I like the quote above because it reminds me that sometimes in life you just have to persevere.

2020 was a year like no other for just about everybody and it’s one that will always be remembered.  Despite the variety and number of challenges that came up, when I reflect back, I managed to have some bright spots along the way that kept me going:

  • Participated in new viz projects, making my first contributions to Storytelling With Data (SWD), Iron Quest, and Viz for Social Good (VFSG) – with this came great opportunities to meet some new faces from the Tableau Community (albeit remotely!)
  • Published 24 visualizations to Tableau Public in 2020, compared to 22 in 2019 and 32 in 2018
  • Started this blog in August and wrote 3 blog posts
  • Had my VFSG submission in September (Bridges to Prosperity) chosen by a panel of judges as one of three finalist visualizations
  • Pushed myself out of my comfort zone to present at my first Tableau Fringe Festival.  My talk, “What is Data Scaffolding? Some Practical Examples” taps into both Alteryx and Tableau and is available here
  • Renewed my Tableau Desktop Certified Associate certification
  • Organized one in-person Cork Tableau User Group meeting early in the year, but managed to keep Irish Tableau users engaged and connected via virtual TUGs during the remainder of 2020 with the help of the folks from The Information Lab Ireland
  • Teamed up with fellow Ireland-based Tableau enthusiast Louise Shorten towards the end of the year to revive the Data + Women Ireland group.  We’ve got a great agenda planned for 2021 and I’m really excited for it!

Much of the above would not have been possible without the support and encouragement that comes regularly from the Tableau Community, so I want to say a massive thank you – there are of course too many names to call out!

For 2021, I’m hoping to continue participating in community projects when I can and push myself to keep doing and learning.  I’m certain other cool stuff that I can’t envision right now will come up along the way.  And I definitely need to write more blog posts!

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year.