ICYMI: Our First European Virtual User Group Event in London

Hundreds of Tableau enthusiasts tuned in for the first European-led Tableau 9.0 Virtual User Group event earlier this month.

Members of the London Tableau User Group (TUG) hosted a meetup event at our London office, and a live feed reached Tableau users around Europe, Middle East, and Africa, many of them attending viewing parties in Russia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.

@PabloLGomez #TableauVTUG #DaTaBar #TableauRussiaUserGroup watch attentively....)) pic.twitter.com/fi6I0N1PZc

— Yuriy Gavrilov (@YuriyGavrilov) June 4, 2015

We showed off the shiny new features of Tableau 9.0, which help data explorers stay in the flow of their work. Psychologist Mihaly Csikzentmihaly calls this flow—what some people call the zone—the secret to happiness, as Tableau’s own Andy Cotgreave explained during his keynote.

“It’s a position where technology, time, everything else melts away. And you just become in the moment, focusing 100 percent on the task,” said Andy, Tableau’s senior technical evangelist. “This is what we’re trying to do with Tableau. We want you to be able to flow with your data, not get stuck in your tracks.”

We also heard from the two Pauls who lead the London TUG. Paul Banoub and Paul Chapman shared their stories of the TUG life, which includes lively discussions, how-to sessions, and hands-on viz contests.

“The thing that staggers me every time is the enthusiasm the users put into these events,” said Paul Banoub. “The people have had a long day at work, often finish late, and they’re still prepared to go talk more Tableau.”

“It’s such a diverse, broad spectrum of people that come from all kinds of businesses,” said Paul Chapman. “You can come together with like-minded people, share a story or two, learn a few things, and build up some networks.”

You can relive the entire event, including a demo of Tableau 9.0’s new features, here:

Many thanks to our TUG leaders who helped host in-person viewing parties across the world. If you haven't yet joined a TUG, visit our TUG map and connect with other Tableau enthusiasts near you. Don’t have a local TUG where you live? Consider starting one yourself.

For more data-driven discussions and parties, join us in London for Tableau Conference on Tour from July 6 to July 8.