For Tableau fans, the most wonderful time of the year is upon us: Tableau Conference 2021. Here in less than one week, Tableau fans from around the world will tune in digitally to the biggest Tableau event of the year. Yes, we all still miss gathering in person to learn and celebrate our passion for data, but the digital format is no less educational. Best of all, it’s completely free!

OK, we admit that as a top #Data21 sponsor and Tableau’s longest-tenured Gold Partner, we’re super into just about everything Tableau does. Even so, there are some certifiable reasons you don’t want to miss this year’s Tableau Conference. Here’s what you can expect.

The Speakers Are Always on Point

Tableau Conference is known for its fantastic speakers, and this year is no different! Headlining the event is the host of NPR’s Radiolab, Jad Abumrad, as well as indigenous geneticist-bioethicist Krystal Tsosie. You can also expect mammoth keynotes from Tableau’s leadership, product team and development team. These keynotes are always where big ideas get dropped, so they are an absolute must-attend. Oh, and we heard that Beck will be around for a special musical performance (personally, I will NOT be missing that).

Explore the Full List of Speakers

Demos, Deep Dives and Sessions Galore

Beyond being inspired with big ideas, there are some very practical and tactical ways to level up your Tableau skills as part of Tableau Conference. With over 100 unique sessions from a wide array of presenters, it’s perhaps the best Tableau learning opportunity of the year. These are essentially free Tableau masterclasses, people! To that end, we’re thrilled to share that the InterWorks team will be sharing their knowledge in three of these Tableau Conference sessions.

P.S. – Be sure to register for TC21, log in and then you’ll be able to access the session details!

Bland to Bold: Dashboarding Tips from Professional Graphic Designers

Coming from a strong design background, InterWorks Experience Designer Chelsea Morgan shares best practices to help you flip dashboards like HGTV stars flip houses. This is a live session, so be sure to catch it at the right times!

View Session Details

The Performant-First Approach to Designing Efficient Workbooks

For novices and seasoned pros alike, simplicity and efficiency factor into how well you can tell data-driven stories through powerful visualizations. Overloading your dashboards with too many details can bog down your team. Learn how to plan, create and deploy dashboards with efficiency and performance in mind with expert advice from Tableau leaders.

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Successful Self-Service Governance for Tableau Server/Online

From thinking about permissions to project folders, InterWorks Analytics Lead Debbie Yu discusses how you can think about self-service governance and what you can implement today. This session is on-demand, so you can access whenever you like!

Link TBD; Session available on-demand Nov. 9

Incredible Dashboarding via Iron Viz

Tableau Conference wouldn’t be complete without the highly acclaimed Iron Viz competition. Here, you can watch the best data vizzers from around the world square off in a live dashboarding competition. Who will take home the honor of winning the world’s largest data visualization contest? We’ll also add that Iron Viz is yet another great way to get inspired.

Connect with the Tableau Community

It’s no secret that the Tableau community is the absolute best data community in the world – it’s what Tableau is most well-known for! It’s also no secret that this community is active 24/7, 365 ¼ days out of the year. Still, Tableau Conference is perhaps the best time to engage with this community. Whether you’re new, a community regular or haven’t touched base in a while, consider plugging in. You’ll be glad you did. Specifically, you can check out one of many Braindates, or head to TC21 Slack to dive into the chatter right away!

We’ll See You Out There!

We could go on and on about the reasons why you should attend Tableau Conference 2021, but we’ll leave you with one final bit of parting advice ahead of the big event: Set your intentions carefully, carve out sufficient time, stay engaged as much as you can, and keep pursuing what interests you. At the end of the day, you get what you put into TC. If you come invested and ready to learn, you’ll leave with both greater passion and greater knowledge.

Register for Tableau Conference 2021

P.S. – If you’re looking for more tips on how to enjoy Tableau Conference in a digital format, be sure to check out my conference guide from last year. All the tips still apply!