Agenda at-a-glance

GAUGE is a two-day event, featuring a Google Analytics User Conference on the first day and Google Analytics Training Workshops on the second day. Attendees can choose one day or the other, or may attend both days at a discounted rate.

Thursday, March 8th – Google Analytics User Conference

The User Conference day of GAUGE is designed to provide a one-of-a-kind practical event that connects people who love Google Analytics. The day is filled with ample time for attendees to network, as well as choose from a dozen sessions on various Google Analytics topics. Additionally, GAUGE features an Analytics Help desk area that will provide kiosks staffed with Google Analytics experts to answer GA questions and help attendees take action on what they're learning.

8:00	Registration / Meet n' Greet
9:00 – 9:10	Welcome & Opening Remarks – Caleb Whitmore, Analytics Pros
9:10 – 9:50	Keynote Address: Beat the Back Button: How to Optimize for Engagement Dan Siroker, Founder and CEO, Optimizely How do you use Google Analytics and other tools to reduce bounce rates, improve engagement (time on site, visits per visitors, pageviews per visit, etc.), and drive higher conversion rates. This keynote will draw from Dan's experiences as a product manager at Google Director of Analytics for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, and work with Optimizely customers.
9:50 – 10:15	Break / Vendor Tables Open / Help Desk Open
Sessions Begin	Business & Strategy	Analysis & Optimization	Technical Topics
10:15 – 11:15	Planning for Success Principles and process for creating a strategy and plan that will lead to success with Google Analytics. Alex Langshur, Cardinal Path Caleb Whitmore, Analytics Pros	Loving the New Version of GA With the New Version of Google Analytics becoming default and the old version retiring in early 2012, there's no better time than this session to get up to speed on this major step forward for Google Analytics! Rachael Gerson, SEER Interactive	Troubleshooting Tips Tools and tactics to identify and solve common implementation problems with Google Analytics. Stephane Hamel, Cardinal Path
11:15 – 12:00	Meet the Googlers! Hear from members of the Google Analytics team about what's latest and greatest in GA and ask your questions! Phil Mui, Justin Cutroni, and others from the Google Analytics team
12:00 – 1:00	Lunch – Networking round-tables / Help Desk open / Vendor Tables
1:00 – 2:00	Taking Google Analytics to the Next Level Learn ways that you can supercharge your web analytics practice this year. From automated alerts to new revenue based metrics, to new segments, we'll discuss how to extract more insights with less work. Justin Cutroni, Google	Optimizing User Experience How Sony implemented Google Analytics to better understand visitor flow and optimize future user experience design. Randall Reeves, Sony Feras Alhlou, E-Nor	Custom Variable Madness Techniques for using this powerful feature to better understand and segment visitor behavior and value. Corey Koberg, Cardinal Path
2:00 – 2:30	Application Showcase This is a new session and a must-attend! Come and see application developers and sponsors pitch their platforms in a fast-paced lightning round. You'll never get a chance to see hands-on the best options out there for extending Google Analytics.
2:30 – 3:00	Break / Vendor Tables / Help Desk Open
3:00 – 4:00	Beyond Google Analytics Looking beyond Google Analytics – learn about other "tools in the toolbox" used by a cadre of veteran GA experts that complement, extend and otherwise further your Google based Web Analytics efforts. Corey Koberg, Cardinal Path	Don't Make Me Puke! Master Custom Reports and Dashboards in the new version of Google Analytics and never puke data again. Kayden Kelly, Blast Advanced Media	API Development Forum Calling all developers! Learn about the API and how it works from the "godfather" of the API, Nick Mihailovski and discover practical steps to successfully building your API based application. Nick Mihailovsky, Google
4:15 – 5:00	GA Premium or Standard – what's right for you? Learn about the new Premium version and what it affords, rediscover the Standard version and it's strong capabilities, and ask the GA Premium team questions Enrique Munos Torres, Product Manager, Google Analytics Premium – Closing Remarks –

…

Friday, March 9th – Google Analytics Training Day

The second day of GAUGE features three Google Analytics training workshop tracks. Attendees can choose to attend the same track all day or jump between modules in different tracks (though we recommend sticking to the fundamentals track for new GA users).

