WAKEFIELD, MA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/20/13 -- The DAA (Digital Analytics Association) is pleased to introduce Yeshayah Goldfarb, Director of Minor League Operations/Quantitative Analysis for the San Francisco Giants, as the keynote speaker for the DAA Awards for Excellence Gala, and the finalists for the DAA Awards for Excellence. The Gala will be held on April 16, 2013 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis during the eMetrics Summit, the official Summit of the DAA.

As the Giants' director of minor league operations/quantitative analysis, Goldfarb plays a role in just about every personnel decision the Giants' baseball operations department make to shape this year's winning team. Goldfarb's job entails configuring a mountain of statistics and data into a simple, understandable format. Goldfarb and his cohorts in analytics were instrumental in convincing officials to draft college stars Lincecum (2006) and Posey (2008). The Giants' President as well as the general manager praise Goldfarb and the work he does, crediting it with helping the team win a world championship. Goldfarb will deliver his keynote presentation at the DAA Awards for Excellence Gala to an audience of digital analytics and marketing optimization professionals.

The DAA is also pleased to announce the finalists in the third annual DAA Awards for Excellence. All DAA members and non-members were invited to nominate leading contributors to the digital analytics profession from a wide variety of individuals, agencies, vendors and practitioners. Recipients in each of the categories will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges comprised of experts in the digital analytics industry. The winners will be announced live at the DAA Awards for Excellence Gala on April 16.

Finalists were named in the following five categories: Digital Analytics Rising Star, Practitioner of the Year, Most Influential Industry Contributor, New Technology of the Year and Most Influential Agency, Vendor or Group. The DAA Awards for Excellence Finalists include:

Digital Analytics Rising Star (individual)
Eduardo Cereto Carvalho, Google
Elizabeth Smalls, Abercrombie & Fitch
Jared Vestal, BrightTag
Tiffany Zimmermann, MillerCoors
Randy Zwitch, Keystone Solutions

Practitioner of the Year (individual)
Michele Kiss, Web Analytics Demystified
Nancy Koons, Vail Resorts
Peter McRae, Symantec
Pradip Patel, FedEx
Balaji Ram, Walmart.com

Most Influential Industry Contributor (individual)
Justin Cutroni, Google
Bryan Eisenberg, Eisenberg Holdings
Adam Greco, Web Analytics Demystified
Stéphane Hamel, Cardinal Path
Avinash Kaushik, Market Motive

New Technology of the Year (group)
Google Tag Manager
ObservePoint
Optimizely
Tealium
Webtrends

Most Influential Agency/Vendor (group)
Adobe
Cognizant
Google
Semphonic
Visual IQ

The price to attend the Gala is $95 for members and $145 for non-members. To register for the DAA Awards for Excellence Gala, visit:
http://www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org/events/event_details.asp?id=281170.

This event is made possible thanks to the contribution of the sponsors: Webtrends, Google Analytics Premium, Demandbase and ObservePoint.

About The Digital Analytics Association
The DAA is a not-for-profit, volunteer-powered association that helps members become more valuable through education, community, research and advocacy. The DAA was founded as the Web Analytics Association in 2004. The organization has more than 2800 members worldwide, representing forty countries and a broad spectrum of expertise. For more information about the DAA, or to become a member, visit the DAA website at: www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org.