While I’m waiting at O’Hare for my connecting flight to the Omniture Summit I’m thinking of all those who hoped to attend but won’t. It’s clear the current economic situation is pretty bad, budgets are tight and some conferences are even canceled. Even if expensive, maybe even more when you are a one person business like me, I see it as an investment and I’m confident it will turn out positively in the long run.
What can we expect this year? I doubt there will be as much people as last year, but how worse? If anything, those who will be there will be really serious about web analytics!
Should you go?
It’s always debatable whether these conferences are worth it or not as demonstrated by this thread on the Yahoo! Web Analytics Forum. Some will argue the sessions are too superficial, that most of them are disguised sells pitches, or the same info can be found on the Web or in the numerous press releases carefully scheduled to go live during the event.Here's why I'm going
I don’t see it this way. As a web analytics professional consultant I strive to reach and stay at the top of the wave. In my consulting practice I even go as far as coaching web agencies (my future competitors) so they can develop their own internal web analytics practice. I’m one of the few people in hundred of miles around who is attending. The conference comes with a price tag, but leadership, top expertise and a strong professional network are priceless. This, to me, is where the value of the Omniture Summit is!Not like being there... but better than nothing
While I'm at the conference I will try to post regularly on my blog and you can follow me on Twitter.I will also organize another Web Analytics Wednesday so I can share some of what I'll learn.
Named one of the most influential industry contributors by the Digital Analytics Association. With over twenty years’ experience empowering organizations to analyze and optimize their online channels, Stéphane has cemented his position as a leading voice for online analytics and optimization.
2 comments:
I agree, that's why I am spending a week in Vegas at the WebTrends event, a few days at Emetrics in Toronto, four days in Seattle at Tableau's event, and a few more days in San Francisco at Xchange. I'll probably attend another week of training at a TDWI conference.
At the end of the year, it's a lot of money for independent consultants like us, but you and I know our clients expect us to be at the top of the game. It's not just a matter of having played with Google Analytics for a couple of months, like many of the new "experts". ;-)
Stéphane,
Glad that you are going and you will be leading the MindMeld discussion.
It's a pity that I can't go this time due to the budget concern our company has, but my manager and director both are going. They will be attending the MindMeld discussion and please do your best to convince them that web analytics is the future! :) I think conceptually my management team gets that, but they need hear more from industry thought leaders like you and see how other companies are doing.
Look forward to hearing more about the summit.
Regards,
Ed
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