
Duane Forrester at 2012 State of Search Conference
Duane Forrester, a favorite speaker at the DFWSEM annual State of Search conference, announced yesterday that after being laid off from Bing two months ago he had a new job and the new job was with…Bing. Yup, you heard that correctly. Duane is back at the job he loved.
SEO Community Cries
When Duane told the world that Microsoft had eliminated his position the SEO community howled loudly. Is it possible those cries were heard?
This Tweet from Barry Adams sums it up nicely.
First they lay off @MelCarson, now they lay off @DuaneForrester: http://t.co/JYXbnZ4of1 Microsoft, you’re a bunch of daft idiots.
— Barry Adams (@badams) October 31, 2014
But Mel Carson’s response was classic.
@badams @DuaneForrester it’s a bummer. But he’ll be fine. Worked out beyond my wildest dreams. And I have pretty wild dreams! — Mel Carson (@MelCarson) October 31, 2014
Plus a sampling of the other tweets.
Dahyum! Not Duane! http://t.co/38bZt1iTBG Hard to imagine @DuaneForrester not being at Bing/Microsoft
— Ronell Smith (@RonellSmith) October 30, 2014
So surprised @Bing would let @DuaneForrester get away. He has been their best advocate & an excellent face for the brand. #DuaneAtGoogle
— Kristine Schachinger (@schachin) October 30, 2014
Matt Cutts Too
Even Matt Cutts, his counterpart at Google got in on the action, even though many are wondering if Matt is on his way out at Google as well.
@DuaneForrester sending you good thoughts today. Thanks for providing info to so many people and tough love when needed.
— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) October 30, 2014
Job Offers Roll In
There was no doubt he would find another job soon and Duane said he had “interviewed with GoDaddy, chatted with eBay, considered working with Nike, fielded emails from Amazon and looked at opportunities with Microsoft.”
Even GlobeRunner, a member agency of DFWSEM, extended him an offer when they wrote 28 Reasons Why Duane Forrester Should Work for Globe Runner. We assume the offer was tongue-in-cheek.
Was Duane Bored?
While Duane was fielding job offers he welcomed a new addition to his home.
Today we welcomed Emily Yoda to our home! http://t.co/Z1n48OYph5 Started at http://t.co/C1BeLiU04W, 3 hours later: http://t.co/HA3kfV8pnB
— duane forrester (@DuaneForrester) December 8, 2014
The Latest Addition to Duane’s Family, Emily Yoda
SEO Community Rejoices
Just minutes after the announcement Twitter blew up with excitement.
Tweets about to:duaneforrester since:2014-12-22 until:2014-12-23
And All is Right With the World
While it might have taken a while for the truth of the message to filter up to the decision-makers at Bing, it is clear that the loss of Duane from Bing left a hole in the SEO world. More than that, it threatened to set the company adrift from the very community that was willing, on the strength of his contribution, to keep the door open, despite its market share challenge.
In the words of Clarence Oddbody from It’s a Wonderful Life:
Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?
Welcome home, Duane. Welcome home!
Thanks to Sha Menz for her contribution to this article.
Picture of Emily Yoda used with permission:
@dfwsem Use as desired. 🙂 (Enjoyed the article, too. Thank you. :))
— duane forrester (@DuaneForrester) December 23, 2014
DFWSEM State of Search Nov 2012 Photo 012 by Grant Wickes by Grant Wickes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.