The InterWorks ANZ Team kicked off this year’s first big event with Brewalytics in Perth, Western Australia. This event was run in partnership with Tableau and Snowflake and was attended by over 50 people from more than 25 organisations around Perth.

Brewalytics was a great chance to bring together Perth’s data community over a few drinks and some delicious food. These kinds of events facilitate networking in a more casual setting, opening up channels of communication and providing unique opportunities people may not get in other contexts.

Analytics Is a Dynamic Process

The theme of the event was “Analytics is a journey, not a destination: How to get value from your data from day one.” This theme encompasses the idea that analytics is an ever-evolving process, one that you can always hone and improve. The insights your data offers don’t stay static. With the help of technologies like Tableau and Snowflake, there is always more room to grow, and it’s reassuring to know that there are solid partners out there to come alongside you, no matter where you are on that journey, and guide you where you want to go.

We wanted to show our audience that the traditional model of data and analytics was no longer the best way as it takes too long for anyone to see value in their data. Snowflake allows us to quickly select a data source, ingest the data in a secure cloud database and begin analysing it in a very short span of time. Tableau then allows us to make sense of that data and turn it into useful information in a very agile manner. But you also need to consider visual best practices when reporting on your data.

Maximise the Impact of Your Dashboards

Just because you build a dashboard doesn’t mean that people will flock to it. It needs to be informative and add value, and it needs to tell a story that makes sense to and will resonate with your audience. The best way to do that is to consider the following:

• Focus – Narrow your scope to the question(s) you are trying to answer
• Structure – Place your dashboard objects in a balanced and evenly spaced layout
• Weight – Guide your users’ attention to specific items with formatting
• Colour –  Use it with purpose and intentionality
• Testing – Always leave time for testing to ensure you have the strongest end result possible

We are thrilled by the positive response to this event, and we’re looking forward to bringing Brewalytics to Melbourne next!