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12/30/15 - Had a nice vacation in Florida for Christmas break... here's a video I made using my GoPro Hero 3+ for the car ride from Key West to Key Largo. [vimeo 150351055 w=500 h=281]
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12/8/15 - A private, curated portfolio of freelance projects I've worked on. http://dataimprovization.blogspot.com/ If you'd like to take a peak at something, follow the directions on the site.
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7/9/15 - I've been added to Tableau's #Dataviz Thought Leaders list! Very cool! This list is very humbling to be a part of, considering the other people on it are absolute data rock stars. I have so many ideas to write about and hope to share them with you on my blog! For other Twitter lists I'm a part of, click here.
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10/8/14 - I made the Viz of the Day! What a huge honor! This is definitely up there as one of my favorite accolades I've ever earned. Maybe right next to winning the art award in 8th grade - I'm so happy my creative skills are still being challenged and put to use through Tableau. A ton of thought went into putting together my September 12th post, NFL Drive Analysis - Giants vs Lions, and I'm so happy that it sparked ideas with really awesome people in the data viz community, like Andy Cotgreave who was inspired to relate this to Brinton's football drive chart. I even made the Best of Tableau September 2014 edition for this post, under the categorization of "Jedi" blogs :) May the force be with you!
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Best of the Tableau Web... September 2014
October 7, 2014
Now onto this months bumper crop of posts. It might be partly due to the #data14 conference session recaps, but this month we saw a huge uptick in tips and tricks. Our favorites are included below, with a healthy helping of beginner as well as Jedi and Hacker blogs.
If you're looking for pure commentary about the conference, there was simply too much to include this month. You will however, find posts from Iron Viz contestant Jeffrey Shaffer and Iron Viz Champion John Mathis in the commentary section, chronicling their experience, viz logic, and of course the final interactive viz.
Finally, for those of you looking to explore past Best of the Tableau Web blogs, check out this interactive vizfrom Kenneth Black. It catalogs each blog featured on BoTW since we started in 2012.
------This month's picture comes from Ben Shabad as seen on flowingdata.com
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Tips and tricks
- VizWiz Using the Size() calculation to create dynamic sheets
- Data Remixed Creating small multiple maps in Tableau
- Gravy Anecdote How to make a Slope Chart in Tableau
- Pixel Drifter What to do when all they want is a Table?
- VizWiz Using Axis Rulers for cleaner charts
- Interworks Five Tableau Table Calculation functions that you need to know
- TechGraphs How to use Tableau for Baseball Data - a beginners guide to Tableau
- The Information Lab Quick tips for getting started with Tableau using data from the Premier League
- The Information Lab What are Date Parameters good for?
- 3danim8 Secret weapons for maximizing productivity in Tableau
Visual Design
- EagerEyes Favorite charts of Robert Kosara - Data Researcher at Tableau
- Gravy Anecdote Comparing Pie Charts to Stacked Bars and what history has to say
- Monday Morning Viz How to radially arrange marks to make stunning vizzes
- VizWiz Monday Viz Makeover - Sleeping Habits of Geniuses
Tableau Server
- Tableau Love A server cache warming trick from the Sith(!)
- The Information Lab The Undocumented Tableau Server API
Jedi
- ImproVIZation Advanced Paths in Tableau using Calculated Fields
- Pixel Drifter Rank_dense() with Trellis Charts
- Red Headed Step Data The Master Tableau Approach, a summary of Jedi Level Table Calculations
- Mark Jackson Complex level of Detail Filters
- VizWiz Two-way Sorting in Tableau - Sorting Some of the Viz by a Measure and the Rest Alphabetically
- Data Science Group Creating Jitter in Tableau to showcase marks
- Data Revelations Using Packed Bubbles to visualize Likert vs. Likert scales
Hacker
- AndrewPBall Navigating Tableau with Dashboard Web View Security
- Tableau Friction Using Ruby to audit your Calculated Fields
- Tableau Love You did what? Tableau JavaScript API demos
- Tableau Love Another “cache warming” trick for Tableau
- 3danim8 Finite-element analysis using polygons in Tableau
Webcasts
- Wannabe Data Rockstar The Tableau Wannabepodcast - Episode 5 - The one with Dan Murray and #data14
- Wannabe Data Rockstar The Tableau Wannabepodcast - Episode 6 - The One about the post Tableau Conference recap
- Wannabe Data Rockstar The Tableau Wannabe Podcast - Episode 7 - The one with Jon Schwabish
Commentary
- Datographer A story of the road to the Iron Viz Championship
- Viz Ninja Interview with Matt Lutton of Goodwill Education Initiatives
- Data Plus Science Jeffrey Shaffer's Iron Viz Championship recap and the viz
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Spotlight on new data blogs
by Maxime Marboeuf - Jan. 22nd 2014
How do you express yourself on the web? Tell your voice and be heard. Talk about things which matter for you. Those things could take the form of a passion for a particular topic. Thus it could be politics, sports or science. It all depends on what you think and what is important to you.
