5 Quick Questions about Tableau Ambassador Nominations
It’s that time of year! Tableau Ambassador nominations are open. At time of writing, there are about two weeks left to submit yourself and/or others for the upcoming cohort. [2024 Deadline is July 11, 11:59 pm PDT]
For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege to serve as a Tableau Public Ambassador. Visualizing data in Tableau Public has not only accelerated my career, but I also enjoy vizzing as a hobby. It’s brought me great joy as an Ambassador to not only showcase what’s possible with Tableau, but also help ‘on the inside’ giving product feedback and elevating other’s work through programs like Viz of the Day.
Nomination season inevitably brings questions — here are a few I think about this time of year.
1. Who are the Tableau Ambassadors anyways?
Last year there were 354 Tableau Ambassadors. If you asked each one what it means to be a Tableau Ambassador, you’d probably get 354 different answers. That’s why I go straight to the source: the Tableau Community team’s official nomination information post:
Wonder how the Tableau Ambassadors fit in to the larger family of Community Leader roles? Larissa explains it all here:
Note: As you apply/nominate for Tableau Ambassador positions, keep in mind you can only apply to one branch. Pick the one that fits you/your nominees community participation/strengths!
2. Should I nominate myself?
YES. It may feel weird to self promote but you are your own best advocate. If you want to be a Tableau Ambassador, don’t rely on someone else to throw your name in the ring. Submit! Here’s some further reading:
- How to Succeed in Tableau Ambassador Applications (and Other Self Advocacy) by Really Trying | Nicole Klassen
- Apply Anyway: Tableau Ambassador Program Edition | Emily De Padua
- Why you, yes YOU, should apply to be the next Tableau Ambassador | Brittany Rosenau
3. What’s my why?
While filling out the nomination form, you’ll run across this question:
Why do you want to be a Tableau Ambassador? / Why would this nominee make a great ambassador?
Now I can’t answer this for you — only you know your ‘why’. But here’s what I think about when submitting my own application/putting others forward.
Remember — this isn’t just a one time recognition, it’s putting someone forward as a leader in the community for the following year.
- Would I continue to participate in the Tableau Community in the same way if I didn’t get the title and/or perks like a t-shirt?
- Do I want to continue participating at the same level as I have in the past year?
- Beyond cool vizzes — Is my nominee someone I’d recommend someone new to Tableau to follow and learn from?
- Is my nominee someone I respect/would be proud to see take on greater leadership roles in the future?
Again — I can’t answer your ‘why’ — but since it’s a question on the form, it doesn’t hurt to start thinking about it.
4. Who don’t you see?
The 2023 Ambassador cohort was the largest and most geographically diverse yet. While I applaud this, there will always be room for improvement for representation. For example, looking at a breakdown of each branch by gender, one branch has a majority of women, two are roughly equal, and 4 are largely made up of men.
In the words of Kimly Scott- “You can’t be what you can’t see”. The graph above is only one slice of data — I urge you to nominate those you don’t see represented equally in the current cohorts, whether that be geographic location, gender, career level, race, or other demographic information.
Personally, I’ve benefited greatly from seeing others like myself represented in the Tableau Ambassadors. I aim to pay that forward in my nominations this year.
5. Who should I nominate? Who should I ask to nominate me?
I wish I had a simple answer to this question. The reality is, as more and more folks participate in the Tableau Community, the less likely I am to know them personally.
Additionally, the social media landscape continues to evolve. While twitter used to be my favorite place for keeping up with the #DataFam, this year I’ve found I much prefer interacting with folks in spaces like the Women in Data Viz Slack, the Data Visualization Society Slack, and the growing community of folks on Bluesky. While I post occasionally on LinkedIn, I’m not there to build a following — I rarely accept connection requests from people I haven’t interacted with.
I am happy to say that with the improvements to the Tableau Public Activity Feed, it’s easier than ever to keep up with what folks are publishing directly on the platform. I’ll be nominating folks that do great work and push the boundaries of what can be done in the tool.
When it comes to referrals, quality of the nomination matters more than quantity. Again, from the Tableau team:
Please only nominate someone or apply to one specific group. When evaluating applications to become an ambassador, we do not consider internal contributions made within one’s own company. We do not select Tableau Ambassadors based on the number of nominations received. While we do read and track all submissions, we also use internal metrics, employee recommendations, and the needs of our global community to determine the new group.
If you are asking someone to be a reference, ask folks you know can speak to your work and participation in the community (no matter the platform)- one good reference that can answer your ‘why’ is better than 10 who submit your name but skip that part of the form because they’re not familiar with your work or your progress over the last year.
Closing Thoughts
If you’ve made it this far, kudos! Here’s a corgi:
At the end of the day, your worth as a member of the Tableau and broader data community is not determined or quantified by a title.
That may sound easy for me to say as someone that is currently an Ambassador! I’m sure as always, the next cohort will result in celebrations for those who make it, and disappointment for those who don’t. No matter the outcome of this year’s nominations, I plan on continuing to viz what I enjoy in Tableau Public.
Many folks who I have learned the most from have not been formally recognized as an Ambassador, and may never be. This could be due to a myriad of reasons: maybe their contributions are not public facing, perhaps their work doesn’t fit neatly into one of the existing branches, maybe they don’t want to be part of the program, perhaps it’s just bad luck.
I can’t control who get’s picked — but together we can choose who there is to pick from by submitting our best nominations.
I hope you found this helpful — best of luck on your nominations!
