WAA Elections: Accountability, Inclusion, and Value

Those of you in the Web Analytics Association are likely aware that the voting for the 2010 – 2012 Directorships starts sometime today. My understanding is that ballots will arrive in the mail and each active member will be able to vote for up to five nominees.

While I have never seriously considered running for the WAA I do pay special attention to the board’s make-up, primarily because the Board of Directors is the shepherd of the Web Analytics Forum at Yahoo Groups that I founded in 2004 and “donated” to the Association back in 2006, and because I have a standing partnership with the Association around the Web Analytics Wednesday social network that I founded with Board member June Dershewitz back in 2005.

This year there are some really amazing people running for election and there are a lot of them. Because the field is crowded I wanted to take a few minutes to call your attention to three in particular who all have the type of long-standing investment in the web analytics community, passion, and experience required to succeed on the Web Analytics Association Board of Directors. If elected, I am confident that John, June, and Steve will push the WAA to provide more value, show more leadership, and create more opportunities for the larger web analytics community across the globe.

John Lovett: Obviously I plan to vote for my business partner John Lovett, despite the fact that I tried repeatedly to talk him out of running! John is a long-time member of the web analytics community and has an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge about the industry. More than anything John gets my vote because he has demonstrated time and time again the ability to build consensus around difficult ideas despite the presence of hot-headed contributors (yes, I do mean me.) This combined with his bold statement “My efforts will be focused to stop making excuses and start delivering value …” resonates clearly with me as it should any member who has ever struggled to justify the cost of membership or time spent volunteering. I believe that a vote for John Lovett is a vote for accountability with the WAA Board.
June Dershewitz: June has been a friend for an awfully long time and is someone I have grown to trust, respect, and listen to (which I am not particularly good at on some matters.) June and I worked out the partnership between the WAA and Web Analytics Demystified’s Web Analytics Wednesday social network to provide the WAA access to our global network of web analytics practitioners, all of whom are potential members of the WAA, and despite small-minded opposition from within the current board June continues to champion for this relationship as it clearly delivers value to the WAA member rolls. I believe that a vote for June Dershewitz is a vote to make the WAA more inclusive, not more exclusive.
Steve Jackson: Steve, as anyone who has ever met him knows, is delightful to work with and a brilliant analytics practitioner and consultant. More importantly, Steve is one of a very small number of web analytics bloggers willing to address difficult and uncomfortable subjects head-on honestly, objectively, and with a passion that is sometimes rare out there. Hell, anyone willing to run for WAA Board after publicly stating “I don’t think that the current membership fee is worth the money …” deserves to be elected just so he can put his money where is mouth is. I believe a vote for Steve Jackson is a vote to change the way the WAA provides value to it’s members around the globe.

Obviously there are an awful lot of other good people running including Jodi, Dennis, Jim, Eric, Lee, Alex, Sean, and more I’m surely forgetting right now! Hopefully those of you in the WAA will spend some time this week taking a look at all of the nominees and thinking about your own relationship with the Association and how these “elected officials” influence what the Web Analytics Association will ultimately become for you.

Best of luck to everyone running and DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!

Posted Sunday, March 28th, 2010 | 5 responses | Share, Save or Email

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http://www.kaplaninternational.com/index.aspx Phil Duncan

Thanks Eric,

I’m new to the association, joined for my CV more than anything else… The above is a good surmise of current issues I perceived very quickly upon joining. I hope a new board will make it a more valuable resource to members, will be taking your advice on the voting and holding you personally accountable for their performance! Best, Phil
http://june.typepad.com/ June Dershewitz

Eric, I’m honored to make your list. We’ve had our ups and downs with the WAA/WAW agreement, but I do believe it benefits us all to work together to support the community.

The WAA will be in good hands with whoever the members vote for in this election – there are so many great people running. It’s my hope, though, that the new Board will continue to recognize the existence (and power) of community activities that take place beyond the bounds of formal membership. At the same time, the WAA holds so much potential to bring value to dues-paying members; done right, each of us should genuinely feel that our membership is a worthwhile investment.
http://www.blackbeak.com Steve Jackson

Like June – also honored. Thanks for the support. I’ll be posting about running for this post in the next couple of days but you’re right in thinking I find little value in the fees right now.

Everyone gets everything the WAA my local branch offers for free – seminars and the associated networking don’t come at a cost to me. It comes at a cost to the vendor or consultants that put in the hours and provide the sponsorship. This works quite well to begin with but then the paying members ask – what do we get in addition to that and right now the answer is…. Nothing. So why should they pay? The answer right now is that they probably don’t need to. That’s what I want to change globally.
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