Dave Thomas
Reviews & References
"Dave is clearly an SEO savant and I like learning from him. Leading multiple analyses and different tool development has been really inspiring to me as a CS&P team member because it provides insight into a very technical approach to SEO...I admire your ability to juggle many projects at once and stay on-track with feedback from the client and CS&P. You also are very helpful in connecting the dots across Paid and Organic and staying abreast of industry trends and updates. Thank you for being great to work with and always having your best foot forward."
Director, Client Services, Dec 2025
"I have tapped Dave, as one of our NYC locals to help on pitches...He has been willing and able to step up and raise a hand. Dave has continued to showcase a level-headed demeanor even in situations that have been a bit more challenging. Dave is a great advocate for his team and is often thinking about their advancement."
VP, SEO, Nov 2025
"[Dave should continue] Keeping a calm and collected approach to shake ups on the account - there's always a solution and no problem is too much for the team! Being kind - I can't express how far that goes [while] keeping me motivated and making me feel welcomed on the team during some shaky transitions! Even when receiving feedback, I can tell it's coming from a good place to make our clients happy and to improve me as an SEO professional."
Manager, SEO, Nov 2025
"Dave is always willing to help and adjust timelines where needed. I love all the news and updates he shares from client calls in the Teams chat and how quickly he jumps in to help deliverables where needed. We don't work on deliverables together often but all deliverables I have seen come through from him are invaluable and are great resources not only for myself but for the team as a whole."
Sr. Specialist, SEO, Nov 2025
"I have always felt Dave has an incredible demeanor to be able to navigate these types of [difficult] landscapes. He understands the role he can play, is a willing participant and does not feel a requirement to over-control situations. Through this, I have seen a lot of opportunity for Dave within the integrated team. He has been asked to step in to help smooth out client situations. He has been asked to step into pitches. He has been put in positions of cross-channel and client leadership that have given him numerous opportunities to demonstrate his abilities."
VP, SEO, Dec 2024
"As a director, Dave has consistently demonstrated exceptional business acumen, playing a key role in the success of our business line (always keeping us on track with key performance metrics and goals). He is always ready to take on challenges, showcasing remarkable flexibility...Dave is actively involved with the team, fostering a collaborative environment, and he stands out for not only being a strong performer, but fostering a growth mentality across the team. On top of his high professional standards, Dave is known for being super nice and generally lovely to work with, creating a positive and enjoyable work atmosphere. His leadership style combines competence with approachability, making him an asset to the team."
Director, SEO, Nov 2023
"Dave has been a good partner this year. I appreciated his help in getting new [client] projects up and running, and his help to identify and solve challenges that arose during the year - specifically, there was a lack of communication and alignment between two teams. He helped me pinpoint the issue and supported the conversations needed to gain alignment and move forward. He communicates well and I know I can trust that he will accomplish what he commits to taking on."
Sr. Director, Client Services, Nov 2023
Triple C Camp
Project Description
Triple C Camp is an established day camp in Charlottesville and they wanted to boost registrations for 2014. They are one of the more expensive camps in the area, so to prove their value, I worked with the Vibethink team to shift their brand perception and show them for what they are - incredibly fun as well as experts in childhood development.
Campaign: Campers' Eyes vs. Parents' Eyes
Triple C already had the fun and exciting side of camp down, but they had a whole side of their business that they were not sharing with the community. When I toured the camp with the Vibethink team, it became clear how much thought and research went into each and every activity and program around camp. The goal of the project became highlighting the child development side of Triple C without sacrificing any of the fun. The duality of the camp activities and programs led to the creation of a campaign to show how the excitement from the camper's perspective was also providing them with developmental skills from the parent's perspective.
Radio Advertising
I worked with the Charlottesville Radio group and Triple C parents and campers to create radio ads that were authentic and captured a diverse range of ages and genders. The ads played on 106.1 The Corner and Z95.1 to reach parents ages 30 and up. For more information about my work with radio, visit my Media Portfolio.
