Pam Gidwani

Tableau Conference is more than just an opportunity to connect with over 11,000 like-minded data-driven individuals. One of the best ways you can learn how to leverage your Tableau investment is by checking out all of our great sponsors in the Expo Hall (located in the Marquee Ballroom at MGM Grand). You can also earn points for the in-app game, Data Points, by visiting and interacting with each sponsors. By playing, you'll have the chance to win sweet Tableau swag, and other unique conference experiences.

Thanks to everyone who joined us this morning for the first-ever Tableau Conference tweetup! Conference vets Matt Francis (@Matt_Francis) and Emily Kund (@emily1852) took the helm of the @tableau twitter account to answer questions from #data14 newbies.

The voting is over, and we're thrilled to announce the three winners of our Viz as Art contest. If you're coming to the 2014 Tableau Conference, make sure to make your way over to Community (TCC Level 3), where you'll be able to screen print one of their designs on a t-shirt, tote bag, or flatstock poster to take home with you as a souvenir.

Destination Data is right around the corner, and to help you navigate conference, we’re supplying you with the Data14 app, the official guide to the 2014 Tableau Conference that will fit in your pocket (and the palm of your hand). Browse the conference agenda, create your personal schedule, connect via social during presentations, and get all the details about parties, meetups, plus everything else available to you the week of conference. It’s also where you will be able to provide us with valuable feedback on how we can keep improving your conference experience. Game On! Gamify your conference experience by networking with speakers, sponsors, and fellow data lovers (including Tableau employees!) and you could win cool Tableau swag or a free ticket to TC15!

Now there are even more ways to make lasting connections at Tableau Conference. Check out all the scheduled meetups by industry and topic. See and hear what other people are achieving by using Tableau. Learn about Tableau User Groups, Certification, and how to share your Tableau success stories with us. All meetups will be held at the Sheraton Hotel (across the street from the Washington State Convention Center), and breakfast or lunch will be provided. Make sure to wear your conference badge!

The polls are officially open for the Destination Data Viz as Art contest. We called all data artists to submit their most creative, most beautiful Tableau masterpieces (while not necessarily focusing on data analysis—this time) and received 70 amazing entries. Thanks to everyone who participated! Below are the 10 finalists (in no particular order). Click on the titles to view the original viz on Tableau Public. Voting is taking place exclusively on Twitter, and the three entries that collect the most hashtag mentions (from unique Twitter users) will be turned into screen prints at Tableau Conference in Seattle next month!

We know the first thing you think of when you think of Seattle is our killer fashion style. Right. We live in a land best known for fleece and flannel; “grunge” was the “fashion” movement that put Seattle on the scene. On any given day you’ll see more Keens and Merrels than Jimmy Choos or Louboutins. Going out to a nice restaurant (Oh, what? We did a blog on where to eat in Seattle? We sure did.)? There’s good money you’ll still see some North Face fleece there—but hey, maybe someone wore their “nice” fleece instead of their “everyday” fleece.

Things in the Tableau office can get a little raucous sometimes (we’re kind of excitable), so it’s not uncommon to see people reach for their headphones in order to focus on, oh yeah, their jobs. One of those people is often Senior Data Analyst on the Tableau Public team, resident music lover, and Tableau twitter personality, Jewel Loree (@jeweloree), who you can usually find with big green headphones on, playing with data and rocking out to some tunes. Jewel has worked at Tableau for a year and a half now, and helps journalists and bloggers create awesome vizzes and insight with Tableau Public. In between interacting with insanely smart and creative Tableau Public users every day, she also gets to play with fun data about Pokemon.

No blog series about our favorite things about Seattle would be complete without talking about beer. Seattle boasts one of the country’s largest concentration of breweries (seriously, it's like they're on every corner in Ballard), and with good reason: three-quarters of the hops grown in this country come from the nearby Yakima Valley at the base of the Cascade mountain range. Lucky us! And lucky you, too, when you descend on Seattle for this year’s Tableau Conference.