Magento

For those of you who joined us in Las Vegas for the Imagine 2012 conference, we hope all 1300 of you made it back to your 35 respective countries, safe and sound. For those of you who weren’t able to join us this year, we’re sorry we missed you and hope that this wrap-up makes you dream about joining us next year. While there are too many highlights to recount each and every one, we still wanted to provide a summary of some of the more defining moments of the conference. We’ll also be posting video content and keynote/breakout presentations throughout the next few weeks on the Imagine site, so stay tuned for more to come. Here are the highlights from the event:

DAY 1:

* The conference started off with our much anticipated developer BarCamp – a series of rapid-fire presentations on Magento and X.commerce, with all content drive by attendees.

* Our popular WALL was launched – a collection of real-time attendee photos that were posted to Twitter with the hashtag #magentoimagine.

* Magento overtook the M Resort with a poolside opening night networking event. Watch this video to see where we got the tagline for this conference recap.

DAY 2:

* The theme for this year’s event was ‘What’s Your Story?’ Magento Go merchant, David Bandrowski of The Deering Banjo Company, walked us through his story and then gave a live banjo performance with George Grove of the famous Kingston trio.

* Magento Community 1.7 and Enterprise 1.12 were announced! Both new releases include REST API, developer productivity, different base pricing for customer groups and more. In addition, Enterprise 1.12 also now includes multiple wish lists, segmentation including personalized coupons based on a visitor’s interaction with the site and Mobile! (HTML 5 capabilities)

* Magento 2’s anticipated launch date was revealed; everyone can expect to see it in the first half of 2013.

* Angrybirds invaded the stage at the culmination of the morning’s keynote presentations. Why Angrybirds? They’re now a Magento Enterprise customer!

* The breakout sessions throughout the day were very successful, some of which were standing room only. To read about specific takeaways, see our final Day 2 recap.

* The afternoon keynotes started off with Stephen Messer, co-founder of LinkShare and serial entrepreneur with his take on Big Data. He argued it isn’t about big data; it’s all about big answers. Then Tim Kring closed out the keynotes with a look at storytelling using new social and mobile technologies.

* Day 2 finished up with another legendary party which included (among other things) cigars, fire juggling, dancers, blowing bubbles, and more! Be sure to watch the final recap video at the end of Day 3 below for some sneak peeks of the event.

DAY 3:

* Cindy Hallberlin, President & CEO of Good360 awakened the crowd during the morning keynotes with her inspiring story of how the company has donated more than $7 billion to 27,000 charitable organizations since its inception. The presentation continued with a personal message from Carly Fiorina, a member of the Good360 Board of Directors about how important eCommerce is not only for business but how it can be used to ‘do good’ as well. At the end of the presentation, Roy Rubin made the announcement that our very own, Bob Schwartz is joining the Good360 Board of Directors. Congrats Bob!

* Next up was Jim FitzGibbon, the former president of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts who shared some inspirational messages about how to live by a service-oriented culture. After taking us on a virtual trip around the globe with his presentation, 5 lucky contestants were brought up to the stage to compete for the chance to win a FREE 7 night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bora Bora! After being quizzed in front of 1,300 people about information presented during the conference, Krister Lenman from Sweden emerged as the winner! We want to thank all of our contestants for participating and know that it wasn’t easy up there under those lights.

* More exciting content came out of Day 3’s breakout sessions. For access to the full presentation decks, visit the breakouts page and be sure to check back often as we’ll be updating this page over the next few weeks.

* During the course of the conference we held another contest for most innovative site of the year. Finalists included Warner Bros. France, created by Internim, Reed and Barton by Blue Acorn and Ten Thousand Villages by CorraTech. Each Imagine attendee was provided with a poker chip which they could use to vote for the site they liked best. Just before the closing keynotes, it was announced that Reed and Barton was the crowd favorite!

* Finally Alison Levine closed out Imagine with her captivating story about climbing Mount Everest not once, but twice!! She shared her incredible insights about challenges, journeys and teamwork that can be used on the mountain and off.