Print Advertising
To convey the dual perspectives of camp in print, I worked with a designer to find exciting photos of campers entranced in an activity and overlayed them with text that brought the childhood development home.
Website
I worked with the Triple C camp directors on content strategy and copywriting to build out the new website tripleccamp.com. Then after the website was launched, I used the new branding throughout the campaign.
Social Media
Along with sharing the radio and print ads on social media, I developed a posting calendar to schedule out thought leadership posts, parent testimonials, and camp updates. Then I worked with the advertising budget to promote Facebook posts to parents of potential campers in the area.
Direct Mail
To reward parents who had sent their children to camp the previous year, I coordinated the sending of photo mailers. Parents received a photo of their child at camp with a thank you note from the directors on the back. The mailers were sent at the beginning of the year to put Triple C back in parents' minds and encourage early registrations.
Sponsored Article
To tell the story of Triple C Camp through the perspective of former campers and counselors, I collaborated with the Vibethink team and C-Ville Weekly to develop a multimedia article. For more information about my work with the Triple C sponsored article, visit my Media Portfolio.
Video
As a final push for registrations and to build up excitement for registered campers, I worked with the Vibethink team and Filament Productions to create a summer trailer for Triple C. For more information about my work with the Triple C summer trailer video, visit my Media Portfolio.
Portfolio Website
Project Description
Things are about to get meta. The goal of my portfolio site was to present the projects I had worked on in a clean and simple manner along with my resume and contact information. Also, the website had to be responsive for anyone searching on their phone or tablet.
Wireframes
I started by sketching out wireframes of the site. I organized the content to make it naturally flow down the page with the focus on my portfolio.
Background
I wanted to choose something personal for the background of the site. I used a photo I took of the beach at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, where my extended family has vacationed every year for my entire life. I applied a blur effect, but did not alter any of the colors.
Mobile First
Knowing that I wanted the site to be browsed on any device, I started to design mocks of the site from a mobile first perspective.
Responsive
I used ZURB's Foundation framework to build the site on a responsive grid allowing it to work on any screen size.
Enjoy!
I hope you've enjoyed my portfolio website. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.
Bypass Truth Coalition
Project Description
The proposed Western Bypass has been a hot topic in Charlottesville with strong opinions on both sides. The Charlottesville Bypass Truth Coalition wanted a social media marketing campaign to showcase more cost-effective alternatives that would relieve more traffic, shed light on the stances of all the Board of Supervisors candidates, and let the community know that they still have a voice when it comes to the proposed bypass.
Campaign: Social Hub
Wanting to show a critical mass of community members opposed to the proposed bypass, I developed an online hub centered around a Facebook Cause Page for the Coalition to reach the parents, grandparents, and residents where they spend their time. With a focus on crafting campaigns that promoted engagement and utilized a combination of marketing graphics, videos, audio, and advertising I was able take the Page from 0 to 1,153 Likes in 3.5 months, showing that there were over a thousand individuals standing up to the issue.
Facebook Page
As the digital hub of the campaign, I designed the Facebook page to be an open community for residents to discuss the issue. The cover photos highlighted coalition members and the custom tabs I created allowed members to see profiles on the Board of Supervisors candidates and reference articles on the progression of the bypass.
Website
For those Coalition members not as familiar with social media, I updated the Bypass Truth website with news, events, and candidate profiles. The website also allowed members to sign up for the email list and keep up with the latest posts on Facebook and Twitter.
For those Coalition members who wanted to receive updates right in their inbox, I set Bypass Truth up on MailChimp and created an email template that they could use to get the word out about important events and announcements.
Social Graphics
Using facts about the proposed bypass, I designed marketing graphics that could be posted to the Coalition's social channels that would encourage members to educate themselves, engage in discussion, and ultimately spread the word to other individuals in the community.
Thinglink
I used Thinglink to combine photos of the candidates with audio, video, quotes, and articles to allow voters the opportunity to explore each candidate's views on the proposed Western Bypass.
Video Interviews
Interviews by the members of the Coalition were used to put a face to the organization and show that it was made up of concerned individuals wanting alternatives to be considered.
