Tableau Conference Survival Guide

Visiting Vegas this year will be my third Tableau Conference and second for the core Analytics department at PADNOS.  Here is a little that I've learned along the way and vetted with a few other co-workers. Having this written down makes an easy reference to help everyone out for their first conference attendance.  There is a ton that will go down, a new place, lots to learn, and there are more than 15,000 people who will be packing into a small part of town.  Here’s some tips and tricks to make #TC19 a successful conference trip and a life-changing experience!

What to pack:

• Comfy shoes. You will do a ton of walking. Personally, the Birkenstocks route is heaven for me, but you’ll still want another walking pair in case you get fatigued.

• A proper bag - a comfy timbuk2 or backpack. You'll be hauling your laptop, notebook, and swag around a massive conference center all day. Think comfort!

• Bring charging cables. If you have a crappy battery on your phone, get a battery pack. You’ll be using your phone heavily through this event to check up on sessions with the TC app, to tweet, taking photos, and texting the group so we can find one another in the data labyrinth.

• Something to take notes with: your laptop might die. Bring a pen and some paper, this will help you recall the content later. Whatever works for you as long as you’ve planned to take plenty of notes.

• Your best Tableau/Data t-shirts or general nerdy apparel. Jeans and t-shirt is appropriate attire – no stress here.

• Leave space in your luggage! You’re gunna get a ton of swag, so leave a bit of space to cram it all in.

Before we arrive:

• PICK A CONFERENCE OBJECTIVE. What do you want to get out of conference? How to make the best visual design? Wanna learn how to level up your calculation skills? Pick a difficulty level and a track. Pick what is interesting to you and what you want to learn more of.

• Download the app. It’s not out today, but the second it is I’ll send an alert to the team. This is your go-to guide so you need to have available and easily accessible.

  • I make sure to notify the team attending conference the second it's out and encourage them to stop work and sign-up. Sessions go fast!

• Once that app is out, familiarize the schedule and where things are. You can one click add events to your calendar so you don’t forget.

  • I suggest that you put together a pre-conference meeting together once the app is out. Review with the team what everyone will be doing and attending - spread those company resources out wide and take back as much as you can!

• DON’T GO OVERBOARD. There are more than 500 sessions. You can’t attend everything. Give yourself enough time to travel between sessions. You could create a rigid schedule to attend the maximum number of events in one day, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Trust me, you’ll get more out of conference and enjoy it if you’ve some flexibility. Some talks may sound too advanced and technical, don’t let that turn you off. Pick what you want and what interests you. This is the best way to maximize your #TC19 value.

• Work out how long it will take to get from A to B when picking sessions. Mandalay Bay is an amazing conference center and it's HUGE. Account for travel time between sessions - walking down a hall with a few thousand people takes a minute. Get ready to say “mooooo”, you’re gunna feel like cattle.

• Change your LinkedIn/Twitter/FB profile before we get there to a head shot. You don’t wanna miss out on getting a sweat contact and not be able to connect because your face is a puppy or some weird rock or something. Put your face on there.

• Bring business cards. Give them out like candy at a 4th of July parade.

• Get amped.

While you're there:

• We will be attending the Tableau Keynotes and Devs on Stage. 100% worth.

• Data Night Out is happening – no skipping!

• Catch the Iron Viz live: it’s a great way to learn new tricks and enjoy the atmosphere Tableau is putting together.

• Take photos. Tweet them. You can get on the big screen. 5 minutes of fame, let’s go!

• Arrive at sessions early – they fill up fast!

• Let go of that FOMO YO! (Fear of Missing Out). There’s a ton going on, you won’t get to everything.