Elephate in the Room
Join outsider Derrek Carriveau as he navigates the ever-changing world of marketing, SEO and beyond with the help of the industry’s best and brightest minds. In this unconventional and funny weekly podcast, our host might not have all of the answers, but he certainly has a lot of questions.
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Episode 29 – Two of a Kind with Alexis Sanders & Tomek Rudzki
Something a little different today – two enter the room! Alexis Sanders and Tomek Rudzki join us today, mainly so these Twitter buddies could talk to each other. Alexis does SEO and SEO Experiments at Merkle, and Tomek is an R&D Specialist and Technical SEO for Elephate. Along with their conversation, we find out which fictional world Alexis live in and Tomek’s favorite sandwich.
Episode 28 – Carpenter or Lumberjack with Dominic Woodman
Dominic Woodman works at Distilled, runs teflSearch, and blogs at http://domwoodman.com. Despite the many technical problems we manage to learn his favorite sandwich, whether he has fallen asleep during a meeting, and which kind of wood man he would be. Be warned, the audio is not great at times.
Episode 27 – Flying Colors with Jill Quick
Jill Quick is a Digital Marketing Trainer and Speaker. She’s the Co-founder of The Coloring In Department and has trained, along with her partner, over 65,000 people in her career. In this episode, we find out which consumer product she would endorse, her experience as an extra in a movie, and her favorite alternate use of Jill.
Episode 26 – Lasagna & La Palomas with Hannah Thorpe
Hannah Thorpe is the Business Director for Found Online and was the UK Search Awards Young Search Professional of the Year 2017. In this episode, we find out what the top answers are for “Hannah is…” on Google, whether she has drunk liquor straight from the bottle, and her knowledge of London landmarks.
Episode 25 – All Out of Bubblegum with Greg Gifford
Greg Gifford is Vice President of Search at DealerOn, Inc. He is all about Local SEO, Internet marketing, web design, and photography. In this episode, we find out about his Polish doppelganger, which item he tends to impulse purchase online while drunk, and his preferred punk rock Greg.
Episode 24 – White Papers & Black Jeans with Rachel Costello
Creative-type turned professional Rachel Costello is a Technical SEO at DeepCrawl, as well as a Brighton SEO speaker. In the Room this week, we find out about her favorite item of clothing as a kid, which male character she has dressed up as, and her choice between vampires or werewolves.
Episode 23 – On the Run with Christi Olson
Entering the Room, we have Christi Olson, a Search Evangelist at Microsoft in Seattle, Washington. For more than a decade Christi has been a student and practitioner of SEM. In this episode, we find out if Content is King and Context is Queen – what’s the Jack? We also learn about Christi’s karaoke level, her preferred AI – Data or Vision, and so much more.
Episode 22 – Getting it Done with Sam Marsden
Sam Marsden is an SEO and Content Manager at DeepCrawl, a Brighton SEO speaker, and a SEJ and State of Digital columnist. In this week’s episode, Marsden enters the Room and we find out what his hidden talent is, whether or not he has accidentally sent someone to the hospital, and if he pronounces it GIF or JIF.
Episode 21 – Paging Dr. Foodie with Raffaele Asquer
Raffaele Asquer is the SEO project manager at Internet Brands. He is also the creator of Foodiamo, the Italian guide to Italian Food in Los Angeles, CA. Raffaele has a Ph.D. in Poli Sci from UCLA and is a Scuola Normale Alumnus. Entering the Room, we find out which sitcom he would live in, about his poker face (or lack thereof) and his take on the frozen pizza vs canned spaghetti debate, along with much, much more.
Episode 20 – Injuries, Balloons and Mindfulness with Patrick Kozakiewicz
Patrick Kozakiewicz is the Chief Evangelist at SecurionPay, the co-founder at Uloo.me, and works at IBM Polska. He is known for his work with mindfulness, his dedication to veganism, and his expertise in agile. We also get to find out what he named his first car, about his near-death experience, and his preferred goat-based story.
Episode 19 – Wake Up Screaming with Vinnie Saletto
You might not know his name, but faithful listeners to this podcast already know his music. Vinnie Saletto, one half of the electronic band Giant Monsters on the Horizon (whose music we use for this podcast), is an independent multi-instrumentalist and philanthropist in St. Louis, MO. Saletto has been involved in over 45 albums in his long career. He enters the Room this week to talk about his work and how he markets it, as well as the commercial jingle that gets stuck in his head and his choice between Genesis and Pink Floyd.
