Thank you fellow Microsofties, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2022

Alexander Loth's Microsoft Achievements: the book Decisively Digital with a personal note from Satya Nadella
Alexander Loth’s Microsoft Achievements: the book Decisively Digital with a personal note from Satya Nadella

As we approach the end of 2021, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the incredible achievements we’ve made at Microsoft and to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my fellow Microsofties.

❤ My dear fellow Microsofties, I have learned a lot from you and would like to thank you for the great teamwork, it was a lot of fun! This year I was able to achieve an incredible amount thanks to your support and the omnipresent growth mindset at Microsoft.

Key Milestones and Microsoft Achievements

🔬 Mixed Reality for Life Sciences: This year, we elevated mixed reality for our life sciences customers like Ottobock, making the world more inclusive and healthier.

📚 Literary Accomplishments: As you may know, I love to write. I was able to finish two book projects: for the book Decisively Digital, I interviewed 24 thought leaders on Digital Transformation. We also finished the German-language book Datenvisualisierung mit Power BI.

🎓 Technical Leadership Development Program (TLDP): Graduating from TLDP, a sort of tech MBA, was a fantastic experience, enhancing my next-gen tech focus.

👾 Microsoft Global Hackathon Award: Together with over 40 colleagues, we won an award at Microsoft Global Hackathon, the world’s largest privately-organized hackathon. Patent pending!

🐦 15,000 Followers on Twitter: Reaching this significant milestone reflects not only my journey in data and digital strategy but also the power of community engagement. Catch up on my journey to 15k Twitter followers here.

Stay Connected: Follow Me for More Insights

Keep up with my insights and adventures in the tech world by following me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

🎄 Now it’s really time for some reflective days. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you! I’m sure 2022 will be a blast…

Thank you Tableau and farewell!

Farewell to Tableau: A Reflective Goodbye - Alexander Loth with Tableau Data Rockstar t-shirt
Farewell to Tableau: A Reflective Goodbye – Alexander Loth

10 years ago, I started using Tableau.

4 years ago, I started working at Tableau.

Today is my last day with Tableau.

As I pen down my farewell to Tableau, it’s hard not to look back at the incredible journey that began 10 years ago. I reflect on a decade-long connection that began with using Tableau and culminated in four amazing years as an employee. This journey has shaped my career, leaving me filled with gratitude. Read about my 10-year blogging anniversary here.

These last four years have been the most inspiring of my career, what a ride it has been! It’s been a great opportunity and an amazing experience, joining this unique Seattle start-up as one of the first employees in Tableau’s Frankfurt office. Watching our DACH team grow to 120+ people is far more than I had imagined at the beginning, it is simply amazing!

As for my next phase, I’ll take on a strategist role at a leading cloud & AI company. I am excited to continue creating an impact in the digital age.

I’m very grateful to have worked alongside talented people both in Tableau and in our greater #datafam community — people who are brilliant and freakishly friendly. I am immensely grateful for the guidance of my mentors, Nate Vogel and Andy Cotgreave. Their wisdom and support have been instrumental in my growth at Tableau. I have many lifetime memories and made lots of great friends. I wish all of you at Tableau all the best for your next chapter, joining the Salesforce Ohana.

This farewell to Tableau is filled with gratitude, memories, and excitement for the future. Thank you, Tableau, for the incredible ride. So long, and thank you for everything!

— Alex

Watch my 4-years-in-2-minutes clip here:

Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn for updates on my farewell to Tableau and new ventures.

Monkey Business: Always be Ready to Demo

The famous Tableau Superstore demo data set
The famous Tableau Superstore demo data set

Usually, I really don’t like looking on the screens of other passengers. On this early morning train from Frankfurt to Cologne, however, the screen of my seatmate caught my attention. Where have I seen the logo on his slide deck before? Two coffee sips later, it came to me: it was the logo of Monkey 47, a very delicious gin, distilled in the heart of the Black Forest. So I asked my neighbor: “Is that the Monkey 47 logo?”

He was happy that I recognized his brand and we had a small chat about gin and the Black Forest. Turns out his name is Thomas, and he is the head of Sales and Marketing for Monkey 47. Thomas mentioned that his team is planning a tour to promote Monkey 47 in a number of cities. That sounds similar to what we are doing with the Tableau Cinema Tour, so I showed him our Cinema Tour landing page and explained briefly who we are and what our mission is.

I asked him how he is organizing his data. Thomas revealed that he lives in Excel hell: “spreadsheets with thousands of rows and way too many columns”. This also sounded familiar. I opened up our Superstore.xlsx in Excel and asked: “Do your Excel sheets look like this?” Thomas replied: “Yes!”

Here we go! I drag’n’dropped the file on my Tableau desktop icon and paced through a 7-minute-demo ending with an interactive dashboard. Thomas was flabbergasted. To polish things off, I showed him the interactive Twitter Sentiment Dashboard embedded in my blog. Thomas grabbed his jacket and gave me a business card, saying: “We need Tableau!”

Monkey 47 business card (back side)
Monkey 47 business card (back side)

This story was originally written for Tableau’s EMEA Sales Newsletter. I think it’s a good read for the holidays, and wish you all Merry Christmas!