Crepuscular Light - Latest Comments

Re: Elizabeth Eckels – Smalls Woman

Jen — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:12:51 -0000

I need to change my bio to say, "Jen Day, too tall for analytics"

Re: The Curse of Social Media Knowledge

Facebook Applications — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:11:30 -0000

It is not a curse to be exact, it's good thing if you have more social media knowledge.

Re: Pritesh Patel – One-Of-Many Man

Pritesh Patel — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 10:45:54 -0000

Ha ha! Just re-reading this interview.

Jeff - That visual answer took me the best part of 3 weeks. Not bad hey!

Jen - You are lucky, it means you can blame the other Jen for when problems occue and take the praise/recognition from the other Jen when there is success. Win win situation.

Re: A rose by another name is apparently sweeter – eMetrics goodies

Emer — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:19:15 -0000

Thanks James! Sorry, I mis-heard on the CWA/CDA front.
And yes, it was the WAA Gala - I had confusion over the WAA/DAA element because of the timing. Looking forward to the DAA Gala next year as we move forward :)

Re: A rose by another name is apparently sweeter – eMetrics goodies

Jim_Sterne — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:17:49 -0000

"Like the Beatles had been reborn as nerds." Bob, Joe, John and Ringo are NEVER going to live that one down!

But a couple of corrections are in order...

Certified Web Analysts will remain Certified Web Analysts. The certification test was indeed designed for web analysis and it's important to maintain the distinction. Will there ever be a cadre of Certified Digital Analysts? We certainly hope so! But that's going to take a new Body of Knowledge as determined by our esteemed members who volunteer to make it happen.

And, while the GALA Committee worked their potatoes off putting the event together, it was the last Web Analytics Association Awards for Excellence Gala. Those awards were handed out based on the work they did in 2011. NEXT year will see the inaugural Digital Analytics Association Awards for Excellence Gala and, we hope, more tuxedoes! (Thank you John Lovett.)

And thanks Emer for posting those photos! Especially the one I took ;-)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1...

This one of of Stephen Few is outstanding!
href=" http://www.flickr.com/photos/1...

And I agree completely about the thrill of meeting Jim Novo and Peter Sanborn in person.
Never gets old.

Re: The Curse of Social Media Knowledge

Ready-Made Logo — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:32:04 -0000

Amazing

Re: Ted McDonald – Procrastinator Man

Ted McDonald — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:55:37 -0000

I'm really glad that by job at Verisign is secure because there's no way in hell I'm getting another job after this :)

Re: Ted McDonald – Procrastinator Man

Nancy Duley — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:58:21 -0000

Oh my, the McDonald Ukulele Trio, I'd love to see that!

Re: Pritesh Patel – One-Of-Many Man

Jeff Katz — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:32:13 -0000

Pritesh's visual answer to the 23 sycamore saplings and 15 biscuit crumbs just might be the best response in this entire series, save interview numero uno

Re: Pritesh Patel – One-Of-Many Man

Jen — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:02:34 -0000

Iron Web Analyst. YES.

Also, I went to school with another Jennifer Day. You have all my sympathies. Since there are *only* 253 Jennifer Day's on LinkedIn, I guess I'm lucky?

Re: Richard Calentine – Paper Valentine Man

Jen — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 20:53:07 -0000

potato points!

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Emer Kirrane — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:37:08 -0000

Yes! We did talk about this and I ended up being too slammed to be any use at all. It would be good to look at this again. Have you considered joining the Exam Committee when you're a CWA? Maybe we could put our heads together as a group.

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Steve Jackson — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:29:40 -0000

As an aside we discussed doing this package which would result in a free online test that judges your ability to pass the certification. I volunteered to drive it but I confess I haven't the time nor the necessary support to take it on in addition to everything else I am doing.

I am more than happy to help make this happen but I simply can't do it alone and need to first sit the exam in order to know how to craft an online test. That part I'll do in March probably as I have arranged with the help of the WAA a test centre in Helsinki.

My reasons for this are selfish as I believe I can put my staff through the course as part of their training.

It's better than paying for Omniture training and with discounts it's comparable pricing.

