X Change 2009 - The Web Analytics Conference

What the state-of-the-art Conference is wearing this year

2009 is a year filled with challenge. But amid an economy awash in problems, the ever-accelerating pace of internet change has not slowed. It would be hard to find a sector of the private economy not filled with turbulence and problems. And yet, the importance of online and web analytics continues to grow. This environment of opportunity heavily laden with challenge is a dangerous, volatile mix – one that presents us all with unprecedented complexity. X Change 2009 will be a chance for the leading practitioners, managers and experts in our web analytics community to work through this evolving landscape.

X Change 2009 is the third year for a conference that I believe has already become a keystone in the web analytics calendar and community. Its unique style – all small group discussions lead by enterprise practitioners – has influenced a range of other conferences and events including the eMetrics Symposium, MindMeld and WebTrends’ Engage.  That’s all to the good – I like all of these events very much. But X Change remains the unique experience for web analytics professionals – an experience that digs deeper, goes further, and is, frankly, more enjoyable than any other conference around.

For those who haven’t been to X Change before, here are the basics. X Change is focused exclusively on the science and art of web analytics. The entire conference is built around small group discussions – usually with about 12-16 participants. We call these small groups Huddles. Each Huddle takes on a specific topic– and each attendee picks the Huddles they are most interested in. The Huddle are deep – lasting 1.5 to 2 hours – and because there are no presentations, sales or speeches, the conversations are substantive and real.

The discussions are led exclusively by enterprise managers/practitioners – not vendors. Not even Semphonic or Web Analytics Demystified (we are partnering with Eric once again in 2009) consultants lead huddles. Indeed, one of the salient difference makers about X Change is the total absence of sales. No booths. No sponsored presentations. Nobody sells anything.

The format and small size – X Change is limited to about 100-120 attendees by the very nature of the conference – make for an intimate experience. X Change is the one conference where you can really get to know your peers.

This combination of small group discussions lead by enterprise managers and the absence of any sales/marketing create a unique atmosphere at X Change – a blend of the collegial and the corporate that generates a wonderful climate of passion, respect and comfort.

We try to facilitate that atmosphere by providing world-class venues. Last year, X Change was hosted at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco, providing a luxurious and lovely old-world retreat for our discussions. This year, I’ve chosen an equally stunning but rather different venue: the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco. The St. Regis may be San Francisco’s other five-star hotel, but with its modern, Asian-themed art and architecture, it is a very different sort of beast from the Ritz. The rooms are modern but striking and beautiful, the public areas are remarkable, and the meeting venues comfortable and filled with light.

This wonderful venue is just the backdrop though. It is in the quality of discussions that X Change excels. And that quality is a simple reflection of the quality of attendees. My number one goal each year for X Change is to get the very best people in our profession to participate.

So what’s new this year?

Eric came up with a great idea for the Keynote – and we’ll be announcing it in a couple of weeks. I think it fits our format and attendees beautifully. We’ve started identifying and inviting Huddle Leaders already – and I hope to have that lineup (always the single most important fact about X Change) locked down in early June.

We’ve made some tweaks in the structure of X Change as well. One thing I didn’t like last year was the amount of time each Huddle spent on introductions. We’re going to limit that sharply this year and perhaps try out a fun, networking oriented meet-and-greet early in the Conference to facilitate intros prior to the discussions. I’m hoping each Huddle can pretty much dive right into the conversation.

We’re also making some changes to help guide and sharpen the group discussions – each Huddle will have a conversational outline prepared by the leader to help participants and provide cues about what topics will be covered. This isn’t meant to regiment the conversation, just provide a framework for making it productive. We’re also going to be adding some facilitation to the Huddles – again to help keep the conversations very crisp.

We are also going to allocate Huddles on a first register / first choose basis - since I really want to reward early registrants.

We’ll also be adding in more pre-conference activities for those of you who can arrive early - activities both fun and educational. In particular, we’re adding the X Change Think Tank – a pre-day of advanced training. I know that just about every conference has training associated – but I’m hoping to deliver a brand of training that just doesn’t exist anywhere else by carrying the fundamental ideas of X Change into the training realm.

Think Tank will feature very small groups, advanced-level topics, hands-on explorations not canned presentations and really senior consultants leading the sessions. I’ll be blogging more about Think Tank but my hope is that it will re-shape the training landscape in the same way X Change has impacted the conference landscape – by delivering an exceptionally high-quality experience for the more advanced audience.

One of the most satisfying (but rare) professional experiences you can have is to attend a really valuable conference. A great conference delivers unparalleled opportunities for learning, extending your professional community, and becoming a part of the industry landscape. X Change provides all of that. And while I know that these are exceptionally challenging times for many when it comes to travel, training and conference budgets, I hope that X Change will be at the very top of your wish list!

You can register now at http://semphonic.com/XChangeRegister.aspx...

See you there!

Comments

[Jacques Warren]

Hi Gary,

I think you could have added that X Change is also attended by consultants who know and relish the fact that the conference is not an opportunity to get in front of people and try to pick up clients. That says a LOT about the quality of the event, especially when you have people like me who have attended it since the beginning, always on their own dime. To me, this is really THE place where I recharge my mind with new questions, new thinking horizons.

This is how bad I like X Change