Overall we couldn’t be happier with the result of the conference and it sounded like attendees were just as thrilled. (Over 95% of you said that you would recommend the Imagine eCommerce Conference to a colleague.) We’re so happy to hear that!

If you couldn’t join us this year, we look forward to seeing you at next year’s event. For those of you that did make it to Vegas, thank you again for making this year’s conference a wild success. Be sure to check out our final 2012 Wrap Up Video to experience it all again.

Until 2013,

- The Magento Imagine Team

eCommerce Forums are coming to a city near you!

eCommerce is no longer an alternate sales channel - it's a vital element in any retail sales strategy. We are holding forums in cities around the world to meet with merchants and discuss what is possible for their business on Magento. Each event is sponsored by a Magento Solution Partner with distinct Magento experience and expertise.

During this event you will learn about Magento Enterprise and how to attract more customers, improve customer loyalty, increase your average order value, maximize online revenue and much, much more.

	Mexico City, Mexico Asista al Magento Forum de Comercio Electrónico que se realizará en la Ciudad de México, este evento está dirigido a empresas que quieren implementar una Tienda On line. Aprenda las mejores técnicas para aumentar los ingresos al vender en Internet e interactué uno a uno con Magento y Entrepids y obtenga respuesta a todas sus preguntas.
	Philadelphia, PA Regardless of Magento's growth over the years, its founding principles around open source and connectivity have not been lost. In this eCommerce Forum, learn how Gold Solutions Partner, Groove Commerce, and Industry Partner, Listrak, have teamed together to leverage Magento and some great extensions to help merchants maximize the performance of their site and grow revenue.
	Las Vegas, NV Magento is teaming up with CIGNEX Datamatics in Las Vegas to show Nevada retailers how an innovative site built on Magento Enterprise can revolutionize their business. Attendees will learn how other businesses have achieved success with a Magento online store and how they too can start turning online browsers to buyers! Key technical and business people will be on hand from CIGNEX Datamatics and Magento to answer your questions.
	New York City, NY At this eCommerce Forum you will learn firsthand how two of sponsor Pod1’s clients – Echo Design and Erno Lazslo – have achieved success with Magento Enterprise. In addition, you will also learn how analytics tools from Jirafe are helping Magento merchants analyze traffic to improve conversion rates and revenue. There will be plenty of time for open Q&A and networking so that you can get your most pressing eCommerce questions answered.

Space at these events is reserved for merchants and their eCommerce decision makers. There is no charge, but you must register to attend.

At the conclusion of the 2012 Imagine eCommerce Conference, Magento and its Solution Partners gathered for the 2nd Annual Solution Partner Leadership Summit. Over 100 Solution Partners from over 25 countries came together to review the past year, discuss forward-looking goals and plans, and recognize the valuable contribution of our solution partner companies.

During this meeting, Magento acknowledged the outstanding performance in 2011 achieved by the Solution Partner channel. Magento is honored to have so many partners committed to delivering Magento Enterprise solutions; companies who are dedicated to developing the technical competency necessary to ensure customer success.

Special awards were presented to 10 partners for their outstanding performance based on Magento Enterprise revenue, quality of implementations and customer satisfaction. An additional 10 awards were presented to companies who showed remarkable year to year growth in 2011—results of their dedication to the development of their Magento Enterprise practice and their potential as rising stars of the partner network.

“Magento’s Solution Partner channel plays a critical role in the growth and development of Magento. These creative, innovative and technically astute companies are at the heart of our success. It is our honor to acknowledge their special contribution, and express our appreciation for their dedication and hard work,” said Scott Dahlgren, Department Head, Channel Sales.

