How I TC: No sleep till keynote

Tableau Conference is one of the most exciting times of year when we get together with our DataFam and talk about our big-picture vision around analytics, the latest innovations, and celebrate together. Putting together the event is truly a team sport that involves months of planning and prep work across teams. It’s a ton of work, but it’s also one of the most exciting parts of my year, too.?

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how I get ready for the big week.

I start thinking about the next TC the day after TC—what we announced, our plans, and what next year’s TC will look like. It’s an energetic and exciting moment.?

In earnest, TC development starts in July [for a November keynote]. We start thinking about the demos, the story, and the innovations that we want to include in the keynote and Devs on Stage.? It’s also a crazy time because a lot of things we’re planning to announce are in the future. We have to get dev teams to finish code, prototypes, and figure out how to name these things. It’s fun, invigorating, frustrating, chaotic-—everything at the same time.?

What I love most about TC is the connection with our #Datafam. That engagement, that feedback, all of it, the good, bad, and ugly. There is nothing like TC to re-engage you.?

I dread the rehearsal process—it’s so brutal. I hate the rehearsals—you have no idea how much I hate the rehearsals. Even in person, it’s the worst. My creative process is very ad hoc. I try different things and some sticks and some doesn’t. Then I try something else, maybe it’s terrible, and there are three good sentences there and that’s part of my process.

Rehearsing in front of a small group of colleagues is challenging. You get all the feedback about the 50 things you’ve done wrong, how you suck, and why your story doesn’t land. It’s tough but extremely valuable to make sure that we deliver a great keynote for our customers. We don’t just spend a week creating slides and putting it up. We agonize over the content, the words, the design, and the feeling we want to create.?

But it’s so worth it. After spending months working on this, it pays off. This is the one moment of the year you get to make a big splash, OK that’s great, but it also is this time and place that will generate lots of follow-up engagements, whether it’s the Community giving feedback on products, or enterprise customers understanding long-term strategy and how we fit with them. This conference matters.?

I don’t sleep for about a week before the keynote. I dream the speech, and I rehearse it in my head. It’s actually part of my process, and I really sweat over it a lot.?

I’m always nervous by the way—the first minute on stage is hard. I feel the pressure and responsibility to the team and the community. When TC was live, right before it’s time to give my keynote, I would go into the audience and give hugs to people I know. It’s a reunion and I love that I get to connect and also see familiar faces in the front row.?

I probably try on about four outfits. I try getting a new outfit for every TC, top to bottom, rarely do I do repeats. That’s not to say I’m royalty, but I want to have something fresh, and that helps build my confidence when I get onstage.?

And the other silly thing, I also look at the other big trends tech leaders are wearing in keynotes, like a couple years ago it was the three-quarter zip sweater, and I try to do something different.

I kind of secretly love public speaking. I love the energy and the connection with the audience. I still stress over it, like the first five minutes, like why did I sign up for this? Remember, I don’t sleep for a week before a major event, but I secretly love it.?

We did Dreamforce in September, and I didn’t realize how much I missed live speaking, how much energy I get and love seeing people’s faces and getting their reactions and connecting. It’s hard to replicate that with Zoom, but I still think about it as an opportunity to engage. Whether or not you’re performing to the camera or a crowd you have to give it your best.?

To get into the moment, I like to goof around and get myself out of the rehearsing mode and connect with people. I love connecting with the crew. They are so important to an event like this, the people behind the people from the stage manager to the person who mics you up. When we were live, you’d choose your ‘pump-up’ music for entering the stage. Mine was generally the Beastie Boys or The Clash. You hear that music, and you’re just ready to go.?

My dream TC looks like the old TC. TC is unlike a traditional tech conference, it just has to be said. It’s truly a Community celebration, and it is a reunion of data lovers and people who have found their tribe. In a stadium with 20K people, it’s magical, you’re with your peers, and that’s just so incredible. And it permeates in the hallways, sessions, and on the show floor. And yes, the parties are always legendary.?

They’re all special, but I loved TC in New Orleans. You had that local flavor that came with it. We had Big Freedia on stage. At TC in Seattle, we rented out the Seattle Center with Sir Mix-a-Lot singing, “I like big data and I cannot lie.” I surprisingly loved TC in Vegas, and especially taking over Fremont St. downtown. For TC Europe in Barcelona, I got to hang out on the beach with attendees in Europe. So many great memories.

Maybe across all this are the parties? And I’m not a party guy, but I just love how Tableau does an amazing job making this a unique experience for this Community. With Tableau parties, you always have choice and flexibility about where you go—it’s choose your own adventure. I am so looking forward to seeing people in person again at future TCs.

The first thing I do when it’s all over is sleep. For three days. Then I start thinking about next year’s TC.?

I can’t wait for this year’s TC to share all the amazing new capabilities that we’ll announce to help people unlock the value of their data, unleash their creativity, and bring analytics to everyone.