BGSU College of Business hosts Business Analytics Symposium

In an era of big data, demand grows for analytics professionals

By: Rachel Szabo

The Bowling Green State University College of Business recently hosted the annual Business Analytics Symposium, attracting students, professionals and alumni to campus to hear from global leaders on how analytics drive customer value across industries and markets. 

In an era of big data, presentations focused on the growing demand for analytics professionals.  

“We see a growing requirement for talent in the analytics space,” said Dr. Chris Skinner, vice president of strategic marketing at Owens Corning. “Data, the use of data and the interrogation and processing of data will change the world.”

Skinner delivered the first of three keynote presentations, offering a high-level view on the use of analytics in B2B business to help drive the future strategy of businesses. Skinner is responsible for developing and executing strategic plans at Owens Corning. 

More than 100 people attended the event, providing a synergy between the academic and corporate communities. 

Erika Augustyniak, a BGSU business student specializing in business analytics and intelligence, is a data science intern at Owens Corning. She took the opportunity to network with industry professionals at the event.

“The College of Business has so many different programs for a field that is pretty small, considering how much it’s growing,” Augustyniak said. “Bringing in speakers to present real world examples is extremely helpful for students.” 

The audience also heard from Ravi Kandikonda, senior vice president of marketing strategy and planning at Comcast and Shannon Garret, senior director, media mix modeling at Comcast about driving business results through optimal marketing and media mix allocation. 

Matt Butler, principal analyst at Google spoke on how data partnerships are transforming marketing, merchandise, sales channels and customer conversations for Google and top retail partners.