In the Employee Spotlight series, we meet with Convosphere’s team members to find out who they are and what their job roles involve. In this interview, we talk to Tamara Lucas, our Country Manager in Spain.
Where are you from and where are you based?
“I was born in Madrid and lived there until my early 20s. Then, as part of an Erasmus scholarship, I moved to Paris for a year followed by Geneva for six months. I love exploring new countries and cultures and consider myself a citizen of the world. In 2016, my boyfriend and I travelled around Asia to interview startups and innovators for our personal project, 2geeks1city.com. After one year living in Bangkok, Thailand, I settled down in Madrid again, but who knows where I’ll be heading next!”
How many years experience do you have of social listening?
“I did my first social listening project back in 2010, so it’s eight years now. Time flies! Since that first project, I have worked in multiple types of social listening projects in a wide range of industries, from pharma and banking to entertainment and FMCG.”
What’s the most challenging thing about being a Social Media Analyst?
“For me, the hardest part when embarking on a social listening, social analytics or social intelligence project is avoiding the wormholes. You have to be able to identify users’ behaviours, motivations and the way cultural aspects vary, not only between markets but also between targets and interest groups, without losing yourself in every minute detail. While digital allows us to measure every user behaviour, social media gives us the opportunity to add a qualitative layer to an increasingly quantitative world.”
What has been your favourite project at Convosphere?
“I really enjoy the challenge of solving the unstructured social media data in pharma projects. But, if I had to pick a favourite type of project, it would be entertainment. Taking a deep-dive into film viewers expectations and reactions, analysing different audience segments and understanding their different (or sometimes not so different) perceptions by market or audience is an exercise for self-discovery and learning too. I really love the feeling of connecting the dots and being able to tell a story with the available data to communicate the actionable insights we’ve discovered. Needless to say, my inner geek is more than happy to dive into TV series, movie and music conversations!”
Can you share a funny expression or proverb in your language?
“I like the Spanish expression ‘De perdidos, al río’, which literally translates to ‘From lost to the river’ in English. The meaning of the expression can roughly be translated to ‘As I’ve got nothing to lose, I might as well go ahead’.”
Can you give us an example of a false friend in your language?
“One of the most common false friends in Spanish is the word ‘actual’. While this word means ‘real’ in English, in Spanish ‘actual’ is spelt the same but means ‘current’ or ‘present’. Another funny one is ’embarazada’, which means ‘pregnant’ in Spanish but easily gets mixed up with ’embarrassed’. I’m sure this has led to many amusing misunderstandings!”
What do you enjoy doing outside of your job?
“Going out to discover new places to eat or have a drink – I’m a bit of an international foodie. Doing geeky stuff with my boyfriend, like visiting retrogaming shops or Disney parks. My favourite thing is having my picture taken with the Disney characters! I love spending the weekends watching sci-fi series, including The 100, The Expanse or Westworld, the sitcom Big Bang Theory or the crime drama Riverdale. I also enjoy reading about new technologies, innovative people and startups and writing about these topics on 2geeks1city.”
With a background in PR, communication and journalism, Moa heads up Convosphere’s content marketing, blog and social media channels.
Before joining Convosphere, Moa worked as a PR and brand consultant for agencies including The Future Laboratory, LS:N Global, Canvas8 and Stylus, with a focus on packaging, retail and technology trends in the UK and Scandinavia.
