eMetrics: Davenport, Slanted Door and Lobby bar

What a day! This is my third time speaking at eMetrics since last year and it's getting better every time. The conference is growing in size and there are now numerous tracks to satisfy beginners as well as more experienced practitioners. There are also numerous "unofficial" activities, as you will see.

Tom Davenport: beyond web analytics

As I said in my previous post, I had the privilege to participate in the Industry Insights day. We concluded by a round table where we shared our opinions about the state of the web analytics industry and where we see it heading. I read Tom Davenport's "The Attention Economy" a while back and I'm halfway trough "Competing on Analytics" and I already felt it was alligned with what I thought.

I loved Davenport's keynote! He is not only a great speaker, funny and full of interesting anecdotes, he should also be considered a guiding light toward what is bound to be the future of web analytics: analytics and business optimization.

Here's some random quotes from the book and from his keynote:

• "It is not my job to have all the answers, but it is my job to as lots of penetrating, disturbing and occasionally almost offensive questions as part of the analytic process that leads to insight and refinement". Gary Loveman
• "Do we think or do we know?". Gary Loveman
• "In God we trust, all others bring data". Sara Lee Baker

Once I have completed my reading I will post a more extensive review of the book and my takes on it. In the meantime, head over to "In God we trust, all others bring data" for a great review.

Testing, testing

Bryan Eisenberg did, as usual, a great presentation. This time he was introducing tidbits of his upcoming book "Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer". This book is bound to be a category leader. I wish I had taken note of the table of content he showed us, but from what I remember, it looks like it will be a great introduction to the concepts and methods of online testing. Bryan told me he will share a pre-release copy, so stay tuned for some early reviews!

Google Analytics v3.0: I was wrong... but...

Remember my post from a few days ago, where I speculated about Google Analytics v3.0? Ok, I was "slightly" off... But... When I asked Avinash Kaushik shortly before his presentation he said something like "You will be disapointed... but I shared your idea with the team. I told them Stéphane wants this, so we need to do it" in his always musing and friendly tone. Avinash, you are great! :)

I'm supposed to get enroled in the Google Analytics for Blogger beta program. Stay tuned for more info.

Slanted Door

Once the tracks and sessions are over, the "unconference" can start. Dinner often ends up being a unique occasion to network and share on all kinds of topics related to web analytics (or not!). Sunday night was an intimate dinner with my friends Joseph Carrabis, René Dechamp Otamendi and eMetrics event coordinator Matthew Finlay.

Last night Ian Thomas and his team invited a couple of us to The Slanted Door, a great fusion-asiatic restaurant. Along with the Carrabis, Dechamp, Finlay and others, Jim Strene and Bryan Eisenberg contributed to a great dinner and great fun!

Of course, as the tradition goes, we ended up at the lobby bar and beyond... A good scotch and the traditional Belgian chocolate from René summed it up for the night.

Time to run...

Today I'm moderating the Marketing Optimization Management track. I also noticed there's a lot of interest today for optimization and multivariate testing with keynotes from Omniture, Optimost and Interwoven.

Time to go! Stay tuned for more insights from eMetrics!