“Expert” is a term that’s bandied about quite a lot in the internet marketing industry. So if you’re cynical about this list, I feel you.

 

But I honestly think all the individuals here are at the bleeding edge of the analytics field and deserve the accolades.

 

So here’s my definitive list:

 

10. Allison Hartsoe

Allison reminds me of, well… me. Analytics nerd, lives in the Northwest, a “wanna-be coder” (hey – we only need to know Javascript anyway, right?). I saw her speak at SMX this year, and she’s done some really cool analytics work on SEM/SEO traffic cannibalization.

 

9. Eric Peterson

The majority of the folks on this list will be primarily geared towards Google Analytics users, so I wanted to get somebody who really knows SiteCatalyst. Eric is that guy. Not only that, but he’s also the mastermind behind Twitalizer – one of the preeminent social analytics tools.

 

8. Michael Whitaker

Just started following Michael on Twitter, and he’s doing some really advanced work. The latest piece on his blog is about calculating confidence intervals in Google Analytics. Heady stuff, but we need more of this in the analytics community.

 

7. Robbin Steif

She’s the one always raising her hand during the Q&A sessions at conferences. And while you might get annoyed with her audacity at first, you realize she’s asking all the pointed questions that the rest of us would beat around the bush at for months. Thank you, Robbin!

 

6. Caleb Whitmore

A fellow Seattleite, Caleb started in SEM at Pop and branched off to form his own really smart analytics company. He’s also the founder of Gauge Con, which is fast becoming the SMX of the analytics world.

 

That’s the first 5, who are the others?

 

5. Ian Lurie

My boss, sure. Having a front-row seat to watch this guy work for the last 4 years has proven to me that analytics should drive everything done on the web. That philosophy permeates almost every piece on his blog, Conversation Marketing. Plus, he’s really snarky on Twitter, and it’s fun to read his tirades.

 

4. Joost de Valk

He’s dutch, isn’t that weird? No, seriously – Joost is the guy that made (and constantly up-keeps) the Google Analytics for WordPress Plug-In. He makes proper installation of GA on blogs a breeze every time.

 

3. Phil Mui

As close to a rock star as any Google employee besides Matt Cutts, whenever Phil shows up to an event, you can be sure something cool is about to happen with GA. His passion for GA as a product is infectious – he makes you want to use it and evangelize it.

 

2. Justin Cutroni

One year at the GACP Summit, Justin shared with us a case study about an analytics project he did for a major music industry conglomerate. They implemented analytics tracking and roll-up dashboards for every artist and imprint under that corporate umbrella. A daunting task by any stretch, but the way he explained the structure and details of the engagement so simply was really inspiring.

 

1. Avinash Kaushik

What can I say about Avinash that hasn’t been said? Let me say this – he’s the only speaker I’ve ever heard that talked about doing analytics for an Asian hotel site that offered escort services. Who else has the guts to do that? Not only is he an analytics genius, but the dude is just entertaining as all get-out.

 

So there you are! The end-all, be-all list of analytics scientists. I’m sure I’ll be getting angry tweets from everybody I left out shortly. If you’re one such person who’d like to send me a tweet – angry or otherwise – direct them here:

 

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