X Change Europe: The Premier Web Analytics Conference Goes Global

Matthias, Michael Feiner (of AEP Convert) and I have been working hard in the past few weeks to nail down the details of the X Change 2012 - European (Berlin) addition. It's been hectic, especially since I was simultaneously selecting all of the Huddle Leaders for the U.S. event in September. The good news - it's pretty much all done and I think it will be every bit as special as the U.S. Conference always is.

First the basics: X Change Europe will be held on May 29th-31st at the Scandic Hotel in Berlin. If you aren't familiar with X Change, here's the way it works.

At X Change, the whole Conference is made up of small group discussions led by leading enterprise practitioners. Every discussion is centered around a specific topic (chosen by the leader) and you get to really deep-dive into it. These small group discussions (we call them "Huddles" from American football) are two hours long and are entirely conversational. No presentations. No Powerpoint. No holds barred.

I think the best part of most conferences is the unforced, honest conversations that happens between real practitioners during the breaks. At X Change, those conversations are the Conference. It makes for a completely different, more valuable, more interesting experience and it's what has made X Change the premier Web Analytics Conference in the U.S.

For X Change Europe, we've assembled a truly world-class line-up of enterprise leaders to guide those Huddles. From Germany, we have top analysts from MeineStadt, Kabel Deutschland, the Bavarian Stock Exchange, Bayer Business Services, and SoundCloud. From the U.K., we have experts from the Financial Times, ASOS, Virgin Media, Disney, Thomas Cook and Hotels.com. PON Automotvie in the Netherlands and Nokia from Finland are coming out. From Spain we added two of the top independent practitioners in Europe. And finally, from the U.S. we've sprinkled in a few X Change veterans and  measurement leaders from Comcast and Dell.

Of course, not all the X Change veterans are U.S. based. Tom Betts from the Financial Times has been an attendee and a leader (and superb one, by the way). He regularly comes up with some of the most interesting topics, and he'll be lending a hand in Berlin. So too will Matthew Fryer from Hotels.com. His Huddle on Getting the Data to Tell its Secrets last year was dear to my heart and I'm looking forward to the reprise in Berlin come May.

David McBride (Director of Business Intelligence at Comcast / nominee for this year's WAA Most Influential Contributor) is a multi-year veteran of X Change will be doing his usual incredible job. David is one of the best Huddle leaders I've seen - not least because he's a great listener as well as a top practitioner.

Kelly Wortham of Dell loved X Change so much last year she's paying her own travel to lead Huddles in Berlin. That's the sort of passion the X Change experience creates.

We haven't just selected the venue and leaders, we've also got our topics in line. They aren't that different than what you'd see in the U.S., though I see a little less on Big Data (still quite a bit though) and Hiring and a little more on Privacy. Here's a short (and by no means complete) sample:

• Strategic Joins of Web Analytics and CRM
• Mobile in the Mix - Integrating Multi-Channel Data for a 360 Degree Customer View
• The Social Multiplier: Improving ROI with Measurement
• Hadoop and Big-Data Analytics
• Advanced Segmentation and Multivariate Testing
• Online Analytics Maturity: From Reporting to Analysis and Beyond
• Defining Useful Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Managing a Web Analytics Team
• Tag Management Systems
• Predictive Analytics
• Privacy and Ethical Standards  

What else can I say about X Change? How about that there's no booths, no paid presentations, no sponsored time-wasters. Every single minute is meant to be quality time. You can go to other Conferences and listen to canned presentations about big-data and Hadoop. Or you can go to X Change and talk in-depth with practitioners like Matt Fryer (Head of Analytics, Hotels.com), David Williams (Head of Customer Intelligence at ASOS), and Tom Betts (Head of Analytics, Financial Times) who are knee deep in actual big-data work. Which do you think is going to be more valuable?

Truly, you will be astonished by the difference in tone, atmosphere, depth of content, and value that X Change provides compared to other Conferences. And those aren't just words. The unique format, the complete absence of paid presenters, sponsors and booths, the choice of enterprise practitioners to lead the conversations - it's all fundamentally different and better. If you want to get a sample of some of the learnings I take away from X Change each year, read this and this and this and this.

X Change Europe also continues a long tradition of outstanding venues (the Conference has been hosted in four different Conde Nast Top Hotels and Resorts in the World) and locations with this year's choice of the Scandic in Berlin. World-class location, comfort, and pretty cool events are all part of the experience.

Our goal with X Change is simple. It's to create a Conference where every single participant walks away convinced not only that it was worthwhile, but that it was the best Conference they've ever attended.

If you're an enterprise Digital Measurement manager or practitioner in the EU (or in the U.S. with a craving for good schnitzel, a Berlin White, and maybe a pfannkuchen), we'd love to have you out. The first year of a Conference is always the most challenging - and Berlin is, effectively, all new. I know it's a leap of faith to try a new Conference sight unseen. If you have questions about it, or want to hear more about how it works, please let me know. 

For more information or to register, click here.

Comments

[Jiri Brazda]

Hi Gary

I'm really interested in going but do you accept consultants like me (http://cz.linkedin.com/in/customeranalyticsexpert)? And if you do it would help quite a bit if you posted a complete list of huddle topics along with their schedule.

Jiri

[Gary Angel]

Jiri,

The full list of Huddle Leaders and Topics is about to go live. And we do welcome consultants at X Change. We do sometimes limit consultants after a certain number (here in the U.S.) because it's obviously critical to keep the balance heavily in favor of enterprise practitioners (and we ask 1 per firm - no more than 2 from tool vendors). I, frankly, have no idea if that will be an issue in Berlin or not - but at least in the early stages of registration, all are welcome and I hope you'll come out!