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Emer Kirrane — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:25:10 -0000

Thanks Steve! I'll take your comments back to both the Membership and Exam committees.
Cheers,
E

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Steve — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:17:15 -0000

Hi Emer,

I think the biggest reason people don't join is a lack of value for the fee. You mentioned what you got out of it and that's great but you've invested a great deal in your education, much more than 200 a year. You did the certification, you have spent a lot of time and money traveling and got really active with the WAA. Unfortunately most folks don't have the leadership skills you have and I mean that from the perspective of making an event happen, meeting people and leading them to make other things happen.

I was really active for 3-4 years and have been a member since 2005 day one really. I helped kick things off in my part of the world and I believe it has helped Finland and the Nordics keep up with the rest of Europe, but after I personally couldn't commit to more than helping behind the scenes I saw more and more problems with the membership fee and its perceived value.

A WAW is a free event. I can even ask Eric nicely and he might sponsor some drinks. The WAA events we run alongside have presentations, good local speakers, sometimes free food and free drinks are pretty much obligatory but we don't charge a fee because the events are expected to be free. That's not a criticism of the WAWs I'm just saying why pay a fee when it's all free anyway? As a member we don't get anything extra OR and this is important if we do get extra the it isn't obvious.

You are the exception to the rule. Most people who pay dues expect to get more than a WAA badge.

Personally I think this can be fixed by the certification process. As a member you should be given a package that trains you how to pass the exam. As a non member you don't get it. I would go as far to say that non member should pay treble to sit the exam.

Re: Claudiu Murariu – Padi-Man

Claudiu Murariu — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:49:27 -0000

Thank you Jen and Joseph.
Joseph, I'll just do that though I am afraid of what might happen if people will never leave my websites again.
I hope there is no such thing as online deprivation of liberty :)

Emer, thank you very much for the interview. Hope to see you soon.

Re: Claudiu Murariu – Padi-Man

Joseph Carrabis — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:18:41 -0000

Claudiu&Emer, my thanks for this excellently amusing post (I
genuinely chuckled!) and for the nod. Contact me, Claudiu, and we'll
find a way to help you understand the reason(s) people are abandoning
and bouncing your or other sites.
Also, I'm familiar with Dudamel's work and haven't had the pleasure of a live performance yet.

And thanks again for the chuckles.

Joseph

Re: Claudiu Murariu – Padi-Man

Jen — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:56:48 -0000

bravo!

Re: Anil Batra – Batman

Emer Kirrane — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:48:53 -0000

But that wouldn't be very silly though, would it? You can visit Anil's excellent blog at http://webanalysis.blogspot.co...

Re: Anil Batra – Batman

Ryan Johnson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:30:02 -0000

This is my introduction to your site. I think this Batra interview could be improved with at least some discussion on actual analytics, perhaps his insights that most people might be missing.

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Emer Kirrane — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:44:04 -0000

Thanks so much for all the feedback folks! Any and all other thoughts are welcomed. I'll take all of this back to WAA [virtual] HQ.

Eric - thanks for clarifying the WAW situation also.

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Bob Mitchell — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:43:13 -0000

Watching closely. :-D

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Eric T. Peterson — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:22:13 -0000

FWIW I shot an email to most of the WAA Board of Directors saying "hey you all, go reply to Kevin on Emer's thread." I can assure you that the WAA needs money and that they spend it on good and wise things, but it's not my place to say that nor defend the Association (of which I am not a member.)

I also suggested that a little more transparency may be in order when it comes to revenue and expenses. The WAA is a non profit and so I suspect that there are different rules for publishing the numbers (but my suspicion is that they are looser, maybe I'm wrong.)

Anyway ...

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Eric T. Peterson — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:19:50 -0000

You can actually participate in the future of Web Analytics Wednesday if you like. Email me off this thread and we can scheme ... um ... plan.

Re: Why don’t you want to join the WAA? Really, why? Tell me!

Peter O'Neill — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:16:31 -0000

Thanks Eric, I thought I had seen something saying the WAW was not endorsed by the WAA, clearly mistaken. The issue for me with the local chapter events is they have all occured in the US so far. I don't really care what the event is called, just that there is a widely known opportunity for the local web analytics community to get together to discuss life & trade notes over a couple of quiet drinks. Looking forward to hearing the future plans for WAW though.