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The holiday season is upon us, and for many of us this marks the time where we give thanks for everything we have, especially during Thanksgiving. We give thanks for our families and friends, for our jobs, our homes and for the comfy life many of us enjoy.

We also sympathize with those who are less fortunate—those who have less, who are sick or who have loved ones that aren’t well. However, most of us, including me, still miss the big picture. Most of the readers of this blog post haven’t had to experience the kind of life that would make us truly grateful.

First, let me start by saying this isn’t a Left versus Right post. It’s not pro-Obama or pro-Romney. This isn’t about who’s right or wrong. This isn’t about policy or political philosophy.

This post is about the clear winner of the 2012 Election, and that winner is Analytics (by a landslide). Let me be clear—the winner is Analytics, not data, because there is a huge difference.

Analytics at its simplest is “the science of analysis” (Wikipedia). Merriam-Webster defines it as the method of logical analysis. Both campaigns had data. All of the pollsters had data.

However, what carried the day was Analytics—not just Analytics, but Good Analytics. My definition of Good Analytics is analyzing data to draw meaningful and actionable insights. This is where the 2012 Election was won and lost.

Michael Jordan once scored 63 points in a double overtime playoff game against a 1986 Boston Celtics team that started Larry Bird and three other Hall of Famers, and for that he was considered a hero. Without a doubt, Jordan and all the other greats exhibit qualities that we associate with heroes: superhuman physical abilities, a Quaker-like work ethic, an unquenchable thirst for victory.

For many, this is the definition of a hero. It’s the reason kids have posters of athletes in their room and the reason Dwight Howard puts on a Superman cape at dunk contests. However, these are not the qualities that made Superman a hero, they made him a fictional superhero.

This Veterans Day, let’s contemplate the things that make a person an actual hero and redefine the term.

It seems there aren't many complicated tasks that can't be boiled down to pushing a button or reading a pie chart, these days. Automatic transmissions make shifting gears effortless. Point and shoot cameras eliminate the need for interchangeable lenses and aperture adjustments. And, in the web metric analysis world, Google Analytics makes evaluating site traffic easier and more intuitive than it's ever been. But what about those of us that want full manual control? What about those of us who know what we're doing and don't want to be constrained by ease-of-use features? Where do we turn when we want maximum performance, not just a pretty interface?

Fort Collins, Colorado. Pull into a meticulously landscaped parking lot lined with custom cruiser bicycles. Behold a pointy, log-cabin style structure past the walkway. Step inside and stand at the foot of a giant, metallic slide connecting first and second floors. Out the back door, dig your toes into the sand of a recreational volleyball court and think…

… what is this place?