This week I was fortunate enough to get to participate in not one, but two panels on Digital Measurement with Red Door Interactive in San Diego and Denver.  It is always great to get a chance to meet with and talk to others in this industry about the challenges that we face and how others are handling these challenges.  Both events drew a diverse crowd from all levels of experience and across multiple verticals.  And even with this diversity there were quite a number of common themes that came out of the panelists and the questions of the attendees. The three points that I hope every attendee left with are these:

Develop the talent you have.

With the ever increasing shortage of people, the need to educate and train the staff you already have is equally important.  I will not get into you need a better tool debate, because the best resource you have is your people.  Encourage them to go to local analytics events like these speaker series, or Web Analytics Wednesday meetups.  Find the budget to send them to industry events like Demystified Days, eMetrics, Omniture Summit, WebTrends Engage, etc.  Join the Web Analytics Association and attend the regional Symposiums across the country.  Encourage them to participate in the Analysis Exchange as students or mentors. Whatever you do, invest in your people that is where the true ROI is.

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