As part of my worldwide Web Analytics Wednesday tour I will be in Cary, North Carolina on the SAS campus next Wednesday, May 21st enjoying the good graces of Richard Foley who has just finished his term as President of the Web Analytics Association.  The fine folks at SAS have offered to spring for food and drinks so I have gladly agreed to present my “Future of Web Analytics” presentation (which I have had to revise twice already, sheesh!)

If you’re anywhere Cary we’d love to have you join us for this small party.  I say small in comparison to last week’s Web Analytics Wednesday super event which is unlikely to be duplicated anytime soon.

I have a bunch of other stuff I want to write about — the new WAA Executive Board, the EUWAA, measures of engagement, my consulting business, and some really amazingly cool technology I have seen recently but that will have to wait.  Forty games in forty nights and the Cavs are down by 11 (on my TIVO, please don’t write in and tell me who won the game!)

Web Analytics Wednesday in San Francisco this week was an amazing success by every conceivable measure. But don’t take my word for it, here are the metrics and key performance indicators:

• Budget for the event: $10,000.00
• Actual amount spent: $14,500.00
• Percent over budget: 31%
• Percent extra expenses graciously covered by ForeSee Results and Tealeaf: 100%
• Planned number of sponsors: 4
• Actual number of sponsors: 5
• Percent sponsors interested in this event: 120%
• Estimated satisfaction of sponsors based on feedback sample: 100%
• Projected number of attendees: 200
• Projected expenditure per attendee: $50.00
• Actual number of attendees: 400
• Actual expenditure per attendee: $36.25
• Percent of actual budget spent on drinks: 50%
• Estimated number of drinks served: 1,450
• Estimated number of drinks consumed per attendee: 3.6
• Number of hours spent serving drinks: 1.5
• Estimated number of drinks consumed per hour:996
• Estimated number of drinks consumed per hour per person: 2.4

I think the key measure of success is really satisfaction but I totally forgot to ask Larry Freed’s folks at ForeSee Results to conduct a survey during the event, we weren’t tagged with Coremetrics tags, and SiteSpect wasn’t able to test due to incredibly cramped conditions so we’ll have to rely on your comments and June’s pictures for the time being to make that determination. Maybe someone will post Tealeaf-esque replay video so we can estimate satisfaction based on qualitative data…

Speaking of the sponsors, I really want to thank all five sponsors of the event for their participation, willingness to help out, and excellent attitude … especially when the crowd volume prevented them from getting a word in edgewise during their 15 seconds of fame.

Suffice to say we could not have thrown a party like this without the help of these fine organizations.

I was also really pleased to see some of our industry thought-leaders out for the event, folks like Gary Angel, Jim Sterne, Larry, Judah Phillips, Brett Crosby, and Avinash Kaushik who has never attended Web Analytics Wednesday as far as I know but who just joined Google full-time, eschewing independent consulting for good old-fashioned job stability — congratulations Avinash and congratulations Google!

I was even more pleased to see many members of the Web Analytics Board of Directors at the show including Jim, June, Avinash, Bryan Induni, April Wilson, Richard Foley and probably a few more I am forgetting. I think this is great since the WAA has what can only be described as an estranged relationship with Web Analytics Wednesday … hopefully we can get that relationship worked out in 2008 so these two great organizations can work together for the benefit of our entire community!

Anyway, thanks to June, David Rogers, and all the volunteers and sponsors who made this great event happen. Mr. Sterne hinted that he’d like Web Analytics Wednesday to happen concurrently with every Emetrics conference around the world so hopefully we can work that out and take this great party on the road.

As Web Analytics Wednesday continues to gain momentum around the world leading into what is shaping up to be the largest event in WAW history in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 6th, I am pleased to announce that Coremetrics and SiteSpect have both signed on to be global sponsors of this event.

You can read the press release here but the essence of this announcement is that these great companies share my vision for what Web Analytics Wednesday is becoming — the largest and most widely recognized gathering of web analytics professionals in the world. In sharing the vision, their management teams have graciously decided to provide financial support to allow Web Analytics Demystified provide more reimbursement to a larger number of events around the world.

Starting today, we are pleased to be able to help emerging Web Analytics Wednesday chapters cover the cost of providing food and drink to participants. You can read about the WAW sponsorship policy here and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to write me directly.

