Numberwang #3 - November 2020

Novemberwang was Data 2020!

We ended the year looking forward to 2020…suffice to say we didn’t predict EVERYTHING that was going to happen.

Our first speaker closing off 2019 was Emma Cottam (Etsy).  A photographer and active member of the Etsy Manchester team for a number of years, as well as Team Leader for Etsy Manchester. Emma is a planner and talked us through the way that Etsy, as a business, had become much more open about the digital experience and data available to its sellers. Emma went into the challenges and opportunities that this raised for a team with a hugely varying level of digital skills and capabilities.

Our second speaker was Steve Hulmes (Sophic).  Steve explored how the continual acceleration of technical solutions, platforms and environments had increased the need for businesses to refocus their recruitment practices and re-think their development programmes for analysts, as well as how data practitioners need to continuously adapt. Steve gave us a view on how he saw the development of key skills and actions within the industry over the coming years.

McVal Osborne (Flight Story) was our final speaker of 2019…and our last speaker before our hiatus.  At the time, McVal was Head of Data and Insight at Social Chain, and gave us a fascinating view and look ahead in the social media space - looking beyond the mainstays of Instagram and Twitter, and into the future, including something called TikTok…