SEMPO,  a non-profit professional association working to increase awareness and promote the value of search engine marketing worldwide, will kick off their new sem seo training on January 15, 2007. The online SEM Fundamentals program will be offered through the SEMPO Institute. SEMPO will also offer two additional certificate courses sometime during the first quarter, Advanced SEO and Advanced Search Advertising. Members and non members alike will be eligible to take the courses. Pricing  is set for each course as follows; SEM Fundamentals, $499 - Advanced SEO, $1750 - Advanced Search Advertising, $2250 with discounts for SEMPO members, miltary members, students, and bulk purchases.  The announcement email also included this; 

SEMPO will cover topics such as: the history of search engines, how search engines work, the latest innovations within the search world, links and directories, seo fundamentals of web site design, copyrighting, common seo roadblocks, search engine submissions, pay-per-click, and tracking and reporting your SEM efforts. And, of course, at the end of the course, a list of resources will assist you in learning the industry’s best practices and ever-changing nuances of search.