eMetrics Chicago 2017

Attending eMetrics 2017 in Chicago is a highlight of my career in 2017 – Both myself and my organization invested a lot to make the trip happen. I am glad it worked out well in the end.

 

My 3 favourite keynote sessions:

“Where is our future” –  Tim Wilson “Digital analytics today and tomorrow”

From the podcast, Tim “sounds like” a nerdy(in a good way) consultant prefer getting things done than talking out loud. In real life, he lighted out the whole room presenting this keynote.  Instead of providing an answer, he broke it down his own learning experience, and encouraged the audience like myself keep thinking.  Here is a video clip he has presented (similar topic but in another conference)

“Combined passion and know-how” – Adrian Vender on Web analytics and CRM

Presenter with passion always impressed me.  Adrian not only has passion but also know-hows.  The topic of connecting web analytics data and CRM has been bothering me for quite a while.  A mediocre project at the beginning of this year made me believe it is a very challenging task. In Adrian’s keynote, it was very straightforward and seemed “easy to implement”. (I am afraid he didn’t share those dark moments on stage).  The bottom line was, Be comfortable with SQL, and create your own link using the common key – it should not be that hard.

“Resonated to my heart”. – Rusty Rahmer on Top down corporate analytics

Rusty’s presentation resonated with me the most, as both of us are on the “client” side working internally for a giant company.  My favourite quote was “we need to do ‘blue’ color analytics really really well, before diving into ‘white color’ analytics”.  He quoted “foundational reporting”, “Attribution” and “optimizing” as blue color, and “audience targeting” and “journey shaping” as white color analytics.  I felt I can almost re-use his slide (with a few minor tweaks) and then present it to the leadership as a key component of my 2018 measurement plan.

Then here are some interesting trivia…

Most embarrassing moment

Telling Adam Greco “you look much younger than your profile picture” after his keynote speech, is my single most embarrassing moment. I had tons of respect for him by reading his blog post, and my mind must be twisted. I will never forget the face he looked back to me after my “compliment”.

Proudest moment

I was surprisingly comfortable on stage when volunteering the “digital analytics self-assessment” session – the format is my most comfortable “Q and A”  and I am familiar with the topic as well.  My personal goal will be presenting something of value when I am back to this conference

Networking is still not my taste

Multiple attendants said “networking is #1 goal for this conference”. I view “networking” slightly differently, as I care more about “building a relationship” by usually having common interests or meaning conversations.  20 is already a stretch for me, and I actually hope to limit it within the single digit.

Getting pumped and planning to start 10 new initiatives

10 is already being cut down from the original list of 21. I am not sure how many I can actually closed by the end of the year. The absolute #1 top priority is testing for optimization with analytics insights. It is a common practice now analyst leading the optimization project and conducts actual A/B testing.

Bonus : Another key-note video, from the company I am working for

For those who read thru here, you must be a loyal fan and here is a bonus video from two of my respected colleagues. I highly recommend.

http://videos.tealium.com/watch/3BHVkY5Thsj7gyo61D2Yzw