eMetrics gets a B-

So I just got back from the eMetrics conference in Washington DC, and I give it a B-.

I should qualify at the beginning of the post (before the entire Web Analytics community proclaims a fatwa against me) that I loathe conferences. With few exceptions, the conferences I have attended have keynotes that are over-broad to the point of being useless, the networking makes me feel like a miserable social failure, and the selling is hard, constant, and from vendors who are totally irrelevant to my needs. The average grade for a conference has historically been a D.

eMetrics rose modestly above its peers in part because it is so specialized and, for better or for worse, is such a close knit and woefully small community of hyper-knowledgeable people. Inevitably, things will be relevant to you here, regardless of where you land in the web analytics continuum of experience.

Because I have no imagination whatsoever, I will split my comments into the well worn buckets of "good" and "bad".

Good

• Everyone I met was jazzed about analytics. The rate of information exchange on a one-to-one or one-to-few level was fantastic.
• The presentations were a mixed bag, but highlights included (perhaps unsurprisingly) Eric Peterson's and Bryan Eisenberg's. I missed Avinash's session because I am a moron.
• The keynote presentations were universally solid and engaging. Jim Sterne kicked everything off, followed by a VP from Xerox on the second day, and then the head of Interactive Marketing for Coca-Cola on the third. The take-aways from the latter two were not very specific or applicable outside of their particular environments, but I was thrilled to learn how relatively green Fortune 500 companies are (as well) to web analytics. The fact that I am exactly as lost as they are on some things, and actually ahead of them on a few others, gives me hope.
• The conference speakers all did an great job of driving home the idea that "accuracy" depends on what you are measuring and how you measure it. Part of me secretly suspects that we, as web analysts, believe this because it makes it impossible for us to be proved wrong. I recognize the statement as being throughly self-serving but inherently believe it as gospel.
• I got to meet Joseph Carrabis who is a fascinating guy to converse with. I had no idea who he was within the web analytics community (I tend to drink from the same wells when it comes to web articles) until I googled him, and was amazed at the breadth and depth of this man's writing on the subject.

Bad

• Tyson's Corner is NOT Washington DC. Stop fibbing on the brochures. Also, for the love of all that's holy, why on earth would you pick a hotel for an eMetrics conference that doesn't have free wireless? Isn't that like holding an island travel conference in Pittsburgh? All of the conference rooms were dead zones, so even my cell phone wireless antenna was useless. If the hotel doesn't provide it, then it should be incumbent upon eMetrics to pony up and pay for it.
• Many of the sessions were repetitive. I think it's fine for there to be global themes that pervade everyone's presentation. In a community as focused as web analytics, that's to be expected. But too many of the sessions were folks giving their "Top X mistakes/requirements to avoid/succeed." There are diminishing returns after the third presentation informs me that I "need good people" to succeed with web analytics. Wow. Thanks for that gem.
• eMetrics needs sponsors, and I get that. That being said, too many of the sessions themselves were glorified infomercials. Even the ones that weren't billed as coming from sponsors had the stink (or, enchanting musk, if you prefer) of a sales pitch all over them. At least three sessions I attended were of no value to me unless I was using a specific product or service.

Bonus Category - Suggestions

Aside from doing more of the "good" stuff and less of the "bad" stuff, I have compiled a list of some suggestions for upcoming eMetrics conferences. I feel compelled to do this, since I lost my feedback forms.

• Career mingler - Everybody was hiring. I was hiring. Google was hiring. Coca Cola was hiring. Everybody. Was. Hiring. Somebody needs to set up a cocktail hour whose sole function is to have job seekers and job posters interact. I would have attended the conference just for that, alone. It could be set up like speed dating, only less creepy.
• Birds of a Feather Sessions - I first heard about these from an engineer who attended the Java One conference in SF. Basically, these are smaller, informal session discussions, usually moderated by a participant, about a very, very specific application or idea. I really think this has legs within the eMetrics group. We could have BOFs according to vendor allegiance (Omniture, HBX, Coremetrics, etc.), according to industry (web analytics issues for telecom, etailers, portals, etc), by company or team size, by development environment or technology (issues specific to flash, AJAX, etc.), and on and on and on. This would put a lot of like-minded people in the same room (or bar), would make networking a lot less like an 8th grade dance, and might even provide some insight into topics that would merit a full session at later conferences.
• Rate sessions according to level of difficulty - Just like gymnasts do. Many of the sessions were too basic for me and a few were too advanced. I'm not exactly sure how this would play out. Maybe rate according to how much math is involved, how much experience with web analytics the session is geared towards, etc. There were lots of experience levels at this conference, and eMetrics, by shooting for an average, was specifically targeting none of them. That being said, I applaud their efforts to educate beginners with the WAA training day prior to the conference, and hope they continue that.

A B- from me is not a bad thing, but at $2000+ per ticket (not including travel), there can be no room for grade inflation. I congratulate Jim on a fine event and look forward to upcoming conferences.

Comments

[Avinash Kaushik]

Jason: Your review of the emetrics summit was so nice (I have also sent it to the organizers) that I had to make up for one small flaw. Last night I wrote a rather long (maybe painfully detailed) review of my presentation. You'll find it at:

http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/2006/10/seven-steps-to-creating-a-data-driven-decision-making-culture.html

Do let me know what you think of it. You can post a comment on the blog or just email me.

Thanks again for the review of the summit (I am sure your feedback will be incorporated.)

-Avinash.

[Matthew Finlay]

Jason,

thanks for your thoughts on Emetrics Summit in Washington DC (ok, Tyson's Corner). We welcome all feedback and suggestions in the ongoing quest for the best possible event for the attendees. We even agree with a number of your points:

Breaking News: For 2007 Emetrics Summit DC takes place at the Omni Shoreham in DC, three stops on the Metro from Metro Center with free WiFi in all guest rooms and public areas.

We are looking carefully at the structure, content and labelling/rating of the sessions for San Francisco (May 07) and will be making changes to avoid (too much) repetition and ensure attendees find themselves in the right level/focus session.

We pay close attention to the evaluation forms to weed out non-performing sessions and speakers and further develop the most popular.

Everybody IS hiring and we have a couple of projects in the pipeline for San Francisco to better facilitate that - your suggestion is in the pot too.

Birds of a Feather sessions are already scheduled for San Francisco and will be in DC for 07 too. We'll be posting a call for topic suggestions on the web site in the lead up to the show.

Feel free to send me any further suggestions.

kind regards

Matthew Finlay, Emetrics Summit

[Joseph Carrabis]

Hello, Mr. Carmel,
Thank you for your kind words. I actually blushed reading your comments. By the way, I agree with your "Birds of a Feather" comment. In my next ImediaConnection column (http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/12358.asp and not available until evening on 9 Nov 06) I suggest a good strategy for increasing Emetrics site activity (based on my research) would be "Images of peer sessions", much the same thing, I think.
Anyway, thanks again. Like I wrote, I'm flattered and I hope to see you at future Emetrics Summits. - Joseph