Get to know the CNET family: Q&A with Josh Moffett
Get to know Josh, outdoor adventurist, master of dad jokes and the man who enjoys making data fun.
Take a step behind the scenes at CNET to get to know some of our staff members better and learn what they do to make our site a success.
Hey, CNET readers and community members, I bring you a new installment of the "Get to know the CNET family" series. I have with me Josh Moffett, a co-worker who is a big soccer fan (Liverpool all the way), loves tacos, is super-passionate about CNET's data and makes boring data come alive for us to digest.
At CNET, we have a pretty casual dress attire at work -- for guys, a pair of jeans and a T-shirt or button-up shirt is the norm. But as long as I have known Josh, he is the man who dresses for success daily, always sporting a pressed dress shirt and slacks with dress shoes to boot. I think I have seen him in a T-shirt twice, and I thought he wasn't feeling well. :) When I saw the picture of him dressed up as Cookie Monster (below) I had more than a chuckle -- BI analyst by day, Cookie Monster by night. So without further delay, here's Josh!
Q: What's your job title and what do you do?
Serious business: Josh judging an office cookie bake-off.
A: I'm Director of Business Intelligence for the CNET Media Group. I manage a team responsible for analyzing CNET Media Group's internal data, interpreting the results and generating insights and recommendations to give to our product, edit, sales and management teams to help grow users, engagement and the business overall.
Q: What is the most challenging part of your job?
A: I think the hardest part about working with data is interpreting results and figuring out how to visualize and present recommendations based on those results without overloading people with a bunch of data that's hard to make sense of.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
A: Finding a gem hidden in a mess of data, making a recommendation from that data nugget that gets implemented and then seeing positive responses and results from our users or in our business.
Q: What's a fun fact about you related to work?
A: I'm known around the office for my dad jokes even though I'm not a dad, generally my dad jokes are about data.
Fun fact No. 2: Seven and a half years in BI and my parents ask me what I do every time I see them.
Fun fact No. 3: I know where all the free food is in the office at all times and I'm also the standing judge for all office bake-offs and the creator of the template to judge said bake-offs.
Fun fact No. 4: I love fun facts.
Q: What's the most influential tech item in your life?
A: It's hard not to go with the device that puts the internet in your pocket. Smartphones open up so much opportunity to find new things on the go, connect with anybody anytime, play music, connect to other devices and so much more.
Josh's GoPro capturing his feet sticking up out of the Tuolumne River after getting knocked out by a giant rapid/wave.
Q: Besides your phone, what's the tech item you can't live without?
A: This one's tough for me to narrow down because the combo of my GoPro, Camcorder, dSLR and laptop lets me capture memories of family, friends and awesome things in nature and then turn those into videos that I'll have forever.
Q: Are you a Mac or PC person?
A: My dad got us a beige square Mac back in the day (Mac SE, I think?) and I've stuck with Apple ever since. I also got hooked on iMovie and then Final Cut when I was pretty young and then seemed locked into Mac.
Q: When you grow up, what do you want to be?
A: A kid. Growing up is rough.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self?
A: Create a web interface to search for anything you want and get an answer instantly, then create a website where you can connect with friends, post pictures and share content. Retire.
Summit of Kilimanjaro
Q: When you have some alone time, what would you be doing?
A: Either editing my video footage and photos from trips around the world or heading out on a new adventure to climb something, jump off something, eat new food, meet new people or do something new that I can capture on film and make a movie about later.
Jumping lessons from the Maasai
Q: What is in your pocket right now?
A: I've got an ID+debit card+credit card in a paper clip, my house keys and my phone. Backpacking mentality, travel light.
Q: What's your life motto?
A: If you can eat it, you can egg it. Bet you've never heard that one before! I love fried eggs and there's not a whole lot of savory food you can't make better with a fried egg... yum!
Q: What is your favorite quote and why?
A: "Do. Or do not. There is no try." -- Yoda. Yogi Berra has some gems as well, but I like this one because I think working hard at everything is the only way to live. That means working really hard on having fun, too!
Q: What are some of your hobbies?
A: Oh man, so many. Running, climbing, hiking, cliff jumping, kayaking, river rafting, traveling, shuffleboard, soccer, video editing, dancing, competing in anything, backpacking, trading stocks, snorkeling, drinking beers with friends, planning my next trip, snowboarding, sledding and did I mention traveling?
Dance off with my guides from Kilimanjaro
Q: Do you play any musical instruments?
A: I play guitar, but I'm not great. I always keep a harmonica around for backpacking because it's light and sounds cool, and I can usually find somebody who knows how to play it better than I can.
Q: What's your go-to karaoke song?
A: '90s hip-hop, your choice.
Q: What makes you happy?
A: Winning, seeing other people happy and an amazing waterfall tucked away in a remote part of California that I've visited for almost 20 consecutive years and will not give the location of. :)
Well, folks, there you have it -- Mr. Josh Moffett. I hope you enjoyed this Q&A session with our BI man, the adventure seeker. If you have any questions for Josh, hit up the comments section and ask away. Thank you for tuning in; I have many more of these staff Q&As in the hopper, so be on the lookout. Cheers, everyone, and thank you, Josh, for your time! Peace out.