We live in an increasingly digital and fast-paced world. Much of our daily interaction now exists online. When we’re unsure, we resort to Google or Quora. When we need help, we file a support ticket and expect our question to be answered instantaneously. What’s the challenge with this reality? It’s easy to forget that real humans are answering our support tickets, or responding to our community discussions.

So, this week, as we celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Optimizely’s community, Optiverse, I want to showcase the talented and fearless people who participate in our community every day. As you think about developing your optimization skills, we hope you’ll use the community of people in Optiverse as a resource.

Meet the Optiverse community…

A bit of history… One year ago, Optimizely set out with an ambitious goal to give optimization enthusiasts a platform to collaborate with peers and create an all-inclusive home for Optimizely learning and support. This vision became the Optiverse.

Over the year, all of our community members have contributed to the success of the Optiverse, but there are a few people who have gone above and beyond with their contributions.

Case Van Arkel, Callie Louis, Charlotte Weiskittel, David Shaw, Grigoriy Kogan, Jason Dahlin, Martijn Scheijbeler, Matt Beischel, Pauline Marol, Renee Thompson, Scott Ehly, Sean Emmel, and Tom Evans are always willing to jump into discussions and share their expertise. Thank you!

We asked some of these all stars why they like contributing to the Optiverse. Here’s what they said:

“The Optiverse community exposes me to the brightest minds in our field, which is both humbling and motivating.”

Case Van Arkel, Senior Optimization Specialist, RocketLawyer

---

“I love the Optiverse community because what we do is still not that pervasive, and the community lets me connect with like-minded people who are facing the same challenges, striving for the same goals and looking for opportunities to move the needle within our own organizations.”

Renee Thompson, Sr. Director, Analytics and Conversion Optimization, TechTarget

---

---

“User Groups provide a great opportunity to meet and network with people sharing the same interest in A/B testing and conversion rate optimization.”

Pauline Marol, Product Manager, Hotwire

---

“I always seem to get insightful comments/responses in a very short time.”

Scott Ehly, Site Optimization/Usability Analyst, RentPath

---

---

“I love the Optiverse because it allows me to interact with people who are in the same position as me. I can learn a lot from others and am able to assist others who can benefit from my experiences.”

David Shaw, UX & Conversion Manager, Vouchercloud

---

“The Optiverse provides a platform for all of us who are passionate about optimization to come together to share experiences and collaborate.”

Callie Louis, Product Manager, Homefinder

---

---

“I love the Optiverse community because it provides an official outlet for sharing testing expertise and successes!”

Matt Beischel, ‎E-Commerce Optimization Specialist, Kalio

---

“The best part about the Optiverse is that everyone is willing to jump in and help each out other, whether the problem is simple or complex, which in turn creates a friendly and unintimidating environment.”

Sean Emmel, UI/Front End Developer, Blue Acorn

---

In the past year…

• Over 3,000 peopled joined the Optiverse.
• And published over 5,700 posts collectively.
• The Optimizely Product team built 30 product ideas submitted from the Optiverse.
• In December, we launched a User Group program to for the community to collaborate and learn from each other in person. User groups are active in 7 cities!
• We created or updated over 100 Knowledge Base articles.
• We hosted 6 “Ask the Expert” features. The AMA with Jessie Becker, Optimizely’s CMO was most popular.
• We recorded 15 pro-tips in for a video series called “One Minute Mondays.”
• Check out the full year in review here.

Links to 11 Most Viewed Discussions

• Ask Me Anything: I’m Jessie Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at Optimizely
• Optimizely and AngularJS
• What’s your advice for web/mobile optimization newcomers?
• Ask me anything: Questions about the new Stats Engine? Ask Optimizely’s Statistics team!
• Have 60 seconds? Take 1 Minute to Learn about Personalization
• Ask the Expert: Chris Goward joins us to discuss the Art and Science of A/B testing
• Have 60 seconds? Take 1 minute to learn how to roll out new mobile features with confidence.
• What is your testing documentation structure?
• Who are some of the experts in CRO field that you follow?
• Automated Email and Google Spreadsheet Reporting with the Results API [A step by step guide]
• Best tool for organizing tests – what do you use?

We invite you to join our Optiverse community, and we encourage you to appreciate the brilliance and the passion of those around you. Ask a question. Join a User Group. Answer someone else’s question. Share your success stories. Build a network of optimization professionals.

See you in the Optiverse!