Here is the list of free webinars coming up in January. Make your time to attend the ones you are interested in.

Jan. 8 WAA 2009 Outlook Survey Results by Web Analytics Association

Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT

[Summary: The second annual WAA Outlook survey results are in - and you might be surprised to learn what the future holds for the industry! This is a members only webcast.

We surveyed over 600 Web analytics end-users in order to get a pulse on where they see the industry heading in 2009.

Whether you're in the business of Web analytics, digital marketing, or part of any organization with online initiatives, you'll want to take part in this groundbreaking Webcast. ]

Jan 15 2009 – Our Year to Shine by Brian Eisenberg and Jim Sterne

Thu, Jan 15, 2009 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

[We all agree that the sooner we can put 2008 behind us the better. Should we be looking forward to 2009? Yes, says Jim Sterne, Chairman of the Web Analytics Association and Founder of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit. He says 2009 is Our Year to Shine. This is the year that web data and web intelligence come into their own. This is the year upper management will be looking to the web for rescue - and you'll be there with the answers. If, that is, you stand ready to move up the to the next level of continuous web marketing improvement and that is all about tactics this year. Jim will lay out the conceptual framework and then tell you exactly where you need to focus your attention to make 2009 the best year yet for your business online.]

Jan. 22 Best Practices in Paid Search: Using Data to Drive Results by coreMetrics

Thursday, January 22, 2009 10:00 am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

[Summary: Join Elizabeth Magill, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Coremetrics, and learn how to:

• Establish KPIs for your search program.
• Centralize data and program management to drive better results.
• Use data to increase reach and qualified traffic. ]

Let me know if I miss anything here.

Let’s face the reality.

Several things could happen to us:

1. We may lose our current job. Given the increasing importance of web analytics, this is least likely scenario unless you proved to your company, neither you nor the web analytics worth nothing to them.
2. Even we can keep our jobs, somebody has to go. The jobless rate is already at seven years high but still nowhere to compare the level in the great depression. How worse we can get? The lay-off might not impact you directly, but might impact people you rely on to make web analytics, testing & targeting work. If they are gone, you are left alone with a big trouble.
3. Even we all keep our jobs and nobody leaves, the marketing budget is likely to get cut. And that might impact the consulting services you are using or even just the planned enhancement of your current web analytics solution. All of those might be put on shelf for some time.
4. Even the marketing budget is not cut, it’s very unlikely that it will be increased either. This means you can get the nice customer experience management application that you have been dreaming or if you are a web analytics manager, you are not going to get additional headcounts to expand your global coverage. Instead, you will be asked to do more with existing resources.

You get the idea. So what you do?

Panic?

Well, I am afraid that will do you any good, either professionally or personally.

How about a denial?

My answer is “learn”

Here is why:

We all know no matter how bad the recession can be, it’s going to end, someday, most likely in our life time. The difference for all of us is not whether you can survive or not during the recession, but whether or not you can thrive after the recession. Guess who can thrive after the recession? Of course not those who are panic or denying the reality, but those who take the time to learn and grow themselves. This is true for individual as well as corporations. Checkout Mckinsey’s Learning to love recessions

So here is my game plan:

• Take the UBC web analytics course
• Attending the eMetrics Summit
• Keep myself updated via web analytics blogs
• Learn on the job: what happened (read as Omniture Sitecatalyst), why happened (read as “analysis”) and how to optimize (read as “actionable insights”) This has to be a continuous process and more important in recession than ever before
• Share my learning on this blog and other forums

I hope you have your own game plan and you are welcome to share yours here.