Re-engineering a career with data and becoming a Tableau Visionary

It was just like a big warm hug as soon as I got in. I was just so excited to be part of it immediately.

Adam Mico, Tableau Visionary

How did you become involved in the Tableau Community? 

Adam: Flash-forward another five years. I was using Tableau a lot at work and I got a new job primarily because of the data analytics and Tableau work I was doing. I released some very large projects, re-engineering metrics and everything. I peaked at my role at work and was pretty much as high as I could go. I was kind of bored and didn't have much motivation, and I was looking for a way to give back because I’d been using Tableau for five years and didn't really know about the Tableau Community. I'd never attended a conference. I wasn't on Twitter. I wasn't on LinkedIn. The only place I was on social media was Facebook. 

So I went into a Facebook group that was super helpful and super interesting called Tableau Magicians run by fellow Visionary Toan Hoang. After that, I was in. Within a couple months, I was helping administer a group, and then was nudged about becoming part of the DataFam on Twitter and LinkedIn. I finally bit the bullet and joined, and it was just like a big warm hug as soon as I got in. I was just so excited to be part of it immediately.

Tell us a bit more about your journey, especially what it was like building your first viz.

Adam: I developed a Tableau Public profile around the time I joined Tableau Magicians. Fortunately, it has evolved over time, and I’ve created a number of visualizations that have received a good following and good feedback. It helped me understand where I was lacking because I was really good at analytics when I started, but my design skills were not great. 

In my first visualization, I was into the Billboard Album Charts. I created my own point system that I explained in clunky detail near the bottom of this visualization, which I would do much differently now. And there's a lot of green and golds (maybe because I am a Green Bay Packer fan) and all these colors I would never use anymore. But from an analyst perspective it was fun. Thanks to Sean Miller (another Visionary) for creating the data source to inspire me to produce publicly.

My viz took me a while and a lot of learning from other people in our Community. The science behind visualization helped me realize how important it was to create something not only nice-looking, but also something that uses Tableau.

Tableau releases so much great stuff, but it's only as strong as the Community. That's the big difference between Tableau and basically every other software I've used – there isn't a Community like this anywhere else.

Adam Mico, Tableau Visionary

Sharing a lot of tips and tricks is another huge component, yes?

Adam: It is. Some of the best content comes from the Community as far as tutorials, visualizations, and points of inspiration talks on YouTube. Everything that is engaging and helps people skill up quickly has come from the Community. Tableau releases so much great stuff, but it's only as strong as the Community. That's the big difference between Tableau and basically every other software I've used – there isn't a Community like this anywhere else.

Since you discovered Tableau, have you implemented it in every single role and career move?

Adam: I wouldn't be part of a career that didn't incorporate Tableau. That's how much I love it. 

Right now I'm more focused on data center enablement, but still highlighting Tableau as the tool. So I'm very involved with that, and helping build an internal community. So those are things that are really inspiring to me, because not only do I have the opportunity to continue to pursue my interests with the DataFam, I am also building an internal community based on everything I’ve learned from our external Tableau Community.

You are a Tableau Visionary. What advice would you give from somebody new to encourage them?

Adam: When I started with the Community it was large, but it wasn't as global and it wasn't as diverse. Our Community is growing globally, and we're having a lot more impact from non-primary English speakers, which is great, and representation from other continents that weren't previously involved. For example, we're getting a lot of great Community members from Africa, which is so awesome, and also Japan, and pretty much every country under the sun. 

The most inspiring part of my journey was helping create a blog post (“The #DataFam: 129 Authors From 21 Countries Spanning Six Continents Share Their 2020 Tableau Inspirations”) with Tableau Public Ambassador Priya Padham with a number of people sharing and contributing things that they were passionate about relating to our database and family. 

And creating Tableau’s Next. There are so many people contributing to the Community and doing so many great things so I wanted to celebrate them. I created a blog post highlighting 65 newer Community members that didn't have a title like Tableau Ambassador or Visionary at that particular time, and some honorable mentions that are veterans of the Community, but don't have those titles as well. It's a showcase of them and being able to broadcast their talents and give them an opportunity to shine.

Can you share some of your favorite visualizations? 

Adam: The first one is the chart catalog created by Kevin Flerlage, a compilation of charts by different creators. You can see so many great things in one visualization that inspires and also has a tutorial for each type of chart. 

As far as a personal one, I created “The Ultimate Motivation of a Lifeline.” I wanted to do it a little bit differently and a little bit easier for me to follow and to give me some inspiration. One thing I learned with Tableau is that you apply Google Sheets at Tableau Public and it automatically refreshes. It's a simple visualization and each dot represents a month from birth. I researched my life expectancy so the purple dot represents the current month that I'm in. So it tells me what I’ve passed and where I'm going. There's so much left that I can aspire to and I always remind myself to keep stepping forward. I’m pretty sure that was my first Tableau Public Viz of the Day. 

If you go on Twitter, and you release a data visualization, or just want to be introduced to the Community, our bat signal is #DataFam.

Adam Mico, Tableau Visonary