eMetrics Chicago – Wrapup
Before too much time passes during these dog days of summer, I thought that I’d offer a recap of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit that took place in Chicago recently. First of all, Chicago really digs analytics. Despite a smallish eMetrics crowd of around ~100 or so people, there was lots of energy, young talent and academic interest.
I had the privilege of sharing a few minutes of the opening keynote with Jim Sterne where I made a few announcements about the newly rebranded DAA (Digital Analytics Association). I proudly announced that we transitioned 25% of our Board of Directors by adding new members Eric Feinberg, Peter Fader and Terry Cohen to our diverse assembly of directors. I also took the stage in my new role as President of the DAA and shared my thoughts about the epic journey we’ve collectively embarked on in this industry that we call digital analytics. This is a theme that I reiterated during my closing presentation on The Evolution of Analytics, whereby I concluded, that the future state of evolution is up to each of us to determine.
But speaking of future success, I commend the local DAA Chicago Chapter for the great strides they’ve made in not only organizing our open industry meeting, but also in championing the cause for digital analytics in the windy city. The DAA has much better brand recognition and awareness in Chicago than I thought. But I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised because after all, according to the DAA Compensation scan, Chicago is the second best place to live if your seeking a job in analytics.
Moving onto more details about the conference, Jim Sterne always encourages attendees to measure the value of eMetrics not just in the content, but also in the hallway conversations and the key tibits that you take back to your desk when all the sessions and lobby bar fun is over. In Chicago, for me the hallway conversations focused on several hot topics in analytics including: tag management, privacy and of course, the perennial analytics issues of people, process and technology.
On the privacy front, the controversial WSJ article about Orbitz’ targeting was a hot topic of conversation for me (and Scot Wheeler) during the conference. Despite the fact that the WSJ got the headline wrong…it reiterated the fact of how very little the average consumer knows about what we all do…
I also learned (privately) that Amazon is doing some crazy brilliant stuff, but it’s so good that they can’t even talk about it. The senior brass at the really good companies are very protective, but web analysts can still be plied (at least a little) with alcohol at a Web Analytics Wednesday.
And finally, people who do know what we do are struggling to pull together the pieces for making an analytics program work…finding staff, selecting tools, building process. These are perennial issues in digital analytics and why we’ve built our consulting practice here at Analytics Demystified to help solve these problems.
But as always at eMetrics, I was invigorated to speak with new entrants to digital analytics and the usual suspects as well. For me, I’ll be taking from this eMetrics something back to my desk and to my clients…and that is a fresh perspective.
Anyone who has been in this game for any length of time should recognize that it’s easy to become steeped in your own myopic view of digital analytics and continue to rehash the same perennial issues with the same examples over and over again. Yet, any good analysis – or method of teaching – needs to evolve to remain relevant. And thus, for me this eMetrics taught me that experience needs to be tempered with the fresh eyes of unbridled passion and enthusiasm. While we may hold the frameworks and fundamentals, it is they who hold the spark. I for one appreciate what the next generation of digital analyst is bringing to this industry and hope to learn as much from them as I can offer.
What do you think?
