Archive for July, 2008

I’ve read two books in the past few weeks, and have been amazed at the difference they make in my understanding of two subjects: Grammar and Algebra. I wish I have had access to these two books while in school, as I know they would have made an impact on my learning and understanding of the subject matter. I hate x I used to be really good in Math, until I met Algebra. Then I learned to hate x with a passion. I never understood why endless equations were so important, or how it would affect my life – why are we learning all of this? If I want to…

Cultural critics and wordsmiths gather around for this outstanding foray into verbal investigation.

Have we lost our way when declaring ideas?
Why has the declarative been exchanged for the inquisitive?
Have we lost our ability, or our nerve, to declare our thoughts with confidence?

Highlights include:
“We’re the most aggressively inarticulate generation to come along since, you know . . , a long time ago.”
“It is not enough these days to question authority, you’ve got to speak with it too.”

How inspirational during a Friday morning lull.

Related Articles:
Analytics as a Subversive Activity
Analytics 1.0 – A Case of Velleity
Social Media Traffic: Useless Gossip or Powerful Word of Mouth?

Next month, I will be traveling to the Googleplex to be a presenter for their “MarketingTalks@Google” series. This is an awesome invitation, spawned from the “Analytics According to Captain Kirk” segment in my analytics training and presentations. I’ve known the staff at Google Analytics since their Urchin days, so it’s always nice to see their success and adoption into Google. I’ll be in San Jose for Search Engine Strategies that week, presenting at two sessions; Analytics 2.0 with Analytics heavyweights Jim Sterne, Erik Peterson, and Marshall Sponder, and then a fun panel on IT for Marketers, where we de-mystify the dark secrets of IT web-speak language for…

Your analyst is the most dangerous person in your company. A good analyst is one that cannot be trusted to follow the company line. They probably always ask for proof or data to back up claims, they challenge long-standing assumptions, and they don’t settle for status quo. That’s their job. A company needs to be questioned to grow. Questioning is the only way that companies can get past lock-step obedience to notions. Many companies are held captive to beliefs about their website and how effective it can be. Unfortunately, they don’t have someone so subversive as an analyst that will ask the right questions which will result…

Velleity is a word that has dropped out of the general vocabulary, unfortunately. I am attempting to bring it back, as it has more relevance now than ever. Velleity is a desire to see something done, but not enough desire to make it happen. Wow! Reporting v Analyzing In my analytics training classes I ask the attendees about their analytics reporting routine. Sometimes I make fun of the in-house analyst that has to report numbers like unique visitors, hits and sessions. Then, they spend the rest of the month justifying why that number was higher or lower than the prior month. Unfortunately, as I make that statement I see too…