About Zak Kirchner
Hi, I’m Zak and this is my blog! When I get the time, I use this space to write about the impact technology has on the way we live, work, relate and communicate with each other.
After growing up in Cincinnati, OH, I went to Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, just north of Chicago. I had very intensely studied acting and voice in high school and began college as a theater major, film studies minor. I loved the arts, but knew I wanted a more stable lifestyle where I wasn’t just waiting for my big break and waiting tables in between. After freshman year I switched into the communication studies major with a psychology minor because I have always been passionate about understanding our intentions and how they translate into action. Instead of studying intention and behavior in an artistic setting, I decided to study it from a consumer and organizational perspective. Some of my favorite courses were Advanced Theories of Persuasion, Psychology of Decision Making, Digital Aesthetics: Technology and Everyday Life, Organizational Innovation, Bargaining & Negotiation and Paradigms of Leadership. Although the early focus of my studies were designed to train me for a career in advertising and publicity, I shifted Junior and Senior year to a study of organizational communication, group dynamics, leadership strategy, and change management.
I was fortunate to find a job before I graduated and quickly joined the Behavioral Analytics team of eLoyalty as an Associate Consultant in the summer of 2007. While there, I wrote code for eLoyalty’s contact center customer relationship management software solution. As a member of the contextualization team, my primary job was to develop code for the software to recognize distress and personality style based on linguistic cues given during the call. I found the job very interesting, but didn’t see a long-term career in contact center consulting.
Unable to bear the winters in Chicago any longer, I moved to LA in March, 2008 and began my career in market research at Interpret LLC. During my three years at Interpret, I grew to become the Senior Analyst in the New Media Group and specialized in leading custom strategic research that helped our clients understand the impact digital technology was having on consumer behavior and media consumption. While at Interpret, I delivered meaningful results for a number of clients, including Yahoo!, Microsoft, Hulu, Universal Music Group, Warner Bros Digital Distribution, Fox Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Samsung, Redbox, Electronic Arts (EA) and Activision.
I also acted as Interpret’s in-house social media expert, writing monthly ‘Interpretation’ reports on the impact of social media on traditional business operations, media strategy and consumer behavior. During this time at Interpret, Jonny Bentwood of Edelman Analyst Relations also recognized me as the 130th Most Influential Analyst on Twitter for my personal account, @Zak_Kirchner.
In March, 2011, I decided to embrace my passion for social media and joined the team at Altimeter Group as a Researcher supporting Charlene Li and Brian Solis. I love going to work every day because I get to help people make sense of a world that is constantly changing due to disruptive technology.
When I’m not researching disruptive technology, I enjoy hiking, volunteering as a tutor, sampling local craft beers and passionately rooting for my hometown Cincinnati Bengals (WHO DEY?!).
I also began working on a startup, but will make a more official announcement about it once we are out of stealth mode. Stay tuned!
**Disclaimer: This blog reflects my personal opinions, and not those of my employer, clients, or others unless publicly stated and referenced.
