MJW - Welcome to WPW and it's really cool how you've been able to learn and get 'hooked' on
SEO from this forum. It is a huge industry.
To gain a lot more insight to the industry, you can also watch a lot of the videos on WebPro
News, which is one of WPW's
SEO news outlets (part of the vast iEntry, Inc). A lot of those videos has interviews / coverage on the Search Engine Strategies (SES) workshops, conventions, happening all over the world. If you can make it to one of those, I'm sure you'd find it insightful, not only in equipping you with developments in
SEO, but also in enlightening you more about the profession. I personally haven't attended one yet, but grab the highlights and interviews when I can.
You're on the right track though.
I also agree with one of your points, I do think that all designers should be
SEO-minded. Better
SEO starts with better sites designed with
SEO in mind.