The Cluetrain Video

Tableau has a fine group of customers. They're smart, curious and questioning. In our Forums, customers often jump in before our developers and support get a chance. And we love it.

A few months ago we got a question in Forums about how to add a reference line based on the value of a column, rather than a calculation on the data in the chart itself. Joe Mako not only answered, he posted a video tutorial and workbook.

Adding a pseudo reference line in Tableau from Joe Mako on Vimeo.

Joe shows a neat trick to solve the problem, suggests a new feature, and while he's at it executes a very nice demo. It's a great example of the power of the Internet to open up channels of information that would never have been considered possible (or even desirable) in the years of one-way communication.

Years ago I read the Cluetrain Manifesto, a book that exhorts companies to open their doors and stop running every word by lawyers and PR people. Wikipedia, twitter, and blogs have proved the hypothesis that knowledge has no single voice. For me, seeing Joe's video was one one of those moments when I stopped and thought, "the future is here." Thanks Joe!