The 2011 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference has concluded, and for me it has been a very productive and encouraging conference.  As everyone knows, I attended the Soccer Analytics session this morning and was thrilled to know that a lot of people — panelists and attendees alike — read this blog and enjoy it.  The number and quality of contacts that I made were incredible, and I am encouraged that the barriers to further advancement in soccer analytics appear to be crumbling.   Of course, there's a lot more work for me to do, so I leave this conference re-committed to completing some of the tasks that I've been working on for the better part of a year, and dusting off some tasks that I've shelved due to lack of data.

I return to southern Arizona tomorrow afternoon.  With the next 24-48 hours I will write about my general impressions of the conference and what needs to happen to increase soccer's presence at the SSAC.

Finally, a big thank you to the organizing committee for putting on an expanded yet wildly successful conference, and best wishes to all those who I met and talked to at the conference.