{"id":6726,"date":"2019-11-01T08:52:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/?post_type=limelight&p=6726"},"modified":"2021-02-04T07:38:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T15:38:50","slug":"the-limelight-nicole-lawless-desjardins-principal-data-scientist","status":"publish","type":"limelight","link":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/limelight\/the-limelight-nicole-lawless-desjardins-principal-data-scientist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Limelight – Nicole Lawless DesJardins, Principal Data Scientist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Limelight series focuses on employee culture across the iSpot organization. Follow along as we take a closer look at the real people behind one of the most comprehensive TV ad catalogs and more.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This month we interview Nicole Lawless DesJardins, Principal Data Scientist, and uncover her journey into the TV advertising industry. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nicole
Nicole Lawless DesJardins,
Principal Data Scientist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is your current role at iSpot.tv?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a Principal Data Scientist, which means I\nwear many fabulous hats. I help lead the overall strategy for data science at\niSpot and mentor other scientists. I develop KPI-focused models and work\nclosely with engineers to get them into production (I spend most of my IC time\nworking on our Conversions offerings). I also spend a fair amount of time\ntalking to people outside of iSpot: I educate, consult, and collaborate with\nour customers and data partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did your background lead you here?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

My PhD is in personality psychology. My academic\nresearch focused on making first impressions and gaining and asserting social\nstatus. While that may seem like a far cry from TV advertising, at the end of\nthe day I\u2019m really just trying to understand what people are doing and why. My\ndoctoral training focused heavily on quantitative, observational research\nmethods, which translate directly to the work I do at iSpot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the typical challenges you face in your\nrole?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Data Science team works with a tremendous\namount of data from a variety of sources. One of our primary challenges is\nunderstanding what the data can \u2013 and, more importantly, cannot<\/em> \u2013\ntell us. We\u2019re dedicated to building useful tools that we can be proud of, and\nsometimes that involves making difficult decisions around the functionality we\ncan produce. In the end, though, having a deep understanding of our data assets\nmeans we can provide our customers with best-in-class media measurement that\nthey can rely on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the most exciting part about your role?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

First place goes to releasing a product feature.\nIt can be so satisfying to see something that started as a sketch on a\nwhiteboard be released out into the wild. Second place goes to how varied my\nrole is \u2013 switching contexts can be challenging, but I love that no two days\never really look the same for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You didn’t work with TV advertising before\niSpot; did you have a lot to learn?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yes! Among other things, I\u2019ve had to learn a lot\nabout how brands buy TV advertising. Before working at iSpot, my knowledge was\nbasically limited to \u2018Super Bowl ads are expensive.\u2019<\/em> Understanding\nhow brands make buying decisions is critical to my role. It helps shape the\nquestions my team asks and the products we build, always with an eye toward\nempowering our clients to make well-informed decisions about where to put their\nmoney. And, of course, it\u2019s something I continue to learn, as the market is\never-evolving (though Super Bowl ads are still expensive).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the two years that you’ve worked at iSpot,\nhow have you seen the TV advertising landscape change?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With the rise of addressable and OTT campaigns,\nI see a much stronger emphasis on understanding the audience. Brands want to go\nbeyond traditional age and gender breakdowns to get a more nuanced view of who\nthey\u2019re reaching. We\u2019re busy building tools to help them do that, while\nmaintaining high ethical standards and protecting audience members\u2019 privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the most rewarding part about working at iSpot?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I work with amazing people. The scientists, analysts, and engineers I work with are delightful folks who also happen to be wildly intelligent and competent. They push me to deliver my best work, and I love being part of such a strong team. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":6728,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[463],"acf":{"expiration_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/limelight\/6726"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/limelight"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/limelight"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/limelight\/6726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispot.tv\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}