Episode 18: Duke or Skywalker with Luke Carthy
Luke Carthy is a Technical E-Commerce SEO with over 14 years of experience and a digital conference speaker. Carthy enters the Room to listen to Derrek’s attempts at some Brummie slang, and to discuss his work as Digital Lead at Mayflex, why having a doppelganger is bad for your liver, and which pop culture Luke is better.
Episode 17: Heavy Metal & Haircuts with Michelle Robbins
Michelle Robbins is currently getting ready to start the next chapter in her life, but what she’s already accomplished as a technology, marketing, and media professional is astonishing. As she enters the Room, we discuss all of the different roles she’s had as a team leader, analyst, engineer, product manager, web applications developer, digital marketing and content strategist, editor, writer, speaker and so on, her involvement with Women in Technology International, one of her celebrity encounters, and her preferred Wonder Woman villain.
Episode 16: The Strangest Thing with Joe Davison
You might not know his name, but chances are you’ve seen his work. Joe Davison is an actor, director, and scriptwriter who has been a part of numerous movies either in front of or behind the camera in his 20-plus career. Most recently, he was seen in season 2 of the hit series Stranger Things on Netflix. His career continues to evolve with his own production company – Red Gears Studios. Joe enters the Room to talk with Derrek about his career, marketing his projects over the years, his so-close-he-could-touch-it experience with almost being cast in This is Us, his inspirational story about his work on Stranger Things, and LOTS more.
Episode 15: Chaos, Mermaids & Rogues with Jamie Alberico
Entering the Room today is Jamie Alberico, a Marketing-dev hybrid “deftly skilled at solving riddles and overcoming boundaries,” as well as the SEO product owner for Arrow Electronics and the technical website consultant for Not a Robot. In this fascinating conversation, Derrek finds out about Alberico’s first job, whether she would prefer to control fire or water, and her choice between The Sandman and Watchmen.
Episode 14: Joost de Valk
Joost de Valk has an extensive background in SEO, digital marketing and web developing, and has managed to work with several large international brands. But most people know him as the CEO and founder of Yoast – an empowering software that allows people to build and maintain visible websites (over 8 million websites at the moment). In this episode, de Valk enters the Room to talk about the story behind Yoast, his most impressive Lego build, and would he rather have nine fingers or 12 toes.
Episode 13: Francois Goube
Entrepreneur Francois Goube is the CEO and founder of Oncrawl who confesses to having a weird passion for data, SEO and algorithms. Luckily for him, Derrek has a weird passion for asking off-the-wall questions. Goube enters the Room to talk about what it means to be an entrepreneur, his work with Oncrawl, and whether or not he’d prefer to have a cat with a dog’s personality or a dog with a cat’s personality.
Episode 12: Jono Alderson
Yoast’s “deliberately ambiguous” Mentalist Jono Alderson is a man who wears a lot of different hats: digital strategist, marketing technologist, full stack developer, futurologist, keynote speaker…the list goes on and on. Think of him as marketing’s version of Doctor Who. He has over a decade of experience in digital strategy, including SEO, analytics, brand strategy, campaign strategy and more. He’s also a regular fixture at SEO and digital conferences and events all over the world. Jono enters the Room to talk about his unusual and funny path in getting a job at Yoast, applying futurology to established brands, and cannibalistic dolphins.
