Ten Years Tableau: Everything I learned about User Groups, Data democratization, and Bar Charts

The movers arrived early. Ten years ago, for three days and two nights I slept on the floor of apartment #707 at the Gas Company Lofts in DTLA.  I was moving to Texas for an opportunity at Watson Health. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I was excited after interviewing with Guy Mrnustik, Keith Hanson, Matt Westfall, and

Ted (in that order).

Six months in, thinking I was getting a handle on reporting and navigating where to go for data, our director called a team meeting.  Watson was IBM’s venture into the healthcare realm. The office had a Silicon Valley start-up feel to it. Game stations, big, cushioned lime green chairs you normally see at Herman Miller, and walls that you can write on.  I took my seat towards the front of the room.  It was later in the day on a Friday, but this felt different.  Brad Wheeler, our director, spoke fondly about a visualization application called Tableau and encouraged everyone to download a trial and play with it over the weekend.

Considering all that I know now and all the people I’ve met in the Tableau Community, I still feel we were all so fortunate to have someone like Brad introduce us to Tableau.  He was a mentor and advocate all in one. An OG Visionary if you want to call it that.

As someone who had spent years in finance and Excel, Tableau was now my new favorite application and thus, started my data viz journey.  There are so many individuals I’d like to thank, and will in time, but I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention our team at Watson.  They were and still are so inspiring in all that they do and have become.  The first few User Groups I attended were with Brad and Scott.  Scott was a great friend; I always enjoyed listening to his Dallas Stars stories and how he and his daughter attended games in the late 90s.  I never truly thanked him for everything, and I’d like to hope he’s reading this right now in Heaven.  Thanks Scott, we miss you.

Brad and I getting mic'd up at TC18

Talking to Dan Crowley before the session

Some of the Watson Team at TC18

Prep Gator!

Brad at DFW TUG presenting on navigation menus

In 2018, I had the opportunity to present at Tableau Conference in New Orleans.  Thanks again to Brad for trusting me with the first part of his presentation.  It was on dashboard performance and is still very relevant today.  That was also the year I got certified, began teaching part-time, and won a few viz contests.  I continued to speak at local user groups and even co-presented with Brad, Guy, and Scott on a few IBM ones around row level security.

Getting the band back together at TC19 (L-R: Matt Westfall, Michael Tai, and Suzanne Potts)

Teaching Tableau at Southern Methodist University

Scott and I at Day for Data Dallas

Like all great bands, ours started to go their separate ways around 2019. I kept in touch with the crew, and to their credit, they always kept me involved. It was reassuring knowing that at any moment I could join a former colleague and build something great. I also made new friends and met new mentors, and while this post is primarily to thank the ones who gave me my start, I can't leave out what people like Ryan Nokes, Parker Nokes, and Anna Foard did for me in the early 2020s.

In those years, conferences and user groups were virtual. This actually provided more opportunities to be involved. I joined Brad as a member of the Advisory Council for the Austin User Group, continued teaching Tableau at institutions like Berkley, USCD, SMU (thanks in large part to Dan Crowley, Guy, and Thinh Nguyen), and later had the opportunity to re-join Dan for a developer role. Dan probably doesn't believe me, but at that stage in my life/career, that was exactly the role I needed, and I'll forever be grateful to him for giving me a chance.

Keith and I presenting on KPIs at TC24

TC24

Picture of my work area that I took on my last day at IBM

In 2022 I received a text from Keith about an opportunity at Eyemart Express. One of the hardest things in the last ten years was putting in my two weeks at IBM. I still recall being excited about joining Uber but too sad to celebrate. There are some things/decisions in life that you can't explain. I'd like to think that God gave me another chance to work alongside people who cared about me. This time it was Keith offering me the chance to apply for a developer role. Truth is, Keith was doing some amazing things in Tableau already, and I was blessed to ride the wave. We got to present twice at TC24 in San Diego, and I even got to do an impromptu one on Tableau Public.

Anna and I at TC19

Eva and Andy

Ken and Kevin at TC23

Eva and I at TC18

Over the years at TC, I've ran into several of my data heroes. Eva Murray, Andy Kriebel, Ken and Kevin Flerlage. There's so many to name. It's still like a celebrity sighting to me when I see these people who've helped me in the forums. Most of all though, I always look for the faces of that team from IBM, whether it be at Data Village, Iron Viz, or a Tip Battle session.

So, while some are critiquing TC26, the best parts, what's ahead and all that, I wanted to reflect on TC26 by thanking Tableau and the people behind it. There will always be innovation and product releases, but it's been the people that have left a resounding impact on my life and career. From my beginnings with that team on Luna Road to the countless times those people believed in me and gave me a chance. I can't think of the words for it but I'm a better person because of them and this application.

You want to know what I thought about TC26? I hope you get to attend TC27. You won't regret it.