Three University of Missouri students competed for $15,000 in prize money in Utah on November 5th, having topped a series of regional judging rounds of the national Adobe Web Analytics Competition (AWAC).
A panel of Adobe judges selected Missouri School of Journalism students Davis Ashcraft, Daniel Dalton, and Gretchen Hubler to represent the school at the national competition.
The Omniture Business Unit within Adobe asked students across the country to analyze the website dogfunk.com using Adobe's software and come back with specific recommendations using Adobe SiteCatalyst to improve the website.
Calling themselves "Two Dudes and a Blonde," the team analyzed the website, providing recommendations and improvements to the site's merchandise checkout page.
Brad Best, advertising editor of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute, is overseeing the competition at the Reynolds Journalism Institute. He encouraged his students to get involved in the competition emphasizing similarities in consumer website sales to news organizations' online revenue.
"The AWAC competition is a great example of the Missouri Method," said Best. "Not only does this have an impact on sales sites, but it is quickly becoming one of the key tools that news organizations are using to optimize revenue from their own websites."
Team "Two Dudes and a Blonde" presented their final recommendations in front of a live audience. They competed against students from BYU, where Omniture was founded and five other universities across the country. The team representing BYU took first place in the competition.
Although "Two Dudes and a Blonde" did not place in the final competition, the teams says the experience was still rewarding and they encourage other students to get involved in any competition offered by the university to enhance different skill sets.
David Ashcraft is a senior Strategic Communication major from Kansas City, Missouri; Daniel Dalton is a senior Strategic Communication major from St. Louis, Missouri; and Gretchen Hubler is a senior Strategic Communication major from St. Louis, Missouri.
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