This week has been a big milestone for Ayima as a company, with many big announcements and changes taking place at our AyimaCon 2012 internal conference. With over 40 staff in attendance, including many from our overseas offices, the weeklong event has included 43 presentations, 15 varieties of Pick 'n' Mix candy, 2 barbecues (Rob vs. MJ), 1 LondonSEO and a rooftop garden party in Kensington.
One of the biggest announcements was the launch of Ayima Labs, a new department headed up by former Director of Search, Rob Kerry. Ayima Labs will be a Research & Development division, primarily building SaaS (Software as a Service) apps powered by Ayima's existing (and new) technology.
This will be the start of Ayima opening up its vast amounts of data to people outside of the company's current client base. Joining Rob will be Senior Developer, Dan Smith (creator of Redirect Path), and Jay Galsworthy, Creative Director at Ayima's design agency, DesignBuzz.
Ayima Labs expects the team to greatly increase in size as more technology is developed, maintained and supported. Projects under development include a website collaboration app, social monitoring and insight, reputation management and a rather awesome SEO suite targeted towards SMEs.
With the launch of Ayima Labs, Carl Hendy has been promoted to Head of Search, having already been a major influence and driving force behind Ayima's client strategies. Carl will continue to work with one of Ayima's biggest clients, whilst also supporting and growing the SEO team. Ayima's team of expert SEO consultants has doubled in the past 12 months, a sizeable accomplishment when less than 2% of applicants make it through to the interview stage and the perfect Ayima consultant takes 6-12 months to find.
Rob Kerry will continue to speak at SEO conferences, but will also take a more active interest in the London start-up scene and technology events.
It was also announced at AyimaCon that David Burgess was promoted to the position of Client Services Director (US), in recognition for his work in building out Ayima's New York operation and exceptional client management.
