One computer, 20 students
It all started with a lone classroom computer and a copy of Oregon Trail on floppy disks.
“Even at that age, I was fascinated by computers, software, and gaming. I was so bummed because the class before mine was the last one to learn typing on actual manual typewriters! We missed out,” he remembers with a laugh.
Now Senior Vice President of Data Analytics and Marketing Ops at Haberfeld, Nick wears many hats which have him working with digital marketing, overseeing client work, liaising with vendors, and working with the technical team. In other words, he’s come a long way from fording rivers and avoiding dysentery.
After finishing high school in Shenandoah, Iowa, Nick knew he wanted to be a software engineer, so he came to Lincoln to study information systems at Nebraska Wesleyan University. One of his calculus classmates was none other than David Sovey, but we’ll talk more on that later.
Y2-WHAT now?
To gain practical work experience, Nick secured an internship at Sandhills Publishing while attending college classes. It’s worth noting that among the people Nick met at Sandhills was friend and Haberfeld coworker T.J. O’Neill.
While interns are often assigned busywork, Nick was happy with the challenges he was given at Sandhills—which included testing real software for its Y2K readiness. (For those too young to remember, Y2K was a legit software crisis in 1999. It was lit, fam! Or, maybe it wasn’t lit, fam? We are not sure, but Nick did his part!)
But then, the waning days of Y2K also signaled the end of the tech boom, so Nick and his wife Jill moved to Kansas City so Nick could take a position with Sprint’s Long Distance division as a Software Engineer. Nick and Jill very much enjoyed their time there, but after five years, they were ready for a change. With the birth of their eldest daughter, they decided to come back to Nebraska to be closer to family.
Who was that guy from calc class?
The timing of their move could not have been better. Nick had kept in touch with his old classmate and friend David Sovey, and it was the Sovey connection that brought Nick to Haberfeld, where he has been since 2006.
Times, they are a-changin’
Over the years, Nick has seen his position evolve from simply writing code to doing data analyst work. A lot of this work was done by hand in 2006, including receiving client data via USPS mail. Now, much of it is completely automated and can be uploaded and analyzed with just a few clicks of the mouse.
As Haberfeld has expanded to over 80 employees, the Data Analytics department has grown accordingly. Nick notes DAs can now do even more for our clients—such as running special analyses and maps any time they want—because we have the data right at our fingertips.
Nick marvels at how far technology has come in just 18 years.
“Technology is always pivoting as the data keeps growing. We have data sources now like MobilePredict™, and it will be interesting to see how AI fits into HPG™ our new vertical HabWell. I am amazed at the data we can collect just by our phones, but we do need to be mindful of how we leverage that data while maintaining privacy for our clients.”
The secret sauce
Nick is proud to be on a team that can convert and leverage this data to get the right marketing message to the right prospects at the right time. “Anyone can send out marketing,” he acknowledges. “But at Haberfeld, we know exactly who to send it out to. We have the data behind the ‘who.’”
Chiefs fan and family man
When he is not enjoying his daily Diet Mountain Dew or looking for the best pizza in town, you will find Nick cheering for his favorite sports teams (especially when it comes to football): The Jayhawks, Huskers, Hawkeyes, and the Chiefs. But more than anything in the world, Nick loves going to any event in which his daughters are involved (oldest Ella, 19, is a sophomore at UNO while Ava, 16, is a junior at Lincoln East). Whether it be show choir, cheerleading, or a fine arts performance, Nick is there front and center.
When asked what he is most looking forward to, Nick answers without hesitation: His 25th wedding anniversary is on the horizon, so he and Jill are taking a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate. With ports of call in Italy, France, and Spain, Nick is sure to have the vacation of a lifetime while looking for pizza to rival his beloved Minsky’s in Kansas City. Either way, it sure beats driving a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail!