UGL Spotlight: Marcus Montenegro

[MeganDibble]

Today’s user group leader spotlight is @marcusblackhill. Keep reading to learn more about Marcus and his experience with user groups!

Tell us a bit about your professional background.

I have worked with Alteryx Designer for around 2 and a half years now. I was recognized as Alteryx ACE this year, which was an incredible achievement for me, a great honor for sure.

I came from the business side (I'm a former accountant in Brazil), and I was used to working as a Tax Consultant here in Brazil, but Alteryx helped me migrate to the Data field. Currently, I'm an Analytics engineer at PhData!

What is one fun thing about you that community members might not know?

I'm a totally random person. From accountancy to data was not my unique field migration.

Before accountancy, I worked as a tattoo artist, I was a street dancer, a marine electronics technician, a martial artist... and the random stuff continues.

What is your favorite Alteryx feature? 

It can look simple, but I think it is the data preview for each tool in the workflow. That helps a lot to think about the next steps and also to troubleshoot workflows.

Why did you become a user group leader (UGL)? 

I have a strong community feeling. I think the Brazilian community has a space to grow, and many people from Brazil still don't realize how good they are, so I saw that as an opportunity to bring value to my Brazilian folks together with the other UGLs too (which are my great friends, and it is an honor to be at their side on it).

What is the easiest and the hardest part of being a UGL? 

It is really easy to like the feeling of having positively impacted others. The hard part is usually to find people that want to present.

What was your best experience during a UG Meeting (professional networking, personal development, career evolution, etc...)? 

I think the UG meetings bring us many meaningful opportunities that we do not usually see in our day-to-day. So I see that as an opportunity to grow and meet new people.

Do you prefer Virtual UGs or in-person UGs? And why?

I've never participated in an in-person UG, but I believe they are better to have the networking. Even though I still prefer the virtual due to the accessibility of it. Brazil is a huge country, but we have just one UG, so the virtual format helps people from all other places join us and also enables us to even bring presenters from other countries.

If you were an Alteryx Tool, which one would you be?

Formula tool. It is a very flexible tool, capable of doing many "random" things like me.

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Tune in next week for another spotlight article!