November 2024 (Part 2)

PASS Data Community Summit 2024 Recap

The PASS Data Community Summit in Seattle, WA was the place to be during election week for global data dorks, geeks and nerds. The Top Gun of international speakers was on hand to share their expertise in keynotes, pre-conference days and daily hourly sessions, as well as mentor others in the Community Experts Clinic. Typically this conference is held at the Seattle Convention Center and this year, we got to attend in the architectural marvel new addition venue Summit Building .

My first event of the conference was a meetup hosted by Edwin M Sarmiento . We sat down and chatted for awhile and became fast colleagues.

I found the majority of my fellow Denver Data leaders at the following welcome reception, Leslie Weed , Steve Wake , Jeff Renz , and Steve Jones (aka Lego Steve) as well as national data sensations Kathi Kellenberger (aka Lego Kathi), Kellyn Gorman , Rick Lowe , and Ginger Grant and international data leader Heidi Hasting . Around the conference over the next couple days I saw Reza Rad , Paul Turley , Kevin Kline , Hope Foley , Denham Cherry and Cathrine Wilhelmsen - key leaders in the data space.

On the first official day of the conference, I had the pleasure of meeting fellow speaker Pavlo Golub while I waited for my first meeting in the Community Experts Clinic. The CEC was a new experience for me where we speed mentored people on a variety of technical topics as well as professional development. The first day, I gave some insights on how to derive value from ITSM data, how to replicate and work with data in real time, reviewed some complex power bi models that needed simplification, shared how contributors can manage up, and had a pre-session data strategy conversation. I was able to break away from the CEC to catch a couple sessions. Valerie Junk gave a compelling presentation about Effective Data Visualization where she also shared some principle foundations to report design. I was also able to catch Gillian Garbus ' presentation about Building a Team of Unicorns. I've been a team leader for a VERY long time in my career, and I learned some new tips and tricks I look forward to implementing.

The 2nd day, I had a repeat customer at the CEC where we deep dove into imposter syndrome, bonding over the sharing both of our stories. I won't mention his name, but we left fast colleagues as well from this conference. I also spoke to another gentleman who was considering transitioning from being a DBA to more of a DevOps role. I have to admit that after giving my own presentation, my time spent in the CEC was most rewarding. I was able to catch the beginning of Jes (Schultz) Chapman 's keynote at the WIT luncheon but I have to admit I started to get fidgety after I finished eating since my session presentation was up right after lunch so I left early to get ready (sorry Jes!)

I already gave some insights into how my presentation went in 2 posts last week:

I'm Terrified of Public Speaking - Part 1

I'm Terrified of Public Speaking - Part 2

BUT... I did forget to mention that the one thing that stands out to me about many of my presentations this year - advice is needed on how contributors can communicate better with leadership, executives and non-technical stakeholders. There continues to be a HUGE disconnect in communication between these levels. I tried to add additional content and insights into my Data Strategy presentation last minute to help. It seems leadership still speaks in buzz words - why do we need guardrails if we aren't building mountain roads, why do we care about the length of a runway if we aren't an airport, and why can't we land the plane (oh wait, I'm not a pilot! More English, less acronyms, tech talk and buzz words will help start to bridge some of these communication gaps.

Seattle is my hometown so I was able to close out the trip seeing some family I connected with when I attended PASS 2 years ago and some family I have never met (aunts and cousins) or even seen in 30+ years. I also got to attend an art gallery event at Graphite in Edmonds just north of Seattle (after an amazing dinner at Charcoal next door), so much talent there. If you are local to the Pacific NW, head up to Edmonds for a weekend of top notch destination dining and art. Well that sums up my trip to Seattle, I ?? you and can't wait to get back!

Is your current data architecture flexible enough to scale with your ambitions? ????

Do you know if your data models can handle the next wave of digital transformation? ????

Do you worry that your data structure isn’t scalable enough to handle tomorrow’s challenges? ??

I’ve helped companies navigate this exact terrain.

?? I’ve seen data models fail to scale as businesses grow or evolve, creating bottlenecks and stifling innovation.

?? I’ve worked with organizations that needed to overhaul their data models to prepare for next-gen tech but didn’t know where to start.

??? I’ve guided teams through the process of future-proofing their data models, enabling them to confidently adopt AI, ML, and other advanced technologies.

If your company is…

? Struggling with outdated or inflexible data models

? Unsure how to scale data models to accommodate future growth

? Looking for ways to leverage AI and ML with existing data structures

Then it’s time to invest in Future-Ready Data Modeling! ???

When you prepare your data models for the future, you will:

? Build a scalable data foundation ready for next-gen tech

? Enhance data agility to quickly adapt to new challenges

? Position your organization as a leader in innovation

Let’s talk about how to future-proof your data models today! ??

Articles You May Have Missed This Week

Strategic Business Partners

Visit Cyber Qubits to learn more about their Cybersecurity certifications, education, and corporate training!

Visit McIntosh Consulting to learn more about people-focused process improvement.

Visit Xtend Data Design to learn more about where expertise meets innovation in corporate information management.

Learn more by visiting my website: Fox Consulting

Network on Alignable: Fox Consulting

Follow me on X/Twitter: The Datanista

Follow me on Bluesky: The Datanista

Follow me on Mastodon: The Datanista

Follow me on Instagram: The Datanista

What in this week's newsletter resonates with you most?

Let's continue the conversation in the comments.??

#conferencespeaker #businessintelligence #datamodeling #datasecurity #dataprivacy #datawarehouse #dataquality #datagovernance #dataanalytics #datastrategy #thedatanista #datainitiatives #datamanagement #referencedata #dataliteracy #datainteroperability #dataintegration #regulatorycompliance #datacatalog #testautomation #datafitness #metadatamanagement #changemanagement #businessstrategy #datavisualization #conference #community #networking #thedatanista #datainnovation #AL #ML #techevolution #futureoftech #nextgentech #dataobservability #foxconsulting #datadriven #datacommunity #womenintech #passdatasummit