At eMetrics, we announced that the WAA is changing its name to the Digital Analytics Association (DAA).

Why? Well, let me reiterate what I said at the WAA (d’oh, I mean DAA) Gala:

My wife is a huge fan of the Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) and, because of that fact, so am I. This year I did a little research on the awards and I found some interesting parallels with our industry. The first Academy Award was rather simple, celebrating the best actor/actress, director, and film. But over the years, the event evolved to stay current with the evolution of the film industry itself.

For instance, they added categories to celebrate the diversity of professions that contribute to the making of a film, like costume design and makeup. And they added categories that captured the evolving definition of just what a “motion picture” is, including best foreign film, best documentary, and best animated film.

That is to say, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that’s who oversees the Oscars) evolved along with the motion picture industry.

In the same way, our association is evolving from the WAA to the DAA to recognize the increasing depth of our profession and breadth of the types of analysis that we do.

Think of all the new job titles that are emerging, like Data Scientist, Digital Forensics Analyst, Content Specialist, among others. And think of all the different types of data we analyze: mobile, social, big data, the list goes on.

So, just as the definition of what a motion picture has changed, so has our definition of analytics.

Please let us know what you think of the new name and your perspective on how our industry is changing.

And, join me in congratulating the winners of “Our Oscars” and read more about them.

Peter Sanborn
President

Every year my wife and I watch the Academy Awards and every year we debate their fakeness vs. realness. This year was no different.

There was one difference though. This year I had to write about the 2012 WAA Awards of Excellence and realized that taking the time for an industry to celebrate its accomplishments is incredibly important, meaningful, and, yes, real.

The purpose of the WAA Awards of Excellence Gala is to unite the web analytics community by recognizing all the wonderful and talented people and organizations that make up the community and are making an impact around the globe.

In addition to supporting the event finalists and showing general support for the industry, the Planning Committee has pulled in a fantastic Keynote Speaker. Ryan Zander, General Manager of Baseball Products, Sportvision will be the keynote. The Gala Planning Committee’s Goal was to find a Keynote Speaker who could take up from the movie Moneyball where sabre metrics was the focus of the plot. Ryan’s talk, “Changing the Game: How Data and Analytics Moved from the Boardroom to the Clubhouse,” should be a fascinating presentation.

We’ve sold of out individual tickets, like last year, and no tickets will be available at eMetrics nor at the event.

Thanks – and I’ll see many of you there.

Peter Sanborn
President

Thirty percent of people that make New Year’s Resolutions break them within a month. So if you’re smoking a cigarette, eating a Twinkie, or charging those Prada shoes to a maxed out credit card while reading this newsletter, rest assured you aren’t alone.

There is one resolution this year that I’m sticking with – contributing to the advancement of the digital analytics profession.

Recently, I co-authored an article with Corry Prohens titled, Top 10 Tips: Advance Your Career in Digital Analytics, where we outline a few ideas on professional development for digital analysts. I’m also speaking at eMetrics San Francisco on a panel titled Analytics Career Development.

For me, this topic is top of mind in 2012. That’s why when I saw the results of a recent survey showing that WAA members valued the WAA Career Center as one of the Top 3 member benefits, it caught my eye.

I wasn’t very familiar with the WAA Career Center so I checked it out. There are two great resources there that I’d encourage you to check out as well.

The first, Career Guidance for Digital Analytics Professionals, is a downloadable guide for learning more about the digital analytics profession. The topics covered include:

• The types of companies analysts can work for;
• Typical hierarchy and responsibilities for each role;
• Educational and skill set requirements, including the importance of emerging skill sets; and
• Advice for those looking to break into the field, be promoted or find a new opportunity.

The second resource is the WAA Job Bank. In the month of January alone there were over 30 analytics job listings. This isn’t the usual hodge-podge of tech/analyst jobs you find on mainstream job sites; rather, all of the listings were exactly the type of roles that we analysts seek (not to mention a few listings in attractive locations like London and NYC).

Sometimes in the general governance of the WAA I get too caught up in dealing with strategies, policies, and the organization’s finances. Checking out the Career Center was a nice reminder of the tangible benefits that come with my WAA membership.

Go check it out yourself. You may be surprised.

Good luck sticking to your resolutions, whatever they may be. I hope one of them is to continue advancing your career (and the profession at-large). Collectively we can make the WAA the platform for powering our careers (and the careers of those that follow us) ahead.

Peter Sanborn
President

As the New Year begins, I pledge to better myself by helping others more.

As the old year fades into the past, I pledge to help grow the industry by being more inclusive and broadening my reach.

As the daylight dwindles and then returns, I pledge to expand my vision to every marketing metric I can get my hands on, whether it’s web data, email data, social media data, mobile data and/or etc.

As I struggle to write “2012” instead of “2011”, I pledge to tell people I am in marketing analytics, digital analytics, even business analytics, rather than saying I am in web analytics.

As the WAA enters its seventh year, I pledge to encourage new people to join and current members to participate while continuing to recognize those who contribute so much.

As the “United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, highlighting the contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development, in particular recognizing their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration” (Wikipedia), I pledge to help new people find jobs in marketing analytics and continue my social media activities to improve our common bond.

As 2012 has been designated Alan Turing Year in recognition of the centennial of his birth, I pledge to be more tolerant of all people and less tolerant of times that I sound more like a machine than a person.

As more senior executives recognize the value of customer data exploration and correlation, and consider multiple analytics alternatives, I pledge to embrace new ideas and methods rather than denunciate others for encroaching.

Oh!…and eat less and exercise more.

Can’t forget that.

Jim Sterne
Chair, WAA Board of Directors

This November, I was in Philadelphia for the Annual Retreat of the WAA Board and the Philadelphia Symposium. Early one evening I went for a jog through the city. It was one of those perfect East Coast autumn evenings; cool and crisp with seasonal foliage at its peak. I wasn’t paying much attention to my route when all of a sudden, I found myself in the middle of a campground.

Huh? Why are people camping in the middle of the city?

Then I heard a raspy bull horn and it dawned on me I had just run into the middle of the "Occupy Philadelphia" camp. Fortunately, I wasn’t wearing my "Go Bulls!" Merrill Lynch t-shirt and the occupiers were, in fact, quite friendly. So I politely grabbed some of their literature, wished them well, and off I went.

It wasn’t until the next day at the WAA Symposium that it struck me how the "Occupy" movement and the WAA "Symposium" movement tap into the same basic human need. That is, the need to gather with like-minded individuals rallying around a cause.

In this age where more and more socializing happens digitally, that basic need to meet face-to-face has never been stronger. In fact, in a recent survey of associations worldwide, "quality of networking opportunities" was the #1 reason why people attend conferences.

You can read more about it later in the newsletter, but suffice it say the Philadelphia Symposium was a huge success! David McBride and Joe Sanders from Comcast, Heather Aeder from TrueAction, Annie Heckenberger from Red Tettemer, and the rest of the Steering Committee did an outstanding job.

For those of you living in a major metropolitan area, I’d encourage you to get together and start envisioning what your Symposium could be and then get in touch with the WAA. In addition to Philadelphia, WAA Symposiums are happening in Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta in the coming year.

So bring this movement to your local town. Let’s Occupy Analytics!

To learn more about the Symposium program, please email .

 

Peter Sanborn,
WAA President