What’s the #Data19Challenge?

For the past four years, I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the Tableau Conference. My first TC was in Austin, Texas and I had no idea what to expect.  Being that I was new to Tableau, my strategy was to attend the hands on training and industry related sessions.  It was a good strategy; I learned a lot about how to use Tableau and what others in my industry were creating. 

Each year since, the strategy changes slightly except for one thing; watch at least one session a week until the next conference.  The fact that Tableau shares all the session videos for free is a gift.  Honestly, I think it‘s completely unheard of in most industries.  Unfortunately, this is a goal I have not been able to obtain.  Life simply gets in the way.   

At TC19 Claire @bournetoviz and I were talking about all the great sessions we wanted to attend but due to the shortened conference days this year, a lot of session times overlapped. I told her about my goal since 2016 and that’s when we came up with the #Data19challenge.  

The challenge that we agreed on is to watch 12 videos (one a month) by the next conference.  I know that’s a lot less than one a week for 52 weeks, however, we didn’t want to commit to something we might not be able to achieve. After all I’ve tried to make this goal for the past four years.   

In order to hold myself accountable, I’m going to write about each of the sessions I watch.  I think it will be a good way for me to stay on track.   I also hope it will serve as a reference for anyone looking for insight on what the session covered beyond the short paragraph in the conference app.  As I write about these sessions, I hope I do not offend anyone with my opinions.  They will be just that ‘my opinions’ as I relate the content to what I was hoping to get out of watching the session. 

Please feel free to join Claire and I in the #Data19challenge.  It’s a personal goal, make it what you want.    Watch as many sessions as you feel comfortable committing to.  A few community members have already joined the challenge.  They are Katie Wagner, Paula Munoz, Zach Bowers, Bryce Larsen, Dinushki De Livera, Michelle Frayman, Irvin Palácio, Katherine Peterson, Katie Poznanski-Ring, David Kelly, Christina Gorga, Anna Kisting, Jacqui Moore, Carl Field and Scott Briggs.  I’m excited so many people want to achieve this goal together. So, let‘s have some fun and use #data19challenge when you watch a session.  Tell us about it and tag someone to keep the motivation going throughout the year.