After months of planning, weeks of anticipation and a day of travel, Tableau Conference became a reality! I had never been to a large conference before, so it was difficult to imagine what I was getting into. Even though I was prepared by fellow InterWorkers and friends at Tableau, I arrived in Las Vegas unsure of what to expect.

The moment I entered the expo hall, my expectations were easily exceeded. The Data Village was vibrant and full of energy. On the first evening of the conference, attendees rushed around the tradeshow floor looking for the best swag. I quickly learned that InterWorks is known for more than our expertise—we also have a reputation for great t-shirts and pens.

Unlocking the Next Level of Analytics

Throughout the week, it became more evident how passionate people are about Tableau and what they’re doing with the software in their organizations. InterWorks’ theme this year was Unlock Your Next Level and, of course, we had some mini Tetris games to go along with the theme. It was incredible to me that people wanted to swing by our booth simply to tell us how one of our blog posts helped them troubleshoot and overcome various challenges they experience. Since I work at InterWorks, I am clearly biased about our consultants and the content we produce. But the fact that attendees were excited to share that they see us as a trusted authority in the BI space reaffirmed the idea that we truly are helping others unlock their potential and advance in their work.

Building Community Face-to-Face

Since I work out of our Tulsa office, I often do not get the opportunity to meet clients or our partners face-to-face. Meeting with clients and partners was one of the highlights for me. I enjoyed sitting down with clients over dinner or having a conversation with them at our booth about anything and everything. One of my favorite parts about my job is learning about other people and what they are passionate about. These more casual interactions allowed us to talk not only about a client’s business goals but also their personal interests, like greyhound racing, or their exciting travels around the world.

Finally, Tableau Conference was not only a great time to connect with clients, Tableau users and partners, but it was also a chance to meet more coworkers. Anyone at InterWorks would probably tell you that our people are our greatest asset. I have been at InterWorks for three months and still have quite a few people to meet. Since InterWorkers are all over the world, I often work with these people over email, Slack or conference calls. My favorite part of TC was getting to meet and work with my coworkers in person.

InterWorks truly feels like a family, and I’ve never had trouble striking up a conversation with someone new. Whether it’s helping a client determine the best strategy for their BI architecture or having a competition to see who can get the most booth scans, we find a way to enjoy the work we are doing together.