Congratulations to the following Solution Partners who were awarded special honors for their performance in 2011:

2011 Magento Partner Excellence Award

• Gorilla
• Grand River
• Guidance
• CorraTech
• Demac Media
• Smile
• Lyons Consulting Group
• SQLI Group
• Exceed Online
• Balance Internet

2011 Magento Fast & Emerging Partner Award

• Alpine Consulting
• Levementum
• Brandlive
• Digital Evolution Group
• Trollweb Solutions
• Vaimo
• Mediawave
• Indaba
• Classy Llama
• Blue Acorn



We believe that the Magento Solution Partners represent the best system integrators / web site developers in the industry. Find out more about our Solution Partners by visiting http://www.magentocommerce.com/partners/solution

May 3, 2012 I 10:00AM PDT

Webinar: How to Use Email Marketing More Effectively

Email marketing improves traffic to your Magento Go store and helps to increase sales from your existing customer base. But more importantly, it builds and maintains long-term relationships with your customers, which are essential to any successful business. With proper subjects and relevant messages, email marketing can effectively support your marketing efforts with little to no budget. In our next webinar with Go Pro partner, aheadWorks, you'll learn how to use email marketing to grow your business. Here are the details of this presentation:

Date: May 3, 2012 10:00AM PDT

Presenters: Anastasia Harlamova, Senior Marketing Manager, aheadWorks and Alyssa Gothelf, Online Marketing Manager, Magento

In this webinar, attendees will learn:

• Best practices for subject lines
• Setting up the "From" and "Reply To" fields
• 10 tips for improving the open rate of your next newsletter
• How to avoid spam filters

Register now

Outdoor Research (OR) is a Seattle-based company that creates, manufactures and sells equipment and clothing for mountain climbers, skiers, hikers, and other “human powered adventurers.” For close to 30 years, the brand has had a fanatical following among hardcore outdoor enthusiasts.

OR envisioned an eCommerce store that would allow them to appeal to a wider, more casual market. The company enlisted Magento Gold Solution Partner Gorilla to make it happen. Making use of Magento Enterprise’s dynamic flexibility, Gorilla created a site full of breathtaking natural imagery, adventure-filled videos, and interactive features. In addition, developers designed the site’s new VIP section to automatically give especially active members special perks, discounts, and offers.

The results were nothing short of astounding. There was an almost 9% increase in overall site visits, and average order value jumped 19%. Site drops after the first page decreased by 8.25%, the store experienced its 3 highest traffic days ever, and there was a 46% increase in sales through the VIP channel.

It seems the adventurers at Outdoor Research have finally reached the top of the mountain.

Thousands of companies – including many of the world’s biggest brands – are using Magento Enterprise to grow their online businesses. Wondering how Magento Enterprise can help your business?

Have a Magento success story you’d like to share? Contact success@magento.com

Ben Marks, Magento course instructor, caught up with a few of his trainees from Magento U and found that they have been very busy…creating extensions, working at record pace and getting certified! Here is just a sampling of what he uncovered!

Paris FunDev student is now a Magento Certified Developer: https://twitter.com/#!/steven_vdp/status/187861972228915201

LA FunDev student has a custom Adminhtml tab: https://twitter.com/#!/mrinabh/status/187731586656124929

Mark Shust from FunDev class #1 has a lot going on!

• Magento blog posts: http://markshust.com/tags/magento
• Seven extensions in Connect: http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/developer/markoshust

Are you interested in learning the Fundamentals of Magento Development like the developers highlighted above? Want to join Paris FunDev and Mark in the ranks of certification? Join us by enrolling in one of the upcoming Fundamentals of Magento Development classes below:

• Zurich – May 7-11, 2012
• Los Angeles – May 14-18

Can’t make these classes? Check out our training schedule today. 

Despite an incredible showing at the legendary Magento party last night, attendees still showed up today bright eyed and ready for this morning’s keynote and general session presentations. The morning began with a look at Good360.org, a Magento Enterprise customer that has donated more than $7billion to over 27,000 charities since their launch. The morning continued with a presentation from Roy Rubin about eBay today where he walked everyone through a fun example of how eBay’s 40 eCommerce companies are able to affect a merchant in multiple ways throughout the course of a given day.

After looking at a few more merchant/community success stories it was time for Jim Fitzgibbon’s enlightening presentation about the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The former President’s presentation culminated in one very lucky attendee (Krister Lenman from Vaimo of Sweden) winning a 7 night stay at the Four Seasons resort in Bora Bora! Here are a few takeaways from his astute presentation that was relevant to any business:

* Culture is a common set of beliefs around the world that promotes consistent behavior. Four Seasons created a culture of service – people first, then product, and finally profit.

