DAN MEYER’S ANALYTICS FOR DECISION MAKERS SEMINAR

Dan Meyer and the author

 

We’ve all heard it in the news quite recently: the top most in-demand jobs for the next couple of years had been named—ANALYSTS. Be it system analysts, financial analysts or business analysts. Unfortunately, the needs for market demand and supply projections of entry level or fresh graduates aren’t in sync with the number of available positions everyday.  

 

I had been fortunate when I was invited to attend a workshop/seminar on Analytics Training Workshop by Daniel Meyer held recently at the Vista Center, Worldwide Corporate Center, Mandaluyong City. Mr. Dan Meyer had a Master’s Degree in Education and has spent fifteen years with Wells Fargo. How he had found his way to the Philippines had actually been some kind of sheer serendipity.

Bloggers who attended the Analytics seminar

Dan Meyer

 

Back in the US, Mr. Meyer had always been in deep connection with the Filipino community as he hailed from Vallejo, California where 30% of which are Filipinos. His brother even married a Filipina. He liked Filipino foods. His kismet had brought him to our shores some years ago when his company, Wells Fargo had sent him to the country as an analyst. He felt the initial connection or natural affinity with the people that had somehow motivated him to do some big decisions merely based on leap of faith. 

 

It was indeed a life-changing decision as Mr. Meyer uprooted his family in the US to start a new life in a foreign land. “Opportunity knocks only once in a lifetime. I was successful and accomplished with lots of things but I wasn’t satisfied,” Meyer recalls. “I knew I had to do something to fill in that void. All the data was telling me to come to the Philippines to share my knowledge and help more people to learn the tools to help with data gathering. I saw the need for what I do—BPO, training analytics etc.—I feel the need to empower and motivate people to improve their decision making and other stuff,” adds Meyer. 

Businessmen and participants who attended the seminar

 He spends a couple of time reading online keeping abreast of what’s going on as well as get updates on the latest innovation. Mr. Meyer had a knack for connecting with people across multiple audiences and likes to help them unlock what they need in order to succeed.

 

Since I’m not really good in numbers, I honestly don’t know much about analytics (I know a little about Google Analytics) so you could just imagine the overload of information I had received during the said talk. Here I am sharing with you some of the basic things I have learned out of that seminar. But there’s actually more important stuff about analytics, which you can learn when you attend any of his upcoming seminars.

Bloggers at work during the activity

There are two types of analysts discussed during the seminar: Business Analysts is the one who has to know how to make an efficient business strategy while a Financial analyst does all the financial planning and teaching people how to invest properly. 

 

During the seminar, Mr. Meyer had taught us how to find data:

1.    One must identify your data—assess what you need/parameters.

2.    Inventory your data—figure out where to get whatever it is that you need while keeping an inventory of your data sets, which you can use for current and future analysis.

3.    Integrate your data—in cases where you have more than one source of data, you’ll need to combine or integrate the data.

There are three things that influence your decision:

1.    Private Company Databases and Sources

2.    Public Databases and Sources

3.    The Internet

·         A successful analyst must know where and how to find data.

Databases and Warehouses:

1.    Proprietary Databases

-Data used for analysis, which is kept in databases that are built and maintained by an internal IT team. They may use heavily personalized commercial software.

           2.  Off the Shelf Databases—Most data is housed in a commercial database solution like Oracle, MS Access etc. where IT team often work in partnership with database manufacturer.

            3. External Databases-happens when the company does not have its own database.

INTERNET RESEARCH:

1.    Wikipedia—Editable free online content encyclopedia.

2.    Google Search—fastest and easiest

3.    Government Databases—Collection of figures, information by government agency, authority of national and local government.

There have been a couple of group activities throughout the seminar and I’d say although I am not so much into analytics, I’d have to say that I have enjoyed the said experience and have more or less had a grasp of how it affects our lives and how to properly use it.

 At the end of Dan Meyer’s Analytics training, one will be able to say that he or she has stronger understanding of types of data analysts use. Basic internet research skills, ability to find pertinent data, how to sift through data points to find ones that can drive decision making, how a team of analysts working with similar methods and that can come up with different conclusions.

By simply attending a DMAI seminar by Mr. Dan Meyers, you’re sure to be getting what you’ve paid for plus more: you’ll learn his techniques as well as the tricks, understand what analytics is all about, plus gain more friends and future business partners as you mingle and interact with your fellow participants, and most of all, it promises to be fun (it’s not your boring type of talks, I assure you!).

Purple Plum Fairy thanks Janese Halaboso, Mr. Dan Meyers and Ms. Myra Sandico for the invite.

Disclaimer: I am not compensated for this post. Opinions expressed are 100% my own.