Like most people do on the web, you think that knowledge should be shared, be part of a conversation and debated.
Well, we think so too!
The Community isn't a fancy term describing the work of marketers. Rather, it's part of our daily life as social creatures. Communication tools give anyone the opportunity to generate or become an active member of a conversation. Centred on a point of interest, a sensible topic. Topics with which the community can contribute to are potentially limitless.
I’d like to show you how a great community looks like when people decide to make use of data with a genuine interest in data visualisation. We've picked up from the web several example anyone can follow. Several profiles whom have decided to take actions and add value to the growing community of Data Visualizers.
Seven Tableau users whom have recently decided to speak out, create a blog to show their work to all of us.
We always welcome newcomers to the community and wish them all the best and success with their blogs.
Now that you saw these great examples of a growing and dynamic collaboration, it's time for you to take part of the action but you might ask yourself:
How can I launch the my own blog?
Well, here is your answer.
Monday Morning visualisation by Steven Carter
"When the chance came to work with Slalom and partner more closely with Tableau in an entrepreneurial and innovative culture, it was an opportunity I could not pass up. It was this culture of innovation that led to me push my Tableau abilities to the next level. The best way to do this was to pursue visualizing data to tell stories that interested me. That’s how Monday Morning Visualizations was born. It gives me a chance to explore new ways to use Tableau while learning more about my other passion, sports, and sharing that journey with the rest of the Tableau Public community."Datagonia by Gabriel Gejman
"Originally from Chile, I moved to the Bay Area 4 years ago and after mastering Excel to create custom reporting I thought there had to be a better way to analyze and communicate data, that’s when I found Tableau. I started working with Tableau in 2010 and thanks to its intuitive design I became a Jedi in a few months, since then I’m a Tableau fan."Data Knight Rises by Bernardo Roschke
Bernardo is new to blogging but has been a Tableau user for several years. "I started this blog to join an amazing community of data enthusiasts, share my passion for data visualization, and to show others that traditional Business Intelligence is a thing of the past. With products like Tableau and Tableau Public, anyone can get started visualizing data in order to achieve higher insights."Tableau Picasso by George Gorczynski
"I've worn many hats in my career - engineer, GIS professional, graphic designer, photographer - but I always gravitate towards creative work involving graphics, data, and coding. I really enjoy searching for interesting numbers, prying them out of stubborn sources (a poorly formatted web page, PDF, or obscure article), and using them to reveal something new and unexpected, it’s a great feeling! When I discovered Tableau a year or so ago, I put it to use helping me analyze engineering data. These days my work involves visualizing business metrics for a geotechnical consulting company and, for my personal blog, I work with any subject that piques my interest – science, health or social issues."improVIZation by David Andrade
"I love the fact that my job allows me to harness data for my clients, visualize it in meaningful ways, and use it to help measure and assess their marketing initiatives. I want to continue this passion in my blog, which will allow me to explore the power of data visualization in any other topic that interests me, whether it be a financial theory, a culinary adventure, or a weekend of snowboarding. My blog encourages me to experience more of what life has to offer and use any possible form of data I can to help tell a more creative and compelling story."Data Insights by Thanasis Giakas
Data geeks can be found anywhere. Thanasis is a web developer based in Greece. In his blog he combines his passion for programming, web technologies and you name it: Data visualisation! "I had been studying computer and telecommunications engineering. I worked in media companies, building web applications, creating and publishing content on web sites, producing radio shows. Lately, i have been focusing on information visualization, getting insights out of data, data-journalism and web user interface design."Dots on a screen by Mike Klaczynski
Our very own Mike from the Tableau public team has also decided that it was time to combine his passions and tell the world about it. Mike loves his Canon camera and his databases. We already know the work his does with some of the best publication in the world but now will get to know his tips and tricks on Tableau as well as his pictures, soon to be published!