Our Staff
Our staff have a variety of backgrounds and experiences, but all have been extensively trained to be experts in their SEM and SEO roles. Our head office is in Oklahoma, with other offices throughout the USA and Australia. Here are our key staff.
Joel Thomas
CEO
Joel Thomas is the entrepreneurial, corporate and commercially creative brain-trust behind the origination and promulgation of Compassive’s remarkable success in the SEM~SEO space. Joel’s and Rob’s synergy drives Compassive’s constant innovation and its plethora of ever-evolving competitive differentiators, including the ongoing development of multiple, proprietary, client results enhancement focused mechanisms, all of with which competitors in the space are unfamiliar. Joel’s remarkable vision for innovation and keen, democratic understanding of the integral need for developing a supremely talented team is surpassed only by his extraordinary passion for producing measurable results for Compassive’s clients. Joel received a broad based education in a variety of subjects and has founded several successful start-ups, dating back to 1991.
Rob Skelton
Software & Tech Manager, Media Liaison
Rob Skelton was born in New Zealand, and after many years travelling settled in Melbourne, Australia, where he lives with his wife and 2 children. Upon completing the reputable Certificate of Creative Writing at RMIT, Rob adeptly rode the wave of the early Internet years, establishing dozens upon dozens of profitable commercial and open source, free culture websites. In the rapidly changing global web environment in which Rob has worked since its inception, Rob’s depth and breadth of knowledge and experience and his cutting edge adaptation skills as a master SEM and SEO guru are broadly recognized among his relatively limited number of actual peers.
Rob held two key positions early on at Google, and in his spare time, concurrent with his extensive involvement in his own plethora of web ventures and global consulting work, founded Freecycle Australia, and grew its membership to 100,000. included in a ridiculously long-list of accomplishments, when AltaVista was at its absolute peak, Rob successfully demonstrated his skills on a wild challenge, managing to somehow get his site for “alta vista” ranked #1… in AltaVista! After being exhaustively head-hunted and finally tracked down in the Outback by Joel Thomas, the pair formed and founded Compassive LLC, with the mission to become the world’s leading experts in the affiliate marketing space. Aside from Compassive, Rob continues to maintain blogs with thousands of subscribers, and his websites have combined traffic of >15,000 visits per day.
Bill Martin
SEM Manager
Prior to joining Compassive in 2006, Bill was the E-commerce manager at Offleascomputer.com. In this role Bill directed all aspects of supply chain management, product distribution, customer relations, process flow optimization, equipment utility upgrades and all technical performance aspects. Before that, over a 25 year span, Bill occupied several roles at the Omniplex Science Museum and Kirkpatrick Planetarium in Oklahoma City, OK, including, Astrophysicist, Technical Director, Television Liaison Scientist, Weekend Show Presenter, Laser Technician , Audio/Video Engineer, Special Effect Designer, Webpage Developer, IMAX Theater Manager and Chief IMAX Projectionist. Bill has a B.S. In Astrophysics with a minor in History from the University of Oklahoma, as well as an Associates Degree in Mathematics from St. Gregory’s University. Bill constructed an impressive dossier in academics, winning a litany of awards and honors for research and performance at both institutions. In 1992, Bill advanced to the qualification stage to compete for the United States Olympic Team in fencing. Currently Bill holds the title of Professor of Martial Arts and is a member of the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
Bill Kinney
SEO Manager
Prior to joining Compassive LLC in 2006, Bill Kinney began by studying business at Oklahoma State University, from where he was hired and became a key Plant Manager for Golf USA for five years, directing supply chain management and distribution for all Golf USA retail stores Worldwide. Bill went from Golf USA to Bluecurrent, to work in the technology asset management services space. For Bluecurrent, Bill was a distinguished Lead Project Manager for 8 years, overseeing all aspects of complex deployments and hardware and software installations for many multi-sector Fortune 100 companies, including Boeing, JPMorganChase and Washington Mutual.
Seth Devoe
Search Marketing Manager
Prior to joining Compassive in 2006, Seth worked as an IT Project Manager at Bluecurrent, Inc. In this position, Seth was responsible for managing numerous global computer hardware and software installation projects for multiple Fortune 500 companies. Seth received his Adwords Qualified Professional accreditation from Google in April of 2007. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Northeastern State University. Seth’s duties include ensuring that Compassive’s clients achieve and maintain an optimal search marketing presence.
John Houston
PPC Manager
Prior to joining Compassive in 2008, John worked for the Hertz Corporation in various Accounting and Management positions for 25 years. The last 15 years, John was the Manager of Customer Relations Administration. In this position, John developed a Worldwide Customer Relations Issues Resolution System and also developed a lauded Worldwide Customer Survey mechanism, using Net Promoter Score (NPS). John also built a unique online data retention system for Hertz which enabled his development of an industry leading metrics formula, which became known as the Customer Dissatisfaction Index (CDI). John received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Jay Doughty
Strategic Accounts Manager
Born on the east coast, Jay Doughty grew up in Kansas and since settled in Texas. In 1999, Jay earned his Bachelor of Science in Journalism, with an emphasis on Business Communications at the University of Kansas. After working for a high-tech PR firm upon graduation, Jay took a position in outside builder sales for a high-end construction supply firm in 2000. After tremendous success, in 2002 Jay helped found a commercial construction company. As the Director of Business Development, Jay created relationships with commercial developers, corporate franchise managers, engineers, architects and sub-contractors. Jay's unique ability to communicate with all levels of the business architecture allowed him to sustain partnerships in the board room as well as the job site. Jay directed the sales team in identifying new opportunities and influencing the continued success of all business relationships.
Jay was ready for a return to the Technology space and in 2009, Jay joined the Compassive team. As the Strategic Accounts Manager, Jay identifies and engages web merchants where Compassive's impressive capabilities bring an indispensable resource directly to merchants. These merchant relationships are founded in developing long-term relationships built on sustainable results and communication.