Zack Pike is the Director of Client Solutions at Alight Analytics, a Kansas City based marketing analytics firm. He’ll be joining us on day 3 of WordCamp Kansas City to talk about tracking user engagement. We caught up with him to get a little more information about him and what drives his passion. Read on for more!

1. How long have you been using WordPress?

   I’ve been using WordPress since early 2008, which oddly enough is about the same time I started using Google Analytics as well. It all started when we needed a blog on ProCharger.com. Since then I’ve used it in varying capacities for both professional and personal projects. We use WordPress today to run AlightAnalytics.com.

2. How did you get started in your current field?

   Out of necessity. I was a marketer, putting a lot of effort into each of the “systems” I ran marketing through. The problem was always trying to figure out which one was having the most impact, so I would know where to spend my budget and time. Putting that data puzzle together is not easy, and at the time there wasn’t a lot of information (or agencies) to help me. A lot of trial and error, some success, some failure, and this is where I ended up. I actually was a client of Alight’s before I came to work for them. 

3. Who should attend your talk (beginner, developer, entrepreneur, advanced designer, ect.)? Be honest, who do you want to reach or help?

   Anyone who has an interest in using Google Analytics to make decisions around their WordPress site. We’ll talk about how to get Google Analytics implemented on a WordPress site, but we’ll also talk a lot about how to use the great data this tool captures to make your site better. Oddly enough, Google Analytics is still highly under-utilized by even more advance site owners and agencies, so there’s a lot of value still left out there, and the tool gets better every year.

4. What has been the most useful resource for you in your field? (Book, video, software, hardware, training class, etc.)

   Clients. Since I’m in a field that doesn’t necessarily have a “playbook” to work from, it’s our clients unique needs that keeps me on my toes. Alight is developing solutions that do not exist, because we’re being asked to solve problems today that did not exist yesterday. As data becomes more and more accessible, we will continue to see more unique usage of it. There are books, online courses and even college programs that cover big data… Problem is they can only cover what’s been done so far. This field is still very immature and fragmented.

5. What is the one tool that you wouldn’t want to be without in your work?

   My Nexus 6. I can do almost anything from this phone, short of an in depth data analysis (although with enough time I’m sure even that’s possible). In emergency situations I’ve even checked Google Analytics implementations for multi-million dollar websites from this phone!

6. What do you like to do most for fun? Keep it clean!

   I like to spend time with my wife and three kids. They keep me plenty busy outside of work!