* Live by the Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

* An in depth hiring process is time well invested.

* “Get it right. Get me right. ‘Wow me’ if you can.” – the Four Seasons’ mantra

* Honest failure is good.

* Trust your employees.

* If you’re a leader, you must be transparent and authentic. If you’re not genuine, your employees and customers will see right through it.

* The key steps to live by: define your culture, set an example, hire the right people, be consistent, training built on trust in ability, have fun!

Highlights from this morning’s breakout sessions:

* Increasing your business by 5-10% by expanding internationally is a great idea. Just make sure you ask yourself the key questions before taking the plunge such as how do I protect the brand and acquire customers? How do I integrate with new carriers and manage customer service? And more!

* If you plan to expand internationally, consider using a partner to help you, start by focusing on one country and use your analytics to tell you which market to get started with first.

* A few of the best tips to unlocking the power of Magento Enterprise include: Choose the right partner, simplify your site administration, reap the benefits of an official Magento hosting partner, understand the full capabilities of Magento Enterprise,etc.

Highlights from this afternoon’s breakout sessions:

* A survey from Wantlet says 75%of peopleare influenced by online recommendations of friends and family. 80% look for social input when researching product info and comparisons.

* Another survey from Zoomerang says 51% of people are more likely to buy from a brand they are following on Facebook. 67% are more likely to buy from a brand they are following on Twitter.

* 'Know thy enemy permission based relationship understanding why they love you' - David Sinatra of Stussy.com on social media.

* Philippe Humeau from NBS Systems talked about Magento security from a hosting perspective, once again emphasizing the importance of keeping your Magento software up to date.

* Alistair Stead (from Session Digital UK) gave insight into the procedures and best practices that allow them to deliver huge Magento instances reliably, on time and create satisfaction on all sides.

* Brendan Falkowski (from Gravity Department) loves creating website interfaces that solve the challenges business are presented with by the mobile revolution. He gave insite into cutting edge technology and best practices, making the point how important a solid mobile strategy is. Along the way he shared the details how to create responsive themes that work for all the hundreds of mobile form factors.

Alison Levine closed out Imagine with an inspirational keynote and story:

In a conference focused on stories - both personal and business - we were very fortunate to have Alison Levine share hers. Her story took us up Mount Everest not once, but twice!!! Along the way she shared some incredible insights about challenges, journeys and teamwork that apply to us all:

* A healthy amount of fear is OK, it's complacency that is dangerous

* The only way to achieve seemingly insurmountable goals is to break them down into many small, sometimes micro, objectives.

* When you're working in a team, you have to know that everyone in the team is a team player and that they've got your back.

Thank you Alison for sharing your story with all of us and for helping make Imagine 2012 truly special.

Congratulations to Reed and Barton and Blue Acorn

This year at Imagine we showcased three Magento-powered web sites and the Magento Solution partners who created them. These three - Warner Brothers France, Reed and Barton, and Ten Thousand Villages - were chosen from among the many nominated as the finalists in the Magento 2011 Innovative site awards. We left the final selection of a winner up to you, our Imagine attendees. While there was a strong showing for both Warner Brothers and Ten Thousand Villages, the audience selected Reed and Barton as the winner. Congratulations to Reed and Barton and their solution partner Blue Acorn for your outstanding work and your Magento passion. We thank all the finalists and nominees. You have all demonstrated in your own ways the blank canvas that Magento the power and flexibility that Magento Enterprise creates.

A Final Thank You and Farewell

In true Magento fashion, Bob Schwartz closed out Imagine with a heartfelt thank you. He invited the entire Magento X.commerce team onto the stage with him to thank the audience for joining us at Imagine and for sharing their stories.

We were honored by everyone's presence at Imagine. The Magento Community and the passion the demonstrate every day motivates each one of us to take the greatest eCommerce platform in the world, and continue to make it even better.

THANK YOU!

