Even a global pandemic can't stop Georgia Tech students from pursuing technological knowledge.
Scheller’s Business Analytics Club recently hosted two virtual workshops, An Introduction to Tableau and A Data Literacy Discussion. Both sessions were led by Nelson Davis, Co-Leader of the Atlanta Tableau Users Group. Davis, an alumnus of Georgia Tech, is president, chief vizioneer and founding partner of AnalyticVizion, a data and analytics consulting firm.
Originally scheduled for on-campus, Business Analytics Club leadership quickly pivoted and worked with Nelson to present the Tableau workshop virtually.
“Last year’s Tableau workshop was extremely valuable,” said Business Analytics Club President June Sloan. “We didn’t want this year’s classes to miss out on a valuable introduction to a skill they can use both as a student and in the workplace.”
The introductory level workshop focused on using Tableau for accessing data and data visualization, building dashboards using multiple data sources, and publishing and sharing interactive dashboards and analysis, including a quick look at data mining and modeling. In a nod to the current climate, Nelson used Covid-19 data to explore and explain Tableau usage.
The workshop worked out very well with more than 60 students participating,” added Sloan. “Even though it was virtual, we were able to ask Nelson questions interactively through Microsoft teams. Since it was recorded, we can also go back and look at it again if there are questions.”
The following Friday, Davis again presented to interested Business Analytics students. The second session focused on data literacy.
"It's a great time for this conversation," said Davis in his introduction. "People are paying attention to data as data and analytics are playing an increasingly important role in business. If we want to become data focused, we must first become data literate."
The interactive discussion focused on helping the students understand data literacy and how to accelerate its growth in an organization. Through questions, charts and even a Walt Whitman poem, Davis challenged the students in their roles as future leaders to create data-driven cultures where data becomes the language of the organization.