I’ve never been much for listening to podcasts for some reason but all the sudden I seem to be listening to them all the time. Last week it was Bryan’s interview with Avinash Kaushik from ZQInsights. This week it’s Lars Johansson, the Swedish coordinator for WAA, talking to seven of the brightest minds in web analytics in Europe.

Having recently been to Europe, I was delighted to listen to this conversation. While in Holland I presented data (links to a PDF) showing that European web analytics practitioners are not far behind their U.S. counterparts. When you listen to the podcast you’ll hear the participant’s talking about nearly the exact same challenges we all face here in the U.S. Concerns about process, distribution of decision making (Aurelie talks about pan-European companies, essentially multiple divisions but that speak different languages, have different values and expectations, etc.)

This is a long podcast but well worth a listen if you have time. Great work, Lars, bringing these bright minds together for the conversation.

A good friend in San Francisco asked me last night how the new company was working out.  I paused, took a substantial sip of my Stone IPA, and told her I am having a BLAST but have been kind of busy these last four weeks.  She looked at me with all sincerity and said, “Busy if good, right?”

Yep, busy is good.

But busy prevented me from writing about the final partnership I will be announcing, at least for awhile, between Web Analytics Demystified and SEMphonic.  Like the Stratigent announcement a few weeks back, I’m very excited about the opportunity to work more closely with Gary Angel and his organization.  Honestly, Gary is one of my heroes in this industry and I think that he and I work very well together on behalf of our common clients.

You can read the press release about the SEMphonic announcement in my PR section.

You can also meet both Gary and I, as well as a handful of other web analytics notables, at the Searchnomics conference in Santa Clara tomorrow (June 27th).  June and I are taking the train down in the AM (unless someone in San Francisco reading this wants to give us a lift and plans to be there in time to hear Marissa Mayer speak) and I will be giving a presentation at 11 AM and then running an afternoon panel with Coremetrics, Omniture, and WebTrends.

Who knows, maybe Avinash will jump up on the panel and represent Google!

Anyway, sorry for the light posting lately.  I’m incredibly grateful for all the calls and emails from folks wishing to put me to work and see Web Analytics Demystified succeed, as well as the support from great folks like Rene and Aurelie, Josh, Gary, and the folks from Aquent.  If you’d like to talk about how my new company can help you dramatically improve your web analytics business practice, send me an email and when I get home, we’ll talk.

A few weeks back I got a call from my friend Dustin Robertson, VP of Marketing at Backcountry.com.  Some of you may recognize Backcountry.com as the company I featured in the examples I provide throughout Web Analytics Demystified and I’m happy to say I’ve watched the company grow from a dozen folks in Heber City, Utah to a thriving online retalier featured as an Internet Retailer Best of the Web in 2007.

Backcountry’s growth can only be described as explosive, and they’re at it again.  Last week I talked to Mike Fried, Backcountry’s Director of Strategic Analysis about an opening he has in his group.  Mike is looking for someone to lead the web analytics practice and manage their expanding Omniture deployment.

While you can read about the job on my premium job board, Mike and I talked about the real opportunity.  According to Mike this is a very high-profile job inside the organization, managing the company-wide use of SiteCatalyst, SearchCenter, and Discover 2.  Backcountry has deployed a “hub and spoke” model where the central Strategic Analysis group provides analysis expertise and training to as many as 50 different end-users throughout the company.

I’ve known Dustin and John from Backcountry for years and I have always been impressed with their commitment to web analytics.  This is a company that has enjoyed triple-digit growth every year since their inception in 1997.  The best thing about Backcountry is their attitude towards work–they are very much a “work hard, play hard” shop and given that their corporate offices are in Park City, Utah, the “play hard” part has some real benefits.

On this point, Mike commented that someone recently commented that one of the best things about Backcountry is that “nobody thinks it is odd to show up at work sweaty and covered in mud.”  Classic!

