Where: Weber Music Hall
When: Tuesday, October 4th from 11:00-12:15
On Tues. Oct. 4 from 11 am-12:15 pm, alumnus Dan Fishback ('83), CEO of DemandTec, Inc. and former UMD men's hockey player, presented a lecture entitled "Skate To Where the Puck is Going to Be" in the Weber Music Hall, as part of the Labovitz School of Business and Economics’ (LSBE) Distinguished Speakers Series.
In his lecture, Fishback demonstrated how math and science play an important role in businesses today, and how students interested in these types of undergraduate classes can have a very promising and impactful career in the business world.
"Young people don’t have an appreciation of what they can do with math and analytic skills," he said. Each year, the DemandTec sponsors the DemandTec Retail Challenge, which awards scholarships to seniors in high school who solve real-world problems in retail.
Fishback has been a champion of LSBE's new Retail Marketing Analytics Program (ReMAP) from the beginning. He brainstormed with LSBE officials over the development of the program. He was familiar with schools that offered this course of study for graduates. "There are very few schools offering this kind of program to undergraduates," he said.
Through ReMAP, students learn quantitative skills that are directly relevant to retail analytics. They receive a solid foundation in marketing and must demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills. As a ReMAP partner, DemandTec is providing financial support and contributing simulated software solutions and mock data sets, allowing students access to real industry tools.
Fishback foresees retailers and consumer products companies increasingly shying away from hiring individuals who are strictly general business majors or strictly statisticians. Graduates with skills in marketing and analytics, what he calls “hybrids,” will be “the coveted employee of the future.” People with marketing skills and applied mathematical skills are “the kind of people our clients want to hire every day,” he said.
Fishback has led DemandTec, Inc., a collaborative optimization network for retailers and consumer products companies, for the past ten years. As their president and CEO, the company has evolved from a Silicon Valley start-up with 30 employees into an international corporation trading on NASDAQ. DemandTec connects more than 350 retailers and consumer products companies, providing common solutions to transact, interact, and collaborate on core merchandising and marketing activities. Their services enable customers to achieve their sales volume, revenue, shopper loyalty, and profitability objectives.
For more information about the Retail Marketing Analytics Program, visit ReMAP or call the LSBE Department of Marketing at 218-726-7757.
Written by Kathleen McQuillan-Hofmann, [email protected] 9/21/11