TLC Blog

KristenMeren · ‎11-12-2020

The Tealium community is thrilled to shine its Expert Spotlight on @mitchellt! Mitchell is a Manager of Digital Analytics at ACTIVE Network, and our longest standing Tealium Expert. Keep reading below to learn more about Mitchell and his expertise.

How do you interact with Tealium’s products on a daily basis?

I use Tealium iQ (Tag Management) daily to administer tags across Active’s various web properties and markets. I also frequently participate in the Tealium Forums where I learn and help others. I love that Tealium is extensible and the Tealium folks are always friendly and helpful.

What's your favorite "pro tip" to give other Tealium users?

Use the Tealium Forums and Education resources – search is your friend! Do your research to learn, but in the interest of time, don’t be shy to open a support ticket and get help from an engineer – they can talk through something with you or quickly whip up a solution for you in many cases. Either way you can learn.

What led you to work in MarTech?

I was in the right place at the right time in the late 90s when the company I worked for needed a website and I had recently moved into a developer role. Back then websites were mostly brochure-ware, but I had the opportunity to link our website to the company mainframe and enabled interactive shipment tracking for the public. Back then, we used a log analyzer program called Webtrends to see how visitors used our site. I was always curious about that analytics and data collection aspect of website development and decided to specialize in digital analytics since the mid-2000s: Webtrends logs and SDC first, then Urchin/Google Analytics, then onto Omniture and Adobe Analytics, Adobe Tag Manager, DTM, GTM, and most recently Tealium.

What do you love most about working in MarTech?

It’s ever-changing and anyone interested can dig into it without limits.

What do you consider most promising in the era of big data?

Cheap data storage, fast processing and great tools enable quick discovery. Again, there’s no limits for anyone who is curious.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I enjoy cooking, photography, reading, outdoors, and family. I enjoy tinkering with mechanical objects. Then there’s home improvement, yardwork, and automobiles too.

What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?

I am a “lifelong” student pilot. I soloed at age 18 but work and school took my budget and attention away. My plan is to circle back on finishing my pilot’s license after I get our kids through college. I’ve never lost my love for aviation even if only as a passenger. And when I’m an airline passenger, I’m always present during all flight aspects, mostly as a silent backseat driver and always on a window seat.

What was the weirdest job you’ve ever had?

I worked in Relay (shipping/receiving) at a branch of a large department store chain. One day the acting store manager invited me to transfer to computer operations at the main store, and offered complete training. I took the opportunity and it turned into a career in technology. That gentleman took a gamble on me out of the blue, how lucky was that?

If you could meet any historical figure, who would you choose and why?

It’s a tough question, there’s so many to pick from. Somehow I feel like many historical figures are best admired from afar – deep down they are just regular folks like us – why spoil the magic?

What is a favorite quote you try to live by?

Show Up. I don’t know who gets the credit for the quote, or if it really is a quote, but simply ‘showing up’ is the first, best step to getting anywhere in life.

If you'd like to get in touch with Mitchell, leave a comment below or visit his profile and select the Send a message button to connect directly. Special thanks to Mitchell for participating!