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November 2, 2012

My top 10 tips for navigating your way through TCC12

9 comments

Get ready for the analytics conference of the year.  If you haven’t been before, you’re in for the best conference you will have ever attended, guaranteed.

Below are my top 10 tips, based on having spoken and attended at the conference twice and based on the questions I’ve received.

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach me via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, about.me, or email.

1. Plan to have a great time.  The parties are incredible!  The keynotes, networking, session, etc. will leave you energized and ready to take on the world.

2. What should I wear? 

People wear whatever they wear to work.  Some will have suits, some will be in shorts and flip flops.  I'll be going casual - t-shirt and jeans, that’s the Facebook way.  I would likely be heckled by our team if I dressed up, plus I gave away all of my dress clothes the day I left Coke.

3. Download the iPhone or Andriod conference app. 

Search for TCC To Go.  This will allow you to search for sessions, connect with others, etc.  There’s an option to save sessions to a calendar, but I haven’t been able to locate the calendar.

4. Which sessions should I attend? 

It all depends on what you want to get out of it.  I tend to do a mix of customer sessions and learning. 

If you go to a customer session and the speaker/session sucks, walk out and go to something else.  I guarantee there will be multiple things you want to go to during every breakout session.

Get to the sessions early!  They WILL fill up.

5. I feel overwhelmed with all of the sessions.  What’s the best way to navigate through it all?

You will get a think binder of all of the sessions at check-in.  Get two different colored highlighters and highlight you’re top two sessions for each breakout. 

Get a head start by print the session booklet.  Get it here.

6. Be sure to attend the session “Like! Facebook’s Tableau Deployment & HackBook Tips” by our very own Namit Raisurana.

This session will describe why Tableau was selected to put analytics in the hands of every data user so they no longer were reliant on developers to serve up reports and analysis.

You’ll find out what’s been done to accelerate adoption that, in the short time it’s been deployed, has led to a massive user adoption.

Facebook’s rigorous needs have also led to pushing the boundaries of Tableau. We’ll share some of the most impactful efforts that have set a new standard for what it means to be a data-driven organization. Namit will also be giving a live demonstration.

We have a couple of additional surprises in store.  I ask that you reserve seats in the first row for Facebookers.

7. Take advantage to connect with lots of folks.

You’ll find that the attendees come from a very diverse set of industries.  Talk to people that are NOT from your own organization between sessions. 

Don’t be shy!  Mingle at the parties.  Bring business cards to exchange…lots of them.

People are typically willing to show off their work.  If you’re talking to someone who seems to have done some cool work, they may be willing to share so ask.  The worst they can say is no.

8. Connect via social networks.

Facebook – Join the TCC12 event group and "Like" us at http://facebook.com/tableausw.
Twitter – Stay updated and share your own tweets using hashtag #tcc12.
LinkedIn – Virtually connect with other attendees in the TCC event group.
TCC Online Community – Get a head start meeting new Tableau pals by introducing yourself to other attendees in the TCC Community Group.

9. Don’t miss the keynotes!  They’re sure to be great (though there was one stinker last year).

Christian Chabot - CEO and Co-founder, Tableau Software
Chris Stolte - CDO and Co-founder, Tableau Software
Malcolm Gladwell – Author
John Medina - Developmental Molecular Biologist, Author
Larry Gonick – Author
Steve Johnson – Author

10. Meet the Tableau Zen Masters – Wednesday at 4:30 in Community Alley

Come meet the very first class of Tableau Zen Masters; Tableau's most elite and celebrated users.  Who are they?  You’ll have to wait and see.  I’m anxious to find out!

9 comments :

  1. Hi Andy,

    On the TCC to Go app on iOS, once you open up the card for a session, tap on it to get a description, then at the bottom of that window is a "Save to Calendar" button. See you there!

    Jonathan

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  2. Ok, I found the Add to Calendar button, but I can't find the actual calendar. And the search mode keeps on telling me it's been enabled, but doesn't actually search for anything. I'm not sure what the app is really good for.

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  3. RIght, the problem I was having was actually seeing the calendar. I probably won't use it much unless it does a good job with notifications and/or the calendar can be discovered.

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  4. I can't believe that I forgot to mention the Iron Viz Championship Thursday at 9:45am. Don't miss it!

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  5. Andy,

    On iOS at least, the items I added to the calendar in the app showed up in the device's calendar.

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  6. Strange...their not showing up on my calendar. It's been a pretty buggy app so far.

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  7. Hey Andy,

    Well done!! I think you covered all of the important topics except for..."developers on stage".

    As you already mentioned, hands down, best conference out there!!

    Yes...the app is buggy, calendar does NOT work on IOS, search does not work, and navigation is a bit quirky.

    Looking forward to catching up!!

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  8. Hey - It's Annie. I heard back from my rep and it's supposed to be sent as an iCal entry on your phone. Mine weren't, so something is buggy.

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  9. Annie again -

    I would add to that to print and paste your twitter avatar/pic to your badge, and write your twitter handle on your badge. The TCC twitter community is super healthy.

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