Is SEMPO important?

I received this question through Linked In today, and I thought I would share my answer/opinion as an FYI for anyone else:

Question:
"LinkedIn
XXXXXX has sent you a message.
Date: 10/10/2009
Subject: Sempo Certfication
Hi Dan,

I'm the Internet Mgr at XXXXXXX in Seattle, quick question...do you feel the Sempo Certification is beneficial? And lastly, are they known as "the cert. to have"?

Thanks...XXXXX"

My answer:
"From what I gather they are known as the Cert to have, and it is beneficial. It is a good foundation for some things. I just do not know how much it cost because LexisNexis paid for it for their entire field sales staff and the team of 8 consultants I was a part of.

Also, like any certification, many people that have it have no clue, and many people that do not have it know a lot more than what's taught in the foundation class. If you read the tutorials and then take the test you will learn some things and have a good foundation upon which to continue to build your Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing knowledge."

Anyway-that's just my opinion.