Web Analytics Wednesday London

Last Wednesday was the second WAW in London that I attended, and this time featured a presentation by Alec Cochrane using real data discussing how he's been working on amalgamating hundreds of Governmental websites (thousands if Bob Mitchell is to be believed), with a focus on page layout and the customer journey. As Miles mentioned in his post on the event, this was a really refreshing presentation as it wasn't a sales pitch, or indeed even cover sales analysis, these sites being informational. Who'd have thought the boiler replacement scheme could be so interesting? A great start to the evening.

The main thing that grabbed me about the evening was the friendliness of the participants (although the free beer might have helped!), and their willingness to not only talk to newcomers, but also to listen and offer advice. Speaking as someone who still thinks of himself as a newcomer to this field, it was fantastic to talk to so many experts and to pick up some ideas from them.

The side-discussion led by Bob on the future for the UK wing of the WAA was invigorating, with a variety of thoughts on what individuals wanted to get out of it. We talked about the education and engagement side of things, whilst issues around entry standards and cost were also raised.

It was a really enjoyable evening, despite having to share a train carriage for 2 hours with a Manchester-bound "character", and to anyone in the industry who's yet to attend a WAW event, I urge you to go. Did I mention free beer?