… no parking spaces in Silicon Valley.  On my way to the very successful WebGuild event last night I dropped by the Googleplex to chat with their newest consultant, my friend Avinash Kaushik.  I had no idea that it would take me 20 minutes to find a parking space at Building 41 but I guess that means that “Google is hiring!”
Then I dropped in on the nice folks at SimplyHired who power my premium job listing service and again drove around in circles looking for parking.

When I went to Google’s Building 44 I was able to find a parking space … the last one … probably only because I was 45 minutes early for the event.  All of this was in stark contrast with visits to Mountain View just a year or two back when parking was plentiful and cubicles were empty.

The WebGuild event, by the way, was a HUGE success by all measures.  There were well over 300 people in attendance including Bay Area analytics luminaries like Avinash, June Dershewitz, and Adobe’s Fred Kuu.  The audience had great questions and I was fortunate enough to sit on a panel with two incredibly bright guys representing WebTrends (Barry Parshall) and Google Analytics (Paul Hutton).

If you’re in the Silicon Valley and not a member of the WebGuild, you’re missing out.  I strongly recommend checking the group out and joining.  They have a conference in June on “Search 2.0” that I’m trying to present at, so maybe I’ll see you there!
If you were at the event last night I’d love to hear your comments on the presentations and panel session.

If you live anywhere near the Googleplex in Mountain View, and if you have $25 burning a hole in your pocket, you should join me, Barry Parshall from WebTrends, and Brett Crosby* from Google Analytics at the WebGuild Web Analytics Panel tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 14th.)  It’s largely a Q&A format so likely you’ll get to hear Barry and I swap Rand Schulman stories and argue about which of our CEOs is the nicest (It’s mine, by a hair …)
Oh, and I have something special planned for my five minute presentation.  I can’t tell you what just yet, but you web analytics wonks will want to hear it, trust me.  No, it’s not my new haircut … nor is it stories from Baby Loves Disco … it’s about web analytics.  Serious web analytics.
Anyway, if you make it, come say “hi” and provide blog comments the old fashioned way, over free drinks.
(* Mr. Crosby is rumored not to attend due to a previous engagement.)

Late last week the folks at American Marketing Association sent me the following link to the full webcast for the presentation I gave on their behalf titled “Web Analytics Demystified: Ten Simple Strategies for Using Web Analytics to Improve Your Online Marketing Efforts” If you missed the original presentation, or if you suffered from webcast-related issues, you can now access the event from the following link:

https://amaevents.webex.com/amaevents/onstage/g.php?AT=VR&RecordingID=402661864

You do have to register with AMA/WebEx to see the presentation but a lot of folks had already registered.  If you have any questions about the presentation, I welcome your comments directly.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this event such a huge success!

(Sorry, this post is hugely off-topic for a web analytics weblog but some days a dad just has to be a dad …)

If you have little kids like I do and if you were born in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s you have to know about Baby Loves Disco.  My wife heard about this event from friends and we went to the Portland, Oregon event today.  The web site says it all but I have to tell you, when despite the “Disco” moniker, the DJ played a Ramones mix that started with “I Wanna Be Sedated” and the heads of roughly 500 moms and dads all started bopping to Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Marky, a huge smile spread on my face that didn’t leave until we were well on our way home.

No matter how young your kids, no matter how old you are, check out Baby Loves Disco when it comes to your town.  You won’t regret it.

… and today is one of those days.  Not only did my AMA/Aquent webcast apparently draw the largest online audience in AMA history, but Anil Batra keeps uncovering web analytics professionals that are going on record as having benefited from my writing. Have a look at quotes from the following practitioners:

• “Mr. WebTrends” Michael Notte
• Dennis Digital’s Joel Collymore
• Adam Berlinger from Deloitte and Touche
• Julien Coquet, part of the Web Analytics Dream Team in Belgium

I have to say, Anil has come up with one of the most interesting series I’ve read on the subject in quite some time.  I’m humbled that so many brilliant and talented people have read and benefited from my writing.