• by Jodi McDermott , May 15, 2009

On Tuesday, June 9 at the Yale Club in New York City, MediaPost will host the first  OMMA Metrics & Measurement conference. For those of you who are long-time readers, you'll note that we metrics folks are always part of the OMMA conference series, but have never had our own day to dive into so many of the issues that we blog, tweet and email about.

The level of interest in this show has been high -- and why not?  The topic of online measurement can be engaging and polarizing.  As I pointed out in my article last month, the passion can sometimes be a little over-the-top (just ask my husband, who promptly gives me the "L" hand sign to the forehead when I start droning on about unique visitors or the battles of measuring the perfect level of engagement... I still love you, dear).  However there are those of us who could close down the hotel lobby bar and still not be satisfied with the result of the discussion.

So why should you be there?  With the help of an advisory board (including our own Metrics Insider Josh Chasin), we've assembled a compelling list of topics and panelists.  Jeffrey Eisenberg from FutureNow will be opening up with our morning keynote.  If you know Jeffrey, he is not out on the public speaking circuit frequently, but when he is there he has a LOT to make you think about.  Highlights of some of the panels include:

Audience Measurement -- How often do you get to see comScore, Nielsen and Quantcast together on stage at one time?  (OK, it happens occasionally.)  I am throwing out the challenge to Joe Laszlo from the IAB to push these guys to talk about where we are today with this topic and where it is going next.

The Analytics Food Chain -- Near and dear to my heart, this panel will focus on how to use audience measurement, campaign and Web analytics data interchangeably to make decisions about your online business.  The sources simply do not foot to each other (and frankly probably never will). I am excited about moderating this panel. We have a great lineup of agency, vendor and practitioners for the conversation.

Measuring Video -- Wow, this is a hot topic.  I think we all know that video is the hip kid on the block, and the interest level in measuring video is very high. Just check out the list of panelists and I'm sure you'll see that we've assembled a solid crew.

Integrating Online and Offline Data -- You database junkies should get in the front row to listen to this group.  We'll leave the details of how to connect tables and index queries to the IT group and really focus on how to improve conversion, ROI and user targeting with data.

The "Ins and Outs" of Measuring Social Media -- Widgets, social applications, blogs, UGC and Twitter (have I hit buzzword bingo yet?).  This panel should bode for a great discussion and is the last panel of the day -- the only thing that will be standing between you and happy hour.

As you can see, we have a great lineup! And yes, all of the cool kids will be there.  The day promises to be enlightening, compelling, provocative and engaging -- is there a metric for each of those? Check out the Web site for panel additions and be sure to register.  June in New York is the best place to be.