If Day 1’s excitement level was at a 10, Day 2 was off the charts. There was a noticeable feeling of exhilaration in the air as the crowd entered the Pavillion this morning. With a DJ filled atmosphere, eye tantalizing graphics and thoughtful merchant quotes, everyone knew they were in for something good. This year’s theme centered around the question, ‘What’s Your Story?’ The theme brought to light just how much Magento has helped changed both the professional and personal lives of our merchants. It was an inspiring day to say the least, full of incredible stories, invigorating new announcements and insightful information that we can all put to use right away.

Our presentations started off today with David Bandrowski, one of our Magento Go merchants, playing a Deering banjo and ended with the Emmy award nominated screenwriter and producer, Tim Kring, so you can only IMAGINE what happened in between (no pun intended). Here’s a recap of the key takeaways from the day:

Morning General Sessions and Keynotes from Roy Rubin, Bob Schwartz and Matthew Mengerink:

* Magento Community 1.7 and Enterprise 1.12 were announced! Both new releases include REST API, developer productivity, different base pricing for customer groups and more. In addition, Enterprise 1.12 also now includes multiple wish lists, segmentation including personalized coupons based on a visitor’s interaction with the site and Mobile! (HTML 5 capabilities)

* Magento 2 will be available within the first half of 2013 and includes modularity and an incredible new visual design editor with drag and drop functionality.

* The Momentum keeps building: we’ve doubled our merchant base and increased our number of extensions by 73% since Imagine 2011.

* We have had 4,000 downloads of the Magento Developer Certification Study Guide since the launch of Developer Certification at Innovate last year.

* Magento U now has classes in 12 cities around the world with a total of 25,000 registrations.

* 20% of the Alexa 1Million use Magento – the highest share over any other solution on the market.

* Angry Birds is now a Magento Enterprise customer (hence the stuffed angry bird fight you may have seen in a previous blog post).

Morning Breakouts:

* Modal popups, QR codes, A/B testing, personalized landing pages, cart abandonment emails and more are just a few of the action items you can use to double your revenue in 6 months!

* Merchandising your online stores and romancing your product are fundamental elements to make customers return products less and return to your site more.

Afternoon Breakouts:

* It’s not about channels, it’s about your customer! Every merchant should learn about the multi-channel and cross-channel customer. A multi-channel customer will sell 3 times as much as a single channel customer.

* The five tenets for conversion optimization are 1. The Offer 2. The Experience 3. The Data 4. Testing and 5. Relevance and Personalization

* Don’t blindly follow the ‘HIPPO’ – the highest paid person in your organization! Use data and analytics to guide your decisions.

Afternoon General Sessions and Keynotes from Stephen Messer and Tim Kring:

* Stephen Messer showed us big data is worthless, it’s about big answers! It’s great to have a lot of data, but if you don’t know what questions that data answers, the data isn’t as valuable.

* If you want to change your business, the best way is to learn how to ask questions well. Then use the data to answer those questions!

* One bad experience can undo millions of dollars worth of branding. Make sound decisions using data instead of gut intuition.

* If you’re good at what you do, you learn to innovate – get around the hurdles in unconventional ways.

* Big data should empower creativity, not stand in its way!

* Serving content to individuals how they want it is the way to build your brand. Tim Kring used a 360 degree platform to serve up content for his show, Heroes including putting clips online, allowing viewers to create Heroes profiles, upload sketches and more. These innovative uses of transmedia inspired viewers to become more engaged with the show and also allowed Kring to tell the Heroes story well.

* A good brand knows how to tell their story…

Coming up tomorrow we have our last day here at the M Resort. Roy Rubin will kick things off at 9:00am with a presentation about eBay today. Following Roy’s presentation we’ll hear from Jim FitzGibbon, the Principal of Yew Advisors and Former President of Worldwide Hotel Operations for the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts! After our morning breakout sessions, lunch and afternoon breakout sessions, we’ll hear from Bob Schwartz with the highlights of Magento and Alison Levine of PEAKonomics.

See everyone tomorrow and have fun tonight!

- The Magento Team