Mike is a bright guy, coming to Backcountry form JetBlue airlines about a year ago, and he’s growing a group inside the organization.  This is a critical hire for Mike and he needs someone experienced enough with web analytics to take a strong leadership role.  Hopefully Mike will be on my Shop.ORG panel in Las Vegas this coming September.
If you’re a data junkie, not afraid of technology, willing to learn new systems, and able to communicate web analytics data in an appropriate context, you should talk to Mike.  A math background is a plus; Omniture experience is a huge plus; an inquisitive nature about the Internet and the process of optimizing Backcountry’s diverse online retail environment is a must.

The salary and total compensation package sounds competitive, especially for the right person.  Mike said they’d consider relocation but prefer someone already in the Salt Lake City area if possible.

Knowing these guys for as long as I have, I can certainly vouch for this opportunity.  If you’ve got the skills and want a job that will potentially define your career in the web analytics industry, Backcountry.com is the place for you.

Learn more about the opening at Backcountry.com today!

I am just finishing up listening to Bryan Eisenberg’s interview with Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analyics: An Hour a Day (which was in my office when I returned from San Francisco last week, thanks Avinash!)  Even if you’re not much for podcasts you should spend the time to listen to these guys talk.  Bryan asks Avinash some great questions and Avinash, as usual, provides some really great answers.

Also, Judah (who is not afraid to take on hard subjects) has opened his own can of worms with a post on selecting a web analytics vendor.  I personally know that Judah went through the selection process with two top vendors recently so it will be interesting to see both what he comes up with and also what comments he gets from his readers.

I’m off to Boston tomorrow for a variety of meetings and presentations.  If you’re in the Boston area, please join me at a special Web Analytics Wednesday on TUESDAY at Aquent headquarters (711 Boylston Street).

Today I am happy to announce Web Analytics Demystified’s third business partnership and our relationship with Josh Manion’s firm Stratigent.  I’ve known Josh for years and have always had a tremendous respect for the work he’s done and the firm he has built from the ground up.  Stratigent has a proven history of successful execution in long-term and tactical web analytics engagements, as well as a methodical approach to the vendor selection process (a service I have opted specifically to not provide through Web Analytics Demystified.)

You can read about our business partnership in the press release and I’m happy to take any questions directly via email.

Eric T. Peterson delivering the keynote at SEMphonic XChange conference
Also recently announced was SEMphonic’s XChange Conference where I will be delivering the keynote presentation and a class on key performance indicators.  I’m very excited about this conference and was thrilled when Gary asked me to deliver the keynote given that several other great speakers will be at the event including Gary, Paul Bruemmer, Jacques Warren, and Manoj Jasra.

You can learn more about the SEMphonic XChange Conference at SEMphonic’s web site.

Response to last week’s research announcement
The research that Web Analytics Demystified and the Web Analytics Association put out last week was very well received, having been written up in Newsfactor, BtoB, Daily Research News, ClickZ, MarketingVOX, E-consultancy, Online Media Daily, and DMNews.  You can follow all references to my company, our work and our research on this sites Articles and Interviews page.

If you haven’t yet seen the research, you can download the PDF from our web site.

Eric T. Peterson is writing for DM News!

I had been waiting and waiting to make this announcement until my first article was published by when I formed the company the nice folks at DM News asked me to write a regular, monthly column on web analytics.  My first article appeared in the June issue of DM News and is available online at dmnews.com.

I have been a big fan of DM News ever since they published their special report on web analytics in August of 2006. Since that time I have been lucky enough to be a trusted resource on the subject for the publication and look forward to this new relationship.

Presentation on KPIs at BMA Annual Conference, Thursday June 14th

Tomorrow (Thursday June 14th) at 10 AM I will be presenting on key performance indicators at the Business Marketing Association’s annual conference in Las Vegas.  The presentation will be a dramatically shortened version of our workshop on KPIs.  If you’re at the conference and would like to meet please come to the presentation and look for me afterwards.

Special Web Analytics Wednesday on TUESDAY in Boston, next week

Hopefully those of you who live in beautiful Boston, Mass. will be able to join me, my good friend Judah Phillips, my business partner Aquent, and the nice folks from Unica at a very special Web Analytics Wednesday event next Tuesday, June 19th.  I will be testing out a slightly new format for WAW events and giving a short presentation so hopefully that goes well.

If you’re in or near Boston please sign up today to join us for this special event.