Great news from Web Analytics Wednesday!

Wow, once and awhile in life you get involved in something that turns out differently than you had planned. I’ve written about this in the past, but for me Web Analytics Wednesday is one of those things

Web Analytics Wednesday was started by my good friend (and soon-to-be-new-mom!) June Dershewitz and I back in 2005 with little expectation of success. Our goal? To give web analytics professionals around the world the means and motivation to gather locally and get to know each other.

Now, in 2009, by every measure we have succeeded and even exceeded expectations, having helped create regular Web Analytics Wednesday events in places like New York, San Francisco, Boston, London, Toronto, Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Sao Paulo, Sydney and smaller cities like Austin, Texas, Columbus, Ohio, and Nashville, Tennessee. These events were attended by over 4,500 web analytics professionals around the world in 2008 alone and 2009 is off to a great start with over 600 total attendees in January alone.

In 2008 we decided to do more to help Web Analytics Wednesday events get off the ground in more cities and to provide more financial support to as many groups as possible. We were able to do this with the generous support of Coremetrics and SiteSpect, the Web Analytics Wednesday Global Sponsors. Both of these companies had already been hosting events around the world, and senior management from both turned out to be enthusiastically supportive of Web Analytics Wednesday.

Today I am incredibly pleased to announce that the Web Analytics Wednesday Global Sponsors have joined Analytics Demystified in making a donation to Operation USA. This donation of roughly $1 per Web Analytics Wednesday participant was made in recognition of the relative success many in the web analytics industry have enjoyed in the context of the challenges faced by our fellow man, woman, and child across the globe.

Personally I have been blessed with a healthy family, a rich life, and moderate success in business, and thus have frequently been able to make charitable contributions. But as we all know, as the economy worsens, charities are often the first to feel the pinch despite the fact that an increasing number of people around the world need the support of groups like Operation USA. Because of this, I am incredibly grateful to Joe Davis, CEO of Coremetrics, and Eric Hansen, CEO of SiteSpect for their willingness to match my $1,500 contribution on behalf of both of their companies.

I hope everyone who hosts, sponsors, and participates in Web Analytics Wednesday will take the time to thank Coremetrics and SiteSpect for their generosity, either by commenting on this post or by emailing the companies directly.

On behalf of Analytics Demystified, June, our Global Sponsors, and all the Web Analytics Wednesday hosts we wish you all the best in 2009 and hope you’re able to make it out to an event near you soon!