Ian Cedric Io - Business Analytics
Cedric is in his final semester, majoring in Business Analytics at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He plans to join the supply chain industry after graduation. Throughout his undergraduate studies, he held the esteemed positions of Tableau Public Featured Author and Tableau Ambassador for two years. Cedric attributes his proficiency in data visualization to the supportive Tableau Community.
How did you get started with Tableau?
My journey with Tableau was rather unique because I was first introduced to Tableau when I was learning about Salesforce CRM on Trailhead before university started. At that time, I had implemented a new CRM system during my first internship and I happened to discover Salesforce CRM and Tableau.
Tableau stood out for me because I was very impressed by how users were able to interact and create stunning visualizations. I also became certified as a Tableau Desktop Specialist just before applying to be an ambassador to formalize my learning. However, I felt that the ambassador program gave me that extra push, accelerating my development.
How has learning Tableau impacted your academic track/career?
After learning Tableau and becoming proficient with the software, I discovered that data visualization is a long-term skill I am deeply passionate about. Beyond the software, the remarkable aspect of Tableau has always been its community, known as DataFam. I was pleasantly surprised when I was nominated by the community for the Michael W. Cristiani Tableau Community Leadership, Notable Newbie, and Biggest Growth award categories at the Tableau Conference 2023, during my first year of publishing on Tableau Public. Additionally, what made my year extra special was being selected as the Tableau Public Featured Author for June 2023.
Most recently, I earned certification as a Tableau Data Analyst this year, with the invaluable support of the Academics Team at Tableau (a shout-out to Anezi and Tamsin!). In my future career, as I prepare to join the supply chain industry, I eagerly anticipate applying my skills at work to make informed decisions, tackle business problems, and enhance processes.
Tell me a bit about how you became a student ambassador and the work you did with students!
My journey to becoming a student ambassador happened unexpectedly, as I did not anticipate being selected for the role. When nominations for the Tableau Academic Ambassadors opened in June 2022, I took a leap of faith and applied, despite having only around half a year of experience. A few months later, when Tableau announced the 2022-23 ambassadors, I was pleasantly surprised to receive the email informing me that I had been chosen as one of the ambassadors.
However, I recognized that I still had much to learn about Tableau and needed ample practice before teaching others how to use it. Upon starting the ambassadorship, I set a personal challenge to regularly post new visualizations on X (formerly Twitter) to receive rapid feedback, engage with the community, and become more proficient with Tableau. I am truly grateful to Tableau for taking a chance on me and investing in student ambassadors like myself, as this opportunity marked a significant turning point in my career development.
Several months into the ambassador journey, my experience was incredibly rewarding. I organized six data visualization workshops, two Tableau data visualization competitions, and I am currently mentoring a group of new academic ambassadors. Additionally, I was paired with a mentor from Hong Kong (a shout-out to Andrew!), and our meeting in person during his university exchange semester in Singapore made the experience even more special.
Do you have any advice or tips for students starting out with Tableau?
I would really encourage students starting out with Tableau to sign up for Tableau for Students which includes free access to Tableau Desktop. However, if you are looking to challenge yourself, here are some tips on getting comfortable with Tableau:
Create a Tableau Public account and publish data visualizations: There are several community projects to get started like Back 2 Viz Basics, Viz for Social Good and EduVizzers. These projects come up with regular challenges which include datasets and a prompt, so you do not need to source for your own datasets. A tip would be to find other entries submitted for that week, and figure out how to replicate the same visualization in Tableau.
Share your data visualizations: Sharing your data visualizations, be it on social media, friends and family, are a great way to get feedback fast and improve. If you are on social media, use the hashtag #DataFam and indicate that you are open to feedback. There will be Tableau community members able to give feedback and help you to improve.
Join events hosted by your local Tableau User Group: Tableau User Groups are a great way to get connected with Tableau users in your community. My local Tableau User Group which is the Singapore Tableau User Group regularly catches up to share about best practices and new visualizations, and these are opportunities to meet your local community in person. On a side note, I recently hosted the StudentXCommunity Tableau User Group, which you can check out here.
What is your favorite part about the Tableau Community?
My favorite part about the Tableau Community has been the spirit of helping and supporting every member of the community, be it newcomers or experienced members looking for feedback. There are numerous opportunities available to learn and meet new people at various Tableau community projects and user groups events.
Most recently, I had my first collaboration with Mehras highlighting statistics about the World Food Program (WFP) for the EduVizzers community project, and our work was selected as Viz of the Day (VOTD). Both of us did not expect a VOTD, but instead we wanted to work together because we had various positive interactions giving feedback and supporting each other’s works on Tableau Public. I also really enjoyed discussing ideas and catching up with him during our call, and one tip I learnt from Mehras was using the Golden Ratio to set the dimensions.
During my time interacting with the community, I have received invaluable feedback which shaped the way I think about visualizations. In a couple of months, I will hit my two year milestone publishing visualizations on Tableau Public. Looking back, learning Tableau has helped me to cultivate a beginner’s mindset to data visualization and my work. It means learning from others, looking for ways to improve, being a positive impact and giving back to other learners. I look forward to future opportunities sharing at Tableau User Groups about my experience with others starting out in Tableau.
Connect with Ian on Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Tableau Public, his blog, or through his website.