I'm really pleased to announce that I've moved back to New York City. I actually started my interactive marketing career in New York almost 15 years ago, and I started my analyst career in New York nine years ago. But for the past seven years I've been plying my trade elsewhere: in London, Berlin, Vancouver, and then back in London again. Now, after half a career spent abroad, it's great to be back home.

What does this mean for my research coverage? Not much, really. I've still got the same job on the same team, and I'll still be focused on the same topics I've covered for years:

  1. Social media marketing. I've been writing about social media since 2004, and I've got no plans to stop now. Last year I published Five Ways Interactive Marketers Should Use Social Data, Social Media Marketing Metrics That Matter, and It's Time To Make Facebook Marketing Work. In 2012 I'll continue to lead our coverage of social media marketing with research on the staff and resources you need to succeed with social media, how marketers can take their social programs to the next level, and even how Facebook might justify its valuation. I'll also keep actively researching how social media can best fit into the marketing mix, most notably through an idea we call The Interactive Brand Ecosystem. 
  2. Global interactive marketing. I'm also going to keep writing about how interactive marketers can develop winning strategies in global markets. In the past year I published reports like The Global Social Imperative, The Right Way to Globalize Your Interactive Marketing Programs, and Tap Into Social Media's Unexpected Global Hotspots. In the next few days I'll be publishing an idea I really like, called "Push Traditional Budgets Online In Emerging Markets" — and I'm also planning a series of reports on interactive marketing in China and other emerging global economies.

And what does this mean for Forrester's coverage of interactive marketing in Europe? Well I'm pleased to introduce you to not one, but two great new analysts in our London office: Anthony Mullen and Darika Ahrens. They've both got fantastic experience and knowledge to offer, and you'll be hearing much more from them in the very near future.