Analytics Magazine Analytics Magazine, March/April 2014 | Page 67

Davenport’s 2006 Harvard Business Review article and best-selling 2007 book, “Competing on Analytics” (co-authored with Jeanne Harris), launched the revolution that has made analytics the hottest business trend and “data scientist” the sexiest job profile. His most recent book, “Keeping Up with the Quants: Your Guide to Understanding and Using Analytics,” with Jinho Kim, has been called “the quantitative literacy guide” for managers. He has written or edited 16 other books and more than 100 articles for Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, the Financial Times and many other publications. Kilmer, director of sales planning and analytics at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, oversees the teams responsible for providing analytical and technology integration support across the sales teams and contact centers. Prior to her current role, she was director of industrial engineering at Disney, overseeing more than 120 industrial engineers who serve as internal business consultants. She is on Purdue University’s Engineering Advisory board and INFORMS Analytics Certification Board, and she has been featured on the “Today in America” show. Kilmer is a recipient of IIE’s Fellows Award, Purdue University’s Outstanding IE Alumni Award and Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award, and is in A NA L Y T I C S Purdue University’s Engineering Cooperative Education Hall of Fame. HAND-PICKED TOPICS AND SPEAKERS The key to the conference’s ongoing success is its program committee, chaired this year by Freeman Marvin, CAP, vice president and executive principal analyst at Innovative Decisions, Inc. “Attendees will have the opportunity to experience firsthand how the application of analytics is changing the way business is conducted across many industries and transforming everyday life for billions of people around the world,” Marvin says. The 36 members of the committee include analysts and managers from companies such as Google, Target, IBM, Chevron, Amtrak, SAS, Intel and UPS, as well as leading universities and government agencies. The committee develops the topic tracks, selects speakers and organizes the presentations that comprise the heart of the conference. This year the speakers will present talks that are organized into the following focused tracks: The Analytics Revolution, Healthcare Applications, Big Data, Marketing Analytics, Decision Analysis, Soft Skills and Supply Chain Management. New this year is a track organized by the INFORMS Roundtable that will feature world-class O.R. projects in established and mature M A R C H / A P R I L 2 014 | 67