Episode 11: Purna Virji
Purna Virji is a Senior Manager of Global Engagement at Microsoft where she is a specialist in Voice Search, Conversational UX, Chatbots, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Marketing. She is also an international keynote speaker at conferences such as The Next Web, AdWeek, and INBOUND and was ranked by PPC Hero as the #1 Most Influential PPC expert in the world in 2016. On top of all of that, Virji is a former award-winning journalist, avid traveler, aspiring top chef, and amateur knitter. In her conversation with Derrek in the Room, Virji covers many of the things listed above, as well as what type of Olympic athlete she would be, about a contest she’s won, and her opinion on certain fictional journalists. Length: 33:56
Episode 10: Tim Soulo
Tim Soulo is the head of marketing and product strategy at Ahrefs, one of the industry’s leading SEO tools. With 7 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing, Soulo eagerly shares his knowledge by publishing data-driven research studies and detailed SEO guides at Ahrefs’ blog. He also runs a successful YouTube channel for Ahrefs which recently surpassed 1 million views. This week, Soulo enters the Room to talk about writing content, psychological experiments, and how he feels about too-small shoes. Length: 40:51
Episode 9: Tom Anthony
Tom Anthony started building websites 20 years ago, and has been doing SEO for over a decade. He is the VP Product at Distilled, where he conceived of an SEO A/B testing platform, and currently leads the team that built it. In this engaging and funny conversation, Anthony enters the Room to talk with Derrek about his PhD work, his work at Distilled, AI and whether or not cereal is soup. Length: 45:23
Episode 8: Fernando Angulo
Fernando Angulo is currently Head of International Partnerships at SEMrush. He is actively involved in the search marketing world and a regular speaker at Digital Marketing and Ecommerce conferences and events worldwide. He is a specialist in Competitive Intelligence and Competitors Research, SEO and Paid Traffic Strategies for Ecommerce and online business. Derrek talks with Angulo about his past as a travel agent and living in Russia, as well as influencer marketing and his preference between nap time or Hammer time. Length: 38:07
Episode 7: Marcus Tandler
Marcus Tandler is a self-described search geek who has been working in SEO since 1997. He is the Managing Director at Ryte.com, which he co-founded. Much like Ryte’s innovative software, Tandler has won several awards, but none of those awards prepared Tandler for the lightning round question that nearly destroys him. In this fun conversation, Derrek picks Tandler’s brain to talk about SEOktoberfest, his famous dismissal of Google, public speaking and more. As an added bonus, you get to hear Derrek’s incredible mispronunciation of some German beers. Length: 45:40
Episode 6: Marty Weintraub
Entrepreneur, author, and speaker Marty Weintraub keeps Derrek and Christian on their toes as they navigate marketing, psychographic targeting, and being a rock star. A lot of ground is covered in this fascinating and funny conversation as Elephate in the Room reaches another high-water mark. Length: 1:00:45
Episode 5: Kris Jones
Entrepreneur extraordinaire Kris Jones joins Derrek to talk about the seemingly infinite companies he runs and his early days working in politics. The conversation hits on a lot of pop culture as well as some solid advice from Jones on why eureka moments are overrated. They also touch on Jones’ partnership with Damon Wayans Jr. and the Special Guest App. Length: 58:18
Episode 4: Robert Hansen
Robert Hansen is a veteran in computer security, known to many in the industry by the handle “RSnake”. His decades’ long career has had an enormous impact on the way we use the Internet. Currently, he is the Chief Technology Officer for Bit Discovery which is focused on corporate discovery and business intelligence, and he works as a consultant with various agencies and industries. It is said that nearly no one knows the Internet as well as Hansen. With that in mind, Derrek got the chance to pick Hansen’s brain and talk to him about his career, data privacy in the modern age, and whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich. Length: 46:38 minutes.
Episode 3: Aleyda Solis
Aleyda Solis has been listed in Forbes and Entrepreneur, featured in Huff Po, and most recently won the 2018 European Search Awards’ “Personality of the Year”, but none of this could have prepared her for Elephate in the Room. The international SEO consultant and owner of Orainti sat down with Derrek and Christian to explain the importance of SEO, how she manages her time both on and off the road, and her love for KFC. Length: 51:32 minutes
Episode 2: Jennifer Hoffman
Jennifer Hoffman, the Marketing Director at DeepCrawl, joins us for our second episode. Hoffman drops a ton of marketing knowledge on Derrek and Christian, including the best marketing jargon to use to sound smart and her thoughts on Wendy’s current marketing strategy. The conversation also touches on the one thing everyone looks stupid doing, Hoffman’s original plans after college before heading into marketing, and…robbing a bank? Length: 39:08 minutes.
Episode 1: Cindy Krum
We kick off Elephate in the Room with Cindy Krum, the CEO/founder of MobileMoxie and a thought leader in Mobile SEO. We talk about her interest in audiobooks, how she ended up in Denver, Colorado, her predictions for Mobile SEO in 2018 and beyond, and much more. Length: 44:29 minutes.