Go Give Back: Tableau Foundation Service Corp

Recently I had the opportunity to finish my first Tableau Foundation Service Corp consult.  Something that’s been 2 years in the making.

Since my early exposure to the Tableau community I’ve wanted to be actively involved in the Tableau Foundation – so I was delighted when I received an email in November expressing that they’ve extended the program to allow new volunteers.  I raced to complete my profile and get active.

And just about one month later I’m on the other side of my first consult.  So what was it like?  In a single word: fulfilling.

In verbose form:  I wasn’t sure what to expect – I got a quick sentence on the pain point and then scheduled a time to meet.  From the detail I knew the ask was about calculating a metric to determine satisfaction factors of students.

The day of the consult came (a Saturday at 4 PM) and it was time to get started.  After brief introductions we got down to work.  Within the first 10 minutes I’d helped create the correct calculation – something that had been a road blocks for more than 3 months.  We quickly went from talking through the calculation to best practices on visualizing.  After an hour we had even included some additional components to make the visualization more flexible and useful.

After our hour – we both parted ways.  Me with a huge sense that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing.  Pushing past the fun of problem solving in Tableau, I felt my overarching purpose during the call was to be an educator and enabler.  The correct calculation alone wasn’t the value of the call – the value was the connection and conversation on the how and why.

If you find yourself searching for ways to contribute and continue to grow – I strongly suggest signing up for the Tableau Foundation Service Corps.

And if you are on the flip of the coin and are a nonprofit in need of help – I am available.

 

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