When working with Tableau, the best BI tool in visual analytics, you are not only a user of this amazing platform, but you are a part of a robust community of users and data champions across the globe.
At InterWorks, we love supporting the various Tableau user groups, roundtables and, of course, the Tableau Conference, among many other events. I’d love to tell you about the goings-on here in Washington, DC this past May to let you know what’s up and how you can get involved if you’re in the area!
The DC Tableau User Group!
The DC Tableau user group (DCTUG) meets quarterly to host talks about Tableau product updates, use cases and Q&A sessions. In fact, the DCTUG just had their annual meeting at the DC Nationals stadium. Out of a room full of 100+ Tableau users, participants had an amazing opportunity to listen to product updates from Tableau’s Chief Product Officer, Thierry D’Hers. Attendees had the opportunity to hear insightful talks by Tableau Zen Masters and Community Ambassadors Brit Cava, Pooja Gandhi and Andy (Pooja and Andy of The Data Duo).
Last but certainly not least, everyone had the chance to chat it up with our friendly local InterWorks team – Nayeem Ahmed, Stephanie Hunt and myself. My personal favorite presentation was by Brit Cava. She did a great overview of TabPy, which is Tableau’s Python API. TabPy is still in beta, so there are some limitations, but it’s very promising for data science analysis.
To keep up to date with the DCTUG, sign up here!
The DMV Tableau Meet Up!
If you’ve ever looked at meetup.com, you’ll know that it’s a site where people of pretty much any hobby can create a group to connect with others with the same interest. There are a ton of data-related meet-up groups in the DC Area such as Data Wranglers, made up of data viz enthusiasts. There’s also a special group for Tableau fans, as well. This meet-up is co-chaired by Jerry Valerio of Tableau and your friendly DC InterWorks team. This meet-up hosts a wide range of events, from hands-on Tableau workshops, Tableau demos and “Tableau Doctor” sessions for advanced Tableau users that have a tricky Tableau project.
At our last Tableau meet-up, we met at the Tableau Office in downtown DC. Jerry walked us through a great overview of Tableau and guided new users through a few beginner’s exercises. Afterwards, I presented on visualization best practices and my colleague Larry answered a couple challenging Tableau questions submitted by a few participants.
Stay tuned for more events from the Tableau DMV Meet-Up site – making an account is free and joining the group is free, as well! Our events will be in both the DC and Northern VA metro areas, and we also plan on hosting a few virtual events.
All in all, there is no shortage of opportunities for you, a Tableau user and data enthusiast, to hang out with us! Check out our upcoming events below:
- June – Intro to Tableau in DC, will be posted on Tableau DMV Meet-up site, exact date pending
- July 13 – Data Summit in DC, Larry Jerome is speaking and InterWorks is sponsoring. Come by our table!
- July 20 – Central Virginia Tableau User Group in Richmond, VA – Chris Sanders is presenting, so come and say hello!
See you soon!
