Why attend GAUGE

[info]This post is republished from the GAUGE blog at http://www.gaugecon.com/blog/why-gauge/[/info]

I was recently emailing with a client who was asking about attending GAUGE.  His question was simply “is GAUGE worth it?”  Which got me thinking – is it?  Why attend GAUGE out of all the other conferences out there?  I have answer that begins with a story.

A Founding Vision for GAUGE

My vision for GAUGE begin shortly after founding Analytics Pros when I was moderating a panel session at SMX Toronto a few years ago where everyone in a room of 70 people raised their hand when asked “who uses Google Analytics” by the Omniture rep on the panel.  Nobody raised their hand to “…and who uses Omniture?”  Bummer.

The panelists went on to never answer a single practical question from the audience like “that’s an awesome idea you just presented… so how do I actually go do that with Google Analytics?”  About a dozen people stuck around after the session and we had a quick round-table where we all answered each others questions.

That, in a nutshell, is what GAUGE is intended to be.  World Class speakers, great content AND insanely practical – if you don’t leave having learned how to do that it’s not worth it.  Web Analytics is hard, like climbing mountains, and learning it takes time and effort and being surrounded by experts.  That’s GAUGE.

So, Is It Worth It?

How are we doing coming up to our third GAUGE event?  I’ll let you decide.  Here are some testimonials from past GAUGE attendees:

[quotebox]Day 1 was great! I learned several actionable tactics I can take back to my job to improve performance![/quotebox]

[quotebox]Excellent from those who want the content in Google Analytics and state-of-the-art apps and add-ons.[/quotebox]

[quotebox]I learned something from every event I attended. The presenters were very knowledgeable and give points everyone could take away. It was a welcome change to see knowledge vs. sponsorship/sales pitch.[/quotebox]

[quotebox]Great place to get tips from the experts – all under on roof![/quotebox]

[quotebox]The speakers knocked it out of the park. Excellent content, fun presentation style, and contagious enthusiasm.[/quotebox]

[quotebox]Loved having the whole GA team on-site. Very cool & valuable.[/quotebox]

[quotebox]The best part was networking – being able to ask questions and get real answers.[/quotebox]

[success]Learn more about GAUGE, the leading Google Analytics User Conference. The next GAUGE is in San Francisco, March 8th – 9th 2012. Click Here![/success]