8:00 – 9:00	Registration opens
9:00 – 9:50	Keynote Address: Uber Funnel - taking the funnel beyond the sign-up form to look at retention and lifetime value Matt Trifiro, SVP Marketing, Desk.com
9:50 – 10:15	Break / Vendor Tables / Help Desk Open
Sessions Begin	GA Fundamentals Training	Analyst Training	Developer Training
	If you're new to GA – go to this track! This workshop track will focus on Google Analytics fundamentals: a general overview of how GA works, what reports are available, how to use the various features of the reporting interface, campaign tracking fundamentals, and basic account administration. Track Leader: Alex Langshur, Cardinal Path	This workshop is aimed at web analysts. The course will dig into using the GA reporting interface to conduct in-depth analysis of data, mining for those “golden insights” that rest beneath the surface of top-line analytics data. Track Leader: Feras Alhlou, E-Nor	Data is only as good as the implementation that produces it. This workshop is designed to educate those responsible for leading and/or executing Google Analytics implementations. Technical knowledge is required! Track Leader: Caleb Whitmore, Analytics Pros
10:15 – 11:15	Module 1: Getting Started with Google Analytics If you're new to Google Analytics then this workshop track is for you! In this first session, learn where to start with GA, how it works, and what to avoid on your way to success. Alex Langshur, Cardinal Path	Module 1: Social Media Analysis How do you measure social? This module will answer just that question and more: from measuring the traffic and conversions your social media efforts generate to understanding how your users interact with social elements on your website using Google Analytics. Corey Koberg, Cardinal Path	Module 1: How GA Works Breaking down the tracking code (GATC) JavaScript, cookies, tracking hits, and more. Nick Mihailovsky, Google Caleb Whitmore, Analytics Pros
11:15 – 12:15	Module 2: Get Cozy with Google Analytics Understanding the Google Analytics user interface – learn the basics of what reports are available, how to access them, and what they can tell you. Charles Davis, Blast Advanced Media	Module 2: Segmentation IS Sexy Segmentation is a big word, perhaps intimidating, but it IS the most important aspect of analyzing data. Learn how to effectively use in-report segmentation drill-downs and GA's powerful Advanced Segmentation tool from the experts. Kayden Kelly, Blast Advanced Media	Module 2: Extending Data Collection Review details of the ever-growing GA data model and how to collect various types of data into it: Event Tracking, Site-Speed, Social Tracking, Custom Variables and more. Dave Eckman, Cardinal Path
12:15 – 1:15	Lunch – Networking round-tables / Help Desk open / Vendor Tables
1:15 – 2:15	Module 3: Accounts, Profiles & Filters Discover expert tips for effective profile setup, configuration, filtering and more that will get your GA running in top-notch shape. Charles Davis, Blast Advanced Media	Module 3: Content Analysis & Optimization Learn GA's features for analyzing and understanding user experience on your site and the content they interact with. Covers content grouping landing/exit point measurement, navigation path analysis, and user insight through on-site search tracking. Feras Alhlou, E-Nor	Module 3: E-commerce Integration Understand the ins-and-outs of tracking e-commerce sites with Google Analytics. Joe Christopher, Blast Advanced Media
2:15 – 2:30	Coffee Break / Vendor Tables
2:30 – 3:30	Module 4: Going for the Goal Everything you ever wanted and needed to know about setting up and using Goals, one of the most important features in Google Analytics. Charles Davis, Blast Advanced Media	Module 4: Multi-Channel & Attribution Analysis Conversions may not come from where you think, but after attending this module you'll understand how you can use Google Analytics to see across multiple marketing channels and attribute conversions to the way real people use your website and respond to your marketing. Dave Eckman, Cardinal Path	Module 4: Cross-Domain, Multi-Site, & Rollup Learn how to properly implement Google Analytics on sites with sub-domains, tracking across 3rd party domains, implement multi-site roll-up tracking and more. Joe Christopher, Blast Advanced Media
3:30 – 4:00	Break / Vendor Tables / Help Desk Open
4:00 – 5:00	Module 5: Campaign Tracking Fundamentals Discover how to measure all your marketing efforts – email, banners, Bing search, even offline campaigns with Google Analytics. Kayden Kelly, Blast Advanced Media	Module 5: Search Marketing Optimization Become the guru of Search Marketing optimization at your company. Learn how to use new features like Keyword Clouds to visualize keyword effectiveness and understand the myriad of ways to dig beneath the surface of organic and paid search efforts to drive greater long-term value from this important marketing channel. Feras Alhlou, E-Nor	Module 5: Going Mobile As mobile site and app usage grows, so does the importance of measuring them! Learn ins-and-outs of tracking mobile applications and sites using Google Analytics' native SDK's for iOS and Android, as well as built-in mobile tracking in the standard tracking code. Caleb Whitmore, Analytics Pros Nick Mihailovsky, Google
5:00 – 5:30	Closing Remarks, Q&A

…

Learning Topics at GAUGE

Throughout GAUGE, attendees will have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in the following topical areas.

Setup & Implementation
- Account structure, users & profile setup best practices
- Tagging basics and best practices
- Dealing with sub-domains and cross-domain tracking
- E-commerce integration
- Event Tracking
- Custom Variables
Strategy and Team
- Developing your strategy
- Winning support internally
- Team training and development
Apps & API
- Application Showcase
- API-based analysis tools
Search & Social
- AdWords and other Paid Search
- Organic Search Analysis & Optimization
- Social Media Tracking & Optimization
Mobile
- Tracking mobile applications
Marketing Analysis
- Custom Campaign tagging & analysis
- Multi-channel attribution, analysis & optimization
Segmentation
- Custom Variables
- Advanced Segments
- Drilldown analysis
Content Analysis
- Content usage and value analysis – $/index
- Event Tracking
- Site Search
Essentials
- Go for the Goal – principles, best practices, and how to's for setting up and using Goals in GA
- Mastering filters & profiles
Panels
- Meet the Googlers
- Ask a partner/app developer
- In-house team leaders