Effective immediately, all WAA members can save significant money by taking advantage of the new membership benefit for very low cost audio bridge conferencing services. WAA has negotiated a low price of only 3 cents a minute for members through a strategic partnership with Premiere Global Services (PGi), a conference solutions provider for web and audio communications.

Now, all WAA members including individual consultants to large companies can save money through the association’s purchasing power.

With WAA & PGi your conference bridge rates per minute are:

• Direct Dial (Toll) $0.03/Minute
• Toll Free & Record/Playback (Contiguous 48 US States), Moderator Dial Out (50 US States) $0.03/Minute
• International Local Access (rate dependent upon country) $0.03-$0.355/Minute

Start saving money today by contacting the to discuss the opportunity available exclusively through your WAA membership.

P.S. This is just one of many money-saving member benefits you receive as a result of your WAA membership. Check out the other benefits, including a discounted registration fee at the upcoming eMetrics Conference in DC, and maximize the ROI on your membership investment.

The Web Analytics Association (WAA) congratulates the Unica team on the acquisition by IBM. As they did when they acquired Coremetrics, IBM’s desire to acquire Unica reflects on Unica’s accomplishments in web analytics and building a very successful company. Unica, like Coremetrics, is a tremendous supporter of the industry as a WAA corporate member and sponsor.

Web analytics is becoming more and more mainstream in the corporate world as is evidenced by a leading company’s acquisitions of two outstanding organizations – Unica and Coremetrics. More and more leading technology companies like IBM are recognizing the important role that web analytics plays in the success of an organization.

IBM has now acquired three web analytics companies since October 2009 – SPSS Inc., Coremetrics and Unica which further strengthen IBM’s business analytics and optimization.

The WAA looks forward to Unica’s and IBM’s continued involvement with the Association and support of the web analytics industry.

Peter Sanborn
President
Web Analytics Association

With the recent acquisition of Coremetrics by IBM, last year’s acquisition of Omniture by Adobe, and the upcoming acquisition of X by X, you have to ask yourself, where is the web analytics industry headed anyway?

Well, let me introduce you to the Republic of BI.

The Republic of BI (BI = business intelligence) metaphorically represents the vertical integration happening in our industry today. It’s the same phenomenon that occurred in the financial services industry ten years ago (and, in fact, in every industry that has ever existed). Banks buy insurance companies, insurance companies buy stock brokers, stock brokers buy insurance companies…and so goes the circle of life.

In the case of our industry, the business case is all about strengthening the bonds, and reducing the friction, in the code that holds the web supply chain together.

Adobe didn’t buy Omniture because they think that web analytics is the next big growth wave. No, they bought Omniture because they believe a web analytics company is the perfect complement to their other web platform offerings. That is, Adobe calculated that by adding a web analytics product to their mix it would increase the value of their whole, whereby furthering their position as a leader in the larger digital production industry.

On a more personal level, let me introduce you to my Republic of BI at Microsoft.

They are:

• Sally in advertising.
• Payal who manages our customer databases.
• Jared the web dev.
• Qiana the designer.
• Bob in IT.
• Sunny in marketing.
• And, lest I forget, Hans in finance.

All of us have our individual role, but none of us can do it well without the other.

The same is true for our industry. The same is true for our association.

That is why I am excited to announce the formation of the WAA Advisory Council. This Council will be headed up by former WAA Board President Alex Langshur. Alex will be drawing from a diverse group of leaders from various industries, academia, other associations, and government. This council will help extend the reach of the Association into other industry sectors and contribute towards enhancing the brand and stature of the WAA. I am excited to see Alex step up to this and help WAA grow stronger.

So, welcome to the Republic of BI. It’s a land you already occupy. A territory where we need to find peace and profitability with designers, IT’ers, marketers, and the like. It’s a land where we should fight to make the borders more porous, rebel against departmental sovereignty, and rise up to make the collective stronger.

Sure, we could wait for Sally in advertising or Bob in IT to do it; it’s hard work. But who better to organize the Republic? Who has all the data, the customer knowledge, and the clearest line of sight into the modern competitive landscape? Man, I wish I knew a few people that fell into that category. They just might be able to change our world.

It’s time to stand up, reach out, and be the optimization you wish to see.

Get involved today.

Peter

The Web Analytics Association (WAA) congratulates the entire team at Coremetrics on the acquisition by IBM. The commitment shown by IBM reflects Coremetrics’ accomplishments in marketing optimization and building a very successful company. Coremetrics is a tremendous supporter of the industry as a WAA corporate member and sponsor.

Another acquisition of a web analytics company by a leading technology company further emphasizes the importance, scope and role for web analytics. It is another step and mainstream recognition for web analytics in the corporate world.

For IBM, the acquisition further demonstrates its recognition of web analytics’ important role as it closely follows its October 2009 acquisition of SPSS Inc. The acquisition of the outstanding Coremetrics organization further strengthens IBM’s business analytics and optimization.

The WAA looks forward to Coremetrics’ and IBM’s continued involvement with the Association and support of the web analytics industry.

Mike Levin
Executive Director
Web Analytics Association

Press Release on Coremetrics
Press Release on IBM
Commentary on the acquisition by Stéphane Hamel, immeria.net
Commentary on the acquisition by Marketing Pilgrim
Commentary on the acquisition by Mike Moran, Biznology

My employer, Microsoft, is a company of 90,000 employees, $60 Billion in revenue, we have 3 of the Top 10 most trafficked web sites in the world, and yet, there is not an official career track, much less job title, of web analyst. I wish Microsoft was just an outlier, but it’s not. I’ve spoken to many analysts that report the same professional identity crises within their organizations.

I am a web analytics practitioner. Me and my team at Microsoft.com face the same challenges that the 20,000 other web practitioners worldwide face every day. Sites that launch without tags properly placed, execs that don’t know (or really care about) the difference between a visit and a visitor, career paths that require a machete to navigate.

If you are a practitioner, you know what I mean; this is not a job for the faint of heart!

So, in my first column as President, let me candidly expose my bias. This association needs to be first and foremost focused on the needs of the practitioner. The practitioner is our base, the practitioner is our boots on the ground, the practitioner is our roots in grass roots, our mass in mass market. I’m sure the rest of the WAA community – vendors, consultants, thought leaders – would agree; with a strong and empowered practitioner community we all win.

When I became President last month, it was quite natural for me to inspect the organization from the perspective of the practitioner. Does the WAA represent us? Are its programs focused on extending our knowledge and skills? Is it driven to get web analytics out of the cubicle and into the board room?

The short answer is yes. And as you read through this newsletter, I hope you will come to understand why. If you disagree, please let me know why and what we should be doing different ( or twitter).

Truth is, our industry is still relatively new and it's ours to shape – but that won’t always be the case. In order to shape our industry now, we need a strong association representing it. To have a strong association, we need you to get involved, today.

Start by taking a look at one of our committees, or get involved in the Web Analytics Championship, Web Analytics Without Borders, or one of many other opportunities. I can guarantee what you invest in time, you’ll more then get back in network and professional growth.

As I said at the start, I am a web analytics practitioner. And just as I am frustrated by the challenges of our profession, I am enthused by the opportunities we have. If you have seen the transformation that well-lit diagnostics can bring to a group running a business in the dark, if you have debunked an asinine "standard business practice" utilizing the lever of data-driven insights, if you have served a customer better because you listened and correctly interpreted what their clicks were telling you…then you know what I mean.

As web practitioners we are in a position of power. We just need a little help from WAA to blaze trails that will help unlock that power. I’m hoping my stint as President can move us closer to that, and I want you to help make it happen.

Peter Sanborn
WAA President