Crain's Detroit 40 Under 40 - Derek Mehraban

Crain's 40 under 40 for 2010 features Ingenex Digital Marketing CEO and Instructor of the MSU New Media Driver’s License(sm) Derek Mehraban.

Crain’s Detroit Business has released the winners of the coveted 40 Under 40 featuring Derek Mehraban, CEO of Ingenex Digital Marketing, Instructor of the MSU New Media Driver’s License(sm) and Founder of Lunch Ann Arbor Marketing.

The 19th annual list honors Southeast Michigan’s top men and women who have made an impact in business and in their communities before age 40. Over 300 nominees were submitted and 40 rose to the top as Michigan’s innovators.

Derek Mehraban is a leader in digital marketing. His company, Ingenex Digital Marketing - http://ingenexdigital.com -  serves regional as well as national clients and helps them achieve measurable and dramatic results from their interactive promotions.

The jewel in Mehraban’s crown is creating a virtual trade show website for client Osram Opto Semiconductors which garnered 4,000 visitors and more than 23,500 page views, to start. Mehraban’s creation of a virtual tradeshow was such an overwhelming success, Ingenex and OSRAM Opto Semiconductors will be replicating the event on October 27th for the LED Light for you System Design Workshop

In addition to Derek Mehraban’s entrepreneurial success, he is also a dedicated educator at his alma mater, Michigan State University’s College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Along with Rick Cole, Chairman of MSU’s Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing department, Mehraban created and instructs the New Media Driver’s License(sm), a course that gives students hands-on experience with cutting-edge marketing techniques that give graduates an edge in a competitive job market. Social media, search engine optimization, Google Analytics, pay-per-click ads, blogging, digital public relations and more are subjects that enable students to learn new media in a changing digital landscape.

Mehraban’s latest development in the course is offering the class for corporate marketing training. Now, companies can access digital marketing knowledge to monitor customer conversations, become active in the social community, increase search rankings and more.

Not only is Derek Mehraban an entrepreneur and educator, he is also an active member in the community. In 2008, Mehraban founded Lunch Ann Arbor Marketing, a non-profit marketing education and networking group. The group started as 5 people passionate about making a change in Ann Arbor and has grown in two years to average more than 80 per week and well over 1,000 members.

Through the educational networking nonprofit, many people seeking opportunities have found jobs, companies looking for new ideas have connected with local talent but most importantly, knowledge has been shared throughout the community. LA2M also donates to local charities and has plans to begin scholarships or educational grants for students who desire a career in marketing. For more information about the non-profit, visit:http://la2m.org.

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Connect with Derek:
Facebook: facebook.com/mehraban
Twitter: @Mehraban
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mehraban