Milestones
To reinforce the number of individuals who were encouraging alternatives to the proposed bypass, milestones were celebrated on the Facebook page and website.
Press
Numerous press articles were generated by The Daily Progress, Newsplex, NBC29, C-ville Weekly, and others discussing the Coalition's role in getting the word out about the Western Bypass and if it could affect future plans for the road.
Tom Tom Founders Festival
Project Description
Tom Tom needed to refocus on innovation after its first year as a music festival. An increase in attendance would show value to its sponsors and audience.
Campaign: Focus the Message
With community members still being confused about what Tom Tom was, I worked with the Vibethink team to consolidate the complex Tom Tom brand into a simple, compelling narrative: "Tom Tom Founders Festival. April 11 - 14. Art, Innovation, and Music. All Free."
Guerrilla Marketing
Special concerts, exclusive events, and physical displays were used to generate excitement and build anticipation for the festival that year.
Advertising
I created digital and social advertising which captured nearly 5 million impressions and 15,000 clicks in the 3 months leading up to the festival.
Social Media
By connecting to the innovation and start-up community in Charlottesville, I helped Tom Tom nearly triple its followers both on Facebook and on Twitter. This also ensured that the messages about the innovation events were heard and attended by the right audience.
Volunteers
The festival had a lot of support from its network of volunteers. I helped coordinate promotional efforts and meetings with the volunteers and the festival staff.
The Event
The Tom Tom Festival had a strong turnout its second year. With a post-festival survey I created, the staff was able to hear back from the attendees about what they enjoyed and what could be improved for next year.
Easy Star All-Stars
Project Description
Easy Star All-Stars are a reggae band who records epic tribute albums. They needed a marketing campaign to excite their large, devoted fanbase for the release of their new album, a cover of Michael Jackson's Thriller entitled Thrillah.
Campaign: Guess the Album
Since fans always loved guessing what the next tribute album would be, I worked with the Vibethink team to turn that experience into a game. Fans were given the opportunity to vote on what they thought the next album would be. The contest generated 5,000 social likes and brought the band 6,000 new email addresses.
The Game
The contest allowed fans to vote on the next tribute album from among 25 classic records. The embedded Spotify players let visitors stream whole albums while casting their votes. After voting, fans were given a free three-track EP and another EP if they chose to share the contest to Facebook.
Album Knock Off
Each day over the course of a month an album was eliminated from the list, encouraging repeat visits by curious fans.
Album Reveal
The album was announced to be a tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller with a new landing page dedicated to the presale and the newly released Billie Jean EP. I went to work promoting the album presale and EP release through social advertising. The ads targeted fans of Easy Star All-Stars along with potential fans who were interested in similar bands.
Sharing and Listening
The landing page allowed fans to share the new album release with friends in order to listen to the new single Billie Jean or download it for free by entering their email. The page was shared over 4,000 times on its first day live.
Album Release
Both Easy Star's Thrillah album and Billie Jean EP debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae chart when they were released.
SceneThink
Project Description
With national calendar services missing out on local bands and local venues each having their own calendars, there was a need in Charlottesville for a go-to source to find out what concerts were happening, where they were, and when. As an internal project, I worked with the Vibethink team to create SceneThink to meet this need as well as provide a way to discover local and national bands. SceneThink is now being used by C-Ville Weekly as their events calendar.
The Responsive Web App
SceneThink was built for users who were looking up concerts on the go. It was developed as a web app that could be downloaded to a phone home screen. The website was also responsive, allowing it to look great on any screen size.
Content Entry
In order for SceneThink to gain traction it had to be functional right away. I scoured the internet and local venues for concert dates, artists, bios, and media to enter into the WordPress backend.
Promotion
I worked with the team to develop email blasts and posters for SceneThink that would be used to get the word out.
Community Participation
To collect photos and videos of local artists, I designed a graphic to encourage users to submit their own media.
Artist Participation
The local artists were contacted with invitations on their social channels to let them know that they were a part of SceneThink. The musicians were then able to help fill out their profiles and show schedules.
