Tableau Conference-ish 2020 Reflection
Tableau Conference 2020 Reflection
I honestly never imagined how exciting my first virtual Tableau Conference would be this year. As I really missed seeing everyone in-person, this by far, has been one of the most unforgettable learning experiences ever. In the past, I had attended two Tableau conferences — one in Las Vegas 2019 and the other in New Orleans 2018 (fun fact: Attending the New Orleans conference was my first time on a flight!)
One of my goals this year was to try and meet new people at the conference. Since participating in the weekly #MakeoverMonday data challenges in the beginning of the year, I have connected with so many talented and remarkable people in the Tableau community. I really wanted to schedule some time to talk with as many people from the community as I can at the conference. Thankfully, I scheduled a brain date session with David Borczuk (Twitter | Tableau Public) who is an exceptional data visualization designer, and a happy hour with Tableau Zen Masters Kevin Flerlage (Twitter | Tableau Public) and Ken Flerlage (Twitter | Tableau Public).
Lessons I learned from past conferences.
In the last two conferences, I missed out on those networking opportunities. As an introvert, I had spent a lot of my time in those extensively long three-hour classroom trainings. The hands-on experiences were great, but I felt like I had missed out in building relationships with members in the Tableau community. Thus, I was very exhausted at the end of those trainings and headed back to my hotel room to binge watch shows on Netflix. The lessons that I learned was to always network, step outside your comfort zone, and attend fun sessions. These are moments we should all enjoy. Those two to three hours of hands-on trainings will all be recorded and can be referenced any time after the conference. I only wished that I had used all that time to connect with community members.
Happy Hour & Braindate Session.
My first brain date session this year was with David Borczuk. David is one of the most talented and gifted Tableau artists I have ever met. I was lucky enough to find an opening in one of his small group brain date sessions where he talked through his long form vizzes design process. I am a huge fan of his work and it was so awesome to meet him. On top of that, I also had the opportunity to meet my #datafam buddies Ravi Kumar (Twitter | Tableau Public), Francisco Cardoso (Twitter | Tableau Public), and Max Tham (Twitter | Tableau Public). Not only did I join an awesome group discussion about design and visualization, I had the opportunity to meet some of my friends from the community that I have known for almost a year. The following day, I was ready to join the happy hour with Tableau Zen Masters Kevin Flerlage and Ken Flerlage. In all honesty, during the happy hour, I did not say one word. Probably because it was such a large group that I was nervous to say something silly. Still, I really enjoyed listening in and seeing familiar faces whom I have connected with on Twitter. The experience was worth it.
Fireside Chats and Tableau Speed Tipping.
One of the best sessions at the Tableau conference for me was attending the fireside chats and speeding tipping sessions. I love listening in on the fireside chats and one of my favorites this year was Data + Diversity with Wade Davis. As I work in the diversity analytics space, this fireside chat on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was important to me both personally and professionally. The speed tipping sessions were fantastic. They were all so fast paced but I learned a ton from Lorna Brown (Twitter | Tableau Public) and Jeffrey Shaffer (Twitter | Tableau Public). All the tips and tricks that they shared were ones I never imagined Tableau could even do!
The Vizzies Awards.
Finally, towards the end of the Tableau conference was the Vizzies awards. The Vizzies are community awards that celebrates this year’s most creative and memorable community members. I never been to a Vizzies award event before and this was my first one this year. There were so many names from the Tableau community that were going through my head. Tuned into the session, I watched Emily Kund (Twitter | Tableau Public) and Matt Francis (Twitter | Tableau Public) walk all of us through the award types and the nominees this year. Afterwards, Emily and Matt started to announce names for each of the awards. As I cheered and rooted for all the nominees and winners, I was thrilled to see my friends Judit Bekker (Twitter | Tableau Public), Adam Mico (Twitter | Tableau Public), and Priya Padham (Twitter | Tableau Public) receive awards. They all have inspired me so much in the community.
Next up was the “Biggest Growth” Vizzie award. This is an award for someone whose knowledge (demonstrated through the quality of their visualizations or their advice) has grown significantly over the last year. At this moment, I was thinking of so many others in the community and could not wait to congratulate the winner after the name was announced. I never knew the history of the award started with Ken Flerlage (2017), Kevin Flerlage (2018), Pradeep Kumar (2019 | Twitter | Tableau Public) and Zach Bowders (2019 | Twitter | Tableau Public). I was beyond grateful to be a nominee but never in my life considered myself in-line with these extraordinarily talented people. A few moments later, I hear Matt Frances say my name. I see my profile picture on the screen. I was quiet for a few minutes and then instantly broke into tears. I was shocked, overwhelmed, and overjoyed.
Since the beginning of the year, participating in #MakeoverMonday has had an incredible impact on my data visualization journey. And, I knew that it was because of the amazing Tableau community that I had received this award. It was the #datafam community that made this happen. I could never thank the Tableau community enough for all their support, inspiration, and guidance. Above all, I am forever grateful to be on this journey with all of you. You all have had an incredible impact on my life. One of my favorite mantras is “Don’t give up until you’re proud”. Since joining the Tableau community, I have loved being involved in the weekly #MakeoverMonday challenges and learning from all of you. Yet, I never imagined a hobby that I am so passionate about would lead me to receiving the “Biggest Growth” Vizzie award at a Tableau Conference. I hope that my shared experiences and journey from this year’s Tableau Conference sets an example of how someone like myself who joined the Tableau community with zero background knowledge in Tableau can further develop their skills through consistent practice and feedback. And, this is all thanks to the incredible Tableau family that I am a part of. Congrats again to all the nominees and winners, and a special shout out to my long-time supportive friend and mentor Kate Brown (Twitter | Tableau Public) who won the “Prepstar” Vizzie award. I never knew about prep until Kate showed me how awesome it is!
Ghafar Shah