On behalf of myself, my wife Amity who provides event support, June, and every Web Analytics Wednesday host and participant around the world I want to thank Coremetrics and SiteSpect for their vision and contribution. So far in April nearly 700 people have signed up to participate in Web Analytics Wednesday and we’re well on the way to beat my goal of 5,000 participants worldwide in 2008!

In other Web Analytics Wednesday news …

• I will be in New York this coming Wednesday giving a short Web Analytics Wednesday presentation on “The Future of Web Analytics” at the headquarters of Avenue A/Razorfish. This event is being organized by Joel Collymore, one of the WAW hosting superstars, and promises to be a great event (over 115 people are signed up to attend already!) Sign up here to join us since we need to add you on the security list at the door!
• Don’t forget, if you live in the Bay Area in Northern California or are coming to Emetrics, we are having what is likely to be the largest WAW event in history at the Fluid Nightclub on Mission Avenue. This special WAW on Tuesday, May 6th is open to all web analytics practitioners regardless of whether you’re going to Emetrics or not so please sign up to join us!
• Just in case you live in French Polynesia, the first ever Web Analytics Wednesday event is being held on Bora Bora in Tahiti. Steve Jackson, blogger, consultant, and likely soon-to-be EUWAA leader is heading to Bora Bora for his honeymoon and has offered to help spread the good word. While his new bride will almost certainly not think it amusing, if you can get to Bora Bora I’m buying the drinks!

I am especially excited about the San Francisco event because Coremetrics, ForeSee Results, SiteSpect, and Tealeaf have all made significant sponsorship donations, giving us quite a lot of lattitude to entertain. It looks like our efforts are paying off as the sign-up list is a virtual who’s who of web analytics thought-leaders, practitioner talent, and consulting genius!

Those of you who regularly attend the Emetrics Marketing Optimization Summit here in the states know that from time to time we hold big Web Analytics Wednesday events in conjunction with the conference.  Especially in San Francisco where the philosophical founder of WAW lives (June Dershewitz!) we like to have big events.

This time June and her partner David are planning a doozy!

Thanks to the very generous support of Coremetrics, ForeSee Results, SiteSpect, Tealeaf, and Jim Sterne (Marketing Optimization Summit) we are having a big party at the Fluid Nightclub on Mission Street (just around the corner from the conference hotel.)

You can download a very snazzy PDF invitation or read the press release about the event.

If you’re coming to Emetrics, even if you’re planning on attending a vendor dinner or just hitting the town, we sincerely hope that you’ll join us at this special Web Analytics Wednesday (on Tuesday) event.  You can register to join us and get all the details here.

Yep, it’s that time of the year again, time for my bi- (soon to be tri-) annual pilgrimage to Europe to meet with some of the best and the brightest overseas. I’m very excited about this trip for a handful of reasons:

1. The trip begins in London next Monday at what is likely to be the largest event in the history of Web Analytics Wednesday. Thanks to the fine folks from SCL Analytics and Unica and a little support from E-Consultancy there are currently 128 people registered to attend the event! London has always been a hotbed of WAW activity and this is my first time attending the event. I’ll be giving a short presentation on “The Future of Web Analytics” and taking questions from the audience.
2. On Tuesday I will be presenting at Nedstat’s “Streaming Media on the Move” event at London’s Soho Hotel and talking about the white paper I recently authored with Nedstat’s Chief of Innovation and how measurement is changing in a Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 world.
3. Wednesday and Thursday I will be in Amsterdam doing private presentations. Over the years I have grown to love the beauty, culture, and diversity Amsterdam has to offer (despite the presence of what Aurelie lovingly refers to as “the narcotourists!”)
4. Friday I will be in Brussels, Belgium with the fine folks at OX2 giving a private presentation and participating in another special Web Analytics Wednesday event (albeit a somewhat smaller affair)
5. The following Monday I will be in Helsinki, Finland working with my partner Trainer’s House/Satama and giving a presentation on Measuring Lead Generation site. The folks at Satama are great to work with and I’m very excited about getting to spend more than 18 hours in Helsinki this time …
6. Back to London on the 8th for some client work and home on the 9th. Phew!

If you’re in or near London or Brussels I’d love to meet you at one of the Web Analytics Wednesday events. I suspect I will also have a little free time in Amsterdam and Helsinki so if you’d like to meet in one of those cities, please feel free to drop me a line and we can try and meet!