It's finally time to meet the artist of our team! This time, we present you, Dan Deaconescu, the Graphic & Web Design Coordinator. :)
What does working in the market research industry mean to you? Totally a new world for me, but from time to time some things do intersect with what I’ve been doing in the urban planning field.
From whom in the market research industry have you learned most in your career? At this very moment, I’d like to thank my supervisor - George Ganea for that. He’s been showing me the ropes for what this industry has to offer. Kudos to your patience, George!
What was the most important challenge you had to go through in your career? This has to be the moment that I’ve started working here at DataDiggers - when I had just shy of a month to prepare all the graphic materials for the Research & Results Munchen 2019 conference almost from scratch. Being new, I almost thought it was a rite of passage here, but all of it got done in time and everyone was happy with the outcome.
Thinking about your career, what is the achievement you are most proud of? Here I’d like to point out 3 things on different subjects: - my creative side was put to good use in here - I’ve had the chance and still do, to expand my view over the horizon with beautiful and colourful projects - learning new technologies such as front-end development, animation and video making - the fact that I am in an organized and supportive team that constantly pushes me over my limit and values my work at the same time
What's the biggest mistake you've ever made in your career? I’ve studied to become an urban planner but when I was an intern at a local firm, I was being handled more responsibilities than my job description required that I could handle and soon realized how things “workaround” with local authorities when buildings and lands are to be decided. With that in mind, I stepped into the graphic design world, which I’m very passionate about, and made my way to what I am today. All in all, I feel like I went the right path, but I still think from time to time about “what if”.
What does success mean to you? In my view, success is being active both in personal and professional life being able or to at least do something good every day and at the end of the day to put down your head on the pillow without any thoughts or worries.
What do you do to move forward in the profession you have chosen? I am willing to put my whole work and soul into what I’ve chosen to do, keeping up with trends and styles, which can be seen to the Moon and back whenever you visit our website,
social media, newsletters and in the upcoming conferences. (Once the pandemic goes away)
Is there something new that you have learned in the last 2-3 years, in your career, or in your daily life, which you find is important? Something new? Well, sort of, more like: “I finally understand!” - that everyone is human and each of us makes mistakes, and we should accept ourselves the way we are.
If you were able to meet yourself, at the moment when you first got hired, what advice would you give to your younger self? Be yourself, listen to your colleagues and managers, but make up your own decisions. When it’s time to leave, don’t hesitate to do it.
If you were to give advice to one of your former managers, what would that be? First of all, don’t give more tasks to do than the job description is intended for and expect them to be completed, in time too. Secondly, team meetings or 1-on-1’s should be on a monthly basis at least to keep up with workflow and news about the company. Thirdly, I think managers should listen to their employees’ needs more and offer certain benefits (i.e: work from home), this way work doesn’t become a drag.
What was your ‘dream career’ when you were little? I wanted to be an airplane pilot, but when I flew for the first time (as a passenger), I soon hit the “Reality Wall”, and found out it was way harder than I imagined.
What do you think is the most important thing in life? "Family. Friends. Food. These are what matter most." - a pandaren from the World of Warcraft franchise game.
What are you planning to do in your next vacation? In my next vacation, hopefully, I will be able to travel, in case this pandemic is over, I will want to go to Israel. A lot of knowledge and curiosities lie there.
What is making you get up from bed even when you have a bad day? The fact that I can walk towards the office (sure, it takes like 30-40 mins to get there) but it’s like both an exercise and a meditation. It somehow reminds me of school days when I was going on foot there as well.
What are your dearest memories, some that you always think of with joy? Having my wedding during this pandemic year with no sick people during or after the wedding, going on a quick 1 week “honey-moon” afterwards and still being all fine and dandy when coming home - I call that a big win memory!
If you could go anywhere in the world, at any time in the past, what would that be and why? I would have loved to be on the Wembley Stadium (London) or JFK Stadium (Philadelphia) during the Live Aid Trust Concert in 1985 to hear live those legendary voices back then...
Can you name one hobby that you really enjoy? Playing video games (mostly on PC), cooking, hand drawing from time to time and going for a road trip in the country.
What’s your favourite book and why? One of my favourite books to read and use is “The World of Warcraft Cookbook”. It’s a cooking book that translates the food in the World of Warcraft video game, in the real-world equivalent and so far all that I’ve cooked till now are delicious!