Top 10 Takeaways From #ACCELERATE

I just returned from ACCELERATE, the Web Analytics Demystified FREE conference, in San Francisco.

The next ACCELERATE conference will be held in Chicago in April 2012. I seriously recommend going if you can make it, it was one of the best events I attended all year. It will book up fast, so sign up now!

Given the event was centered around short, “Top 10 Tip” sessions, I thought I would return with my Top 10 Takeaways.

But, because I’m an overachiever, I’ve done this multiple times …

Top 10 Takeaways from #ACCELERATE

1. There is no ROI in Facebook fans or Twitter followers. There’s only ROI in how you market to them once you have them. (Justin Kistner)

2. Integrate, integrate, integrate. Customer feedback data + web data + CRM data + behaviour data + testing tools … and more. (Michael Gulmann, Expedia)

3. Not the first or last time we’ll hear this – tell a story. (Michael Gulmann, Expedia)

4. There’s an art and science to analytics and testing, but protect the integrity of your work – don’t ever fudge numbers. It’s okay to roll out something that didn’t perform statistically better for other reasons – that’s the art. But don’t deceive. (Michael Gulmann, Expedia)

5. Mobile or die. Web traffic from mobile just continues to increase. You need to give users a choice how to engage with you – desktop, tablet, mobile devices. (And remember their choice!) (Eric Feinberg, Foresee.)

6. There are things you can do for a better relationship with your vendor. Don’t bully, communicate fully and often, and help them to help you. (Ben Gaines, formerly of Omniture.)

7. To hire a great team, prioritise your requirements, understand that you can’t have everything, and actually sell candidates on your role. (Corry Prohens, IQ Workforce.) And from Adam Greco (Web Analytics Demystified) hire the right people for what you need right now. Don’t hire a chief if you need an indian.

8. Quality is key. You should be willing to put yourself on the line, to vouch for the quality of your data. Monitor quality and continually consider the appropriateness of your implementation and reports – things do change over time! (Adam Greco, Web Analytics Demystified)

9. Your data is dirty. Deal with it. (June Dershwitz, Apollo Group.)

10. Learn. Learn the lingo, how to cope with (and still make use of) dirty data, understand your sources of data and any acronymns. (June Dershwitz, Apollo Group.)

Top 10 FUN takeaways from #ACCELERATE

1. Tim Wilson is not only a #measure star, but a rhyming genius. Seriously, check out his presentation.

2. Vendors are not evil, and conferences that exclude them from speaking are short-sighted. Corry Prohens of IQ Workforce (called a “vendor” by some. I disagree, but that’s a topic for another day), Benjamin Gaines, now of ESPN, but previously at Omniture, Justin Kistner of Webtrends and Eric (“Hairic”) Feinberg of Foresee delivered fantastic, informative and non-sales-y presentations, and any conference who won’t let them share such great insights is really missing out.

3. There are actually still people in the analytics community who do not use Facebook, Twitter or have a smart phone. (Sure, there are only two of them, but it still amazed me.)

4. The short form sessions (20 minutes for main speakers, 5 min for the short “Super Accelerator” sessions) were fantastic – enough information if you were really into the topic, no wasted time spent on filler, and short enough that if it didn’t really apply to what you’re doing. (For what it’s worth, I loved them all, and didn’t feel any didn’t apply, but perhaps others did.)

5. People ruthlessly exploit pictures of their adorable children to endear the audience 😉

6. Bringing a power strip to a conference will make you VERY popular, Lee Isensee.

7. Twitter is very random on who it puts in “Twitter jail”, given @OMLee got locked out and I didn’t.

8. Every flight in and out of SFO gets delayed, every time. (Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but it sure felt like it.)

9. It is incredibly hard to get a cab in San Francisco. (And on a side note, the founders of TweetReach are incredibly kind and generous people who will help stranded strangers find their way!)

10. Vodka should be scared of John Lovett and Eric Peterson. They show no mercy.

Top 10 facts about the #ACCELERATE Twitter activity
(Twitter #ACCELERATE archive is also available for download)

1. There were 2,752 tweets to the #ACCELERATE hashtag on Nov 18 alone (that does not include all the days before and after the event.)

2. That’s 115 tweets per hour on 11/18.

3. There were 2001 tweets just during the session times (9AM through 5PM on 11/18)

4. That’s 250 tweets per hour and over 4 tweets per minute!

5. The top five tweeters made up 46% of those tweets, and the top 10 made up 60%.

6. 283 unique Twitter users tweeted to the #ACCELERATE hashtag on 11/18

7. The top twenty tweeters were:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. 35% of #ACCELERATE tweets on 11/18 also contained the #measure hashtag

9. The most common words used in tweets (excluding hashtags and usernames)

 

 

 

 

10. We are very generous. 31% of #ACCELERATE tweets on 11/18 were retweets or via mentions.

Click here to download the #ACCELERATE Twitter archive and enjoy doing your own fun analysis!

 

4 thoughts on “Top 10 Takeaways From #ACCELERATE

  1. Sad to have missed this event but happy to read your recap. Thank you.

    I had been thinking about using power strips as a raffle lead gen prize at conferences. May test it now.

  2. Pingback: This Week in Social Analytics #25 at TweetReach Blog

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