Settling in to Vancouver, WA

Well, I'm getting settled in here in Vancouver, WA. Work is going well and I feel like I'm finally getting a handle on my new day job. As things settle out I've been looking for ways to get involved locally and further expand my skills. It's important to constantly be learning and growing professionally and some of the best ways to do that are to get involved with local organizations.

I'll soon be attending chamber events in Portland. It will be good to network with local businesses and hopefully help with some marketing efforts at the chamber. I have already attended a one chamber meeting and had a great time networking and meeting new people.

One of my goals at my new job is to increase the search engine optimization of our website. Although I know a fair amount about the basics of search engine optimization I have more to learn. Search engine optimization/marketing is a field that is constantly evolving and growing and it takes a lot of effort to stay on top of things. There's a search engine marketing group in Portland called SEMPDX. I look forward to becoming a member there and honing some of my SEO skills.

Finally, I'd like to start attending some Social Media Club PDX meetings. I hear that they host some great events, including a recent presentation from Bryan Rhoads of Intel.

What do you for continuing education? If you're in the Vancouver or Portland area do you have any other suggestions for me? What am I missing?